The Beehive: the official blog of the Massachusetts Historical Society

Historian Ray Raphael on that Flummoxing Electoral College

Series: Recent Events
By Emilie Haertsch, Publications
Twelve years ago at this time Vice President Al Gore ran against governor of Texas George W. Bush, leading to chaotic election results. The votes were so close that one candidate won the popular vote while another won the electoral vote. That was right about the time that [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 28 September, 2012, 1:00 AM

Turning Points in History

Series: Education Programs
By Kathleen Barker, Education Dept.
Summer has officially turned to fall, which means it’s time once again for leaf peeping, pumpkin carving, and National History Day! Since the Society became the official co-sponsor of Massachusetts History Day earlier this year, I’ve learned a lot about making [...] read more

comments: 1 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 26 September, 2012, 8:00 AM

A Massive Machine for a Massive Job: Digitizing 55,000 Pages of China Trade Material

Series: Around MHS , Collections News
By Brenda Lawson, Collection Services
The Library Collections Services department is always a busy place, but this fall is an especially active time on the third floor.  As the behind-the-scenes arm of the library, our department is responsible for the acquisition, cataloging, processing, preservation, [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 21 September, 2012, 8:00 AM

"Death and the Civil War" airs on PBS

Series: Civil War  , From Our Collections
By Elaine Grublin
Last night I eagerly watched as American Experience debuted “Death and the Civil War,” a documentary film based on the remarkable This Republic of Suffering (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2008) by Drew Gilpin Faust. My eagerness was generated in part by my personal [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 19 September, 2012, 8:00 AM

This week @MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Elaine Grublin
On Tuesday, September 18, the fall seminar season kicks off with the first Immigration and Urban History Seminar. Join Brooke L. Blower, Boston University, as she explores why Allied strategists allowed Spaniards Marcelino Garcia and Manuel Diaz, two ardent Franco supporters [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Monday, 17 September, 2012, 1:00 AM

Louisa Catherine Adams: A Mother Reflects on the Death of her Infant Daughter

Series: From Our Collections
By Judith Graham, Adams Papers
Louisa Catherine Adams’ (LCA) only known writings about the period of her daughter and namesake’s final illness in St. Petersburg are eloquent in their brevity and starkness. In a second, shorter version of “The Adventures of a Nobody,” a memoir begun [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Saturday, 15 September, 2012, 1:00 AM

Louisa Catherine Adams: A Father Reflects on the Death of his Infant Daughter

Series: From Our Collections
By Nancy Heywood, Collection Services
On 15 September 1812, John Quincy Adams (JQA), then serving in St. Petersburg as U.S. minister plenipotentiary to Russia, and his wife, Louisa Catherine Adams (LCA), suffered a huge loss—the death of their only daughter. Thirteen-month-old Louisa Catherine, named for [...] read more

comments: 2 | permalink | Published: Saturday, 15 September, 2012, 1:00 AM

Death, Skeletons, and Fashion: New Exhibition and Book on the Jewelry of Mourning

Series: Exhibitions News
By Emilie Haertsch, Publications
How do you remember your deceased loved ones? Today many mourners have unique rituals for honoring the dead. Some brand their bodies with tattoos, or print photographs of the departed on T-shirts they can wear. In other cultures the more traditional outward displays of grief [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Thursday, 13 September, 2012, 4:48 PM

Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch, Post 16

Series: Civil War  , From Our Collections
By Elaine Grublin
The following excerpt is from the diary of Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch. Friday, Sept. 19th, 1862 The war, - whose burden has lain on our spirits through this anxious period, will find more enduring records than this. The retreat of McClellan from the peninsula, [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 12 September, 2012, 8:00 AM

Happy Birthday, Lafayette!

Series: Around MHS
By Emilie Haertsch, Publications
Today marks the 255th birthday of Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, who was a Revolutionary War hero and one of the first celebrities in the United States. To celebrate, the Society joins with 23 other host institutions tomorrow for a lecture at Hamilton Hall in Salem, [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Thursday, 6 September, 2012, 8:00 AM

Digitizing Dorr’s Annotated Newspapers

Series: Around MHS
By Laura Wulf, Collection Services
This is the third online post about our collection of pre-Revolutionary War newspapers annotated by Boston shopkeeper Harbottle Dorr, Jr. In the first post Nancy Heywood introduced you to Dorr. In the second post Peter Steinberg highlighted some of the more humorous phrases [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 5 September, 2012, 8:00 AM