By Dan Hinchen

Entering the month of June we have a couple of special programs on offer this week at the Society.

First up, on Monday, 2 June, the MHS is co-sponsoring “Never Done: Interpreting the History of Women at Work in Massachusetts.” Join us at the Hogan Campus Center, College of the Holy Cross, for a thought-provoking day examining women in Massachusetts history. At this, the tenth annual Mass History Conference we will welcome the many small historical organizations that preserve, interpret, and deepen the exploration of Massachusetts history. The stories of lesser-known women change-makers get lost in the larger narrative of industry, politics and conflict, but the timing is right for an examination of their tales of great and compelling variety, of lives lived with courage and determination. This conference for Massachusetts history organizations is presented by Mass Humanities, Massachusetts Historical Society, University of Massachusetts Amherst Public History Program, and the University of Massachusetts Boston Public History and Archives Track, The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, and Elizabeth & Ned Bacon. The conference begins at 9:00AM and will feature as Keynote Speaker Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Harvard University. For more information–including a detailed schedule of the day, or to register for the conference, visit the Mass Humanities website:http://masshumanities.org/history_conference_2014.

On Wednesday, 4 June, stop by the Society at 1154 Boylston Street for a Brown Bag lunch talk. In this week’s installment, Sara Georgini, Adams Papers and Boston University, presents “Creating Adams Family Values.” This project is a history of religion in the Adams family of Massachusetts from 1583 to 1927. Most Adams family members accepted organized religion as a public good, but they filled letters and lives with the effort to answer one query: What was it good for? As men and women operating at the heart of the nation, prevailing notions of Christian citizenship laid out duties for them to fulfill, and the Adamses repeatedly sought out God for help. Drawing on the public and private papers of several generations, this project explores the “cosmopolitan Christianity” that the Adams family developed over time. The talk begins at 12:00PM and is free and open to the public. 

Also on Wednesday, 4 June, there is a special evening program as the society welcomes the Archivist of the United States for “A Conversation with David S. Ferriero.” Join us for a pre-talk reception beginning at 5:30PM, followed by the program which begins at 6:00PM. Registration is required for this event at no charge. Click here to register online, or call the MHS reservations line at 617-646-0560.

Finally, please note that the library is closing at 3:00PM on Thursday, 5 June. 

By Dan Hinchen

It is a short and fairly quiet week here at the MHS with just a couple of items on tap.

Please note that the Society is closed on Monday, 26 May, in observance of Memorial Day. Normal hours resume on Tuesday, 27 May.

On Wednesday, 28 May, join us for a Brown Bag talk titled “Circulating Counterfeits: Making Money and Its Meaning in the Eighteenth-Century British Atlantic,” presented by Katherine Smoak of Johns Hopkins University. Counterfeiting was a ubiquitous problem in the eighteenth-century British Atlantic, encouraged by the unstandardized and various nature of eighteenth-century currency. Counterfeiters formed regional and trans-Atlantic networks to produce and circulate debased and forged coin, both British and foreign, and faked reproductions of newly available paper notes.  Reconstructing these networks, I argue that counterfeiters shaped imperial economies in unexpected ways, impacting everything from daily economic practices to the course of economic development, and prompted complex discussions about value, worth and trust in an expanding commercial empire. This talk begins at noon and is free and open to the public.

Come back to the Society on Wednesday evening, 28 May, for “The Mantle of Command: FDR at War, 1941-1942,” an author talk presented by Nigel Hamilton. Based on years of archival research and interviews with the last surviving aides and Roosevelt family members, Nigel Hamilton offers a definitive account of FDR’s masterful—and under-appreciated—command of the Allied war effort. Hamilton takes readers inside FDR’s White House Oval Study—his personal command center—and into the meetings where he battled with Churchill about strategy and tactics and overrode the near mutinies of his own generals and secretary of war. Nigel Hamilton is a bestselling and award-winning biographer of President John F. Kennedy, General Bernard “Monty” Montgomery, and President Bill Clinton, among other subjects. He is a Senior Fellow in the McCormack Graduate School, University of Massachusetts-Boston, and first president of the Biographers International Organization (BIO). There is a pre-talk reception beginning at 5:30PM with the talk starting at 6:00PM. Registration is required for this event at a cost of $10 (no fee for Fellows and Members). Click here to register online, or call the MHS reservations line at 617-646-0560.

