Saratoga Reads!
2025 Reading Season

The Melancholy of Those Black Days: The Tragic Tale of Indian Boarding Schools in American History

Join us for an enlightening and thought-provoking program delving into the history of Native American boarding schools in the United States, led by Skidmore Professor Eric Morser. TJ Klune, the author of this year’s SaratogaREADS! selection, The House in the Cerulean Sea, has mentioned in interviews that his book was inspired by the concept of orphanages and group homes that segregated “different” children from society.

By understanding the history of Native American boarding schools and their profound impact on Indigenous communities, readers can critically analyze the parallels and divergences in Klune’s work while fostering deeper cultural awareness. Please register online.

Eric Morser is Professor of History at Skidmore College. He earned his PhD in United States History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2003. He has written two critically acclaimed books, Hinterland Dreams: The Political Economy of a Midwestern City, and The Fires of New England: A Story of Protest and Rebellion in Antebellum America, as well as numerous articles and reviews. At Skidmore, he teaches course on early America, the American West, indigenous people, labor and working-class culture, environmental history, gender and manhood, and radicalism in American life. He is currently Faculty Director of Civic Engagement and has directed the Bridge Experience, a new general education requirement that encourages students to explore diversity in contemporary America and share what they’ve learned in the course with an audience beyond the classroom. He loves fantasy and sci-fi novels, creative non-fiction, the Beatles, REM, Star Wars, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. He lives in upstate New York with his wife and son and continues to root for his beloved Green Bay Packers.