This Week @ MHS
It is a fairly quiet week at the Society this week, but that does not mean it is uneventful!
First up is a special member event taking palce at 6:00PM on Wednesday, 11 June. MHS Fellows and Members are invited to "Letters and Photographs from the Battle Country Preview Reception." The evening will begin with remarks by Stephen T. Riley Librarian Peter Drummey, followed by a reception and exhibition viewing. Registration is requried at no cost. Please RSVP.
On Thursday, 12 June, "Letters and Photographs from the Battle Country: Massachusetts Women in the First World War" opens to the public! From the Society’s extraordinary collection of women’s recollections, this exhibition features photographs, letters, diaries, and memorabilia related to Margaret Hall and Eleanor (Nora) Saltonstall, Red Cross volunteers in France. The exhibition will highlight Hall’s large-format photographs of the battlefront on loan from the Cohasset Historical Society. Both women were keen observers of the climactic months of the war and depicted what they witnessed in vivid detail. The exhibition celebrates the forthcoming MHS publication Letters and Photographs from the Battle Country: The World War I Memoir of Margaret Hall. The exhibit is on display Monday through Saturday, 10:00AM to 4:00PM, until 24 January 2015. There is no cost to enter the exhibit and it is open to the public.
And on Friday, 13 June, stop by at 2:00PM for a special public program titled "Lost Boston." Historian, author of sixty books, and MHS Fellow Anthony Sammarco explores some of the sixty-eight houses, churches, libraries, clubs, squares and baseball fields that have been lost by demolition, fire, or neglect since the 1870s. His new book, Lost Boston, is a nostalgic journey back in time to visit some of the disappeared buildings and spaces in all their grandeur. This event is free and open to the public so come on by and listen in!
Finally, on Saturday, 14 June, drop in at 1154 Boylston for "The History and Collections of the MHS," a free tour of the Society's historic home. This 90-minute docent-led tour explores the public space in the building, touching on the art, architecture, history, and collections of the Historical Society. The tour is free and open to the public. No reservation is required for individuals or small groups. Parties of 8 or more should contact the MHS prior to attending a tour. For more information please contact Curator of Art Anne Bentley at 617-646-0508 orabentley@masshist.org.
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| Published: Sunday, 8 June, 2014, 12:00 PM
This Week @ MHS
Entering the month of June we have a couple of special programs on offer this week at the Society.
First up, on Monday, 2 June, the MHS is co-sponsoring "Never Done: Interpreting the History of Women at Work in Massachusetts." Join us at the Hogan Campus Center, College of the Holy Cross, for a thought-provoking day examining women in Massachusetts history. At this, the tenth annual Mass History Conference we will welcome the many small historical organizations that preserve, interpret, and deepen the exploration of Massachusetts history. The stories of lesser-known women change-makers get lost in the larger narrative of industry, politics and conflict, but the timing is right for an examination of their tales of great and compelling variety, of lives lived with courage and determination. This conference for Massachusetts history organizations is presented by Mass Humanities, Massachusetts Historical Society, University of Massachusetts Amherst Public History Program, and the University of Massachusetts Boston Public History and Archives Track, The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, and Elizabeth & Ned Bacon. The conference begins at 9:00AM and will feature as Keynote Speaker Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Harvard University. For more information--including a detailed schedule of the day, or to register for the conference, visit the Mass Humanities website:http://masshumanities.org/history_conference_2014.
On Wednesday, 4 June, stop by the Society at 1154 Boylston Street for a Brown Bag lunch talk. In this week's installment, Sara Georgini, Adams Papers and Boston University, presents "Creating Adams Family Values." This project is a history of religion in the Adams family of Massachusetts from 1583 to 1927. Most Adams family members accepted organized religion as a public good, but they filled letters and lives with the effort to answer one query: What was it good for? As men and women operating at the heart of the nation, prevailing notions of Christian citizenship laid out duties for them to fulfill, and the Adamses repeatedly sought out God for help. Drawing on the public and private papers of several generations, this project explores the “cosmopolitan Christianity” that the Adams family developed over time. The talk begins at 12:00PM and is free and open to the public.
Also on Wednesday, 4 June, there is a special evening program as the society welcomes the Archivist of the United States for "A Conversation with David S. Ferriero." Join us for a pre-talk reception beginning at 5:30PM, followed by the program which begins at 6:00PM. Registration is required for this event at no charge. Click here to register online, or call the MHS reservations line at 617-646-0560.
Finally, please note that the library is closing at 3:00PM on Thursday, 5 June.
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| Published: Sunday, 1 June, 2014, 12:00 PM
This Week @ MHS
It is a short and fairly quiet week here at the MHS with just a couple of items on tap.
Please note that the Society is closed on Monday, 26 May, in observance of Memorial Day. Normal hours resume on Tuesday, 27 May.
On Wednesday, 28 May, join us for a Brown Bag talk titled "Circulating Counterfeits: Making Money and Its Meaning in the Eighteenth-Century British Atlantic," presented by Katherine Smoak of Johns Hopkins University. Counterfeiting was a ubiquitous problem in the eighteenth-century British Atlantic, encouraged by the unstandardized and various nature of eighteenth-century currency. Counterfeiters formed regional and trans-Atlantic networks to produce and circulate debased and forged coin, both British and foreign, and faked reproductions of newly available paper notes. Reconstructing these networks, I argue that counterfeiters shaped imperial economies in unexpected ways, impacting everything from daily economic practices to the course of economic development, and prompted complex discussions about value, worth and trust in an expanding commercial empire. This talk begins at noon and is free and open to the public.
