By Dan Hinchen

On Wednesday, 12 June, the Society will host its annual business meeting, a special event for elected MHS Fellows. The meeting will begin at 5:00pm and registration is required at no cost.

Following the annual meeting, MHS Fellows along with Members will be invited to a special preview reception for MHS Fellows and Members to get a glimpse of the upcoming exhibition, “The Object of History: 18th-Century Treasures from the Massachusetts Historical Society.” Starting at 6:00pm, the evening will begin with remarks by Peter Drummey, Stephen T Riley Librarian of the Society, followed by a reception and exhibition preview. Registration is required at no cost.

The next day, Thursday 13 June, is the official opening of three concurrent exhibitions. First is “Estlin Cummings Wild West Show.” This small exhibit features childhood writings and drawings of e.e. cummings. Drawings and paintings of zoos, circuses, wild west shows, and house plans, along with a story about life on Joy Farm and the 1914 poem “From a Newspaper” showcase the earliest experiments with words and illustrations by the young poet. This exhibit will be on display from 13 June 2013 until 30 August 2013, 10:00am-4:00pm, Monday-Saturday.

Second, “The Education of Our Children Is Never out of My Mind” will display letters written by John and Abigail Adams to each other, to their children, and to friends and family regarding their views on education. The title of the exhibit comes from a letter that John wrote to Abigail, dated 28 August 1774, in which he exhorts her to train their children to “Fix their Ambition upon great and solid Objects, and their Contempt upon little, frivolous, and useless ones.” This exhibit will be on view until 7 September 2013, 10:00am-4:00pm, Monday-Saturday.

Finally, the Society’s main exhibition will open to the public on 13 June. “The Object of History: 18th-Century Treasures from the Massachusetts Historical Society” explores questions about the meaning of historical objects, why they are preserved, and where their value lay, through the display of 18th-century portraits and objects from the Society’s collections, along with rarely seen engravings, needlwork, maps, weapons, furniture, clothing, scientific instruments, and silver. This exhibit will also run until 7 September and will be on view Monday-Saturday, 10:00am-4:00pm. All of the Society’s exhibitions are free and open to the public during viewing hours.

On Friday, 14 June, stop by for a free public program in conjunction with the new exhibition as J.L. Bell presents the Curator’s Choice.Bell will discuss the provenance, history, and people connected with Ephraim Moors’s powder horn, one of the items featured in The Object of History. Bell will also delve into his investigation into the object’s details and what they tell us about the Siege of Boston. Carvings on the horn include a crude drawing of the Continental Army encampment at Winter Hill, five grenadiers, a mansion house, and the head of a beast. J.L. Bell is a Massachusetts writer specializing in the start of the American Revolution in and around Boston. His blog, Boston1775.net, features “history, analysis, and unabashed gossip about the start of the American Revolution in Massachusetts.” This program will begin at 2:00pm and is free and open to the public.

And on Saturday, 15 June, there will be another free tour of the Society’s home at 1154 Boylston St. The History and Collections of the MHS is a 90-minute docent-led tour that explores all of the public rooms in the building will touching on the art, architecture, history, and collections of the 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

Last Friday saw the curtain drop on our three exhibitions relating to slavery, abolitionism, and Emancipation. As the set-change takes place this week in preparation for our next exhibit there are plenty of other public programs happening this week to bring you to the Society.

First, on Monday, 3 June, the MHS will co-sponsor a conference in Worcester at the College of the Holy Cross. Through a series of sessions and roundtables, “Listen my children and you shall hear: balancing history and myth in Massachusetts public history” will examine and present organizations, programs, and projects that have successfully harnessed myths, expanded their narratives, and redefined their mission without losing their identity. There will also be practical sessions/workshops to explore “teaching the problem,” and how to use this model for programming purposes in exciting ways that successfully challenge audiences. The conference for Massachusetts history organizations is presented by the MHS, Mass Humanities, University of Massachusetts Amherst Public History Program, and the University of Massachusetts Boston Public History and Archives Track. Ray Raphael, author of Consitutional Myths: what we get wrong and how to get it right (March 2013) will address “Why myths persists” in his keynote speech. The conference will take place from 9:00am until 4:00pm at the Hogan Campus Center, College of the Holy Cross. For more information, or to register for the conference, visit the Mass Humanities website: http://masshumanities.org/history_conference.

