This Week @ MHS

It's tough to be believe that we are almost at the end of the month, but here we are hurtling toward Memorial Day. Before the summer unofficially begins, come by the MHS for some history! Once again, we have a week that is heavy with Brown Bag talks, along with a couple other items of note. 

- Monday, 23 May, 12:00PM : Karen Weyler, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, kicks off the week with her Brown Bag entitled "Serendipity and Literary History: The Problem of 'Firstness' in Histories of the American Novel." Weyler discusses how some of her findings here at the MHS might challenge traditional inception points for literary histories of fiction in British Ameria and the early United States. As always, Brown Bag talks are free and open to the public. 

- Tuesday, 24 May, 6:00PM : Join us for a conversation with Joseph Bagley, Boston Archaeologist and Author, who will talk about "A History of Boston in 50 Artifacts." As a result of the Big Dig and the artifacts it unearthed, Bagley uncovers a fascinating hodgepodge of history that will surprise and delight even longtime residents. This talk is open to the public free of charge, though registration is required. A pre-talk reception begins at 5:30PM and the program starts at 6:00PM. 

- Wednesday, 25 May, 12:00PM : The second Brown Bag talk of the week is "'For the Good of the Country': Captive Trade Networks in the Colonial Northeast, 1630-1763." Join Joanne Jahnke Wegner, University of Minnesota, as she discusses her project which examines the commodification of captive peoples who were trafficked in the colonies, across imperial borders, and into the Atlantic world. This talk is free and open to the public. 

- Thursday, 26 May : This is your last chance to view The Private Jefferson, our current exhibition. The exhibit will close for good at 4:00PM on Thursday. Be sure to come in for a look before it's gone!

- Friday, 27 May, 12:00PM : To round out the trifecta of Brown Bag talks this week, stop by on Friday for "From the Partisan Press to the Political Procedural." This talk features Mary Hale of the University of Illinois - Chicago, whose project considers the development of a new post-Civil War genre of political novels specifically by looking at Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner's The Gilded Age and Henry Adams' Democracy.  

The Society is CLOSED on Saturday, 28 May, and Monday, 30 May, in observance of Memorial Day. Normal hours resume on Tuesday, 31 May

This Week @ MHS

It feels like spring finally arrived here in Boston. Why not get outside and take a walk to the MHS for some public programs? This week we are heavy on our lunchtime Brown Bag talks, but there are also a couple other public programs to balance things out. Here's what's coming:

- Monday, 16 May, 12:00PM : The first Brown Bag talk of the week is titled "Valuing the Body of the Enslaved: From the Cradle to the Grave." Pack a lunch and come listen to short-term research fellow Daina Ramey Berry of the University of Texas at Austin. Berry presents her framework for understanding the valuation of enslaved peoples from birth to beyond death, based on 10 years of research in northern and southern archives. This talk is free and open to the public. 

- Monday, 16 May, 6:00PM : "Jefferson the Architect" is the final public program from the Jefferson Series, which centers around our current exhibition. In this talk, Henry Adams of Case Western Reserve University explores the impact of Jefferson in American architecture and the legacy he has left on our country's built environment. This talk is open to the public, though registration is required with a fee of $20 (no charge for MHS Fellows and Members). There is a pre-talk reception at 5:30PM and the talk begins at 6:00PM. 

 - Wednesday, 18 May, 12:00PM : Brown Bag talk number two this week is presented by Sarah Templier of Johns Hopkins University, and is called "The Lives of Textiles: Trading and Consuming Clothing, Fabrics, and Apparel Accessories in French and British North America, 1720s-1770s." The progam presents an overview of Templier's dissertation research. This talk is free and open to the public. 

- Thursday, 19 May, 6:00PM : POSTPONED: "Mass Momentum: Highlighting the Innovation Hub."

- Friday, 20 May, 12:00PM : The third and final Brown Bag talk this week features Travis Jacquess, University of Mississippi. In his talk, "'My Principles for Government...Are Fixed,' Declarations of Independence between Fathers and Sons in the Age of Revolution," Jacquess argues that the spirit of of independence - the spirit of '76 - gave rise to the spirit of individualism, which was passed from father to son as a natural product of their experience in the Revolution and their engagement in the new American Republic. This talk is free and open to the public. 

