The Beehive: the official blog of the Massachusetts Historical Society

Ishpeming Illustrators

Series: From Our Collections
By Dan Hinchen
Two things that make creating these posts for the Beehive a little bit easier are visual images and convenient coincidence. I lucked out this time around in having both. The images below (except the photo-portraits) were created by two men who seem to have very little to [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 30 January, 2015, 12:00 AM

Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch, Post 40

Series: Civil War 
By Elaine Grublin
The following excerpt is from the diary of Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch. Sunday, Jan. 1st In public affairs, the success at Savannah is rendered more decided by the acquiescence of the people; and our northern people are doing what is right by contributions [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Thursday, 29 January, 2015, 1:00 AM

Pirates in Boston: The Trial and Execution of John Quelch

Series: From Our Collections
By Wesley Fiorentino, Reader Services
On June 30, 1704, six men were hanged in Boston in what was the first trial for piracy by the British Admiralty Court outside of England.  The Arraignment, Tryal, and Condemnation of John Quelch provides a transcript of what is perhaps Boston’s earliest trial [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 28 January, 2015, 1:00 AM

An American Woman in Egypt, 1914-1915: An Introduction

Series: From Our Collections
By Anna J. Clutterbuck-Cook, Reader Services
In my previous post, I explored the world of early twentieth-century travel by train. Inspired by the glimpse into another era the diary behind that post evoked, I went looking for other travel diaries from the same era and found an anonymous diary kept by a Boston woman [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Tuesday, 27 January, 2015, 1:00 AM

A Vacation of the Mind

Series: From Our Collections
By Andrea Cronin, Reader Services
I went to Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka) this morning. The flight from Boston normally costs upwards of $1,000. Flight time, with layovers, averages 24 hours. However my trip to Ceylon did not cost me a dime or any flight time. I went on a “mind vacation.” The [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Monday, 26 January, 2015, 12:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
The Immigration and Urban History seminar scheduled for Tuesday, 27 January, "Interpreters in Ellis Island: A Tool for Americanization, 1892-1954," is CANCELED.  However, you can still come in on Thursday for an author talk at 6:00PM. Join us as independent author, [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Saturday, 24 January, 2015, 10:22 AM

Serendipity in the Archives

By Susan Martin, Collection Services
I recently processed a manuscript collection that contains some terrific material related to the Boston Lyceum for the Education of Young Ladies, a school founded by Dr. John Park (1775-1852) in 1811. I'd never heard of the school before, but in a matter of weeks, very similar [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Thursday, 22 January, 2015, 12:24 PM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
The Society is closed on Monday, 19 January, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day On Wednesday, 21 January, join us as the Boston Saxophone Quartet performs a selection of songs that take the audience through the musical landscape of World War I. "Here Comes America" [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 18 January, 2015, 11:57 AM

The 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution

Series: From Our Collections
By Dan Hinchen
Amendment XVIII Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 16 January, 2015, 4:17 PM

Learning the Ropes: High School Students Research at MHS

By Kathleen Barker, Education Department
As our teaching collegues head into the second half of the school year, I paused to reflect back on all the Education Department accomplished this fall. In doing so, I realized that November was a busy month for student workshops at the Society. Two programs in particular [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Thursday, 15 January, 2015, 8:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
It is the return of the seminars this week at the MHS. Up first, on Tuesday, 13 January, from the Environmental History series is "The Rise and Fall of the Texas Longhorn." This talk, given by Joshua Specht of Harvard University, explores the crossroads of economics and [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Tuesday, 13 January, 2015, 8:25 AM

Homegrown Gifts: George Washington’s Locks

Series: Exhibitions News , From Our Collections
By Andrea Cronin, Reader Services
Our exhibition Father of His Country Returns to Boston closes today as the holiday season wraps up. The exhibition commemorates the 225th anniversary of President George Washington’s month-long tour of New England in October 1789. One of the most interesting items [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 9 January, 2015, 1:00 AM

Hacking John Adams

By Amanda A. Mathews, Adams Papers
At the end of 2014, the hack into Sony Pictures and the subsequent publication of the private communications of Sony employees drew massive public interest. While many decried the methods, and resentful of foreign meddling, many people were still deeply interested in the [...] read more

comments: 1 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 7 January, 2015, 1:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
As the new year begins, it is a quiet first week back at the MHS.  On Wednesday, 7 January, join us for a rare musical program at the Society. "Over There: The Boys Who Went to Fight and the Women Who Endured" tells the story of the U.S.’s involvement in WWI [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 4 January, 2015, 1:17 PM