Finally, on Saturday, 31 May, stop by for a tour of the Society’s public rooms. Led by an MHS staff member or docent, the tour touches on the history and collections of the MHS and lasts approximately 90 minutes.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

It is a shortened and quiet week here at the Society. It is also your last opportunity to view our current exhibition “Tell It with Pride: The Massachusetts 54th Regiment and Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ Shaw Memorial,”  which officially closes on Friday, 23 May. Come in to see it any day this week, Monday-Friday, 10:00AM-4:00PM before it closes for good!

Here is what else is on tap in the penultimate week of May. 

On Wednesday, 21 May, join us at noon for a Brown Bag talk given by Bryan Rosenblithe of Columbia University. His talk, “Securing the Spanish Main: British Subjecthood and the Peace of 1763” examines the ways that political, economic, and military contests in the Floridas and Honduras during the era of the Seven Years War shaped imperial notuions of British Subjecthood. It also explores how questions related to who counted as a subject influenced British strategic thinking during a time of widely perceived Bourbon revanchism. This talk is free and open to the public. 

And on Friday, 23 May, is another lunch time talk, this time presented by HdG, Dna. Maria St. Catherine McConnell. Bring your lunch and join us as we celebrate the 90th Anniversary of the 1924 U.S. Foreign Service Act (“The Rogers Act”), which created the US Foreign Service. We will explore the role of Massachusetts statesmen and diplomats in establishing the U.S. Foreign Service and in pioneering America’s diplomatic history and tradition. “Celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the U.S. Foreign Service” begins at noon and is free and open to the public. 

Finally please note that the Society is closed Saturday-Monday, 24-26 May, in observance of Memorial Day. Normal hours resume on Tuesday, 27 May. Enjoy the holiday weekend!

By Dan Hinchen

Kicking off this week on Monday, 12 May, is a Brown Bag talk from short-term research fellow Katie Booth, University of Pittsburgh. Alexander Graham Bell believed that his most important contribution was not the telephone, but his work to liberate the deaf by destroying their community. He came to Boston in 1871 to teach deaf children through oralism, a method that forbade the use of Sign Language and instead taught deaf children to speak. He quickly became an international leader of the oralist movement, but for the deaf who believed he was robbing them of their language, he became the culture’s greatest enemy. “The Performance of Miracles: Alexander Graham Bell’s Mission to Save the Deaf” begins at noon and is free and open to the public. 

After a couple quiet days, on Thursday, 15 May, is a special talk given by Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and the first woman to serve in that role. In her talk, titled “An Historical Look at the Goodridge Same Sex Marriage Decision,” Chief Justice Marshall will talk about the landmark decision reached in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, which stated that it was unconstitutional to allow only opposite-sex couples to marry. As a result of the ruling same-sex marriage in Massachusetts began on 17 May 2004. A pre-talk reception begins at 5:30PM followed by the program which begins at 6:00PM. Registration is required and there is a $10 fee (no charge for Fellows and Members).  Click here to register online, or call the MHS reservations line at 617-646-0560.

Then, on Friday, 16 May, there is another Brown Bag talk at 12:00PM. “Louisa Catherine Adams: One Woman, Many Voices,” is a panel discussion about what we can learn about Louisa by listening to her different voices that emerged in letters, diaries, poetry, and memoirs. The panelists Judith Graham and Margaret Hogan are editors who have prepared Louisa’s work for publication, and David Michelmore is a biographer who has used it. The discussion will be moderated by Beth Luey. This event is free and open to the public.

