The first lecture in Oregon State University’s 2008-09 American Culture & Politics series, by William Leach of Columbia University, will focus on the trade of tropical butterflies.

His free talk, “Tropical Wings: Imperialism in the Butterfly Zone,” begins at 4 p.m. today in OSU’s Memorial Union Journey Room at 2501 S.W. Campus Way.

The American public became fascinated by butterflies in the last decades of the 19th century.

This talk examines the growth and character of the tropical trade and its impact on those who took part in it.

Leach, a professor of history at Columbia University, has written three books: “Country of Exiles: The Destruction of Place in American Life” (2000), “Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture” (1993), and “True Love and Perfect Union: The Feminist Reform of Sex and Society” (1980).

His OSU lecture is taken from his new book, “Butterfly People,” which will be published by Pantheon Books next year.

For more information, contact the history department at 541-737-8560 or see www.oregonstate.edu/cla/history.

— Gazette-Times