The Beehive: the official blog of the Massachusetts Historical Society

Debrief the Reader: Researcher as Resource

Series: From the Reading Room
By Dan Hinchen
As a reference librarian at the Society I work regularly with the more than three thousand individual manuscript collections in the holdings. Often the job is a search for a specific piece of information in order to answer a defined question, perhaps for a remote researcher [...] read more

comments: 2 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 29 January, 2014, 4:07 PM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
Welcome back to the Beehive for this week's events update. We have one more quiet week here at the Society in January before the onslaught of activity in February. Join us on Tuesday, 28 January, for "Making a Workforce, Unmaking a Working class: The Development of 'Human [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 26 January, 2014, 12:00 PM

Margaret Hall visits the Argonne

By Jim Connolly
From my first days as a part-time transcriber for the Adams Papers to my current work as assistant editor of publications at the MHS, I’ve been lucky enough to work with the writings of strong, smart women--Abigail Adams, Louisa Catherine Adams, Ellen Wayles Coolidge, [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 24 January, 2014, 8:00 AM

Charlesgate Park, the Bowker Overpass, and Our Changing Urban Landscape

Series: Around the Neighborhood
By Anna J. Clutterbuck-Cook
As a transplant to Boston, one of my goals of the past few years has been to develop a better grasp of the topographical history of this tangled, layered city. As the daughter of a cartographer, I was raised to pay attention to the built and wild landscape around me, and [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 22 January, 2014, 8:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
After a busy week here at the Society we are slowing things down a bit with a shortened week. The MHS is closed on Monday, 20 January, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day and will re-open at the normal time on Tuesday, 21 January. Our only scheduled event takes [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 19 January, 2014, 12:00 PM

A Long Winter Walk: The Banishment of Roger Williams

Series: From Our Collections
By Dan Hinchen,
Over the last couple of weeks, we in Massachusetts were reminded of the unpredictability and harshness of the winter in New England. Of course, we are not alone and a significant portion of the rest of the country received an even greater shock. Still, the driving snow, [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 17 January, 2014, 11:43 AM

Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch, Post 29

Series: Civil War  , From Our Collections
By Elaine Grublin
The following excerpt is from the diary of Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch. Jan. 2d. 1864 In regard to public events, the year has witnessed many calamities, through the rage of civil war; but God has sustained us, and it now seems as if the end, - and a righteous [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 15 January, 2014, 1:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
We have a busy week here at the Society with several public events on tap. First up, on Tuesday, 14 January, is an Environmental History Seminar featuring Edward D. Melillo of Amherst College. “Out of the Blue: Nantucket and the Pacific World” builds upon insights [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Monday, 13 January, 2014, 1:16 PM

King Kalakaua’s Tour of the United States

By Andrea Cronin
On 1 January 1875 the last reigning King of Hawai’i arrived in Boston via railroad as the last stop in a good will visit to the United States. King Kalakaua III inherited a national economic depression in 1874 from his predecessor William Charles Lunalilo. In an effort [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 10 January, 2014, 5:00 PM

Party Politics: The Adamses' Jackson Ball

Series: From Our Collections
By Amanda A. Mathews
The women of the Adams family may not have held public office themselves, but they were vital to their husbands' political careers. Abigail aided John both through her counsel and astute management of their property during his long absences. Louisa Catherine Adams, on the [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 8 January, 2014, 8:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
After a sputtering return to business last week due to a two-day snowstorm, the Society is back up and running this week, though it is a quiet one. On Wednesday, 8 January, join us at noon for a Brown Bag lunch discussion with Katherine Johnston of Columbia University. Well-timed [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Tuesday, 7 January, 2014, 3:24 PM