The Massachusetts Historical Society is recognizing the 150th anniversary of the Civil War with online presentations of manuscripts selected from its collections, lectures by noted Civil War scholars, and exhibitions in our second floor gallery space.

Web Features

Items from the monthly Civil War featureLooking at the Civil War: Massachusetts Finds Her Voice

This monthly feature showcases Civil War-era materials from the Massachusetts Historical Society's rich collections.  Please visit each month and examine a selection from the Society's collection of unique manuscript and visual materials that conveys how the people of Massachusetts experienced the war in that month 150 years ago. 

Massachusetts in the Civil War, 1861-1862

View a selection of documents, photographs, broadsides, and maps featured in the exhibition, The Purchase by Blood: Massachusetts in the Civil War (see details below).

Events

Front of 1154 Boylston StreetUpcoming Events

  • 19 January 2013, 2:00 P.M. America’s Second Revolution: New England, Old England, & the Civil War. More information...
  • 11 February 2012, 6:00 P.M. Lincoln & Liberty, Too. More information...
  • 4-6 Apri, 2013, Conference: Massachusetts and the Civil War: the Commonwealth and National Discunion. More information....
  • 28 April 2013, 2:00 P.M. Authors & Abolitionists: A Walking Tour of Concord, Mass. More information...
  • 16 May 2013, 6:00 P.M. The Tender Heart and Brave: The Politics and Friendship of Charles Sumner and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. More information...
  • 29 May 2013, 6:00 P.M. Sounds of the Civil War.  More information...

Past Events

  • 27 November 2012, 6:00 P.M. The Confederacy in History, Myth, & Memory. More information...
  • 19 November 2012, 6:00 P.M. Cotton & Race in the Making of Massachusetts & America. More information...
  • 17 November 2011, 6:00 P.M., Daughters of the Union: Northern Women Fight the Civil War . More information ...
  • 6 November 2011, 2:00 P.M., Civil War Walking Tour. More information ...
  • 25 October 2011, 12:00 P.M., The Trent Affair. More information ...
  • 12 October 2011, 6:00 P.M., 1861: The Civil War Awakening. More information ...
  • 17 September 2011, 2:00 P.M., The Trent Affair. More information ...
  • 13 August 2011, 2:00 P.M., Citizenship Through Civil War Service. More information ...
  • 12 April 2011, 12:00 P.M., A Crisis in Leadership: Massachusetts on the Eve of the Civil War. More information ...
  • 19 March 2011, from 10 AM to 3 PM, the Massachusetts Historical Society will kick off its sesquicentennial commemoration of the Civil War with its spring Open House. More information ...
  • 17 February 2011, 6 P.M.:  "To Place the Federal Govt on the Side of Freedom": Remembering Charles Sumner. Special lecture by Beverly Wilson Palmer. More information ...

Exhibitions

  • The Purchase by Blood: Massachusetts in the Civil War, 1861-1862 
    The Society’s fall 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. From 7 October 2011 through 13 January 2012 the MHS will display letters, photographs, broadsides, journals, and works of art that illustrate the price of war as it is brought home to Massachusetts. The exhibition is free and open to the public, Monday through Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM.

Publications

MHS Bookshelf of Selected Reprints: Civil War Series

Affordable paperback editions of four classic titles in Civil War history, published by the MHS in the early decades of the 20th century and comprised primarily of selections from letters and diaries in the Society's collections.  More information ...

Classroom Tools

The Education Department offers a variety of resources related to the Civil War for K-12 educators, including primary-source-based lesson plans, workshops, and online resources. More information ...

Additional Links

  • Massachusetts 54th Regiment--Web presentation of photographs and a few broadsides relating to the first black regiment that fought in the Civil War.  
  • Celebrating Lincoln--Web displays of manuscripts, artifacts, portraits, and sculpture relating to Abraham Lincoln drawn from the MHS collections.