The following day, Tuesday 4 June, pack a lunch and swing by the Society for “What ‘the Federalist Papers’ Are Not,” a Brown Bag Lunch Author Talk. Beginning at 12:00pm, Ray Raphael will consider the questions: When and why did The Federalist become The Federalist Papers? What role did the essays play in the ratification debates? Can Publius be considered an authoritative source for interpreting specific sections of the Constitution – or for discovering its inner meaning? Ray Raphael’s latest book is Constitutional Myths: What We Get Wrong and How To Get It Right. His previous works include Mr. President: How and Why the Founders Created a Chief Executive, Founding Myths, A People’s History of the American Revolution, and The First American Revolution: Before Lexington and Concord. This event is free and open to the public.

On Wednesday, 5 June, come on back for another talk in our Brown Bag series as Michael Hevel, University of Arkansas, presents “Betwixt Brewings: A History of College Students and Alcohol.” Mr. Hevel’s project traces the historical roots of contemporary concerns about college students’ alcohol use, specifically focusing on students and alcohol between 1820 and 1860. Drinking behaviors, meanings that students made from alcohol, and their reactions to and involvement in the temperance movement are all gleaned from antebellum diaires kept by them. The discussion begins at 12:00pm and is free and open to the public.

Finally, on Saturday, 8 June, stop by for a building tour. The History and Collections of the MHS is a 90-minute docent-led tour that explores the public spaces of the Society’s home at 1154 Boylston St. Visitors will learn about the history of the Society, the collections it holds, and see some of the art and architecture of the historic building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 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

Attention Researchers: The library of the MHS will be closing at 4:00pm on Wednesday, 29 May, and at 3:00pm on Thursday, 30 May. Please excuse any inconvenience.

As summer unofficially begins this week, exhibitions officially close here at the Society. Thank you to all who visited 1154 Boylston to learn about abolitionism, slavery, and Emancipation over the past couple of months. Stay tuned for more information about upcoming exhibitions.

Now, with the beautiful week on tap outside, why not consider taking a walk to the MHS for a public program this week? On Wednesday, 28 May 2013, pack yourself a lunch and come by for a brown bag lunch talk. Beginning at noon, Heather Cooper of the University of Iowa presents “Confiscated Voices: representing the slave experience during the American Civil War.” In this talk, Ms. Cooper will explore the ways in which contraband men and women – runaway slaves who fled to the Union during the Civil War – enacted their own representation of their changing status and slave experience and through everyday performance in the contraband camps, challenging competing representations of race, gender, and slavery in the process. This view is contrasted with the pervasive references to “contraband” in the press, on stage, and in political cartoons which suggested that “contraband” became the primary representation of slavery and slaves during the Civil War. Brown Bag lunch talks are free and open to the public.

Then, on Wednesday evening beginning at 6:00pm, the MHS will host a special musical performance by the Boston Saxophone Quartet. “Sounds of the Civil War” will feature familiar tunes from the 1860s that were sung around the parlor piano, as well as songs written specifically for the newest instrument in the era: the saxophone. Included will be musical performances and historical commentary on the selected pieces. Members of the Boston Saxophone Quartet have performed with the Boston Pops, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and leading Broadway theaters throughout New England. Conductor and instrumentalist Peter Cokkinias, Professor at neighboring Berklee College of Music, has served for over 30 seasons as Music Director/Conductor of the Metrowest Symphony Orchestra; has conducted the Boston Ballet and Boston Pops; and has performed with the Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Ballet, and Cincinnati, Hartford, Pittsburgh, and Boston Symphony Orchestras. Registration is required with a fee for this event. Free for MHS Fund Giving Circle members. Please contact the education department for more information at 617-646-0557/education@masshist.org.

Finally, on Saturday, 1 June, stop by the MHS for a free tour. The History and Collections of the MHS is a 90-minute docent-led tour that explores the public rooms of the Society’s home on Boylston St. and touches on the history and collections of the MHS. The tour is free and open to the public and begins at 10:00am. No reservation is required for individuals or small groups but parties of 8 or more should contact the MHS prior to attending the tour. For more information please contact Curator of Art Anne Bentley, at 617-646-0508 or abentley@masshist.org.

