The Beehive: the official blog of the Massachusetts Historical Society

Life on the French Front during WWI: Margaret Hall’s Memoir

Series: From Our Collections
By Emilie Haertsch, Publications
In the forthcoming MHS publication Letters and Photographs from the Battle Country, 1918-1919, Red Cross volunteer Margaret Hall recounts through letters, diary entries, and photographs her time working close to the front lines in France during World War I. She worked at [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 31 July, 2013, 1:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
After a sleepy week here at the MHS that was all but void of public programs, this week comes with a plethora of programs in which to partake. Up first on Monday, 29 July, the Society will host a lunch-time author talk with Erik J. Chaput: "'The People's Martyr' and the [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Monday, 29 July, 2013, 1:00 AM

The Boston - Brewster Road

Series: From Our Collections
By Dan Hinchen, Reader Services
Each summer for the last ten years I have been fortunate enough to call Cape Cod home, specifically, the town of Brewster. As someone who travels to the Cape as a summer employee, I have occupied a position of not-quite-a-local but also not a tourist. Over the past three [...] read more

comments: 1 | permalink | Published: Friday, 26 July, 2013, 8:00 AM

On the Road to Richmond: The Letters of Civil War Sharpshooter Moses Hill, Part 4

Series: Civil War  , From Our Collections
By Susan Martin, Collection Services
Welcome back to our series on the letters of Moses Hill, part of the Frank Irving Howe, Jr. family papers here at the MHS. In my last post, I described Moses' experiences during the Siege of Yorktown as part of McClellan's Army of the Potomac. After the siege, Rebel forces [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 24 July, 2013, 1:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
There is a bit of a lull in the action this week at the Society with only two public programs on the slate. Up first is the next episode of the MHS Brown Bag talks. On Wednesday, 24 July, bring a lunch to hear NERFC Fellow Michael Blaakman, Yale Univeristy, as he presents [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Monday, 22 July, 2013, 1:00 AM

John Quincy Adams: Summer Chronicles

Series: From Our Collections
By Jim Connolly, Publications
So, have you noticed the heat? For your refreshment, here is a little historical commiseration from the diaries of John Quincy Adams. 21 July 1820: IV:30. Thunder Shower in the night, which made it almost a sleepless night to me. . . . The day was sultry and damp, a [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 19 July, 2013, 8:00 AM

Guest Post: Using the MHS to Learn about Women in WWI

Series: Education Programs , From Our Collections
By Elizabeth Pacelle, John Winthrop Student Fellow
Working with the MHS primary source documents for the John Winthrop Fellowship was an amazing and rewarding experience for me.  Besides analyzing various pieces of the Constitution and other common writings, I had never worked so closely with first hand historical documents. [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 17 July, 2013, 8:00 AM

Guest Post: Using the MHS to Learn about Nuclear Weapons in WWII

Series: Education Programs , Readers Relate
By Shane Canekeratne, John Winthrop Student Fellow
History has always been an interest of mine, particularly the historical events of World War I and World War II. After I was presented with the opportunity to apply to the John Winthrop Fellowship, I immediately started to look for different articles related to the 1940s [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 17 July, 2013, 8:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
After a week void of public events here at the MHS, this week the Society offers a slew of public events to satisfy your historical curiosities. First, beginning on Monday, 15 July, the MHS hosts a two-day workshop titled "Old Towns/New Country: The First Years of a New [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Monday, 15 July, 2013, 8:00 AM

Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch Diary, Post 23

Series: Civil War  , From Our Collections
By Elaine Grublin
The following excerpt is from the diary of Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch. Friday, July 12th, 1863 4th. The great anniversary, rendered still more famous now, was very quietly spent here. At ½ past 1, I went into Boson, & at the depot bought a paper, [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Thursday, 11 July, 2013, 8:00 AM

“Yet my conscience presses me on”: JQA and the Cost of Conscience

Series: From Our Collections
By Amanda A. Mathews, Adams Papers
John Quincy Adams, whose 246th birthday is tomorrow, often used birthdays as a moment to take stock of what he had and had not accomplished and what his priorities were. His conscience, and his sense of duty to make himself useful to his country and worthy of his family’s [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 10 July, 2013, 1:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
This week is a very quiet one here at the Historical Society. There are no special events on the calendar but that does not mean that there is no reason to pay the Society a visit. The MHS has three current exhibitions that are free and open to the public. The "headlining" [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Monday, 8 July, 2013, 12:00 AM

Fashionable Watering Places and How to Reach Them ... in 1879

Series: From Our Collections
By Andrea Cronin, Reader Services
“Within a few hours’ ride from the metropolis are sections of country and seaboard, which in variety of character, loveliness of climate, and grandeur of scenery, are unsurpassed by any of the celebrated and more distant watering places on the continent,” [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 3 July, 2013, 1:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
It is a holiday week and there are plenty of goings-on here at the Massachusetts Historical Society to celebrate our nation's independence. Please note that the library of the Historical Society will be closed on Thursday, July 4, in observance of Independence Day. Kicking [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Monday, 1 July, 2013, 1:00 AM