The Beehive: the official blog of the Massachusetts Historical Society

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By
Here is a look at events taking place at the Society in the week ahead as the calendar turns another page: - Monday, 26 February, 6:00PM : Starting things off this week is an author talk with Pual Finkelman of Gratz College. Supreme Inustice: Slavery in the Nation's Highest [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 25 February, 2018, 12:00 AM

“He has been the great landmark of my life”: CFA on JQA’s death and legacy.

Series: From Our Collections
By Gwen Fries, Adams Papers
On a drizzly February morning in 1848, Charles Francis Adams, son of John Quincy Adams, walked into his Boston office. As he reached his desk, Adams noticed a telegraph that communicated that his father “whilst in his seat at the House of Representatives at half past [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 23 February, 2018, 12:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By
The Society is CLOSED on Monday, 19 February, for Presidents Day.  It is a holiday-shortened week but there is still plenty of action happening here at the Society. Below are details for what we have on tap. - Tuesday, 20 February, 6:00PM : Kendra Field's epic family [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 18 February, 2018, 12:00 AM

When the Harlem Renaissance Meets Jim Crow

Series: From Our Collections
By Susan Martin, Collections Services
Your reference to the southerners regard, or rather, disregard of the Negro [--] I experienced a rather amusing incident a few weeks ago.       This passage comes from a letter written by African-American artist Meta Warrick Fuller on 5 January 1928 [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 16 February, 2018, 9:48 AM

Barbara Hillard Smith’s Diary, February 1918

Series: From the Reading Room , From the Reference Librarian 
By Lindsay Bina, Intern, and Anna Clutterbuck-Cook, Reader Services
Today we return to the 1918 diary of Newton teenager Barbara Hillard Smith. You may read our introduction to the diary, and Barbara’s January entries, here:   January | February | March | April May | June | July | August September | October | November | December   We [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Wednesday, 14 February, 2018, 12:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By
At the Society this week, we'll be talking about capitalists and fishermen, as well as hosting our building tour. Read on for more information.  - Tuesday, 13 February, 5:15PM : Francis Sargent was a Cape Cod fisherman-turned-public servant. In his positions as Director [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 11 February, 2018, 12:00 AM

Fetched from the Stacks : "Every breed of dog known"

Series: From Our Collections
By Daniel Tobias Hinchen
Well, maybe that title is a little bit ambitious. But, in recognition of the 142nd annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show – taking place this weekend – today we are looking at collections items featuring canines, particularly images of dogs that are in the stacks [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Saturday, 10 February, 2018, 4:15 PM

MHS Programs Explore Aspects of African American History

Series: Around MHS , Recent Events
By Gavin Kleespies, Public Programs
This past November, Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Maria Tatar spoke at the MHS about their new book The Annotated African American Folktales. This publication presents nearly 150 African American stories, among them familiar Brer Rabbit classics, but also stories like “The [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Monday, 5 February, 2018, 12:00 AM

This Week @ MHS

Series: Today @MHS
By
Welcome back to another events round-up! Here is what is happening at the Society in the week ahead: - Tuesday, 6 February, 5:15PM : Join us for an Early American History seminar with current MHS-NEH Fellow Laurel Daen, and commenter Cornelia Dayton of the University of [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Sunday, 4 February, 2018, 12:00 AM

History by the Numbers: A Gomes Prize Ceremony conversation between 2017 recipient Tamara Thornton and MHS President Catherine Allgor

Series: Recent Events , Research Published
By Alexis Buckley, Research Department
In 2016, the MHS founded the Peter J. Gomes Memorial Book Prize, awarded annually for the best book on the history of Massachusetts. The prize honors the memory of the Reverend Professor Gomes, a Harvard scholar and a respected and beloved Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical [...] read more

comments: 0 | permalink | Published: Friday, 2 February, 2018, 10:09 AM