By Elaine Grublin

If the unseasonably warm weather inspires you to explore the city a bit this week, be sure to wander by the MHS and attend one of our events.

Thursday, 1 December, at 6:00 PM we are pleased to offer a free public program featuring William M. Fowler Jr., Northeastern University, author of American Crisis: George Washington and the Dangerous Two Years After Yorktown, 1781-1783. A pre-talk reception begins at 5:30 PM. Registration is required. Read more about the program and register to attend here. 

Friday, 2 December, at noon author Carla L. Peterson, University of Maryland, presents a lunchtime program related to her recently published volume Black Gotham: A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City. Read more about this free program here.

Also on Friday, 2 December, at 2:00 PM Stephen T. Riley Librarian Peter Drummey presents The Purchase by Blood: Gallery Talk. This is the third installment in the gallery talk series associated with our latest exhibition The Purchase by Blood: Massachusetts in the Civil War, 1861-1862. The exhibition is open Monday through Saturday, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. 

By Elaine Grublin

It will be a quiet week at the MHS. Please note that the library and exhibition areas will be closed Thursday, 24 November through Saturday, 26 November in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Regular hours will resume on Monday, 28 November.

If you are roaming the city early in the week and looking for something to do, the exhibition areas will be open Monday through Wednesday 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM . We currently have two shows onview: The Purchase by Blood: Massachusetts in the Civil War 1861-1862 and “Like a Wolf for the Prey”: The Massachusestts Historical Society’s Collection Begins.

By Elaine Grublin

Our latest exhibition, The Purchase by Blood: Massachusetts in the Civil War, 1861-1862, is free and open to the public Monday through Saturday 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. In addition to seeing the exhibition visitors will have the opportunity to attend two gallery talks this week. On Wednesday, 19 October, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM, and again on Friday, 21 October from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM members of the exhibition’s curation team we speak about elements of the exhibition.

On Wednesday, 19 October at 6:00 PM current and potential associate members are invited to a special event just for them. Gloriously Gruesome at the MHS will feature a number of gruesome objects from the MHS collections. Registration is required for this event. 

And do not forget our weekly building tour The History and Collections of the MHS. The 90-minute tour departs our lobby at 10:00 AM.  

By Elaine Grublin

Join us today between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM for an Open House.  The MHS will be open for tours as part of the Fenway Alliance’s Opening Our Doors program.  Please note that the MHS library is closed today in observance of the Columbus Day holiday.  

Later in the week there are many other programs worth marking your calendar for.

Tuesday, 11 October, at 5:15 PM the Boston Environmental History Seminar offers John T. Cumbler, University of Louisville, presenting Cape Cod: The Environment, the Economy, and the People of a Fragile Eco-system. James O’Connell, National Park Service, will give the comment.  Advanced copies of the seminar papers are available for small subscription fee.  Find out more here.

Wednessay, 12 October, at 6:00 PM author Adam Goodheart, Washington College, offers a lecture centering on his recent book 1861: The Civil War Awakening.  Refreshments will be served beginning at 5:30.  

Thursday, 13 October, there is an offsite program, held at the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe, beginning at 5:30 PM. The Boston Seminar on the History of Women and Gender presents
Helen Veit, Michigan State University, presenting on her research “Paying for ‘Freedom’ with Her Health”: Rising Life Expectancy, Women’s Aging, and American Youth Culture. Brooke Blower, Boston University, will give the comment. Again, advanced copies of the seminar papers are available for small subscription fee.  To subscribe to this series please email Susan Landry.

By Elaine Grublin

It is another busy week at the MHS. Check your calendars and plan to attend one of the following events.

On Tuesday, 4 October, at 5:15 PM, the Boston Early American History Seminar series kicks off its season with Paul A. Gilje, University of Oklahoma, presenting his paper Contested Commerce: Free Trade and the Origins of the War of 1812. Drew McCoy, Clark University, will give the comment.  Papers are available in advance for all who subscribe to the seminar series. 

At noon on Wednesday, 5 October, Andrew W. Mellon fellow Bonnie Lucero, University of North Carolina, will present her research on Edwin F. Atkins and Race Relations in Cienfuegos, Cuba at a brown-bag lunch program.

Thursday, 6 October, brings a special event just for current MHS members and fellows. All members and fellows are invited to attend a preview and reception for our upcoming exhibition The Purchase by Blood: Massachusetts in the Civil War, 1861-1862. The program will open with remarks by guest curator Carol Bundy, author of The Nature of Sacrifice: A Biography of Charles Russell Lowell, Jr.  Registration is required for this event.

