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.

In American Crisis, William M. Fowler, Jr. vividly chronicles this critical, rarely documented period through the eyes of those who lived and influenced it. He reveals the internal and personal tensions that paralyzed both the British government and Congress, antagonized loyalists and patriots still reeling from the years of conflict, and roiled the army from its leadership through the ranks. In doing so, he brings original insight to the events and forces through which our independence was preserved.

William M. Fowler Jr. is Distinguished Professor of History at Northeastern University. He served as Director of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1998-2005. He is the author of Empires at War: The French and Indian War and the Struggle for North America; Jack Tars and Commodores: The American Navy, 1783--1815; The Baron of Beacon Hill: A Biography of John Hancock; and Samuel Adams: Radical Puritan.

Reservations requested: please call 617-646-0560 or register online by clicking the ticket icon above. 

In Black Gotham Carla Peterson traces her attempt to reconstruct the lives of her nineteenth-century ancestors. As she shares their stories and those of their friends, neighbors, and business associates, she illuminates the greater history of African American elites in New York City. Beginning her story in the 1820s, Peterson focuses on the pupils of the Mulberry Street School, the graduates of which went on to become eminent African American leaders. She traces their political activities as well as their many achievements in trade, business, and the professions against the backdrop of the expansion of scientific racism, the trauma of the Civil War draft riots, and the rise of Jim Crow.

The Battle of Ball's Bluff on 21 October 1861, was a harrowing baptism by fire for the 20th Massachusetts Infantry, often referred to as the "Harvard Regiment" because of its socially-elite, Harvard-educated officers. Join Stephen T. Riley Librarian Peter Drummey for a discussion of the officers and men of the regiment that also earned the terrible--but accurate--title of the "Bloody 20th" through four years of combat during the Civil War.

This session will draw from two pieces of research. One traces the shifting demographics of Boston Almshouse children and analyzes their patterns of binding out through four multi-child narratives. The other seeks to further current discussions of women’s shifting status in the early modern period by exploring the little-known role played by midwives in the colonial courtroom.

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.

Free and open to the public.

As the landmarks of architectural history are reconfigured according to the pressures of environmental crises, the Dover Sun House (1948) will likely assume a prominent position. Designed by Eleanor Raymond with the MIT engineer Maria Telkes, the house was built in 1948 on a site outside Boston. In this temperate climate, it was an "all‐solar house": there was no mechanical heating system. Winter heat was provided through a complex system of absorbing solar radiation and storing it in chemical compounds.

Today the house is not well known; neither is the fact that the late '40s was a period of intense anxiety over the depletion of energy resources. The Dover Sun House, as one of the most technologically aggressive of the solar houses in the period, was a catalyst for those arguing for the importance of "alternative energy" in the world's energy metabolism. Maria Telkes's presentations to UN conferences, corporate boardrooms, and philanthropic missions made her a central figure in a diffuse network attempting to harness the power of the sun to expand the economic and industrial possibilities of the so‐called "underdeveloped countries." This presentation will explore her exploits in the context of contemporary assumptions about the political valence of alternative energy technologies.

The Battle of Ball's Bluff on 21 October 1861, was a harrowing baptism by fire for the 20th Massachusetts Infantry, often referred to as the "Harvard Regiment" because of its socially-elite, Harvard-educated officers. Join Stephen T. Riley Librarian Peter Drummey for a discussion of the officers and men of the regiment that also earned the terrible--but accurate--title of the "Bloody 20th" through four years of combat during the Civil War.

Mary Dyer and Anne Hutchinson's alleged monstrous births have attracted the attention of scholars working in diverse fields. Rather than seeking a scientific explanation for these events, this project considers the various iterations of these stories as a literary endeavor. If we accept, however reluctantly, that monsters are not real, understanding these stories begins with Winthrop's imagination, rather than with Hutchinson or Dyer's womb.

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.

Free and open to the public.

The MHS is closed for the holidays. Exhibition galleries open 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, 27-30 December. The research library will be closed from 24 December through 2 January.

The MHS is closed for the holidays.

The MHS is closed for the holidays.

The research library is closed for the holidays, however the exhibition galleries are open 10 AM to 4 PM.

The research library is closed for the holidays, however the exhibition galleries are open 10 AM to 4 PM.

The research library is closed for the holidays, however the exhibition galleries are open 10 AM to 4 PM.

The research library is closed for the holidays, however the exhibition galleries are open 10 AM to 4 PM.