By Dan Hinchen

As we approach the long Memorial Day weekend, there is a lull in the activity here at the MHS. There are no public programs scheduled this week. However, this is your last chance to view our three current exhibitions concerning slavery, abolition, and Emancipation in Massachusetts. The exhibits will be available every day this week, Monday-Friday, 10:00am-4:00pm, and are free to the public. The final day of the exhibits is Friday, 24 May. After that, we will make way for our next installment: “The Object of History: 18th-century treasures from the Massachusetts Historical Society.” Stay tuned for more information or visit our online calendar of events.

And please take note that the Society will be closed this Saturday, 25 May, and Monday, 27 May, in observance of the Memorial Day holiday. Normal hours will resume on Tuesday, 28 May. Enjoy the long weekend!

By Dan Hinchen

Last week saw the close to the seminar season here at the Society and as summer approaches the calendar opens up a bit. Still, there are some great programs coming up this week to experience. Here is what is on tap at the MHS this week.

First, on Wednesday, 15 May 2013, come on in for a Brown Bag Lunch discussion as Reiner Smolinski of Georgia State University presents “Cotton Mather encounters the gods of Egypt: The Transatlantic Enlightenment and the Origin of Pagan Religions.” The presentation is based on Prof. Smolinski’s ongoing work for his forthcoming intellectual biography of Cotton Mather. Brown Bag lunches are free and open to the public and begin at noon.

The following day, Thursday, 16 May, the MHS hosts “The Tender Heart & Brave: The Politics and Friendship of Charles Sumner & Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.” This talk, co-sponsored by the Longfellow House-Washington National Historic Site and the Boston African American National Historic Site, examines how the fiery abolitionist Sumner and the genteel poet Longfellow became the closest of friends. Dramatic readings of actual historic documents such as letters, journals, poetry, and speeches will show the deep personal relationship shared between the two men. The reading, done by author Stephen Puleo and the Longefellow House’s Rob Velella, takes listeners from the earliest friendship to antislavery advocacy of these two men, from personal triumphs and tragedies to their final years, weaving through the events of the nation during their lifetimes, including the Emancipation. Mr. Puleo, author of “The Caning: the assault that drove America to Civil War” will provide commentary and sign copies of his book. Reservations are requested for this event at no cost. Please RSVP. Contact the education department for more information at 617-646-0560/education@masshist.org. Program begins with a reception at 5:30pm, talk begins at 6:00pm. 

And on Saturday, 18 May, come to 1154 Boylston at 10:00am for a free building tour, The History and Collections of the MHS. This 90-minute, docent-led tour takes guests through all of the Society’s public rooms while providing information about the history and collections of the institution. 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, there are only two weeks left to view three current exhibitions, all focusing on varying aspects of the path to Emancipation in the mid-19th century. Exhibits are open to the public six days a week, Mon-Sat, 10:00am – 4:00pm. The present displays are on view until Friday, 24 May, so do not miss them!

By Dan Hinchen

It is time again for the weekly forecast of events here at the MHS! There are three public programs on offer in the week to come and with spring finally settling into its normal routine, plenty of reasons to take a walk and visit 1154 Boylston.

First up, on Tuesday, 7 May, is the last in the Early American History Seminar series for the season. Sarah Bilder of Boston College Law School and Pauline Maier of MIT present “Madison’s Hand: Revising the Constitutional Convention.” This seminar focuses on the most prominent remnants of the Convention in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787, Madison’s Notes with his revisions, and ask what it means to take seriously that Madison’s notes on the Convention are notes. Two hundred and twnty-five years after the writing, the use of changing technology allows a revisiting of the original manuscript to suggest that Madison revised his notes far more extensively than was previously understood, demonstrating that Madison’s own understanding of the Convention, the Constitution, and his own role change dramatically betwee 1787 and the end of the 18th century. This seminar begins at 5:15pm and is free and open to the public. RSVP required. Subscribe to receive advance copies of the seminar paper. This is the last seminar at the MHS until the fall so come get your fix before the summer!