On Saturday, 17 May, is the MHS Tour: The History and Collections of the MHS. This 90-minute docent-led tour explores the public spaces of the Society’s home at 1154 Boylston Street and touches on the art, architecture, history, and collections of the MHS. 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.

Finally, a reminder that time is running out to view our current exhbition, “Tell It with Pride: The 54th Massachusetts Regiment and Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ Shaw Memorial” which officially ends on Friday, 23 May. The exhibit is free and open to the public Monday-Saturday, 10:00AM-4:00PM.

By Dan Hinchen

It is time once again to run through the events on tap for the week ahead. With five days of programs coming there are plenty of reasons to stop by the Society and get a dose of history. Before we jump into the events, though, please note that the library of the MHS closes early at 2:30PM on Wednesday, 7 May, in preparation for the evening’s event. 

First up on Tuesday, 6 May, is an Early American History seminar presented lead by Hari Vishwanadha of Santa Monica College. “Through Novanglus’s Eyes: Forms of Empire in India” looks at how Yankee merchants in the India trade successfully negotiated the competing claims of Indian society and the British Raj. As the empire flourished, the merchants prospered. The experiences of two prominent men, Henry Lee and Charles Eliot Norton, are representative of the rich and complex relationship among the tree peoples and their cultures and served as a template for subsequent merchants engaged in the India trade during the nineteenth century. Eliga H. Gould of the University of New Hampshire will provide comment for this seminar that begins at 5:15PM. Be sure to RSVP for this program by emailing seminars@masshist.org or phoning 617-646-0568.

Next, on Wednesday, 7 May, swing by at noon for a Brown Bag talk with short-term research fellow Chris Florio of Princeton University. In the mid-nineteenth century, American and British observers struggled to distinguish the poor from the slave. Tracing a key shift in the moral imagination, this dissertation explores how the boundaries of poverty and slavery blurred during the so-called “age of emancipation.” Florio asks the question: how did poverty and slavery, as political categories and social conditions, entangle with one another in locations spanning the United States and the British Empire? “The Poor Always with You: Poverty in an Age of Emancipation, 1833-1879” is free and open to the public and begins at 12:00PM. 

On Wednesday evening there is a special Member Event, the John F. Kennedy Medal Presentation. The John F. Kennedy medal is awarded by the Massachusetts Historical Society 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. MHS Fellows and Members are invited to attend this presentation of the Kennedy Medal to David McCullough. Reception begins at 5:30PM, presentation of the medal and remarks by Mr. McCullough begins at 6:00PM. This event is sold out. If you would like to be placed on the waiting list, please call 617-646-0552.

Join us on Thursday evening, 8 May, for the public program “The Adams Portraits & Other Treats: 18th-Century Artist Benjamin Blyth.” Blyth, the Salem artist of the Society’s iconic portraits of John and Abigail Adams, also left a large, delightful number of other portraits of local families, merchants, and participants in the American Revolution. His brother Samuel, a jack-of-all-trades in the construction and home-decorating businesses, was far more successful. But because of Benjamin’s flight from Salem to Virginia in 1782, he and his brother seemed to swap careers, and therein lies the tale. This talk is presented by retired museum professional, Bettina A. Norton and begins at 6:00PM with a pre-talk reception at 5:30PM. Registration required at no cost. Click here to register online, or call the MHS reservations line at 617-646-0560.

“Classroom Currents: Childhood Education Reforms in Nineteenth-Century Boston and Buenos Aires” is a project which traces the origins and evolution of nineteenth-century public educational theories and their significance to nation-building processes within the Americas. Focusing on the Atlantic seaboard cities of Boston in the United States and Buenos Aires in Argentina as case studies, it analyzes how educational ideas traveled and were reshaped by local conditions. The similarities in the nature and scope – and ultimately, the differences in the implementation – of educational policies in each city supports a larger analysis on the transformation of politics and the shaping of distinct national identities in the nineteenth-century Americas. This free program is presented by Carolina Zumaglini of Florida International University and takes place Friday, 9 May, at noon.

