Massachusetts Historical Society: Press Release

MHS PRESENTS KENNEDY MEDAL TO GORDON S. WOOD

Fri, 18 May 2012 10:25:17 GMT

On May 16, the MHS honored Gordon S. Wood as the 11th recipient of the John F. Kennedy Medal. Awarded to persons who have rendered distinguished service to the cause of history, it is the highest award given by the Society. Wood, a Corresponding Fellow of the MHS since 2002 and the Alva O. Way University Professor at Brown University, was presented the medal as part of the Society's Annual Meeting. In remarks to MHS Fellows and Members he spoke about the way in which history writing has divided between the academics who write for one another and the growing numbers of popular non-academic historians who write for the general reading public.

Wood, a Corresponding Fellow of the MHS, is the Alva O. Way University Professor and Professor of History Emeritus at Brown University. Over a long career, he has authored numerous books including Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787, which won the Bancroft Prize and the John H. Dunning Prize in 1970, The Radicalism of the American Revolution, which won the Pulitzer Prize for History and the Ralph Waldo Emerson Prize in 1993, and Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815, which won the American Publishers Association Prize for History and Biography in 2010. As well, he writes frequently for The New York Review of Books and The New Republic. In 2010, Wood was awarded with the National Humanities Medal "for scholarship that provides insight into the founding of the nation and the drafting of the U.S. Constitution." Wood received his B.A. degree from Tufts University and his A.M. and Ph.D. from Harvard University under MHS Trustee Emeritus and Fellow Bernard Bailyn.

MHS President Dennis Fiori remarked, "The Society has honored ten historians with the medal since its establishment shortly after President Kennedy's death. As a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian with a long career of distinguished scholarship, it gives us particular pleasure to add Gordon Wood's name to the list of recipients."

Shortly after President Kennedy's death, the Society received several gifts designated to perpetuate his memory as an active member of the Society and a great friend of historical scholarship. The MHS determined to create a medal in President Kennedy's name and commissioned eminent artist and MHS Fellow Rudolph Ruzicka to design the medal.

The medal is awarded to persons who have rendered distinguished service to the cause of history. It is not limited to any field of history or to any particular kind of service to history. The previous recipients of the medal are Samuel Eliot Morrison (1967), Dumas Malone (1972), Thomas Boylston Adams (1976), Oscar Handlin (1991), Edmund S. Morgan (2002), Alfred DuPont Chandler, Jr. (2003), Bernard Bailyn (2004), John Hope Franklin (2005), Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (2006), and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (2009).

Photo credit: Stu Rosner

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

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:49:06 GMT

In May 1883, Clover Adams, a descendant of Boston's Sturgis and Hooper families and the wife of the historian Henry Adams, picked up her camera and began taking photographs--;of her husband, of afternoons at the beach on Boston's North Shore, and of eminent friends who frequented the Adamses' home on Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., including Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., H. H. Richardson, Francis Parkman, George Bancroft, and John Hay. Examples of these photographs are on exhibit through 2 June at the MHS. Based on guest curator and MHS Fellow Natalie Dykstra's book, Clover Adams: A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt this month, the exhibition showcases Clover's striking photographs, many of which have not been seen before in a public venue. It also highlights Clover's many letters and the notebook she used to record the chronology and technical aspects of her photographs, as well as Henry's letters and other family materials.

Clover Adams came from privilege, married into one of America's first families, and presided over a celebrated salon in Washington, D.C. She had, as a friend noted, "all she wanted, all this world could give." With her photography, she began an exploration of visual beauty that she also imbued with questions about life's meaning and a woman's place in her culture, conveying what she thought and felt not with words but with expressive, vital images. Inspiration for the composition of her photographs came from fine art she had seen and collected, and while her pictures could be playful--;her "dogs at tea" is a perfect example--;she could also evoke an intense feeling of loss, as with her photograph of the Arlington graveyard.

Clover's life began to unravel just as she became adept with this powerful new technology for recording it . A recurrent undertow of dark moods gathered force until, on a Sunday morning in December 1885, Clover committed suicide by drinking from a vial of potassium cyanide. A chemical she needed to develop her photographs had become the means of her death.

Clover's story has long been shrouded in mystery, yet she left behind clues. Most eloquent are her revelatory photographs, which invite us to look beyond the circumstances of her death and to stand with her in the world where she lived.

Diary of Thomas Jefferson's Granddaughter Published

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:57:01 GMT

The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) announced the publication of Thomas Jefferson's Granddaughter in Queen Victoria's England: The Travel Diary of Ellen Wayles Coolidge, 1838-1839. The diary, part of the Society's collections, unveils the story of Ellen Wayles Coolidge and her experiences abroad. Co-published by the Massachusetts Historical Society and Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the book was edited by Ann Lucas Birle and Lisa A. Francavilla, and is distributed by the University of Virginia Press. Books are on sale at the Massachusetts Historical Society and will soon be available on amazon.com.

