By Dan Hinchen

After a busy week here at the Society we are slowing things down a bit with a shortened week. The MHS is closed on Monday, 20 January, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day and will re-open at the normal time on Tuesday, 21 January. Our only scheduled event takes place on Wednesday, 22 January, as the Society welcomes James O’Connell of the National Parks Service for a public author talk. Drawing on his recent book, The Hub’s Metropolis: Greater Boston’s Development from Railroad Suburbs to Smart Growth, urban historian O’Connell will present an illustrated talk about how metropolitan Boston has been shaped by distinct eras of suburbanization, with each one producing a land use development pattern that is still apparent on the regional landscape. This program is open to the public, reservations requested. Click here to register online or call the MHS reservations line at 617-646-0560. A pre-talk reception begins at 5:30PM and the talk begins at 6:00PM.

“The Cabinetmaker & the Carver: Four centuries of Massachusetts Furniture” is now closed. The next exhibit will feature material from the MHS collections and other institutions. “Tell It With Pride: The 54th Massachusetts Regiment and Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ Shaw Memorial” is scheduled to open to the public on Friday, 21 February, so be sure to mark your calendar!

By Dan Hinchen

We have a busy week here at the Society with several public events on tap. First up, on Tuesday, 14 January, is an Environmental History Seminar featuring Edward D. Melillo of Amherst College. “Out of the Blue: Nantucket and the Pacific World” builds upon insights from environmental history, migration studies, and cultural geography to argue that certain historical groups of displayed a rooted cosmopolitanism, which develops through sustained encounters with the peoples and environments of far-away places. Through whaling, Nantucket mariners came to know a distant ocean and its inhabitants in was that were often more refined and subtle than many contemporaneous understandings of the Pacific World. Nancy Shoemaker, University of Connecticut, provides comment. Seminars are free and open to the public; RSVP required. Subscribe to receive advance copies of the seminar papers. The seminar begins at 5:15PM.

On Wednesday, 15 January, stop by at noon for a Brown Bag lunch talk with Dylan Yeats, New York University, presenting “Americanizing America: Yankee Civilization and the U.S. State.” With research at the Massachusetts Historical Society and the Boston Athenaeum, Yeats is charting the evolution of what he terms the Yankee Network, comprising academic, educational, missionary, and social reform organizations, and the ways in which this network sought to harness those organs of the state that it could over the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Brown Bag discussions are free and open to the public.

Also on Wednesday, MHS Associate Members (age 40 and under) are invited to an evening social with the Young Friends of Historic New England. Guests will gather at the MHS for a reception followed by a scavenger hunt based on “The Cabinetmaker & the Carver” exhibition. For more information, please call 617-646-0543 or e-mail awolfe@masshist.org. And speaking of the current furniture exhibition, if you have not seen it yet then you are running out of time! The exhibition ends on Friday, January 17. Make sure you come in sometime this week between 10:00AM and 4:00PM to catch a rare glimpse of these Massachusetts-made pieces from private collections which span four centuries.

Finally, on Thursday, 16 January, there is another seminar, this time from the Biography series. “When Subjects Talk Back: Oral History, Contemporary Biography, and the Runaway Interview” will feature a conversation with Joyce Antler, Professor of American Studies at Brandeis, who is currently writing a book on Jewish women active in the feminist movement; Claire Potter, Professor of History at the New School, who is writing on anti-pornography efforts in the 1980s; and Ted Widmer of Brown University, senior advisor to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The moderator for the discussion is Carol Bundy, author of “The Nature of Sacrifice: A Biography of Charles Russell Lowell, Jr., 1835-64.” The talk begins at 5:30PM and is open to the public. Be sure to RSVP for this program by emailing seminars@masshist.org or phoning 617-646-0568.

Please note that the Society is closed on Monday, 20 January, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Normal hours will resume on Tuesday, 21 January.

