The Beehive: the official blog of the Massachusetts Historical Society

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
The July Brown Bag bonanza continues this week with two lunchtime talks. Also taking place this week is a two-day public workshop and a Saturday tour.  "Old Towns/New Country: The First Years of a New Nation" is a two-day teacher workshop held in Milford, New Hampshire [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 27 July, 2014, 12:00 PM

Bragging Rights

Series: From Our Collections
By Andrea Cronin, Reader Services
The practice of attaching additional items (newspaper articles, photographs, etc.) to correspondence obviously is not a new custom. Attachments generally provide more detail about the subject matter discussed in the associated correspondence. However, I found an interesting [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 25 July, 2014, 1:00 AM

“For your mutual Happiness and...dedicated to the Public”: The Marriage of John Quincy and Louisa Catherine Adams

Series: From Our Collections
By Amanda A. Mathews, Adams Papers
In the upcoming volume of Adams Family Correspondence we reach a pivotal moment in Adams family history—the marriage of Louisa Catherine Johnson to John Quincy Adams. This partnership began quite simply on July 26, 1797. They were married before eleven o’clock [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 23 July, 2014, 1:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
We are back again with the round-up of events in the week to come here at the Society. Like last week, this one is a bit top-heavy and dominated by Brown Bag lunch talks. And here is what is tap. Starting with Monday, 21 July, there is a Brown Bag lunch talk presented [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 20 July, 2014, 12:00 PM

Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch Diary, Post 34

Series: Civil War  , From Our Collections
By Elaine Grublin
The following excerpt is from the diary of Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch. Sunday, July 24th, 1864   As to public affairs, - we appear to gain little near Richmond, - Sherman advances successfully in Georgia. Gold has been up to 270 or above it. The president [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 18 July, 2014, 1:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
This week's events round-up is a bit top-heavy with four events in three days. Kicking things off on Monday, 14 July, is a Brown Bag lunch talk that begins at noon. Stop by with your lunch and listen as Jonathan Koefoed presents "Cautious Romantics: The Dana Family of Boston [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 13 July, 2014, 12:00 PM

Margaret Hall’s WWI Memoir: The Book, the Talk, the Exhibition

Series: Exhibitions News , Recent Events , Research Published
By Jim Connolly, Publications
I’ve posted on the Beehive a few times about Margaret Hall, a Massachusetts woman who volunteered with the American Red Cross in France during World War I. So you may know (and if you didn’t, now you do!) that her memoir and selected photographs from her war [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 11 July, 2014, 8:00 AM

Guest Post: Searching for the Federalist Party in Massachusetts

Series: Education Programs , From Our Collections
By Kyran Schnur, Hopkinton High School
I plan to be a professional historian, but I had this nagging worry that sifting through a bunch of historical documents could be a mind-numbing slog that would turn me off of the subject I love so much. Thanks to the Massachusetts Historical Society, I now know I’m [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Thursday, 10 July, 2014, 8:00 AM

“Use the Elevated!”: The Boston Elevated Railway Promotes its Services in 1926

Series: From Our Collections
By Anna J. Clutterbuck-Cook, Reader Services
On July 1st, riders on the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) rail and bus system saw fare increases that brought the cost of a single local bus ride to $1.60 and a single rapid transit (“T”) ride to $2.10. In light of this change, and the ongoing discussion [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 9 July, 2014, 1:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
With the first full week of July the MHS events calendar is filled with public programs for the month. So, without further ado, here is what is on tap. Starting things off on Wednesday, 9 July, come in for a Brown Bag lunch talk presented by Jordan Watkins of the University [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 6 July, 2014, 12:00 PM

Eight Is Enough: The Worcester Family in the Civil War

Series: Civil War  , From Our Collections
By Susan Martin, Collection Services
It can sometimes be difficult to comprehend the scale of the Civil War and to realize how deep an impact it had on the lives of families far and wide. Then something comes along that really drives the point home. The MHS recently acquired a collection of the papers of Joseph [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 2 July, 2014, 1:00 AM