In June 1838, Ellen Wayles Coolidge traveled to London with her husband, Joseph Coolidge, Jr. During her nine-month stay Coolidge recorded details of her experiences abroad and of her conversations with writers such as Thomas Carlyle and Harriet Martineau. This volume brings the full text of her diary to publication for the first time with carefully researched annotations that provide historical context. "The publication of this book is the culmination of a wonderful collaboration between the Massachusetts Historical Society and Thomas Jefferson Foundation," said MHS President Dennis Fiori.

London's docks, theaters, parks, public buildings, and museums all come under Coolidge's astute gaze as she and her husband travel the city and gradually gain entry into some of the most coveted drawing rooms of the time. Coolidge gives firsthand accounts of the fashioning of the young queen's image by the artists Charles Robert Leslie and Sir Francis Chantrey and takes notes as she watches the queen open Parliament and battle the first scandal of her reign. Her love of painting reawakened, Coolidge chronicles her opportunities to view over four hundred works of art held in both public and private collections, acknowledging a new appreciation for the modern art of J. M. W. Turner and a fondness for the Dutch masters. Across the spectrum of her observations, Coolidge's diary is always strikingly vivid and insightful--;and frequently quite funny.

Her diary entries also include memories of her family in Boston and Virginia. As she encounters her mother's schoolgirl friends and recalls the songs her grandfather, Thomas Jefferson, sang while working in his study, Coolidge's thoughts return to her youth at Monticello and the lessons she learned there.

The original four-volume travel diary that Coolidge wrote during her trip to England is housed at the MHS. In 1825, Ellen Wayles Randolph married a Bostonian, Joseph Coolidge, at Monticello and then moved to Massachusetts. The Coolidge family subsequently established a relationship with the MHS that would span generations. Thanks to the generosity of the Coolidge family, the Society is home to the second largest collection of Thomas Jefferson manuscripts and related family papers. Coolidge's travel diary came to the MHS in 1964 thanks to Jefferson descendent Mary Barton (Mrs. Edward) Churchill.

Ann Lucas Birle, co-editor of the book, is a scholar at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello. She will give a presentation about Ellen Wayles Coolidge and her diary at the MHS on 2 February 2012 at 6:00 PM. A book signing will follow. Co-editor Lisa A. Francavilla is Managing Editor of The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series.

About the Massachusetts Historical Society

The Massachusetts Historical Society is one of the nation's preeminent research libraries, with collections that provide an unparalleled record of the vibrant course of American history. Since its founding in 1791, the MHS has fostered research, scholarship, and education. With millions of pages of manuscript letters, diaries, and other documents, as well as early newspapers, broadsides, artifacts, works of art, maps, photographs, and prints, the MHS offers a wide-ranging perspective on the United States from the earliest beginnings of the nation to the present day. The library is open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 9:00 AM to 4:45 PM; Tuesday 9:00 AM to 7:45 PM, and Saturday 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The galleries are open Monday to Saturday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

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

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:31:00 GMT

Following the surrender of Fort Sumter on April 13, 1861, Northerners rallied behind Pres. Lincoln's call for states to send troops to preserve the Union. Opening October 7, the Massachusetts Historical Society's exhibition The Purchase by Blood: Massachusetts in the Civil War, 1861-1862 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 cost of war is brought home to Massachusetts.

Intended as a "slight demonstration", the battle of Ball's Bluff on October 21, 1861, was a cruel baptism to war for the 20th Mass Infantry which would ultimately rank 5th out of 2000 Union regiments for losses suffered. The death of Lt. William Lowell Putnam came to symbolize the collective loss of innocence and new found horror at the sacrifices demanded by war. Born in 1840, Putnam was a law student at Harvard College when war broke out. At the age of 21 he was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Company E, 20th Massachusetts Infantry. Visitors can read Casper Crowninshield's diary account of the battle which includes a description of Putnam's death and see images of Ball's Bluff from Sen. Baker's Defense at Balls Bluff by John D. Baltz.

The Peninsula Campaign started slowly and without much bloodshed as the Union army successfully advanced up the James Peninsula. Starting on June 25, 1861 and lasting seven days, a series of punishing battles were fought. The 20th Mass Infantry was in the worst of the fighting. Whatever ground gained was given up as the Union Army retreated to protect its lines of supply. Wounded soldiers were evacuated onto hospital ships staffed with nurses and brought to New York or Boston for care. Washington, D.C. was the most immediate location for hospital care and nurses were recruited from across the Union. Louisa May Alcott volunteered for this service. She lasted only three months before returning to Boston with a form of typhoid. On display is a letter she wrote to Hannah Stevenson in December 1862 in which she comments, "Everything here strikes me as very odd and shiftless, both within and without, people, manners customs and ways of living, but I like to watch it all and am very glad I came as this is the sort of study I enjoy."