By Dan Hinchen

After a sputtering return to business last week due to a two-day snowstorm, the Society is back up and running this week, though it is a quiet one. On Wednesday, 8 January, join us at noon for a Brown Bag lunch discussion with Katherine Johnston of Columbia University. Well-timed to coincide with the latest round of winter storms and chills and the ensuing discussions about global climate versus local climate, during this lunchtime talk Johnston presents “A Climate Debate: Abolition and Climate in Eighteenth-Century Britain.” As British Parlimanetary debates over abolition in the West Indies grew increasingly serious toward the end of the eighteenth century, the Board of Trade interrogated people familiar with plantation life. What sorts of health risks did plantation work pose for enslaved laborers? Could Europeans labor in the West Indies climate? This project examines some of the testimony that absentee planters provided to Parliament and contrasts these arguments with evidence taken from these same planters’ private letters. Public testimony did not always match up with personal opinions, and this project explores some of the differences between the two. This event is free and open to the public.

And as this recent storm has shown, the Society is susceptible to the New England winters. When planning a trip the MHS, be sure to keep an eye on the website and events calendar to see updates on building closures and schedule changes.

By Dan Hinchen

There are no events scheduled here at the Society this week.

Please note that the Library of the MHS is closed beginning Tuesday, 24 December, and will reopen on Thursday, 2 January. The galleries are open to the public Thursday, 26 December – Saturday, 28 December, and again on Monday, 30 December, 10:00AM-4:00PM. Be sure to come in and take a look at our current exhibition, “The Cabinetmaker & the Carver: Boston Furniture from Private Collections” before it closes on 17 January. And keep an eye on our events calendar to see what is coming up in January.

By Dan Hinchen

As we edge closer to the New Year, the MHS offers a slew of public programming this week.

First up, on Tuesday, 10 December, is a panel discussion. “Telling Environmental History,” will explore different ways of presenting environmental history, including the use of GIS, the intersection of environmental history and planning history, incorporating visual materials, and environmental history as narrative. Anthony Penna of Northeastern University will moderate the panel comprised of Brian Donahue of Brandeis University, Karl Haglund of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Megan Kate Nelson of Brown University, and Aaron Sachs of Cornell University. Seminars are free and open to the public though, RSVP required. Discussion begins at 5:15PM.

On Wednesday, 11 December, at 12:00PM is a Brown Bag lunch talk focused on a piece of colonial history. Christine DeLucia, Mount Holyoke College, presents “The Memory Frontier: Memorializing King Philip’s War in the Native Northeast.” The late 17th-century conflict known as King Philip’s War has haunted colonial New Englanders and diverse tribal communities.  Their remembrances of this violence have taken shape in highly local ways, through material objects, performances, and stories about landscapes.  This study highlights the importance of such overlooked sources for understanding the persistent, widespread effects of warfare and settler colonialism in the Northeast. Brown Bag talks are free and open to the public so come on in and have a piece of history with your lunch.

Also on Wednesday is a public program presented by students of the Boston University course “Making History.” During this presentation, “Making History: The Salem Witch Trials in Documents & Artifacts,” the students discuss the MHS exhibition that they have researched and compiled. The semester-long project on Salem and the wider fear of witches in England and colonial America includes work on letters and diaries, sermons, early printed books, and objects form the period. James H. Johnson, who teaches the course and will facilitate the program, is Professor of History and a prize-winning author. This program is free and open to the public though registration is required. Pre-talk reception begins at 5:30PM and the program starts at 6:00. To register at no cost, please call 617-646-0560 or email eduation@masshist.org.

And on Thursday, 12 December, join us for the second seminar of the week, this time a part of the History of Women and Gender series. Beginning at 5:30PM, Amy Kesselman of SUNY, New Paltz, presents “Women versus Connecticut: Insights from the Pre-Roe Abortion Battles.” In the early 1970s lawsuit Abele v. Markle, Women versus Connecticut coupled litigation with grassroots organizing in a strategy that stimulated public discussion of reproductive rights and brought women’s experiences of Connecticut’s abortion laws to bear on what went on in the courtroom. The story illustrates the role of the feminist reproductive rights movement in shaping Roe v. Wade. Linda Gordon of New York University will provide comment for the discussion. This seminar is free and open to the public, RSVP required.

