newsletter

January 2012

Recent MHS Acquisitions Span One Century and Three Wars

The MHS continues to acquire a steady stream of fascinating smaller collections covering a wide range of topics, and the last few months have been no exception. Among our recent acquisitions are four documents related to Indian affairs and the work of Indian agents in the colonies during the French and Indian War and the American Revolution; a 1750 diary of Marshfield, Massachusetts doctor, John Thomas, who would later serve with distinction in the Revolutionary War; and the papers of Union soldier Frederic Augustus James, consisting primarily of letters from James to his wife and young daughters, 1862-1864. Read more about these new acquisitions.

New Environmental History Fellowship Opportunity

The MHS is pleased to announce a new short-term research fellowship established through the generosity of Cushing Academy, a private, coeducational college preparatory school located in Ashburnham, Massachusetts. The Cushing Academy Fellowship on Environmental History will support four weeks of research in the Society's collections on any topic related to the field of environmental history. The deadline for submissions is 1 March. For information on the Cushing Academy Fellowship—as well as other fellowship competitions at the MHS—please visit www.masshist.org/fellowships, or contact Kate Viens at fellowships@masshist.org or 617-646-0568.

National Archives Awards MHS $148,000 Grant

The Adams Papers editorial project at the MHS received a grant from the National Archives and Records Administration in the amount of $148,246 to edit the papers of John Adams, the second president of the United States. This was one of 40 grants awarded totaling $2.5 million for historical records projects. The National Archives grants program is carried out through the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). Learn more and see a complete list of grants awarded.

K-12 Educators Apply Now! At the Crossroads of Revolution Summer Workshop

The MHS is teaming up with Minute Man National Park, the Concord Museum, the Old Manse, and other sites in Lexington, Concord, and Boston for two one-week Landmarks Institutes for K-12 educators, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. At the Crossroads of Revolution: Lexington, Concord, and Boston in 1775 is designed to immerse K-12 educators in the evocative 18th-century landscapes of Lexington, Concord, and Boston. Participants will examine the decisions and dilemmas involved in the events of 1775 as well as the subsequent interpretations and uses of those events. The sessions are scheduled for 22 to 27 July and 5 to 10 August. Visit www.masshist.org/crossroads to learn more about the workshop and how to apply. Completed applications must be postmarked by 1 March.

Considering the Common Good: What We Give Up/What We Gain

The Society's Conversation Series for 2012 explores the intersection of individual and collective goals while addressing issues of self-interest and shared sacrifice, private concerns and community benefits. Facilitated by Prof. Stephen Marini of Wellesley College, guests use historical and contemporary examples to illustrate approaches, promises, successes and failures. In the ensuing conversations, guests and audience members will explore the challenges and choices involved in defining and balancing individual freedom and the common good. In this series, Alan Rogers examines the contested intersection of faith healing and the First Amendment and a history of the antivaccination movement; Brian Donahue explores how New Englanders have engaged with their land and environment; and Lewis Hyde discusses the idea of a "cultural commons." Learn more at www.masshist.org/events.

Object of the Month

Souvenir of a "Splendid Exhibition": Cupid as Drawn by Maelzel's Automaton, the Juvenile Artist

Among the artwork in the Minot family papers is a drawing of Cupid practicing archery dated 29 April 1835. The drawing would be entirely unremarkable if rendered by a human hand, but amazingly it was drawn by an automaton machine, a clockwork boy capable of tracing out various pictures and poems. At the time, this automaton was known as Maelzel's Juvenile Artist, named after Johann Nepomuk Maelzel (1772-1838), the best known exhibitor of automata in early-19th-century America. Read more about automata and Johann Nepomuk Maelzel.

Looking at the Civil War: Massachusetts Finds Her Voice

January 1862: "You've no idea of the fearful state of the camp ground..."

Letter from Charles Fessenden Morse to Robert Morse, 31 January 1862

In a letter Lieut. Charles Fessenden Morse wrote on 31 January 1862 to his brother, he gives a detailed description of the poor conditions that the Second Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry endured at Cantonment Hicks, just outside Frederick, Maryland, during the long winter months of 1862. He also tells of the adventuresome journey he shared with his good friend and fellow officer Lieut. Robert Gould Shaw when they secured a brief leave from their military duties to visit friends stationed in Annapolis. Shaw would go on to lead the 54th Massachusetts, the first regiment of African American soldiers. Read more about Charles Fessenden Morse.

