Live from the Smithsonian: Catherine Golden

Catherine Golden, professor of English at Skidmore and author of Posting It-The Victorian Revolution in Letter Writing (University of Florida Press, 2009), will discuss the book's main arguments in a presentation that the Smithsonian Institution's National Postal Museum will broadcast live on the Web this Sunday, January 10. 

The presentation -- which marks the 170th anniversary of Britain's launch of the Penny Post on January 10, 1840 -- will begin at 1 p.m. EST. You may view it here. 

Although "snail mail" may seem old-fashioned and outdated in the 21st century, Golden argues that the creation of the Penny Post in Victorian England was as revolutionary in its time as email and text messages are today.

Until Queen Victoria instituted the Postal Reform Act of 1839, mail was a luxury affordable only by the rich. Allowing anyone, from any social class, to send a letter anywhere in the country for only a penny had multiple and profound cultural impacts Golden demonstrates how cheap postage?which was quickly adopted in other countries?led to a postal "network" that can be viewed as a forerunner of computer-mediated communications. Indeed, the revolution in letter writing of the 19th century led to blackmail, frauds, unsolicited mass mailings, and junk mail?problems that remain with us today.

The National Postal Museum is just getting started with UStream, the technology by which Golden's talk will be streamed live onto the Web, said Erin Blasco, the museum's public programs coordinator. 

"UStream comes with a built-in chat feature that is perfect for Q&A," she says. "However, the Smithsonian firewall blocks the chat feature, and so I've gone around this by using Twitter. Those who'd like to ask a question may do so by signing into their Twitter accounts and addressing their question to '@SmithsonianNPM.' I'll be sitting in the room monitoring the Twitter feed and will ask questions for those who tweet."

"Since not everyone who loves Victorian postal history has adopted Twitter," she adds, she also is giving the online audience the option of e-mailing questions to her at NPMprograms@si.edu.

Blasco has posted on her blog her best instructions for tuning into the presentation. After the presentation, she plans to post it on YouTube.