Rounding out the week on Friday, 13 December, is our final public program of 2013. Come in at 2:00PM as Michael Wheeler shines a spotlight on our current exhibition with “Patriotic Banding: Red, White, and Blue.” In the federal period (1790-1820), wealthy Boston merchants expanded trade to the West Indies and China. As part of this trade, they imported rare and expensive lumber into Boston. Mechanical inventions and the harnessing of waterpower made sawing this lumber into thin veneers possible. Inlay makers, were able to dye, stack, and cut those veneers into decorative geometric bandings which cabinetmakers used as inlays in neoclassical furniture. Guest speaker Michael Wheeler has recently discovered that red, white, and blue banding was made in Boston during the federal period. In his presentation, he will take us through his discovery and research, followed by a gallery tour of the inlaid furniture in our exhibition and his example of modern patriotic banding.This program is free and open to the public.

And thus ends our schedule of programs for this calendar year. Begin planning for the New Year now and resolve to check out our online calendar for Seminars, Brown Bags, and other assorted Public Programs coming up in 2014. And remember that our current exhibition, “The Cabinetmaker & the Carver: Boston Furniture from Private Collections” remains on display six days per week until 17 January.

Please note that the Society will be closed beginning Tuesday, 24 December, and will reopen on Thursday, 2 January. The exhibition galleries will be open Thursday, 26 December – Saturday, 28 December, and again on Monday, 30 December, from 10:00AM until 4:00PM.

By Dan Hinchen

We return from our Thanksgiving break well-rested, well-fed, and grateful for the respite it provided. We have two hectic weeks ahead here at the Society before we slow down once again for the next holiday break. This week we have a plethora of programs on tap for public consumption.

Starting things off on Tuesday, 3 December, is a public seminar from our Early American History series. Serena Zabin of Carleton College present “Occupying Boston: An Intimate History of the Boston Massacre.” In this talk, Zabin shows the fundamental component that women constituted in the British army’s experience in Boston, evidenced by the records of some forty marriages of military men and more than a hundred baptisms of their children. This chapter from a larger study of the occupation of Boston examines the personal, social, and political meanings of these new families. Comment provided by Lisa Wilson, Connecticut College. The seminar begins at 5:15PM and is free and open to the public. RSVP required. Subscribe to received advance copies of the seminar papers.

On Wednesday, 4 December, spend your lunch hour at the Society for “To Spread Liberty to the North: The Invasion of Canada and the Coming of American Independence, 1774-1776.” In this Brown Bag talk, Amy Noel of Boston University presents research on her project which seeks to explain the enormous changes taking place in American society between 1774 and 1776 by examining the failed invasion of Canada. The campaign played a crucial role in shaping colonial attitudes toward Catholicism and Britishness, the escalation of rebellion into an imperial civil war, and the looming issue of American independence. The talk begins at 12:00PM and is free and open to the public.

And on Wednesday evening, join us for “Elegant Interiors in Early 19th-Century Boston.” In this public program related to our current exhibition, Richard and Jane Nylander discuss the new styles of architecture and furniture that appeared in early 19th-century Boston and will provide a glimpse of the interiors of the homes of some of the city’s wealthiest citizens, among them Nathan Appleton, Charles Russell Codman, Benjamin Bussey, Barney Smith, and David Hinckley. Pre-talk reception begins at 5:30PM and the talk begins at 6:00PM. Registration is required for this event and you can RSVP here. This program is part of the Massachusetts Furniture Series.

On Thursday, 5 December, the Society hosts a special year-end reception for MHS Fellows and Members to celebrate the season with the Trustees and staff of the MHS. The event begins at 6:00PM and is open only to MHS Fellows and Members at no cost. Please RSVP here.

