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.

This seminar will take place at the McMullen Museum at Boston College, where participants will have the opportunity to view the "Making History" exhibit following the program. This paper is drawn from Estes's forthcoming book, The Campaign for the Constitution: The Politics and Political Culture of the Ratification Debate, which focuses on the first few months after the Constitution's publication in mid September 1787. This chapter focuses on the first full month after the publication, when both the Constitution's supporters and its opponents set the rhetorical tone and the rhythms of the ratification process that followed. Estes argues that most all the features of the ratification debate were present by the end of October: a strong critique, robust defenses, negative campaigning, long essay series initiated on both sides such as "Publius" and "Brutus," as well as suggestions (rejected at first by Federalists, later agreed to) that the state conventions be allowed to propose amendments. In short, most all of the hallmarks of the debate were already part of the mix in the first month including some crucial strategic decisions. Ironically, however, this print battle was fought mainly within the states; there was no single national newspaper debate. Most of the publications for and against ratification appeared in just a few states, and most saw very few publications. Also, in retrospect, the Constitution's critics missed several golden opportunities in these early weeks, marking October 1787 as a decisive moment in the timing of the debate. Focused on the external arguments that occurred in newspapers rather than the internal debates of the ratifying conventions, Estes's book is a complement to Pauline Maier's superb work, Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788.

The opening session, featuring Michael Burlingame, Dean Grodzins, and Tony Horwitz and moderated by Carol Bundy, will address the rewards and challenges of looking at this historical moment from a biographical perspective. 

Panelists: 

Michael Burlingame is the acclaimed author of the two-volume Abraham Lincoln: A Life, which won the 2010 Lincoln Prize, and The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln, as well as several edited volumes of Lincoln primary source material. Burlingame splits his time between the University of Illinois at Springfield and the University of Connecticut at New London. 

Dean Grodzins is a Visiting Scholar at the Massachusetts Historical Society and the author of American Heretic: Theodore Parker and Transcendentalism. His current book-in-progress is A Civil War in Boston: Runaway Slaves and the Crisis of the Union.

Tony Horwitz is the author of Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War. A Pulitzer prize winning journalist and former New Yorker staff writer, his Confederates in the Attic was a New York Times Best Seller. 

Moderator: 

Carol Bundy is the author of The Nature of Sacrifice: A Biography of Charles Russell Lowell, Jr.  She is now working on a book tentatively called McClellan in Boston: The Dark Underbelly of Boston’s War for Emancipation.

Join us 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.