Cedar Mountain, a minor battle early in General Pope's Shenandoah Campaign, was a costly defeat. With the temperature at 98 degrees during the most intense fighting, more than 3,000 men fell in 90 minutes. Visitors can view the letter Robert Gould Shaw wrote after finding Richard Cary's body on the field in which he states, "Cary was lying on his back with his face turned to the right and his hands crossed over his chest. He looked as if he had just fallen asleep in a comfortable position." Others showed the effects of war as well: Stephen Perkins was shot three times in the head and James Savage, taken prisoner, lost both an arm and a leg. The incompetence of Generals Banks and Pope cost the Union dearly and helped to make McClellan's incompetence on the Peninsula appear relatively benign.

September 17, 1862 was the bloodiest day of the Civil War and of all American wars. Though the Battle of Antietam raged for just one day, the losses are staggering. Of the long list of wounded and killed--;23,000 casualties in all--;it is the mortal wounding of Lt. Colonel Wilder Dwight that most shocked. Shot in the arm and thigh, his hip shattered to a degree that made moving him almost impossible, Dwight was soon trapped. For five hours he lay stranded on the Antietam battlefield, and during that time he took out a pencil and continued a note to his mother begun earlier in the day. Visitors can read this blood-stained letter displayed with his writing desk and several personal possessions. In the days following the Union victory at Antietam, Pres. Lincoln announced his intent to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Throughout the first years of the war recruiting posters were used to entice men with patriotic appeals, promises of adventure, and offers of generous bounties. In Boston, a direct appeal was made to the Irish population promising that they could march into battle flying an Irish flag and assuring the men that the chaplain would be a man of "the old faith." Several recruiting posters are on view including the 2nd Irish Regiment poster and the 1861 "Empire Course" poster that sets up the conflict as if it were a horse race at Saratoga Springs between Abe Lincoln and Jeff Davis.

By the end of the 1862, the toll of the dead and the sacrifices made for the cause of the Union had begun to shape policy and affect how soldiers and civilians understood the war. As soldiers began to question what is was that they were fighting and dying for, the Union war aim changed from a war to preserve the Union to a war for emancipation.

UNIQUE SET OF REVOLUTIONARY-ERA NEWSPAPER VOLUMES REUNITED AT THE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:33:31 GMT

BOSTON, August 2011--;The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) announced today the acquisition of the fourth volume of a set of Revolutionary-era Boston newspapers collected, annotated, and indexed by Harbottle Dorr, Jr., from 1765-1776. With the other three volumes already in the Society's collections, volume four, covering the years 1772-1776, completes the set as originally compiled by Dorr. It was auctioned at James D. Julia, Inc., an auction house in Fairfield, Maine, on August 25. The purchase was made possible through a combination of gifts to the MHS from anonymous donors and a distribution from the Society's acquisition fund.

The MHS is thrilled to have all four volumes under one roof. "This new acquisition is a wonderful complement to the Society's collections," explains Dennis Fiori, President of the Massachusetts Historical Society. "This was a rare opportunity to acquire a piece of such historical importance. Not only are we reuniting a set of significant resources on the Revolution, but we are ensuring that it remains part of the public domain."

Though not a household name, Harbottle Dorr, Jr., a shopkeeper in Boston at the time of the American Revolution, is an important historical figure due to the remarkable archive of Boston newspapers he collected between 1765 and 1776. Dorr systematically indexed the contents of the newspapers, and, as he was well versed in the heated politics of his day, he often noted the identities of anonymous contributors. The annotated volumes provide the insights of an ordinary man as the Revolution unfolded around him. In the introduction to volume four, Dorr writes, "I have thought it worth while to collect them, tho' at considerable expence, and VERY GREAT TROUBLE, in hopes that in future, they may be of some service, towards forming a POLITICAL History of this Country, during the shameful, and abandoned administration of George the third's despotic Ministry."

Former MHS Trustee Bernard Bailyn, Adams University Professor and James Duncan Phillips Professor of Early American History, emeritus, at Harvard University, notes, " those rare records that reveal what the Revolution meant to ordinary men who experienced it. The more ordinary the mind and the more typical the career, the more valuable the documentation, and there is no more ordinary active participant in the Revolution and no one who left behind a more revealing record of the inner, personal meaning of the Revolution than a Boston shopkeeper with the unlikely name of Harbottle Dorr. His passionately patriotic scribbling in the margins of the newspapers and pamphlets he collected and his comments in his superbly confused indexes to his volumes are unique in the literature of the Revolution."

Dorr divided his archive of 3,280 pages of newspapers and other documents, including pamphlets, political cartoons, and broadsheets, into four volumes. Volumes two and three were donated to the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1798 by Josiah Quincy. The first volume was acquired by the Society in 1888. The fourth volume, dating from 1772-1776, has been in the possession of the Bangor Museum and Center for History in Maine since 1914 when it was donated by Thomas Upham Coe.