The following day, Wednesday, 8 May, come to attend the annual Jefferson lecture at the MHS. This year, Susan R. Stein of Monticello discusses “New Perspectives on Jefferson’s Monticello: House, Landscape, and Family.” This talk uses a wide lens to focus on recent restoration and interpretive efforts including Monticellos’ work spaces beneath the house, public rooms, and upper floors, as well as the principal street of the plantation, Mulberry Row. Also included will be description of Monticello’s free and enslaved communities. Ms. Stein is the Richard Gilder Senior Curator and Vice President for Museum Programs. Registration is required for this public program at no cost. Please RSVP. Pre-Talk Reception at 5:30pm, program starts at 6:00pm. Contact the education department at 617-646-0560/education@masshist.org for more informaiton or to reserve a spot.

And on Saturday, 11 May, after a few weeks off, our public tour resumes. “The History and Collections of the MHS” is a tour of the Society’s public rooms that touches on the history and collections of the MHS, including some of the art and architecture on view in the public spaces. Tours are led by an MHS staff member or docent and last about 90 minutes. Tour begins in the lobby at 10:00am 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.

Finally, the three current exhibitions on view are available six days a week, Monday-Saturday, 10:00am – 4:00pm. These exhibits are only around for three more weeks so be sure to get a glimpse before they go!

By Dan Hinchen

As the spring rolls on and we enter a new month it will be a busier week here at the MHS with plenty of public programs to take part in. First on the list is a rare Sunday program happening on 28 April 2013. Join Jayne Gordon, MHS Director of Education and Public Programs, for an afternoon walking tour in Concord, MA. “Authors & Abolitionists” is a leisurely two-mile walk that explores the involvement of authors and Concord-residents like Emerson, Thoreau, and the Alcotts and their neighbors in antislavery efforts in Concord, hotbed of 19th-century abolitionist sentiment, and beyond. The walk, starting at 2:00pm, begins and ends at the Concord train depot and is coordinated with the Sunday train schedule. Walk leader Jayne Gordon is a resident of Concord who has worked at many of the town’s historic site and teaches the Concord history course required of all town guides. Registration Required. Fee $25/$15 (F/M); Free for MHS Fund Giving Circle members. Light refreshments included. For more information contact the education department at 508-577-4599 / education@masshist.org.

Next up, stop by the MHS on Tuesday, 30 April, for the next installment in the Immigration and Urban History Seminar series. This panel discussion, “19th-century Immigration, Nativism, and Politics” will focus on two papers. Mimi Cowan of Boston College highlights the ways in which participation in volunteer military groups sometimes helped immigrants combat nativism and, at other times, fueled nativists’ concerns about foreigners in her paper “Honorable Citizens: Ethnic Militias in Chicago, 1855-1879.” “African American and Irish Political Coalitions in Boston, Massachusetts, 1881-1890,” by Millington Bergeson-Lockwood, George Mason University, identifies three areas where African Americans and Irish immigrants established coalitions and laid claim to participation in the founding events of the United States as well as a histori resistance to oppression. Comment in this discussion provided by Evelyn Stern, University of Rhode Island. This program is free and open to the public, though RSVP is required. Subscribe to receive advance copies of the seminar papers. Discussion begins at 5:15pm.

Two events will happen on May Day this week. First, on Wednesday, pack a lunch and hit the MHS at noon for one of our Brown Bag Lunch talks. This week, Katelyn Crawford of the University of Virginia will present “Transient Painters, Traveling Canvases: Portraiture and mobility in the British Atlantic, 1750-1780.” Ms. Crawford’s project examines the paintings and portraitists working within the 18th-century British Atlantic world to demonstrate the impact of mobility on artistic practice and portraiture on identiy construction. She considers a network of about ten portraitists, the canvases they produce, and the travel of both individiuals and images throughout the British Atlantic and identifies a shift in the construction of artistic communities ans artists took to the sea. Her project reveals visual convergences and divergences that illustrate the development of regional identities within imperial conventions. This event is free and open to the public.

And on Wednesday evening, 1 May, head over to the Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St. in Brookline at 6:00pm for an MHS-sponsored author talk with Nathaniel Philbrick. The bestselling author of Mayflower and In the Heart of the Sea turns his attention toward the story of the first major battle of the American Revolution in his new book “Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution.” This book explores this, the bloodiest battle of the coming Revolution and the point of no return for the colonists in rebellion. Mr. Philbrick is a New York Times bestselling author, recipient of the National Book Award, and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. This event is co-sponsored with Brookline Booksmith and will take place at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline. For directions, please visit http://www.coolidge.org/. Tickets are available from the Brookline Booksmith and are $5 per person.Please visit brooklinebooksmith.com/tickets or call 617-566-6660 to reserve your space. When you purchase the book, you receive one free ticket and the option to purchase a second ticket for $5.