The Education Department is participating in a two-day teacher workhop, Teaching the Civil War, on Saturday and Sunday, 8 – 9 October. This workshop is sponsored by the Civil War Trust. Activities will take place at the Hyatt Regency Boston, as well as other historic sites in and around the city. There is still space for interested educators to sign-up. Pre-registration is required. For additional information, including schedules and registration procedures, visit the Civil War Trust website.

And on Saturday, 8 October, all are welcome to enjoy our 90-minute building tour, The History and Collections of the MHS, lead by an MHS docent. The tour departs the MHS lobby at 10:00 AM. 

By Elaine Grublin

The fall calendar is full of engaging programs and exhibitions for folks with a wide range of interests.  This week we offer four programs and gallery hours, so be sure to stop in and enjoy at least one of the following.

At noon on Wednesday, 21 September, come to hear Andrew W. Mellon Fellow Kerima Lewis, University of California, Berkeley, presents her project Atlantic Fires Burning: Arson as a Strategy of Slave Resistance in the British American Colonies ata brown-bag lunch.

Area graduate students and faculty at graduate programs are invited to join us on Thursday, 22 September, at 6:00 PM for our Second Annual Graduate Student Reception. Registration is required for this program. To register, email Kate Viens or phone 617-646-0568 by 21 September with your name, affiliation, and major academic interest.

On Saturday, 24 September, we are pleased to offer a special event just for MHS Fellows and Members, a tour of the Arnold Arboretum. The program begins at 9:30 AM at the Hunnewell Building at the Arnold Arboretum. Registration is required.

Also on Saturday, 24 September, our weekly building tour, The History and Collections of the MHS, departs the MHS lobby at 10:00 AM. This 90 minute tour is guided by an MHS docent. 

All visitors to the MHS are also encouraged to visit our newest exhibition space. The newly installed exhibition “Like a Wolf for the Prey”: The Massachusetts Historical Society Collection Begins, installed in our recently renovated 2nd floor lobby, is open to the public Monday through Saturday, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. 

By Elaine Grublin

Please join us at noon on Wednesday, 14 September, as Anthony Antonucci, University of Connecticut, presents his project “Americans and the Mezzogiorno: United States Relations with the Regno delle Due Sicilie from Thomas Jefferson to Herman Melville, 1783-1861” at a brown-bag lunch program. 

On Saturday, 17 September take the family to George’s Island to hear MHS staff members present a lecture on The Trent Affair.  This event is part of the Boston Harbor Islands Civil War History Series and is co-sponsered by the MHS. The lecture starts a 1:45 PM on Georges Island. For directions to the Island, please visit http://bostonharborislands.org/.

It is the final week to view the current exhibition History Drawn With Light.  Visit the exhibition Monday through Saturday, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The exhibition closes forever on Saturday, 17 September to allow the staff to install our next major show. The Purchase by Blood: Massachusetts in the Civil War, 1861-1862, opens on 7 October.  Stay tuned for more information on that exhibtion.  

By Elaine Grublin

Please join us today, 7 September 2011, at noon for an engaging brown-bag lunch.  Laurie Ellen Pazzano, the Landscape Institute of the Boston Architectural College/Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, will discuss and take questions about her project Peace field: 1788-1818, The New England Farm of John & Abigail Adams. 

By Elaine Grublin

The final week before Labor Day looks like a quiet one at the MHS. There are no scheduled programs this week, but there are a couple of noteworthy items.

Please note that the library will be closed Saturday, 3 September through Monday, 5 September in observance of the Labor Day holiday. 

Also, Thursday, 1 August is the last Thursday evening that the library will be open until 7:45 PM. Starting on 6 September the library’s “late night” moves to Tuesday evening. The library will be open 9:00 AM to 7:45 PM on Tuesdays, and will close at 4:45 PM on all other weekdays and at 4:00 PM on Saturdays.  This is a permanent change.   

Finally, there are only three weeks left to view the exhibition History Drawn with Light: Early Photographs from the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.  The exhibition is open Monday through Saturday, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. 

By Elaine Grublin

Today, 22 August, at noon join us in the Dowse Library for a brown-bag lunch presented by Jennifer Egloff of New York University.  Jennifer will present her project “Popular Numeracy in Early Modern England and British North America” before taking questions and comments from all attendees. 

On Saturday, 27 August, join us for the 90-minute building tour The History and Collections of the MHS.  The tour, which is free and open to the public, starts at 10:00 AM and departs from the front lobby.