On View

Closing 13 January: The Purchase by Blood: Massachusetts in the Civil War, 1861-1862

Following the surrender of Fort Sumter on 13 April 1861, Northerners rallied behind President Lincoln's call for states to send troops to preserve the Union. The Society's exhibition follows a small group of officers—husbands, brothers, and friends of the first families of Massachusetts—through the first years of the Civil War. These young men, like so many, wanted to feel the glory of combat and enlisted with a sense of adventure and unquestioning patriotism. Not anticipated was the bloody aftermath of early conflicts—the Battle of Ball's Bluff, the Seven Days Battle, the Battle of Cedar Mountain, the Battle of Antietam—and the horrifying loss of life and optimism. This exhibition showcases letters, photographs, broadsides, journals, and works of art surrounding one group of men as the price of war is brought home to Massachusetts.

"Like a Wolf for the Prey": The Massachusetts Historical Society Collection Begins

In 1790, 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 MHS—the oldest historical organization in the Western Hemisphere. The 10 original members donated books, pamphlets, newspapers, maps and atlases, almanacs, printed sermons, manuscripts, and examples of early Massachusetts coinage from their personal collections. A selection of the Society's earliest acquisitions including the letter Paul Revere wrote to Jeremy Belknap describing his famous ride, will be on view in the new Treasures Gallery through March 2012.

Upcoming: A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life: The Photographs of Clover Adams, 1883-1885

The striking photographs of Clover Adams, the wife of historian and author Henry Adams, reveal the social scene of gilded age Boston and Washington, D.C., while also opening hidden pathways to her inner life. They tell a story—her story. Opening 9 February, the exhibition features many of Clover's images, some of which have never been shown publicly, along with Clover's many letters, the notebook she used to record information about her photography, Henry's letters, and other family materials.A special preview for Fellows and Members will be held on 8 February. Gallery talks are scheduled throughout the winter and spring.

Exhibitions are free and open to the public, Monday through Saturday, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

MHS Events Calendar

Wednesday, 11 January 12:00 PM

Brown Bag

Millington Bergeson-Lockwood, George Mason University

African American Politics and the Boundaries of Citizenship in Post-Civil War Boston

Wednesday, 18 January 12:00 PM

Brown Bag

Judith Graham and Beth Luey, Massachusetts Historical Society

Fifty Years and Two Continents: The Diaries and Memoirs of Louisa Catherine Adams

Tuesday, 24 January 5:15 PM

Environmental History Seminar

Nate Deshmukh Towery, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Moving Heaven and [Fish, Whales, and Shells]: Official Interest in the Marine Resources of Massachusetts, 1620-1791

Comment: Matthew McKenzie, University of Connecticut, Avery Point

Tuesday, 31 January 5:15 PM

Immigration and Urban History Seminar

Arissa Oh, Boston College

Orphan Evacuation or Big Business? The Institutionalization of Korean Adoption

Comment: Susan Zeiger, Primary Source

Wednesday, 1 February 12:00 PM

Brown Bag

Robyn McMillin, University of Oklahoma

Science in the American Style, 1690-1820: Texts, Objects, and Ideas in Popular Practice

Thursday, 2 February 5:30 PM Reception; 6:00 PM Talk

Author Talk

Ann Lucas Birle, International Center for Jefferson Studies

Thomas Jefferson's Granddaughter in Queen Victoria's England: The Travel Diary of Ellen Wayles Coolidge, 1838-1839, a co-publication by the MHS and Thomas Jefferson Foundation

Reservations required

Tuesday, 7 February 5:15 PM

Early American History Seminar

J. L. Bell, Boston 1775

Marital Infidelity and Espionage in the Siege of Boston

Comment: Robert Allison, Suffolk University

Wednesday, 8 February 6:00 PM

Exhibition Preview and Reception for MHS Fellows and Members

Attend a special preview reception of A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life: The Photographs of Clover Adams, 1883-1885. The evening will begin with remarks by guest curator and MHS Fellow Natalie Dykstra.

Reservations required

Thursday, 9 February 5:30 PM

History of Women and Gender Seminar

Ruth Feldstein, Rutgers University at Newark

Performing Civil Rights: Black Women Entertainers, the "Long" Civil Rights Movement, and Second Wave Feminism

Comment: Daphne Brooks, Princeton University

This program will be held at the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe

All events are free and open to the public and held at the MHS unless otherwise noted. Reservations are requested for most public programs. There is a charge to receive seminar papers in advance.

For complete event and RSVP information, visit the MHS online calendar: www.masshist.org/events.

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