The Beehive: the official blog of the Massachusetts Historical Society

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
As October begins so too does our heavy programming season. Strap in and see what's on tap this week at the Society! On Tuesday, 29 September, join us for our first Immigration and Urban History seminar of the season. Beginning at 5:15PM, Susan Eckstein of Boston University [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 27 September, 2015, 12:00 AM

An American Woman in Egypt, 1914-1915: At the Cataract Hotel, Asswan

Series: From Our Collections
By Anna Clutterbuck-Cook, Reader Services
Today we rejoin our anonymous female diarist as she journeys down the Nile in the winter of 1914-1915. You can read previous installments of this series here (introduction), here (Cairo to Aysut), here (Aysut to Asswan), here (Asswan to Abu Simbel), and here (Wadi Halfa [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 25 September, 2015, 12:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
As we hurtle toward October and a full month of programming, we start to increase the offerings a bit this week.  First up, stop by on Wednesday, 23 September, for a Brown Bag Lunch talk with Ben Vine of the University of Sydney. Join us at noon for "Class and War [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Tuesday, 22 September, 2015, 8:18 AM

Making History: Boston's Bicentennial

Series: From Our Collections
By Amanda M. Norton, Adams Papers
On September 17, 1830, Boston celebrated the bicentennial of its settlement. Such a noteworthy occasion would hardly be complete without the presence of one of the state’s leading families, particularly a former president. Thus, John Quincy Adams was invited to participate [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 16 September, 2015, 12:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
It is a quiet week here at the Society as far as programs go, with only two items on the calendar.  First up, on Thursday, 17 September, is a talk given by author and historian Joseph Ellis of Williams College. In this Pauline Maier Memorial Lecture, Ellis discusses [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 13 September, 2015, 12:00 AM

To Speak With the Hand -- To Hear With the Eye.

By Kittle Evenson, Reader Services
The breadth of foreign-language materials in our collections often surprises me; we have English and French language conversation primers written in Italian, proverbs in Hebrew and Latin, and Chinese grammar books written in German. So it should not have surprised me, although [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Saturday, 12 September, 2015, 2:42 PM

The Shackles of Freedom: the Slave Trade in Colonial New England

Series: Readers Relate
By Zachary Hill, Nashoba Regional High School
Five weeks ago, I found myself playing chicken with the Green Line. My brush with death in Brookline was worth it. As a high school student, my primary sources mostly come as nice, neat internet transcriptions. I never expected to be staring at a three hundred year old [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 11 September, 2015, 12:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
Please note that the Society is Closed on Monday, 7 September, in observance of Labor Day. The Library remains Closed through Friday, 11 September, with normal hours resuming on Saturday, 12 September. On Wednesday, 9 September, join us at noon for a Brown Bag lunch talk [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Saturday, 5 September, 2015, 12:00 AM

Boston by Broadside, part I: Prof. G. H. Boulet's Gymnasium

Series: From Our Collections
By Dan Hinchen
Welcome to my new series here on the Beehive: “Boston by Broadside.” Here I will use examples from the MHS’ collection of broadsides to show various views of our fair city as it used to be.    For the first foray out into Boston-that-was, we [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 4 September, 2015, 12:00 AM