By Elaine Grublin

On Tuesday, September 18, the fall seminar season kicks off with the first Immigration and Urban History Seminar. Join Brooke L. Blower, Boston University, as she explores why Allied strategists allowed Spaniards Marcelino Garcia and Manuel Diaz, two ardent Franco supporters and Nazi sympathizers, to remain in play for the duration of World War II. RSVPs are required and advance copies of Blower’s paper “Devil’s Bargain: New York City’s Premier Spanish Shipping Agents and Allied Strategy during World War II” are available to series subscribers. Christopher Schmidt-Nowara, Tufts University, will give the comment.  

By Elaine Grublin

Join us at noon on Wednesday, 15 August, for a brown-bag lunch “Cotton Mather’s use of Jacques Basnage’s History of the Jews in the Biblia Americana,” presented by Rick Kennedy of Point Loma Nazarene University. Kennedy will present his thoughts on Basnage’s influence on Mather as a historian and then will field questions from the audience.  

By Elaine Grublin

Looking for something to do on your lunch break today? Why not visit 1154 Boylston at noon and enjoy a stimulating brown-bag lunch program.  Lindsay Moore, Boston University, will present her research “Women, Power, and Litigation in the English Atlantic World, 1630-1700,” which explores how female litigants in England and early colonial America used the law courts to protect their rights to property.

Cannot make it all the way to the Back Bay on your lunch hour?  Plan on attending our building tour this coming Saturday. The guided tour, “The History and Collections of the MHS,” departs the front lobby promptly at 10:00 AM. 

By Elaine Grublin

If you are in the neighborhood at lunch time on Wednesday, 1 August, plan to attend our brown-bag lunch.Research fellow Justin Clark, University of Southern California, will present “Training the Eyes: Romantic Vision and Class Formation in Boston, 1830-1870.” Clark will describe his work examining why, in the spectacular world of the nineteenth-century city, Boston’s Transcendentalists, clairvoyants, blind autobiographers, naturalists, artists, photographers, and numerous others became invested in seeing more than meets the eye, leaving time for discussion with audience members.

Before or after lunch — or anytime between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM, Monday through Saturday — take some time to explore our latest exhibition, Mr. Madison’s War: The Controversial War of 1812, showcasing a number of letters, broadsides, artifacts, and images from the Society’s rich collections including a midshipman’s log of the USS Constitution describing the ship’s first great victory, letters written by John Quincy Adams to his mother while serving as the American minister to Russia, and a brass cannon captured from the British at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815.

And on Saturday, 4 August, do not miss “The History and Collections of the MHS,” our regular building tour. The 90-minute tour departs our front lobby promptly at 10:00 AM.

By Elaine Grublin

We are offering a couple of lunch time programs this week. Bring your lunch and join us in the Dowse Library for on of the following.

Monday, 23 July at noon listen as Andrew W. Mellon research fellow Benjamin Wright, Rice University, shares his insights into “Conversion and Antislavery, 1750-1830.” Wright’s project examines how ideologies of conversion directed the tactics of early antislavery reformers and how changes in these ideologies transformed antislavery into abolitionism.

Wednesday, 25 July at noon Malcolm and Mildred Freiberg research fellow Katherine Grandjean, Wellesley College, discusses her research into the relationship between the wars plaguing New England’s northern frontier and the rise of the press at the turn of the eighteenth century with “Terror ubique tremor: Communicating Terror in Early New England, 1677-1713.”

And on Saturday, 28 July do not miss “The History and Collections of the MHS,” our regular building tour. The 90-minute tour departs our front lobby promptly at 10:00.

By Elaine Grublin

The weather man is predicting a lovely week, so plan to escape a bit on your lunch break and head to the MHS for one of our lunchtime programs.  Be sure to check the online calendar for additional details about the events.

Monday, 9 July at noon Moira Gillis, University of Oxford, will present a brown-bag lunch program, The Emergence of the American Corporation: The New England Example. Gillis will discuss her research into the legal and historical parameters of the corporation as it developed in New England.