And finally, on Saturday, 10 May, there is not one but two tours taking place. The History and Collections of the MHS is a 90-minute docent-led tour of the public spaces in the Society’s building at 1154 Boylston Street. The tour touches on the art, architecture, collections, and history of the MHS and 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. Tour begins at 10:00AM.

Also on Saturday is “Created Equal: Walking Tour of Boston Black Heritage Trail.” This tour is offered in conjunction with the Created Equal Film & Discussion Series and is presented by our partner organization, Boston African American National Historic Site. The tour is scheduled to begin at 10:00AM and last for approximately two hours. For more information, please calle 617-646-0557 or e-mail education@masshist.org. 

By Dan Hinchen

It is a quiet week here at the MHS with only two public programs lined up. Of course, that just makes it easier to catch them all!

First, on Tuesday, 29 April, join us for a panel discussion that is part of the Immigration and Urban History seminar series. “American Catholics and U.S. Immigration Policy before the Immigration and Nationaly Act of 1965” features Danielle Battisti of the University of Nebraska and Gráinne McEvoy of Boston College, and Justin Poché of the College of the Holy Cross providing comment. McEvoy’s paper, “‘A Christian and Democratic Attitude’: The Catholic Campaign for Education and Enlightenment on U.S. Immigration Policy, 1952-1957,” examines the Catholic campaign for comprehensive immigration reform during and in the wake of the McCarran-Walter Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which removed discrimination on the basis of race from federal immigration policy but retained the national origins quota system. Battisti’s essay, “‘Whom Shall We Welcome?’ Italian Americans and Immigration Reform Campaigns, 1948-1965,” examines the efforts of the Italian Americans who both assisted Italian immigrants to the U.S. after World War II and who joined in a broader movement to abolish the national origins system and thereby reform the nation’s immigration policies in the 1950s and 1960s. Be sure to RSVP for this program by emailing seminars@masshist.org or phoning 617-646-0568.

On Wednesday, 30 April, join us for an author talk presented by John Ferling titled “Jefferson & Hamilton: The Rivalry that Forged a Nation.” Jefferson and Hamiltonis the story of the fierce struggle – both public and, ultimately, bitterly personal – between two titans. Join us as we explore their complicated rivlary. John Ferling, a leading authority on late 19th and early 19th century American history, is the author of many books, including Almost a Miracle: The American Vicotyrin the War for Independence, Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, and Jefferson in the American Revolution, and the award-winning A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic. The talk begins at 6:00PM with a pre-talk reception starting at 5:30PM. Registration is required for this event and there is a $10 fee (no charge for Fellows and Members). Click here to register online, or call the MHS reservations line at 617-646-0560.

And be sure to come in and check out our current exhibition, Tell It with Pride: The 54th Massachusetts regiment and Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ Shaw Memorial, which will only be on display  until 23 May. This is exhibit is free and open to the public Monday-Saturday, 10:00AM-4:00PM.

By Dan Hinchen

The Society is CLOSED on Monday, 21 April, in observance of Patriot’s Day. Enjoy the Marathon!

Please note that the Tell It With Pride teacher workshop, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, 22-23 April, is CANCELLED.

Despite a shortened week and a cancellation there are still plenty of reasons to stop by the MHS this week and indulge in some public programming!

On Wednesday, 23 April, beginning at noon is a Brown Bag lunch talk given by Marie Stango of the University of Michigan. “‘Pious Females’ and ‘Good Schools’: Transnational Networks of Education in Nineteenth-Century Liberia” examines the networks of men and women who helped support education efforts in the American settlements in Liberia, West Africa. These philanthropists, many of them based in Massachusetts, helped establish formal and informal schools in the former American colonies and planned for a college, which opened for classes as Liberia College (now the University of Liberia) in 1863. How did these American sponsors manage an institution over four thousand miles away? This talk is free and open to the public so pack a lunch and come on by!

