This Month at the MHS

In 1790, the Rev. Jeremy Belknap proposed a "Plan for an Antiquarian Society" that would actively collect materials for a "complete history" of the new nation. A year later, Belknap's plan became the "Historical Society"--now the Massachusetts Historical Society--the oldest historical organization in the Western Hemisphere. The ten original members donated books, pamphlets, newspapers, maps and atlases, almanacs, printed sermons, manuscripts, and examples of early Massachusetts coinage from their personal collections. From September 2011 through March 2012, view a selection of the Society's earliest acquisitions in the new Treasures Gallery. The exhibition is free and open to the public, Monday through Saturday, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

The MHS exhibition complements "Making History: Antiquaries in Britain," an exhibition celebrating the tercentenary of the Society of Antiquaries of London, now on display at the McMullen Museum at Boston College until December 11, 2011.

"Contested Commerce" is one section of a long chapter of Gilje's current book project, "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights: The Origins, Rhetoric, and Memory of the War of 1812." The book itself builds on his presidential address for the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, which was published in the Journal of the Early Republic. Free trade did not emerge as a cause of the War of 1812 uncontested. In 1803 the British and the French resumed hostilities. Congress struggled to respond to this threat to American commerce, and Republicans and Federalists called upon their shared revolutionary heritage to control the language and legacy of free trade. As the Federalists attacked limitations on commerce established by the Embargo of 1807, they merged the concept of free trade as neutral trade with the idea of free trade as commerce without government limitations. In the end, however, the inability to solve the dilemma of sustaining American commerce in a world at war allowed the Republicans to proclaim free trade as a central reason for the War of 1812.

Lucero's presentation will focus on race and race relations in Cienfuegos, particularly as they played out on an American-owned plantation. Research on Bostonian Edwin F. Atkins and his plantation in Soleded will form the basis for this program.

Members and Fellows of the MHS are invited to attend a special previewreception of the Society's fall exhibition. The evening will begin with remarksby guest curator and MHS Fellow Carol Bundy.

The Education Department of the Massachusetts Historical Society is participating in a two-day workshop sponsored by the Civil War Trust. Workshop sessions include a tour of the Black Heritage Trail, a tour of Fort Warren, and lectures and discussions with outstanding Civil War historians. The $100 refundable workshop deposit includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner on the first day, as well as breakfast on the second day. Participants will also receive a hard copy of the Trust's Civil War Curriculum, complete with 27 lesson plans, including all associated worksheets and a disk with all digital materials 

For additional information, including schedules and registration procedures, visit the Civil War Trust website.

Join us as we open our doors as part of the Fenway Alliance's Opening Our Doors, Boston's largest single day of free arts and cultural events. On this day, the institutions that make up the Fenway Alliance along with community partner organizations welcome neighbors near and far to enjoy an unparalleled array of free activities for everyone. Visitors to the MHS will be able to enjoy the Society's fall exhibition The Purchase by Blood: Massachusetts in the Civil War, 1861-1862 . Also on view is "Like a Wolf for the Prey": The Massachusetts Historical Society Collection Begins.

The middle of the nineteenth century was an era of sail and water that capitalized on the Cape's rich fishing grounds, forests, and marshes. This paper will focus on the environmental impact of the regime of resource utilization of extraction and production. It will explore why that environmental impact led to the crash of the regime.   The essay will then consider the emergence of the regime of tourism and the environmental impact of that regime. The example of Captain Lorenzo Dow Baker, who went before the Wellfleet town meeting in 1906 and argued that the community should spend tens of thousands of dollars dyking the tidal inlets to the town's saltwater marshes to cut down on mosquitoes and encourage tourism, provides an example of this shift and the underlying themes.

As America marks the 150th anniversary of our defining national drama, Adam Goodheart presents a gripping and original account of how the Civil War began.1861 is an epic of courage and heroism beyond the battlefields. Early in that fateful year, a second American revolution unfolded, inspiring a new generation to reject their parents' faith in compromise and appeasement, to do the unthinkable in the name of an ideal. It set Abraham Lincoln on the path to greatness, and millions of slaves on the road to freedom.

Adam Goodheart is a historian, essayist, and journalist. His articles have appeared in National Geographic, Outside, Smithsonian, The Atlantic, and The New York Times Magazine, among others, and he is a regular columnist for the Times' acclaimed Civil War series, "Disunion." He lives in Washington, D.C., and on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where he is director of Washington College's C. V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience. Reservations requested: Please call 617-646-0560 or register online.

This paper will explore women's aging in the early twentieth century amidst rapidly rising life expectancy, an exploding American youth culture, and the interrelated claims that modern life was taking a disproportionately heavy physical toll on women. By the 1920s, popular descriptions of women's aging made growing old the equivalent of growing careless; women aged when they grew careless of appearance, careless of diet, and careless about maintaining active social lives. Popular culture stressed that it was crucial for them to look and to be young in the fast-paced modern world, where confidence, health, and energy were essential to success.Meanwhile, even as women's political, economic, and social roles expanded, doctors warned that women's activities outside the home were causing them to deteriorate physically and to age prematurely. Significantly, the things they pointed to as the causes of women's supposed ill health and premature aging-working outside the home, staying up late, wearing short skirts and make-up, exercising, smoking, drinking, and dieting-were the very things that women were doing by the 1920s to define themselves as modern, and even as young.

-------------------
PDF DOWNLOAD: /events/downloads/Veit Paper.pdf

REGISTRATION METHOD: subscription,

Just in time for Halloween, the MHS brings out some of the more gloriously gruesome items from its vast historical collections. Come enjoy a festive cocktail reception while learning about the stories and illustrious people behind such items as a fish hook made from human bone. This special event is open to current Associate Members and interested members of the public age 40 and under. Reservations are required. Register online or call 617-646-0560.