Finally, on Friday, 3 May 2013, MHS Librarian Peter Drummey will present an exhibition spotlight, “The Three Lives of Anthony Burns.” This program will explore the heroic, and tragic, life of Anthony Burns through documents on display at the Society. Who was Anthony Burns? How was his rendition – his return from Boston to slavery in 1854 – a turning point in the Abolitionist stuggle? What happened to him after he was free and his celebrity faded? Come by the MHS at 2:00pm to hear the answers to these questions. And while you are here, be sure to check out the three complementary exhibitions currently on display until May 24.

By Dan Hinchen

After a very strange week here in Boston last week it appears that things are returning to normal. The Society was forced to cancel a couple of public programs last week. Stay tuned for information about rescheduling of last Tuesday’s Immigration and Urban History Seminar, “Dynamic Tensions: Charles Atlas, Immigrant Bodybuilders, and Eugenics, 1920-45.”

Perhaps appropriately, this week is also light on the public programs at the MHS as Boston returns to a regular schedule.On Friday, 26 April, the Society will sponsor a Bus Trip to the Museum of World War II, a special event for Members of the MHS Fund Paine through Adams Circles, part of the MHS Local Travel Series. Participants will enjoy a special lunch and behind-the-scenes tour of the the Museum of World War II with founder and director Kenneth Rendell. The museum houses the most comprehensive collection of World War II artifacts on display anywhere in the world. A bus will leave from the MHS at 11am and return by 5pm. Space is limited and RSVP is required, with a fee of $50.  For more information or to register, contact Katy Capó at kcapo@masshist.org or 617-656-0518.

And as usual, the three current exhibitions on display at the Society are available for public viewing, free of charge, Monday-Saturday, 10:00am-4:00pm. Be sure to stop by and check them out.

By Dan Hinchen

After celebrating Patriot’s Day and the running of the Boston Marathon, we return for a shortened week at the MHS, with these events on tap.

On Tuesday, 16 April 2013, drop by the MHS for the latest Immigration and Urban History Seminar, “Dynamic Tensions: Charles Atlas, Immigrant Bodybuilders, and Eugenics, 1920-1945.” Dominique Padurano, Scarsdale High School, presents a paper which highlights the paradox of bodybuilders like Charles Atlas who marketed diet and exercise regimens by emphasizing their own innate weaknesses while, at the same time, espousing eugenics techniques of the day. Ms. Padurano also argues that, in a time when the nation was not a hospitable place for foreigners, both techniques served as sorts of assimilation strategies within immigrant and ethnic bodybuilding communities. Martin Summers, Boston College will provide comment. The seminar will begin at 5:15pm and is free and open to the public. RSVP required. Subscribe to receive advance copies of the seminar paper. This event has been canceled.

And on Thursday, 18 April, as part of the History of Women and Gender series, the MHS will present a panel discussion, “The Big Tent of U.S. Women’s and Gender History: A State of the Field.” Beginning at 5:30, join the group discussion to see what is going on today in the field of Women’s and Gender History in the United States. Essayists are Cornelia H. Dayton from the University of Connecticut, and Lisa Levenstein, University of North Carolina at Greensoboro. Joining them will be the panelists, Crystal Feimster of Yale University, Carol F. Karlsen of the University of Michigan, and Betsy More of Harvard University. This panel discussion is free and open to the public; RSVP required. Subscribe to receive advance copies of the seminar papers.

Closing out the week, on Saturday, 20 April, come in at 10:00am for the MHS Tour: The History and Collections of the MHS. This 90-minute, docent-led tour takes guests through the public space of the Society’s home at 1154 Boylston St. and touches on the history and collections of the Society, as well as some of the art and architecture on view. No reservation required for individuals and small groups but parties of 8 or more are requested to contact the MHS prior to attending. For more information please contact Curator of Art Anne Bentley at 617-646-0508 or abentley@masshist.org.