- Saturday, 21 May, 1:00PM : Join us for the final instalment of this season's discussion of primary readings, Begin at the Beginning, led by Dr. Abby Chandler. "John Gyles' Odd Adventure : A Different Captivity Narrative" tells a story of his upbringing among the Micmac and Maliseet peoples: a story of understanding and respect, unlike most Puritan captivity narratives that tell tales of horror and fear. This program is open to the public and registration is required at no cost; Please RSVP. 

Finally, if you have not yet come in to see the Private Jefferson, your time is running out. The exhibition remains on view to the public through Wednesday, May 26. Don't miss it!

There is no Saturday tour this week

This Week @ MHS

May is arrived! With it comes a full month of programs taking place here at the Society for public consumption. Kicking off the month, we have

- Tuesday, 3 May, 5:15PM : "'They bid me speak what I thought he would give': The Commodification of Captive People During King Phillip's War" is an Early American History seminar event presented by Joanne Jahnke Wegner from the University of Minnesota. Wegner's essay addresses the systems of human trafficking that circulated both Native American and English captives during King Phillip's War. Kate Grandjean of Wellesley College provides comment. Seminars are free and open to the public; RSVP required. Subscribe to receive advance copies of the seminar papers.

- Wednesday, 4 May, 12:00PM : Join us at noon for our next Brown Bag lunch talk, this time featuring Michael Zakim of Tel Aviv University and the Charles Warren Center. "Fear and Loathing at the Crystal Palace: the Failure of America's First World's Fair" examines how an enthusiastic group of New Yorkers, hoping to repeat the success of London's 1851 Exhibition, ended up stoking ongoing American debate over the changing meaning of industry in these years of the Industrial Revolution. This talk is free and open to the public. 

- Saturday, 7 May, 10:00AM : Stop by for The History and Collections of the MHS, a docent-led walk through our public rooms. The tour is free, open to the public, with no need for reservations. If you would like to bring a larger party (8 or more), please contact Curator of Art Anne Bentley at 617-646-0508 or abentley@masshist.org. While you're here you will also have the opportunity to view our current exhibition.

- Satuday, 7 May, 5:00PM : "Mad for Glory: The True Story of Two Americans and the Fate of the Pacific World" is an author talk with Robert Booth. This book tells a story set amidst the confusion of the War of 1812 in which two charismatic Americans played out an astonishing drama of nation-building and imperialism in the Pacific. This talk is open to the public, registration required for $10 (no charge for MHS Members and Fellows). A pre-talk reception begins at 4:30PM. 

This Week @ MHS

Here are the public programs on-tap for this ultimate week of April:

- Tuesday, 26 April, 5:15PM : The next installment in the Immigration and Urban History seminar series, featuring Rebecca Marchiel of the University of Mississippi, is called "Communities Must Be Vigilant: The Financial Turn in National Urban Policy." This chapter from Marchiel's book project explores the mixed results of 1970s efforts to revitalize neighborhoods through community-bank partnerships. Davarian Baldwin, Trinity College, provides comment. Seminars are free and open to the public; RSVP required. Subscribe to receive advance copies of the seminar papers.

- Wednesday, 27 April, 12:00PM : Pack a lunch and stopy by on Wednesday for another Brown Bag lunch talk. This time, short-term fellow Christina Carrick, Boston University, presents "Among Strangers in a Distant Climate: Loyalist Exiles Define Empire and Nation, 1775-1783." Carrick's project uses Loyalist correspondence networks to examine how exiles crafted and empowered new identities and in the process helped to reshape the British Empire and the United States. This talk is free and open to the public. All are welcome!

- Wednesday, 27 April, 6:00PM : Also on Wednesday is a special author talk titled "'Most Blessed of the Patriarchs' Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination." This talk features Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed of Harvard Law School and University of Virginia's Peter S. Onuf, the country's leading Jefferson scholar, as they discuss their absorbing and revealing character study which clarifies the philosophy of Thomas Jefferson. This event is sold out. 

- Saturday, 30 April, 10:00AM : The History and Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society Tour is a docent-led walk through our public rooms. The tour is free, open to the public, with no need for reservations. If you would like to bring a larger party (8 or more), please contact Curator of Art Anne Bentley at 617-646-0508 or abentley@masshist.org.

While you're here you will also have the opportunity to view our current exhibition.