In Death Lamented: The Tradition of Anglo-American Mourning Jewelry

The exhibition features some of the most exemplary types of mourning jewelry from early gold bands with death’s head iconography to jeweled brooches and intricately woven hairwork pieces

Mourning jewels, tangible expressions of love and sorrow, are the focus of In Death Lamented on view at the MHS 28 September 2012 through 31 January 2013. The exhibition features more than 80 objects representing some of the best examples of this type of jewelry. Drawn from the collections of the MHS and Guest Curator Sarah Nehama as well as loans from the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Historic New England in Boston, and the Adams National Historical Park in Quincy, exhibition highlights include the Society’s Adams-Winthrop commemorative seal ring containing the braided hair of John Quincy Adams and a gold memorial ring for Queen Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach from the collections of Sarah Nehama.

The jewelry included in the exhibition illustrates some of the most exemplary types, from early gold bands with death’s head iconography to bejeweled brooches and the intricately woven hairwork pieces of the Civil War era. Two examples in the exhibition are the Society’s double heart locket made to commemorate the death of Mary (Partridge) Belcher in 1736 and Sarah Nehama’s Jonathan Deare Brooch/Pendant from 1796. Displayed within the larger context of the mourning rites that our New England ancestors brought with them, these relics attest to the basic human emotion of grief and the need to remain connected to those gone before.

Guest Curator Sarah Nehama, a Boston jeweler and mourning jewelry collector, describes her personal connection to the exhibition: “I've been collecting mourning and sentimental jewelry since 2005, focusing primarily on examples from the 18th and early 19th centuries.” She continues, “My experience as a volunteer at the MHS photographing and cataloging its extensive mourning jewelry collection inspired me to propose this collaboration with the Society to showcase both collections and place them in a historical and cultural context.”

A full-color companion book, In Death Lamented: The Tradition of Anglo-American Mourning Jewelry, available for sale at the MHS, will feature photographs and descriptions of all of the Nehama and MHS pieces, along with historical and stylistic backgrounds and essays pertaining to cultural practices around death and mourning in England and America.

About the Guest Curator and Author
Sarah Nehama is a designer/jeweler who works in precious metals and gemstones. She sells her work through galleries, at juried shows, and to private customers. Sarah has a degree in art history and studied jewelry making in Boston and New York. She is a collector of antique mourning and sentimental jewelry and currently resides in Boston.

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THE MOST MEMORABLE DAY IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICA: JULY 2, 1776

Exhibition features original printing of the Declaration of Independence and letters written by John Adams and Abigail Adams

On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress resolved "That these United Colonies are, and of right, ought to be, Free and Independent States." In a letter written to Abigail Adams on July 3, 1776, John Adams reflected on the event and summed up what it meant for Americans of his own time and in the future. He writes that the day will be celebrated with, "Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other." Adams seems to have understood more clearly than any other member of the Continental Congress the momentous importance of the vote for independence on July 2, 1776 and how it should be celebrated. He was right about everything except the date. On July 2, in celebration of America's independence, the MHS will open an exhibition of letters and documents celebrating this important moment in United States history. The exhibition will be on display through August 31. 

The exhibition showcases national treasures including one of the first printings of the Declaration of Independence, Abigail Adams’ most celebrated letter to her husband in which she urges him to "Remember the ladies," and the letter John Adams writes to his wife describing his reaction to the vote for independence. This letter is the cornerstone of the exhibition. Adams writes, “The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival.”

Among the highlights of the exhibition are John Adams’ and Thomas Jefferson's handwritten copies of the Declaration of Independence. Also on display is one of only 25 known copies of the first Dunlap printing of the Declaration. On July 4, 1776, the committee that had drafted the Declaration of Independence presented their corrected and approved text to the printing shop of John Dunlap. He printed a limited number of copies that were carried to the army, as well as to the cities and towns of the newly declared United States.

