The Beehive: the official blog of the Massachusetts Historical Society

History Drawn with Light

Series: Exhibitions News
By Carol Knauff
In 1840, almost as soon as photography arrived in America, the Massachusetts Historical Society began to collect images of notable figures, artifacts, and landscapes recorded with "the pencil of nature." Examples of these early photographs will be on display through 3 June, [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Tuesday, 29 March, 2011, 8:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Elaine Grublin
Join us on Thursday, 31 March @ 12:15 at the Old South Meeting House for the final installment in the A Nation Born: The Battles of Lexington and Concord series.  In this session filmmaker Bestor Cram shares clips from his award-winning documentary Unfinished Symphony, [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Monday, 28 March, 2011, 8:00 AM

Scholars Convene for M.H.S. Conference on Recent Immigration

Series: Around MHS
By Kate Viens
On April 7-9, 2011, scholars from across the U.S. will gather at the MHS—the nation’s oldest historical society—to discuss a question of compelling current interest for American life: What is new about recent immigration? Representatives of city and state [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 25 March, 2011, 8:00 AM

2010 National Humanities Medals Awarded

Series: MHS in the News
By Carol Knauff
Earlier this month, President Barack Obama presented the 2010 National Humanities Medals to ten individuals honored for their outstanding achievements in history, literature, education, and cultural policy. We offer our congratulations to the five MHS Fellows to be honored: - [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 23 March, 2011, 1:59 PM

Spotlight on Collections: Henry Cabot Lodge, Part V

Series: Collection Profiles
By Tracy Potter
Over the last few segments of Spotlight on Collections, I focused on the life and career of Henry Cabot Lodge (HCL). Now I turn to his grandson Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (HCL II) who left just as big a footprint on United States and world history as his grandfather. HCL [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 23 March, 2011, 10:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Elaine Grublin
We have another week of exciting events happening both at the MHS and at Old South Meeting House.  Tuesday, 22 March, at 6:00 PM, Walt Woodward, State Historian of Connecticut presents a talk focused on his recent publication Prospero's America: John Winthrop, Jr., [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Monday, 21 March, 2011, 10:00 AM

Brian Gratton Presents @ Brown Bag Lunch Talk

Series: Recent Events
By Anna J. Cook
On Wednesday, March 16, short-term fellow Brian Gratton presented the preliminary results of his research here at the MHS, working with the papers of Massachusetts politician Henry Cabot Lodge (1850-1924). Dr. Gratton is a Professor of history at Arizona State University, [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 18 March, 2011, 8:00 AM

MHS Open House: The Coming of the Civil War

By Carol Knauff
Join us this Saturday at our Open House as we kick off our commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. Marking the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War--a conflict that changed the course of the nation's development--the Open House will offer visitors [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Thursday, 17 March, 2011, 2:16 PM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Elaine Grublin
If you are looking for some midday excitement, plan on joining us for one of our lunchtime programs this week. And do not forget that Saturday, we have a full day of events planned for the MHS open house. Tuesday, 15 March  at 12:00 PM, the Collection Services [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Monday, 14 March, 2011, 8:00 AM

Welcome Short-Term Fellow Brian Gratton

Series: Around MHS
By Anna J. Cook
This week, the MHS staff welcomes Brian Gratton, Professor of History at Arizona State University, as the recipient of our 2010-2011 Twentieth-Century History Fellowship. Dr. Gratton, who received his Ph.D. in 1980 from Boston University, studies immigration and ethnicity [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 11 March, 2011, 8:00 AM

“What does Massachusetts have to do with … the French Revolution?”: Brown Bag Lunch Talk

By Anna J. Cook
On Tuesday, 1 March, Sara Martin and Sara Sikes of the Adams Papers gave a presentation on the Adams family’s perspective of the French Revolution, as chronicled in their correspondence. During that period of upheaval in France (the 1780s and 1790s) the Adams’ [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Thursday, 10 March, 2011, 8:00 AM

Spotlight on Collections: Lodge Papers, Part IV

Series: Collection Profiles
By Tracy Potter
Last time in Spotlight on Collections, I wrote about Henry Cabot Lodge’s (HCL) family, education, and literary and political careers. This week I describe his connections to the MHS and look at the MHS holdings related to his life.  HCL had many connections to [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 9 March, 2011, 8:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Elaine Grublin
This week we have a two events at our 1154 Boylston Street home, and two co-sponsored events at alternate locations. Please note where events are happening as you plan to attend. Thursday, 10 March, we have two public events. At 12:15 PM join us for a co-sponsored [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Monday, 7 March, 2011, 8:00 AM

The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street....

By Elaine Grublin
Today marks the 241 anniversary of the events that came to be known as the Boston Massacre. On our website and in our reading room, you can read contemporary accounts of the events of that day or study visual representations such as Paul Revere’s engraving (based [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Saturday, 5 March, 2011, 1:00 AM

Welcome Dan Hinchen, Library Assistant

Series: Around MHS
By Anna J. Cook
It has been a season of change in the Massachusetts Historical Society’s library. On February 23rd, the Library Reader Services staff welcomed yet another new member to our ranks: Library Assistant Dan Hinchen. Dan is not a complete stranger to the MHS, having served [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 4 March, 2011, 6:18 AM

Spring Time Means Baseball!

By Tracy Potter
As the late-winter thaw creeps over New England, melting away the snow banks that dwarf the average person and New Englanders pray for no more snow until next December, we cannot help but look toward the one glimmer of hope of the coming spring: Red Sox spring training at [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 2 March, 2011, 8:00 AM

A Winter Poem

Series: From Our Collections
By Elaine Grublin
As we welcome March, with the winter of 2010-2011 already on record as one of the ten snowiest winters in Boston since records have been kept, we share a poem written on 1 March 1780, noting the severity of the winter of 1779-1780. I think we all can agree that there is [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Tuesday, 1 March, 2011, 8:00 AM