Then, on Friday, 6 December, there is a public author talk. Join us at 2:00PM for “End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy.” Fifty years ago, our country was jolted by tragedy: our 35th president was shot. In End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy, historian James L. Swanson offers a comprehensive understanding of this historic day, lending edge-of-your-seat storyteller’s mastery to the subject. This event is free.

And last but certainly not least, on Saturday 7 December, come by the Society at 10:00AM for “The History and Collections of the MHS.” This 90-minute docent-led tour exposes visitors to the Society’s public rooms and touches on the history, collections, art, and architecture of the Society’s historic building at 1154 Boylston Street. 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

We start this week’s installment of the events calendar by noting that the MHS is closed Thursday, 28 November – Saturday, 30 November, in observance of Thanksgiving. Normal hours resume on Monday, 2 December. But before that we have two public programs for you.

First, on Monday, 25 November, the Society hosts and author talk with Thomas Whalen of Boston University who will present “JFK & His Enemies: A Profile in Power, 1946-1963.” At nearly every stage of his political career, Kennedy collected his fair share of enemies. Whalen will discuss the complex and strained relationships Kennedy had with FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and how their mutual hostility inadvertently led to this assassination on 22 November 1963. This public program begins at 6:00PM with a pre-talk reception starting at 5:30PM. Please RSVP for this event.

On Tuesday, 26 November, is the latest in our Immigration and Urban History seminar series. Join us as David Hernández of Mount Holyoke College presents “A Place Reeking with Rottenness: The ‘Corpus Christi Situation’ (1933) and Legacies of Abusive Immigrant Detention.” This talk examines an internal investigation of the Immigration Service in 1933 which exposed allegations of violence, sexual abuse, extortion, and coerced testimonies in a detention facility run by Julia and Olivia Valente. The event is part of a legacy of detainee abuse–from denial of legal rights and poor conditions of incarceration to violence, sexual abuse, and death that is widespread in immigrant facilities today. The case of the Valente Detention Home thus provides the operating terms for understanding contemporary detention practices, in particular, the use of private and non-federal facilities and management for detaining immigrants. Comment provided by Daniel Kanstroom of Boston College Law School. Seminars are free and open to the public; RSVP required. Talk begins at 5:15PM.

Happy Thanksgiving!

By Dan Hinchen

Hello, and welcome once again to our weekly forecast of programs here at the Society. This week, the first and only full week in November for us at the MHS, we have four public programs for you to come in and experience. In addition, don’t forget about our current public exhibition: “The Cabinetmaker & the Carver: Massachusetts Furniture from Private Collections.” This installation provides a rare public glimpse of privately held treasures from across the commonwealth and is part of the Four Centuries of Massachusetts Furniture collaboration taking place at institutions all over the state. Visit fourcenturies.org for more information. Our exhibit is open to the public six days per week, Monday-Saturday, 10:00AM-4:00PM, and will be available until 17 January 2014. 

On Tuesday, 19 November, join us at 12:00PM for an hour-long lunchtime public program. Murray Forbes discusses his work on the fascinating lives of Governor James and General John Sullivan in “The Sullivan Brothers.” The two brothers forged remarkable and versatile careers during the American Revolution and early republic, were honored in their own time and remained remembered and respected through the 19th century. How should we remember them today? This event is free and open to the public.

On Wednesday, 20 November, the Society hosts a double-header. First up, at 12:00PM, is a Brown Bag lunch talk featuring John Lauritz Larson of Purdue University. “On a Bender with Uncle Sam: Freedom, Resources, and the Lure of Progress in the Early Republic” asks how the American Revolution changed the colonial American economic culture patterns of natural resource exploitation. How did the “release of energy” produced by the new political order contribute to new definitions of public and private acquisitiveness, wealth, and progress. Brown Bag lunch talks are free and open to the public.