Independence was publically proclaimed in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776, in New York on July 9, 1776, and in Boston on July 18, 1776. Featured in the exhibition is a letter Abigail Adams wrote to her husband on July 21, 1776, in which she describes hearing the Declaration of Independence read in Boston. “Last Thursday after hearing a very Good Sermon I went with the Multitude into Kings Street to hear the proclamation for independance read and proclamed.” She continues, “As soon as he ended, the cry from the Belcona, was God Save our American States and then 3 cheers which rended the air, the Bells rang, the privateers fired, the forts and Batteries, the cannon were discharged, the platoons followed and every face appeard joyfull.”

Additional Information
To complement the exhibition, the Society will present two gallery talks. On July 2 at 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM, Stephen T. Riley Librarian Peter Drummey will talk about the exhibition and explain why John Adams believed July 2, 1776 would be the most memorable day in the history of America. The talks are free and open to the public.

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MR. MADISON’S WAR: THE CONTROVERSIAL WAR OF 1812

In 1812, Massachusetts was bitterly divided along partisan political lines and a wave of popular protests greeted the declaration of war on 18 June. The Massachusetts Historical Society is commemorating the bicentennial of the War of 1812 with an exhibition that examines the controversial nature of the war in Massachusetts and the struggles between the Federalists and Jeffersonian Republicans.  Open 18 June  through 8 September, Mr. Madison’s War: The Controversial War of 1812 showcases a number of letters, broadsides, artifacts, and images from the Society's rich collections including a midshipman's log of the USS Constitution describing the ship's first great victory, letters written by John Quincy Adams to his mother while serving as the American minister to Russia, and a brass cannon captured from the British at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815.

In Massachusetts there was strong opposition to the war, which had a profound effect on the region’s maritime economy. Seaports had suffered through a financially disastrous trade embargo during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, and now Jeffersonian Republicans, under Pres. James Madison, had started a war with the world’s most powerful navy. The development of the controversial political strategy of gerrymandering added to the strife within Massachusetts. Federalists coined the term “Gerrymander” to describe the Republican attempt in Massachusetts to retain power through redistricting, a scheme they attributed to Republican Gov. Elbridge Gerry. A political carton of the salamander-shaped Essex County will be featured in the exhibition.

The failure of the American invasion of Canada in 1812 was offset by dramatic victories at sea by the tiny United States Navy.  Midshipman Frederic Baury served on the frigate Constitution during victorious cruises early in the war, and in 1814 sailed to glory—and into legend—on the sloop Wasp.  Among the many treasures on display is a log from the Constitution kept by Baury describing the ship’s first great victory on 19 August 1812.
 
When the British raided the coast of Massachusetts in the summer of 1814, Gov. Caleb Strong called a special session of the Massachusetts legislature. Antiwar sentiment was so strong that the Union appeared to be in danger. Massachusetts invited the other New England states to send delegates to a meeting in Hartford on 15 December, to draft constitutional amendments that would protect New England interests. Supporters of the war suspected that the convention, meeting in secret, was a secessionist plot. However, a number of the delegates to the convention were political moderates who hoped to forestall the secessionist movement by obtaining concessions from the U.S. Congress. After the Convention adjourned, Governor Strong sent a committee to Washington in an attempt to obtain federal funds for the defense of Massachusetts. The delegation was ridiculed in a Republican cartoon that will be on display. The cartoon depicts the three men sailing to Washington in a vessel resembling a chamber pot.
   
Almost from the moment that war began, President Madison attempted to end hostilities through diplomacy, but both sides were reluctant to make concessions until after they suffered military setbacks. Great Britain rejected a Russian offer to mediate in 1813, but early in 1814 both sides agreed to send envoys to Ghent in Belgium. John Quincy Adams led the team of delegates from the U. S. Although the negotiators were unable to fully resolve any of the issues that had led to war, a preliminary peace treaty was signed on Christmas Eve 1814. Visitors will be able to examine a letter Adams wrote to his mother on the very same day informing her of the end of the war.
   
Because of the slow pace of communications in the early 19th century, the conflict continued into 1815, with the American victory at New Orleans on 8 January and the last naval engagement in the East Indies on 30 June.

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