Upcoming Events

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Past Events

Thu, July 15, 2021 ,

​Blanche Ames Ames (1878-1969) was an artist, an activist, a builder, an inventor, a birth control maverick, and a leader of the woman suffrage movement in Massachusetts. She was a woman of…

Tue, July 13, 2021 ,

Please register through the Boston Athenaeum

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Fri, July 09, 2021 ,

Join Peter Drummey, Chief Historian and Stephen T. Riley Librarian, for a closer look at our newest online exhibition. With millions of letters, diaries, photographs, and objects in our holdings,…

Thu, July 08, 2021 ,

For all that is known about the depth and breadth of African American history, we still understand surprisingly little about the lives of African American children. But hidden in institutional…

Wed, June 30, 2021 ,

If the United States couldn’t catch up to the Soviets in space, how could it compete with them on Earth? That was the question facing John F. Kennedy at the height of the Cold War. On February 20…

Thu, June 17, 2021 ,

The MHS Annual Meeting will be held via Zoom webinar, at 3:30 pm on Thursday, June 17, 2021. This annual meeting’s purpose is to hold elections…

Tue, June 15, 2021 ,

From a small expanse of land on the North American continent came four of the nation's first five presidents—a geographic dynasty whose members led a revolution, created a nation, and ultimately…

Mon, June 14, 2021 ,

For generations, Americans have looked to education as the solution to economic disadvantage. Yet, although more people are earning degrees, the gap between rich and poor is widening. The…

Wed, June 09, 2021 ,

Charles Stuart, a white man, murdered his wife and unborn child in Boston in 1989 and falsely blamed the attack on a nonexistent Black man. Believing Stuart’s lie, the police engaged in a massive…

Thu, June 03, 2021 ,

This panel will look at the grassroots LGBT periodicals that originated in Boston during the modern gay liberation era and evolved to become critical resources for LGBT communities all over the…

Tue, June 01, 2021 ,

In 1869, the first transcontinental railroad had made history by linking East and West.  Relying heavily on federal grants, it left an opening for two brash new railroad men, the Civil War hero…

Wed, May 26, 2021 ,

When we talk about patriotism in America, we tend to mean one form: the version captured in shared celebrations like the national anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance. But as Ben Railton argues,…

Wed, May 19, 2021 ,

In the 1980s, Massachusetts embraced the War on Drugs, enacting harsh mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. It took decades to confront the reality that, in addition to being…

Mon, May 17, 2021 ,

It may be difficult to imagine that a consequential black electoral politics evolved in the United States before the Civil War, for as of 1860, the overwhelming majority of African Americans…

Tue, May 04, 2021 ,

This seminar honors the legacy and career of noted Harvard historian and MHS Life Trustee Bernard Bailyn. In his lengthy career, Prof. Bailyn explored and wrote about various areas in Early…

Mon, May 03, 2021 ,

[ Edited, closed captioned version above. For an unedited ASL-interpreted version of this video, go to https://youtu.be/mn1L8ryujUI ]

Alexander…

Thu, April 29, 2021 ,

Is fashion art or commerce? Frivolous or full of meaning? Is fashion evidence? This panel brings together Caroline Weber, author of Queen of Fashion: What Marie-Antoinette Wore to the Revolution…

Wed, April 28, 2021 ,

The Young Patrons Committee invites you to a riveting hour with MHS President Catherine Allgor!

SIP your favorite cocktail (or mocktail) at this virtual event and hear new…