Watch the 2024 LH Thomas Lecture by Beverly Lemire

The 2024 LH Thomas Lecture is now available to watch online here.

“Fashion Politics and the Power of Dress: A History of Whiteness & Empire, c. 1660-1820" was presented by Beverly Lemire, C.M. on Thursday, March 21 in Henderson Hall at the University of Alberta. 

Histories of empire, race and gender are illuminated through the politics of dress. The Caribbean was a key source of imperial wealth extraction; fashions shaped the public face of this savage system with Black women fashion-makers persisting and defying. In this talk Dr. Lemire explored 'whiteness' and its material dimensions, from soap and laundry to masquerade balls.