By Dan Hinchen

It is a shortened week for us here at the Society with just a couple of public programs happening but, with the end of the Red Sox season, there are no excuses to miss out on any evening events.

First up, on Tuesday, 5 November, is an Early American History seminar presented by Elaine Crane of Fordham University, with Irene Q. Brown, University of Connecticut, providing comment. Beginning at 5:15PM, “The Poison Plot” looks at the marital failing of early 18th century Rhode Islanders Benedict Arnold and his wife, Mary, who in 1738 tried to poison her husband. The story offers new insights into a range of social fault lines that extended beyond their domestic circle: infidelity, illegitimacy, abuse of husbands, female dependency, criminal proceedings, and the role of the state as mediator. Seminars are free and open to the public, RSVP required. Subscribe to received advance copies of the seminar papers.

And on Wednesday, 6 November, come in at noon for a Brown Bag lunch talk given by MHS-NEH Long-term fellow, Nancy Shoemaker, University of Connecticut. Shoemaker will discuss research for her project “Pursuing Respectability in the Cannibal Isles: Americans in Nineteenth-Century Fiji,” which resurrects the history of the China Trade and the early nineteenth-century Pacific as key sites of American economic and political intervention. It explores the formation of an American sense of self through a study of several individuals, including a “beachcomber,” a sea captain’s wife, and a U.S. Consul.

The library of the MHS is closed on Thursday, 7 November, in preparation for the evening’s event, the fourth annual Cocktails with Clio. Named for the muse of history, this festive evening celebrates American history and the 222-year-old mission of the Society. The evening will feature a cocktail buffet at the Society’s building at 1154 Boylston St., followed by a conversation with political commentator, author, and MHS Overseer, Cokie Roberts, at the nearby Harvard Club. Ms. Roberts will discuss her approach to writing bestselling books about history and historical figures, her work as a political commentator, and how she has used the MHS collections in her research. RSVP required. Tickets are $250 per person. All net proceeds from the event will support the Society’s outreach efforts. For more information, please contact Carol Knauff at cknauff@masshist.org or 617-646-0554.

The MHS will be closed on Saturday, 9 November, and Monday, 11 November, in observance of the Veterans Day holiday. Normal hours will resume on Tuesday, 12 November.

Be sure to keep an eye on our events calendar to stay up-to-date with all of the goings-on here at the Society. And do not forget to come in to see our current exhibition, “The Cabinetmaker & the Carver: Boston Furniture from Private Collections,” on display six days per week, Monday-Saturday, 10:00AM-4:00PM. The exhibit is open to the public with a suggested donation of $5.



By Dan Hinchen

As the fall chill takes grip and the leaves begin to lose theirs, there are still plenty of reasons to step out and visit the MHS this week. As always, our current exhibition is on view six days per week, 10:00AM-4:00PM, and open to the public. “The Cabinetmaker & the Carver: Boston Furniture from Private Collections” is just one of many events taking place across the commonwealth this autumn to celebrate four centuries of furniture-making in Massachusetts. After you visit the Society to see this exhibition, visit fourcenturies.org to find out about all of the other institutions participating in the collaborative project.

Come in on Tuesday evening, 29 October, for a long-overdue seminar from the Immigration and Urban History series. Rescheduled from April 2013 and beginning at 5:15PM, “Dynamic Tensions: Charles Atlas, Immigrant Bodybuilders, and Eugenics, 1920-45” explores the paradox of bodybuilders such as Atlas espousing eugenics principles while highlighting their own allegedly innate weaknesses as a marketing strategy for their diet and exercise regimens. Presented by Dominique Padurano of Scarsdale High School, the paper argues that both techniques functioned as assimilation strategies for the immigrant and ethnic bodybuilding community at a time when the U.S. was less than hospitable to foreigners. Comment provided by E. Anthony Rotundo of Phillips Academy, Andover. Be sure to RSVP for this program by emailing seminars@masshist.org or phoning 617-646-0568.

The following evening, Wednesday, 30 October, the Society hosts Joyce Chaplin of Harvard University for an author talk: “Around the World in 500 Years.” Chaplin, the James Duncan Phillips Professor of Early American History at Harvard University, asks if people today are more “global” than those in the past, better able to span and understand the entire planet. The project asserts that our awareness of living on a globe with finite resources began with the now-500-year-old tradition of going around the world. Around-the-world travelers’ long and self-aware tradition of engagement with the planet questions our sense of uniqueness and may teach us something worth knowing about why we think of the Earth the way we do. There is a pre-talk reception for this event beginning at 5:30PM and the talk commences at 6:00PM. Registration is required for this event. Tickets are $10 per person (no charge for Fellows and Members). Please call 617-646-0560 or register online by clicking here.

And on Saturday, 2 November, the Society will host another free tour. Beginning at 10:00AM, The History and Collections of the MHS is a 90-minute, docent-led tour which exposes visitors to all of the public space in the building at 1154 Boylston St., touching on the art, architecture, history, and collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 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.

By Dan Hinchen

This week at the Society we have three events for public consumption, consisting of a tour, a seminar, and plenty of furniture.

Starting on Wednesday, 23 October, the MHS plays host to another public program that is part of the Massachusetts Furniture Series. Beginning at 6:00PM, “‘Newest Fashion’ Furniture in Boston, 1690-1730: A Transatlantic View,” is a program that explores how the influx of English cabinetmakers an chairmakers and the fashionable desires of a new Boston elite combined to transform the furniture trade in Boston in the period after the establishment of the new Charter in 1691. The talk is presented by Edward S. Cooke, Jr., the Charles F. Montgomery Professor of American Decorative Arts in the Department of the History of Art at Yale University, who has published extensively on both historical and contemporary furniture and was a former curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and taught at Boston University. There is a pre-talk reception at 5:30PM. Registration is required for this event and tickets are $10 per person (no charge for Fellows and Members). Please call 617-646-0560 or register online by clicking here.

And on Thursday, 24 October, join us for the next in the Biography Seminar series. “Telling Lives: Megan Marshall Interviews George E. Vaillant about the Harvard Graduate Study” will begin at 5:30PM and is free and open to the public. For more than three years, Vaillant, of the Harvard Medical School, directed the longitudinal study known as the Harvard Grant Study. His recent book, Triumphs of Experience, traces the men’s lives into their nineties. Marshall’s interview will look at the art of writing case studies and the implications for biographers of his finding on human development through the life course. RSVP required for this seminar. Subscribe to receive advance copies of the seminar papers.

Finally, on Saturday, 26 October, stop by at 10:00AM for The History and Collections of the MHS. This 90-minute, docent-led tour exposes visitors to all of the public space in the building at 1154 Boylston St., touching on the art, architecture, history, and collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 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.

And do not forget that we currently have a major exhibition on display, “The Cabinetmaker & the Carver:Boston Furniture from Private Collections.” The exhibit is open to the public six days per week, Monday-Saturday, 10:00AM-4:00PM. Visit fourcenturies.org to see more information about the major collaboration of which this exhibition is a part.