And on Wednesday evening is a special public program beginning at 6:00PM in which Mitchell L. Adams will speak about his great-grandfather, “Dr. Zabdiel Boylston Adams: Surgeon & Soldier for the Union.” The Civil War was a watershed and a defining period in the life of Zabdiel Boylston Adams, an 1853 graduate of the Harvard Medical School. On 2 July 1863 the doctor set up a makeshift hospital close to the field of battle. Having noticed how many soldiers were dying during transport from combat to distant medical care, Adams pioneered on-site medical treatments. He labored so long in surgeries at Gettysburg that he was nearly blinded with exhaustion. At the Battle of the Wilderness Adams was severely wounded. Captured by Confederate forces, his shattered left leg useless and gangrenous, he treated himself by pouring pure nitric acid into his wounds, a treatment that must have been as excruciating as it was efficacious. Dr. Adams was a man at the nexus of two distinguished New England families at a particularly dramatic moment in history. Registration is required for this program at no cost. To Reserve: Click here to register online, or call the MHS reservations line at 617-646-0560. Pre-Talk reception begins at 5:30PM.

Then, on Friday, 25 April, there will be an afternoon Gallery Talk beginning at 2:00PM. Staff members from the Museum of African American History will be on hand to discuss items featured in the Society’s current exhibition Tell It with Pride. This event is free and open to the public.  

And on Saturday, 26 April, come by at 10:00AM for The History and Collections of the MHS, a 90-minute docent-led tour of the Society’s home at 1154 Boylston Street. This free tour explores the public spaces of the building and touches on the art, architecture, history, and collections of the MHS. 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

On Tuesday, 15 April, Gloria Whiting of Harvard University presents “‘How can the wife submit?’ African Families Negotiate Gender and Slavery in New England.” This seminar is part of the History of Women and Gender series and is rescheduled from 13 February 2014. Whiting’s paper discusses the various ways in which the everyday realities of slavery shaped gender relations in Afro-New England families. While the structure of slave families in the region was unusually matrifocal, these families nonetheless exhibited a number of patriarchal tendencies. Enslaved African families in New England therefore complicate the assumption of much scholarship that the structure of slave families defined their normative values. Barbara Krauthamer of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, will provide comment. Please note that this seminar takes place at the Schlesinger Library and begins at 5:30PM. Be sure to RSVP for this program by emailing seminars@masshist.org or phoning 617-646-0568.

And on Friday, 18 April, stop by the Society at 2:00PM for a free gallery talk as Samantha Anderson of Northeastern University presents “The Battles of the 54th: Norther Racism and the Unequal Pay Crisis.” When Massachusetts Governor John A. Andrew proposed to raise the first military unit consisting of black soldiers during the Civil War, he was assured by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton that the men would be paid, clothed, and treated in the same way as white troops. As the recruiting posters and newspaper advertisements stated, this included a state bounty and a monthly pay of $13. In July of 1863, an order was issued in Washington fixing the compensation of black soldiers at the laborers’ rate of $10 per month. This amount was offered on several occasions to the men of the 54th, but was continually refused. Governor Andrew and the Massachusetts legislature, feeling responsible for the $3 discrepancy in pay promised to the troops, passed an act in November of 1863 providing the difference from state funds. The men refused to accept this resolution, however, demanding that they receive full soldier pay from the federal government.

Learn more about this pay controversy, and how it was resolved, through items on display in our current exhibition Tell It with Pride: The 54th Massachusetts Regiment and Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ Shaw Memorial.

Finally, please note that the Society is closed on Monday, 21 April, in observance of Patriot’s Day. Normal hours will resume on Tuesday, 22 April.

