The Beehive: the official blog of the Massachusetts Historical Society

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
- Tuesday, 2 May, 5:15PM : We start the week with an Early American History Seminar, this time in panel format. "Nathaniel Hawthorne and Friends" is a discussion with Philip Gould of Brown University and Thomas Balcerski of Eastern Connecticut State University. The conversation [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 30 April, 2017, 12:00 AM

Reference Man in Catalog Land : Describing publications in the George Frisbie Hoar papers

Series: From Our Collections
By Daniel Tobias Hinchen, Reader Services
We here in the Library Reader Services department at the MHS concern ourselves with the user/researcher side of our collections. This job allows us to continually sharpen the skills of reference librarians: catalog searching, materials handling, patron interactions, and [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Saturday, 29 April, 2017, 2:26 PM

“Legible only to myself”: John Quincy Adams’s Shorthand

Series: From Our Collections
By Gwen Fries, Adams Papers
A line in John Quincy Adams’s 1788 diary is the earliest example of his use of English poet John Byrom’s shorthand system. The system replaces words with symbols to make writing faster and, eventually, easier. Six years later, Adams recorded in his diary that [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 26 April, 2017, 12:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE LIBRARY IS CLOSED ON WEDNESDAY, 26 APRIL, FOR A STAFF EVENT.  This week's program schedule is heavy in the middle, with a seminar and a pair of public programs. Here are the specifics: - Tuesday, 25 April, 5:15PM : Anna M. Blankenship of North [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 23 April, 2017, 12:00 AM

“All things are in common now”

Series: From Our Collections
By Susan Martin, Collections Services
Today is the 242nd anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolution. The MHS holds some terrific letters and diaries containing first-hand accounts of that famous day, not to mention related books, pamphlets, maps, and artifacts. [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 19 April, 2017, 8:51 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
After you recover from the Marathon why not take in some public progams here at the Society. Here is what is lined up for the week ahead: The MHS is CLOSED on Monday, 17 April, in observance of Patriots' Day. - Tuesday, 18 April, 2:00PM : Looking for something to do with [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 16 April, 2017, 12:00 AM

Gertrude Codman Carter’s Diary, April 1917

Series: From Our Collections
By Anna Clutterbuck-Cook, Reader Services
Today we return to the 1917 diary of Gertrude Codman Carter. You may read the previous entries here:  Introduction | January | February | March The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “paleography” as “the study of ancient writings and inscriptions.” [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 14 April, 2017, 2:54 PM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
There is a flurry of activity to start the week here at the Society before we ease into a long weekend. Here is what we have in store: - Monday, 10 April, 6:00PM : We begin the week with an author talk featuring Ronald H. Epp, whose recent book is titled Creating Acadia [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 9 April, 2017, 12:00 AM

Celebrate National Beer Day!

Series: From Our Collections
By Daniel Tobias Hinchen, Reader Services
If you are like me then you were unaware until this morning that today is National Beer Day in the United States. And just like that, you learned an important fact on a Friday afternoon. On 13 March 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt drafted a memo which read: To [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 7 April, 2017, 4:00 PM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By Dan Hinchen
It's a pretty quiet week here at the Society as we begin a new month. Here is what lies ahead: - Tuesday, 4 April, 5:15PM : Agnès Delahaye of the Université Lyon II presents this week's Early American History seminar titled "Promotional Literature and Identity [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 2 April, 2017, 12:00 AM