By Dan Hinchen

After a successful multi-day conference on the Civil War the Society is back to normal programming this week. Still, it is shaping up to be a busy one!

First on the bill is the next installment of the Environmental History Seminar series. On Tuesday, 9 April, join us at 5:15pm for “Good Meat & Good Skins: Winter game and political ecology on the maritime peninsual, 1620-1727.” Thomas Wickman of Trinity College will examine how a mixed-menu of game animals allowed northeaster Indians a flexible pattern of winter mobility. At least until 1704, that is, after which English soldiers patrolled these winter hunting grounds and interfered with the natives’ reliance on wild game. Mr. Wickman will argue that political ecology, the effects of power on access to routes and resources, mattered more than environmental degradation to the fate of the winter hunt on the Maritime Peninsula. Comment provided by Neal Salisbury, Smith COllege. Seminars are free and open to the public though RSVP is required. Subscribe to receive advance copies of the seminar paper.

On Wednesday, 10 April, there are multiple events happening, starting with a Brown Bag Lunch at noon. Pack a snack and come in to hear Frances Clarke, University of Sydney, as she presents “Child Soldiers in America.” Did you know that, until recently, children aged seven to seventeen constituted a significant portion of the American military? In this project, co-authored with Rebecca Jo Plant of University of California, San Diego, Ms. Clarke aims to study the relationship between childhood militarism in American history and to trace the debate over enlistment of minors from the Revolution to the modern era, analyzing the shifting representations and experiences of child soldiers. This event is free and open to the public.

Then, at 6:00pm on Wednesday, award-winning author Nancy Rubin Stuart will give a talk entitled “Defiant Brides of the Revolution,” part of the New Books/New Looks: Revisiting the Past series. This author talk examines how the lives and personal developments of Peggy Shippen and Lucy Knox were changed by their marriages to Benedict Arnold and Henry Know, respectively. Ms. Stuart will reveal the contradictory paths the two young women followed subsequent ot their passionate marriages to patriotic men during the American Revolution and early Federal era. Through correspondence, historical drawings, and portraits, Ms. Stuart will expose how these defiant brides affected the course of the Revolution. Registration is required at no cost for this event. Please RSVP. There will be a pre-talk reception at 5:30pm. Contact the education department for more information at education@masshist.org/617-646-0560.

Following the author talk the Society will hold its second Historical Happy Hour to continue the conversation over cocktails at the Back Bay Social Club. This is a special member event for MHS Associate Members and their guests, who will receive priority admission to the program as well as complimentary appetizers and a drink at the Happy Hour. Cash bar will also be available. While the author talk is open to the public, the Historical Happy Hour is only for associate members and their guests and begins at 7:30pm. Registration is required at no cost. Please contact Katy Capó for more information at kcapo@masshist.org/617-646-0518. The Back Bay Social Club is located at 867 Boylston St.

And on Friday, 12 April, be here at 2:00pm as Elaine Grublin, Head of Reader Services, shines a spotlight on our current exhibition. “‘You Know I Dislike Slavery’: Lincoln before the Presidency” focuses on the text of an August 1855 letter from Lincoln to his friend, Joshua Fry Speed. Elaine will discuss Lincoln’s early thoughts on slavery in American and his reaction to the rise of the American (“Know-Nothing”) Party. Show up early or stay after to browse our three current exhibitions, all revolving around the question of slavery in the United States. “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land: Boston Abolitionists, 1831-1865,” “Lincoln in Manuscript & Artifact,” and “Forever Free: Lincoln & the Emancipation Proclamation” will all be on view until 24 May, 10:00am-6:00pm, Mon-Sat.

Rounding out the week, come in on Saturday, 13 April, at 10:00am for the MHS Tour: The History and Collections of the MHS. This 90-minute, docent-led tour takes guests through the public space of the Society’s home at 1154 Boylston St. and touches on the history and collections of the Society, as well as some of the art and architecture on view. No reservation required for individuals and small groups but parties of 8 or more are requested to contact the MHS prior to attending. For more information please contact Curator of Art Anne Bentley at 617-646-0508 or abentley@masshist.org.

Finally, please note that the Historical Society will be closed on Monday, 15 April 2013, in observance of the Patriot’s Day holiday and will resume normal hours on 16 April.