By Dan Hinchen

The Red Sox are back in town, increasing foot traffic around the Society. This week, though, is a quiet one at the MHS, with only two events on the schedule.

If you are headed to Fenway Park on Tuesday, 8 April, why not stop by the MHS on the way for a free seminar? Starting at 5:15PM, Jonathan Anzalone of Stony Brook University presents “A Mountain in Winter: Wilderness Politics, Economic Development, and the Transformation of Whiteface Mountain into a Modern Ski Center, 1932-1980.” Comment provided by Jim O’Connell, National Park Service. This seminar – part of the Environmental History series – examines the development of Whiteface Mountian as a skiing spot with the broader context of the Adirondack Park’s transformation into a playground for the masses. Wilderness politics, class divisions, and the vicissitudes of nature combined to frustrate administrators and strain their relationship with business leaders, winter sports enthusiasts, and wilderness advocates. The debate sheds brighter light on disparate interpretations of modern recreation and economic development. Seminars are free and open to the public; RSVP required. Subscribe to receive advance copies of the seminar papers.

On Saturday, 12 April, there will be a free tour that is open to the public. The History and Collections of the MHS is a 90-minute docent-led tour of the Society’s home at 1154 Boylston Street. The tour explores all of the public space in the building, touching on the history, art, architecture, and collections of the Society. No reservation 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.

Finally, remember to visit the MHS soon to see the current exhibition, “Tell It With Pride: The 54th Massachusetts Regiment and Augustus-Saint Gaudens’ Shaw Memorial.” This exhibit, organized by the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, D.C., is open to the public Monday-Saturday, 10:00AM-4:00PM, through 23 May.

By Kathleen Barker, Education Department

In the introduction to his 1903 book The Souls of Black Folk; Essays and Sketches W.E.B. Dubois argued that “the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line.” Is that problem still with us today, or do twenty-first-century Americans face a different challenge with respect to race and social justice? This is just one of the intriguing questions we will discuss next Wednesday, 2 April, at the final session of our film & discussion series, “Created Equal.” Facilitated by Joanne Pope Melish, author of Disowning Slavery: Gradual Emancipation and “Race” in New England, 1780-1860, this series was made possible through funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

These public programs center on four nationally-acclaimed documentary films that address various aspects of the long Civil Rights movement. (Visit the Created Equal website to learn more about each film, including how to view it online.) Our first event, on 12 February, explored the issue of marriage, and the laws that regulate who can marry whom. In 1958, Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving were married in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, the couple lived in Virginia, where it was technically illegal for them to live as a married couple because Mildred was of African American and Native American descent and Richard was white. The Lovings’ case, which was eventually heard by the Supreme Court of the United States, raised many issues—in the 1950s and in our discussion—about the definition of rights and how the Equal Protection Clause of the 14^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does (or does not) protect certain rights.

On 12 March, we moved backwards in time to discuss the abolitionist movement using the three-part PBS film The Abolitions. Participants enjoyed debating the methods used by filmmakers to bring this era to life. A fruitful discussion about the film, its intended audience, and “traditional” narratives of American history took up most of the evening. Why, for example, was Frederick Douglass the only back abolitionists mentioned? Here in Boston and New England we recognize the important contributions made by African Americans such as Lewis and Harriet Hayden, and William Cooper Nell.  Participants were distressed to find that these local protagonists were left out of the narrative! We ended the program with this provocative inquiry: were the abolitionists successful?

Our last event will address two important post-Civil War issues. We will watch clips from Slavery by Another Name, which describes the huge system of forced, unpaid labor, mostly affecting Southern black men, that lasted until World War II. We will also view segments of Freedom Riders, a film that celebrates the Freedom Rides of 1961, and the often terrifying conditions faced by black and white volunteers as they attempted to desegregate public spaces in the Deep South. It’s not too late to join us! Contact the Education Department (education@masshist.org) to register, or visit our web calendar  to learn more about the program.