Come back to the Society on Wednesday evening, 28 May, for "The Mantle of Command: FDR at War, 1941-1942," an author talk presented by Nigel Hamilton. Based on years of archival research and interviews with the last surviving aides and Roosevelt family members, Nigel Hamilton offers a definitive account of FDR’s masterful—and under-appreciated—command of the Allied war effort. Hamilton takes readers inside FDR’s White House Oval Study—his personal command center—and into the meetings where he battled with Churchill about strategy and tactics and overrode the near mutinies of his own generals and secretary of war. Nigel Hamilton is a bestselling and award-winning biographer of President John F. Kennedy, General Bernard “Monty” Montgomery, and President Bill Clinton, among other subjects. He is a Senior Fellow in the McCormack Graduate School, University of Massachusetts-Boston, and first president of the Biographers International Organization (BIO). There is a pre-talk reception beginning at 5:30PM with the talk starting at 6:00PM. Registration is required for this event at a cost of $10 (no fee for Fellows and Members). Click here to register online, or call the MHS reservations line at 617-646-0560.
Finally, on Saturday, 31 May, stop by for a tour of the Society's public rooms. Led by an MHS staff member or docent, the tour touches on the history and collections of the MHS and lasts approximately 90 minutes.The tour is free and open to the public. No reservation is required for individuals or small groups. Parties of 8 or more should contact the MHS prior to attending a tour. For more information please contact Curator of Art Anne Bentley at 617-646-0508 or abentley@masshist.org.
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| Published: Sunday, 25 May, 2014, 12:00 PM
This Week @ MHS
It is a shortened and quiet week here at the Society. It is also your last opportunity to view our current exhibition "Tell It with Pride: The Massachusetts 54th Regiment and Augustus Saint-Gaudens' Shaw Memorial," which officially closes on Friday, 23 May. Come in to see it any day this week, Monday-Friday, 10:00AM-4:00PM before it closes for good!
Here is what else is on tap in the penultimate week of May.
On Wednesday, 21 May, join us at noon for a Brown Bag talk given by Bryan Rosenblithe of Columbia University. His talk, "Securing the Spanish Main: British Subjecthood and the Peace of 1763" examines the ways that political, economic, and military contests in the Floridas and Honduras during the era of the Seven Years War shaped imperial notuions of British Subjecthood. It also explores how questions related to who counted as a subject influenced British strategic thinking during a time of widely perceived Bourbon revanchism. This talk is free and open to the public.
And on Friday, 23 May, is another lunch time talk, this time presented by HdG, Dna. Maria St. Catherine McConnell. Bring your lunch and join us as we celebrate the 90th Anniversary of the 1924 U.S. Foreign Service Act ("The Rogers Act"), which created the US Foreign Service. We will explore the role of Massachusetts statesmen and diplomats in establishing the U.S. Foreign Service and in pioneering America's diplomatic history and tradition. "Celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the U.S. Foreign Service" begins at noon and is free and open to the public.
Finally please note that the Society is closed Saturday-Monday, 24-26 May, in observance of Memorial Day. Normal hours resume on Tuesday, 27 May. Enjoy the holiday weekend!
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| Published: Sunday, 18 May, 2014, 12:00 PM
This Week @ MHS
Kicking off this week on Monday, 12 May, is a Brown Bag talk from short-term research fellow Katie Booth, University of Pittsburgh. Alexander Graham Bell believed that his most important contribution was not the telephone, but his work to liberate the deaf by destroying their community. He came to Boston in 1871 to teach deaf children through oralism, a method that forbade the use of Sign Language and instead taught deaf children to speak. He quickly became an international leader of the oralist movement, but for the deaf who believed he was robbing them of their language, he became the culture’s greatest enemy. "The Performance of Miracles: Alexander Graham Bell's Mission to Save the Deaf" begins at noon and is free and open to the public.
After a couple quiet days, on Thursday, 15 May, is a special talk given by Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and the first woman to serve in that role. In her talk, titled "An Historical Look at the Goodridge Same Sex Marriage Decision," Chief Justice Marshall will talk about the landmark decision reached in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, which stated that it was unconstitutional to allow only opposite-sex couples to marry. As a result of the ruling same-sex marriage in Massachusetts began on 17 May 2004. A pre-talk reception begins at 5:30PM followed by the program which begins at 6:00PM. Registration is required and there is a $10 fee (no charge for Fellows and Members). Click here to register online, or call the MHS reservations line at 617-646-0560.
Then, on Friday, 16 May, there is another Brown Bag talk at 12:00PM. "Louisa Catherine Adams: One Woman, Many Voices," is a panel discussion about what we can learn about Louisa by listening to her different voices that emerged in letters, diaries, poetry, and memoirs. The panelists Judith Graham and Margaret Hogan are editors who have prepared Louisa's work for publication, and David Michelmore is a biographer who has used it. The discussion will be moderated by Beth Luey. This event is free and open to the public.
On Saturday, 17 May, is the MHS Tour: The History and Collections of the MHS. This 90-minute docent-led tour explores the public spaces of the Society's home at 1154 Boylston Street and touches on the art, architecture, history, and collections of the MHS. The tour is free and open to the public. No reservation is required for individuals or small groups. Parties of 8 or more should contact the MHS prior to attending a tour. For more information please contact Curator of Art Anne Bentley at 617-646-0508 or abentley@masshist.org.
Finally, a reminder that time is running out to view our current exhbition, "Tell It with Pride: The 54th Massachusetts Regiment and Augustus Saint-Gaudens' Shaw Memorial" which officially ends on Friday, 23 May. The exhibit is free and open to the public Monday-Saturday, 10:00AM-4:00PM.
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| Published: Sunday, 11 May, 2014, 12:00 PM
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