August 31, 2004
Director of Media Relations
413/542-8417
AMHERST, Mass.- Kevin Sweeney, professor of American studies and history at Amherst College, has received an Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History for Captors and Captives: The 1704 French and Indian Raid on Deerfield (2003), which reexamined the so-called "Deerfield Massacre" of 1704.
Weaving social, political, literary, religious, and military history, Sweeney and co-author Evan Haefeli reveal connections between cultures and histories usually seen as separate, and a framework stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The Boston Globe called Captors and Captives "an impressive account that explores the raid from the conflicting viewpoints of the raiders, both French-Canadian and Native American, and the Deerfield villagers as well as its place in the century-long conflict between the two colonial empires."
Founded in 1904 as part of the American Historical Association, the AALSH has worked since 1940 with individuals and organizations to preserve and promote local and regional history, and make the past more meaningful in American society, recognizing achievements with its annual awards since 1945. The AALSH has a Website at www.aaslh.org.
Sweeney, a resident of Greenfield, Mass., has taught at Amherst since 1989. He received a B.A. from Williams College and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history from Yale University.