Then, also on Wednesday, is a public program associated with our current exhibition. Join us at 6:00PM for “Boston & Its Craft Community, 1650-1850.” J. Ritchie Garrison, Director of the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture, will explore Boston’s craft community with a focus on three themes: production as part of a regional network, inequalities that drove artisans’ decisions, and the city’s furniture-makers’ adaptations to a number of factors. To Register: Tickets are $10 per person (no charge for Fellows and Members). Please call 617-646-0560 or register online by clicking here. Pre-talk reception begins at 5:30PM.

And lastly, on Saturday, 23 November, the Society will host yet another public tour. Join us at 10:00AM for “The History and Collections of the MHS,” 90-minute docent-led tour which explores the public space in the Society’s home at 1154 Boylston Street, touching on the history, collections, art, and architecture 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.

Please note that the MHS will be closed 28 November – 30 November for the Thanksgiving holiday. Normal hours resume on Monday, 2 December.

By Dan Hinchen

We return from a long weekend with several programs ready for public consumption this week. Starting the week off, on Tuesday, 12 November, is “Making Land in Earthquake Country: Urban Development and Disaster in San Francisco.” In this Environmental History Seminar, Joanna Dyl of the University of South Florida looks at the earliest years of urban development in San Francisco during the late 1840s and early 1850s, characterized by an emphasis on filling in “water lots.” Dyl’s paper argues that ignorance does not fully explain San Franciscans’ apparent tendency to downplay or ignore the danger posed by the combination of made land and earthquakes. Comment provided by Conevery Bolton Valencius, University of Massachusetts – Boston.Be sure to RSVP for this program by emailing seminars@masshist.org or phoning 617-646-0568. Seminar begins at 5:15PM.

Friday, 15 November, is a busy day at the MHS with two public programs occurring on-site and one off. Taking place in Pittsfield, MA and beginning at 8:30AM is the first day of a two-day teacher workshop, continuing on Saturday, 16 November. “Old Towns/New Country: The First Years of a New Nation” explores how to use local resources to examine historical issues with a national focus, concentrating on the period just after the Revolution. The workshop is open to teachers, librarians, archivists, members of local historical societies, and all interested local history enthusiasts. Workshop faculty will include the MHS Department of Education and Public Programs, Gary Shattuck, author of Artful and Designing Men: The Trials of Job Shattuck and the Regulation of 1786-1787, MHS Teacher Fellow Dean Eastman, and the staff of the Berkshire Historical Society. The program will also include visits to the Berkshire Athenaeum and the Crane Museum of Papermaking. There is a $25 charge to cover lunches both days; program and material costs have been generously funded by the Richard Saltonstall Charitable Foundation. Educators can earn 15 PDPs and 1 Graduate Credit (for an additional fee) from Framingham State University. To Register: Please complete this registration form and send it with your payment to: Kathleen Barker, Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215. For Additional Information: Contact the Education Department: 617-646-0557 or  education@masshist.org.

Also on Friday, beginning at 12:00PM, join us at the Society’s building at 1154 Boylston St. for a Brown Bag lunch talk. With “The Urban Archival Regime in Trans-national Perspective: Roxbury, Africville, Hogan’s Alley,” Karen Bridget Murray of Kennesaw State University and York University discusses variations in archival regimes, their relationship to the writing of Black urban history, and their implications for efforts to secure redress for past urban spatial injustices, such as school bussing in Boston, and the razing of African-Canadian communities in Vancouver and Halifax. Brown bag lunch talks are free and open to the public.

And at 2:00PM is a public program focused on our current exhibition: “Early Boston Furniture: Style, Constructions, Materials, & Use.” American furniture collectors John and Marie Vander Sande will discuss late 17th-century joined case pieces, early 18th-century cabinetwork, and pre-1730 chairs produced in Boston. The style, construction techniques, woods chosen, and motivation for the applied decoration, as well as the use of the pieces in the home, will be highlighted. This program is free and open to the public.

Last but certainly not least, on Saturday, 16 November, 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.