This Week @ MHS

Here are the events scheduled for the week ahead:

- Tuesday, 7 February, 5:15PM : First up this week is a seminar from the Early American History series. "The Coromantee War in Jamaica: Charting the Course of an Atlantic Slave Revolt" is presented by Vincent Brown of Harvard University and discusses the African diasporic warfare in the Americas. The talk is drawn from Brown's current book project which puts the Jamaican Revolt of 1760-1761 in the context of a dramatic series of 17th- and 18th-century revolts and conspiracies that were staged by enslaved Africans from the Gold Coast, known widely as "Coromantees." Malick Ghachem of MIT provides comment. Seminars are free and open to the public; RSVP required. Subscribe to receive advance copies of the seminar papers.

- Wednesday, 8 February, 6:00PM : Join us for a talk with Kenneth Rendell of the Museum of World War II, a noted collector and dealer of historical documents and artifacts. The collection, open to the public and dedicated to preserving and exhibiting the reality of World War II, is made up of over 7,000 artifacts and more that 500,000 documents and photographs. In this program, "Collecting the World at War, 1919-1946," Rendell discusses the challenges he's faced in the past 58 yeras of collection, globally, the most cataclysmic event of modern times. This talk is open to the public; registraiton is required at a fee of $20 (no charge for MHS Fellows or Members). A pre-talk reception begins at 5:30PM and the talk starts at 6:00PM.

- Saturday, 11 February, 9:00AM : "Abraham Lincoln & Emancipation" is a teacher workshop open to K-12 educators. MHS staff and participants will use primary sources from the Society's collection to discuss and debate Lincoln's grounds for opposing slavery and his thoughts on colonization, abolition, and gradual emancipation. The group will be joined by Kevin M. Levin, author of Civil War Memory. Registration is required with a fee of $25. Please email education@masshist.org or call 617-646-0557 for more information or to register.

There is no public tour this week.

Rembember to stop by to view our current exhibition, Turning Points in American History. The exhibit is free and open to the public Monday-Saturday, 10:00AM-4:00PM. Your last chance to view this exhibit is on Saturday, 25 February, its final day.

This Week @ MHS

February starts slowly at the MHS. As we leave January behind it is a fairly quiet week here at the MHS. Here is what is to come:

- Wednesday, 1 February, 12:00PM : Pack a lunch and come by for a Brown Bag talk with Andrea Gray of George Mason University and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. "'Leaving their callings': Retirement in the Early Republic" looks at elderly men in the early national period who voluntarily left their public careers and permanently returned to domestic life. By examining their motives, how they spent their retired years, and the impression they made on their fellow Americans, we gain important insights into the relationship between aging, work and public service, gender, and republican civic virtue. This talk is free and open to the public. 

- Saturday, 4 February, 10:00AM : The History and Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society Tour is a 90-minute 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: Turning Points in American History. This exhibition ends on Saturday, 25 February, so don't wait!

This Week @ MHS

It's a pretty busy week ahead for programs at the Society. Here is what's on tap:

- Monday, 23 January, 12:00PM : Come on in at lunchtime for a Brown Bag talk. "'Faraway Women' and the Atlantic Monthly" discusses Ellery Sedgwick, editor of the Atlantic Monthly from 1908-1938, and the "Faraway Women" who were viewed as a defining feature of his career: women who published in the Atlantic accounts of unusual life experiences in Europe, Asia, the American South, and, most especially, the American West. The talk is presented by Cathryn Halverson of the University of Groningen. This talk is free and open to the public. 

- Tuesday, 24 January, 5:15PM : This week's seminar is from the Modern American Society and Culture series and is a panel discussion. "Urban History on the Digital Frontier" features Vivek Bald of MIT, Jack A. Dougherty of Trinity College, and Marilynn S. Johnson of Boston College. Bald is working on a transmedia project that includes a digital oral history website; Dougherty and his students are writing an open-access book which features interactive maps and oral history videos; Johnson's Global Boston is a public history website combining student research, oral history, and a curated selection of digitized primary sources, images and maps documenting the local immigrant experience. The discussion is moderated by Douglas O'Reagan of MIT. Seminars are free and open to the public; RSVP required. Subscribe to receive advance copies of the seminar papers.

- Thursday, 26 January, 6:00PM : Please join us for a special author talk which will feature a discussion between Stephen Kinzer of the Boston Globe, and Emmy Award-winning host of Here and Now, Robin Young. The discussion focuses on Kinzer's latest book, The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire. In asking how the United States should act in the world, Kinzer reveals a piece of forgotten history and transports us to the dawn of the 20th century, when the United States first found itself with the chance to dominate faraway lands. This talk is open to the public, registration required with a fee of $20 (No charge for MHS Fellows or Members). There is a pre-talk reception at 5:30PM and the program begins at 6:00PM. 

- Saturday, 28 January, 10:00AM : The History and Collections of the MHS is a 90-minute docent-led walk through the public rooms of the Society's home on Boylston Street. The tour is free and open to the public with no reservations needed for individuals or small groups. Larger parties (8 or more), please contact Curator of Art Anne Bentley in advance at 617-646-0508 or abentley@masshist.org. While you're here you will also have the opportunity to view our current exhibition: Turning Points in American History.

- Saturday, 28 January, 1:00PM : The next installment of our Begin at the Beginning series looks at Medical and Surgical Care in Puritan New England. From bloodletting to powders made from roasted toads, medical care in early New England was of uncertain value to the patient. In this discussion of primary documents led by Sid Levitsky of Harvard Medical School, we’ll explore the foundations of 17^th century English medicine and surgery and the practice of medicine in New England. Please RSVP. This event is done in cooperation with the Partnership of Historic Bostons. 

This Week @ MHS

The Society is CLOSED on Monday, 16 January, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Here are the events on the schedule this week:

- Wednesday, 18 January, 12:00PM : "The Fight for Women's Equality in the Anti-Slavery Movement, 1833-1840" is a Brown Bag talk with Louis Knight, author of Jane Addams: Spirit in Action. The talk examines ow some early feminist abolitionists sought to integrate women into the American Antislavery Society beginning in 1833 and finally succeeding in 1840, illustrating how these women were inspired by a groundbreaking feminist vision for a genderblind democracy. This talk is free and open to the public. 

- Wednesday, 18 January, 6:00PM : Loom, a new book of poetry by Kevin Gallagher, explores the difficult relations between the northern textile mills and the cotton produced by the southern slave economy. This author talk is open to the public and registration is required with a fee of $10 (no charge for MHS Members or Fellows). There is a pre-talk reception at 5:30 with light refreshments, and the program begins at 6:00PM. 

- Thursday, 19 January, 5:30PM : "Publishing Lives: How It's Done, and Who Does It" is part of the New England Biography Seminar series. Deanne Urmy, Senior Executive Editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Jill Kneerim of the Kneerim & Williams literary agency, both of whom are actively engaged in publishing biography, will be joined by Laura Claridge, author of the just-published The Lady with the Borzoi: Blanche Knopf, Literary Tastemaker Extraordinaire. Their conversation will widen out from biography itself to the workings of the literary marketplace, then and now. The discussion is moderated by Megan Marshall. Seminars are free and open to the public; RSVP required. Subscribe to receive advance copies of the seminar papers.

- Saturday, 21 January, 10:00AM : The History and Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society Tour is a 90-minute 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: Turning Points in American History.