Wednesday, 11 July at noon Allison Lange, Brandies University, wil present a brown-bag lunch program, Pictures and Progress: The Politics of Images in the Woman Suffrage Movement, in which she explores the visual culture of the suffrage movement.

Saturday, 14 July at 10:00 AM join our 90-minute building tour “The History and Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.”

By Elaine Grublin

There is much happening at the MHS this week. Be sure to check out our online calendar for more information about these and other upcoming programs. 

Do not miss your chance to learn more about the fenced in gardens on the Fenway and to join in celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Fenway Victory Gardens.  Tuesday, 5 June, join us at 1154 Boylston Street to view items from the Fenway Garden Society’s collections, held by the MHS, and to stretch your legs with a walk through the gardens. This program is co-sponsored by the Fenway Garden Society. 

Wednesday, 6 June, at noon join us for a Brown-bag lunch program. Researcher Jared Hardesty, Boston College, will present his project The Origins of Black Boston, a project that examines the formation of a slave community in pre-Revolutionary Boston and argues that historians have overstated the significance of freedom as a motivating factor for slaves. Come listen to Jared’s presentation, and then join in the Q & A session.

Saturday, 7 June, stop in for our tour “The History and Collections of the MHS.”  The 90-minute guided tour departs the front lobby promptly at 10:00 AM. 

By Elaine Grublin

This week we offer a bit of something for everyone.  Choose to attend one of the four programs we are offering to kick of May, or challenge yourself to see how many you can attend.  As always you can find more information about individual program on our online calendar.

Tuesday at 5:15 PM, Joanne van der Woude, Harvard University, will close out the season for the Boston Early American Seminar Series with a presentation of her paper “The Classical Origins of the American Self: Puritans and Indians in New England Epics.” Elizabeth Maddock Dillon, Northeastern University, will give the comment. The program is free and open to the public, but RSVPs are required. Subscribers receive an advance copy of the paper.

Wednesday at noon, join us in the Dowse Library for a brown-bag lunch program. Jordan Watkins, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, will present on his research “Clio and America’s Civil War.”  Be prepared to participate in a lively discussion after Watkin’s completes his presentation. 

On Friday at 2:00 PM, MHS Curator of Art Anne Bentley will present a gallery talk in conjunction with our current exhibition Clover Adams a Gilded and Heartbreaking Life. This one-hour program will examine Clover’s use of the photographic medium to reflect her emotional connections to the arts and her subjects, and will provide attendees with time to explore the exhibition up close.

On Saturday our 90-minute building  tour The History and Collections of the MHS departs the front lobby promptly at 10:00 AM.

Please note that the Biography Seminar scheduled for Thursday, 3 May, has been postponed.  A new date will be announced when our fall schedule is published. 

By Elaine Grublin

We have a couple of interesting events planned this week, as well as two exhibitions open to the public 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Monday through Saturday.  As always, check the online calendar for more details about individual events. 

Tonight, 23 April, at 6:00 PM Heather Nathans, University of Maryland, author of Early American Theatre from the Revolution to Thomas Jefferson (Cambridge University Press, 2003) will present “Democracies of Glee: Boston’s First Professional Theatres, 1794-98.” A pre-talk reception, offering an opportunity to explore our current exhibition The First Seasons of the Federal Street Theatre, beings at 5:30 P.M. This event is free and open to the public.  Registration is requested. To register please call 617-646-0560 or click here.

Tuesday, 24 April, at 5:15 PM the final installment of the Boston Immigration and Urban History Seminar brings Andrea Thabet, University of California, Santa Barbara, to the MHS to present her paper “A Successful Integrated Development for the Central City”: Constructing the Los Angeles Music Center, 1954-1967. Samuel Zipp, Brown University, will give the comment. This event is free and open to the public.  Advance copies of the seminar paper are available for a small subscription fee. RSVPs are requested and can be submitted via email.

Saturday, 28 April, all are welcome to attend our tour, The History and Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.  The 90-minute tour departs the front lobby at 10:00 AM.