June 11, 2026 – (KEY WEST, FL). On Monday, June 22, the Key West Art & Historical Society welcomes historian Dr. Jason W. Smith for a lecture titled “Naval Gazing: Remembering the Maine and the Ordinary Origins of American Empire, 1898–1916.” The talk, part of the Society’s Distinguished Speaker Series, will take place from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Tropic Cinema, 416 Eaton Street.
On the night of February 15, 1898, the battleship USS Maine suddenly exploded and sank in Havana Harbor, killing 266 men and propelling the United States toward war with Spain. In this presentation, Smith examines how commemorative practices surrounding the Maine disaster shaped and reinforced public investment in the U.S. Navy, the state, and the emerging American empire in the years leading up to World War I.
His talk highlights the role of ordinary Americans in the nation’s rise to global power and explores how memory, spectacle, and naval culture intersected during a pivotal moment in U.S. history.
Jason W. Smith is Associate Professor of History at Southern Connecticut State University. He previously served as the Class of 1957 Postdoctoral Fellow in Naval History at the United States Naval Academy. Smith has published articles in numerous academic journals and is the author of “To Master the Boundless Sea: The U.S. Navy, the Marine Environment, and the Cartography of Empire” (2018). He is currently at work on a new book titled “Sea Power and Spectacle: A Cultural History of Navalism and the Ordinary Origins of American Global Power.”
“This lecture looks beyond the explosion itself to explore how everyday Americans responded to and remembered the tragedy,” says Dr. Cori Convertito, historian for the Society. “Through newspaper accounts, popular songs, and commemorative souvenirs and ephemera, audiences will see how public memory of the Maine helped shape national identity and the story of America’s rise to global power.”
This event is free and open to the public; however, advance registration is required. To reserve your spot, visit kwahs.org/whats-on. Seating is limited.
For more information, contact Dr. Cori Convertito at 305-295-6616 x507 or [email protected].
Your Museums. Your Community. It takes an Island.
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IMAGE 1: The battleship USS Maine, whose 1898 explosion in Havana Harbor helped propel the United States into the Spanish-American War, is the focus of the Key West Art & Historical Society’s Distinguished Speaker Series lecture presented by historian Jason W. Smith. Free tickets are available at kwahs.org/event/dss-remembering-the-maine. (Photo Credit: Key West Art & Historical Society)
