December 2012
Theodore Roosevelt Comes to Lunch--and the Massachusetts Historical Society Turns Itself Upside Down The American Historical Association Meets In Boston
Program, 1912
November 2012
"Under the Commission of Massachusetts We Shall March Forward to the Mountain Plains of the Aztecs:" Recruiting Volunteers for the First Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment during the Mexican War
Broadside, 1846
October 2012
In Death Lamented: A Mourning Ring for Mary Otis Gray
Ring, 1763
September 2012
"What do I owe to Taft?"
Letter, 1912
August 2012
"To the Farthest Ports of the Rich East": Salem and the Sumatra Pepper Trade
Map, 1827
July 2012
"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America"
Letter, 1776
June 2012
"The Spirit of Party ... stupefies even those whom it cannot deprave": John Quincy Adams writes to Abigail Adams
Letter, 1810
May 2012
Starring Susannah Rowson
Broadside, 1796
March 2012
Regulations to be Observed by Persons Employed in the Boott Cotton Mills
Broadside, 1866
February 2012
A photographic portrait of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., by Marian "Clover" Hooper Adams
Photograph, 1884
January 2012
Souvenir of a "Splendid Exhibition": Cupid as Drawn by Maelzel's Automaton, the Juvenile Artist
Drawing by automaton machine, 1835
December 2011
Phillis Wheatley's Earliest Poem
Diary page, 1773
November 2011
Newly Discovered Letter by W. E. B. DuBois
Letter, 1895
October 2011
Ball's Bluff--The Civil War Comes Home to Massachusetts
Letter, 1861
September 2011
"There is nothing like having a good repository": Jeremy Belknap Describes the Mission of the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1795
Letter, 1795
August 2011
"We are going out to make calls": Life of a Victorian Girl
Crayon and pencil drawing, circa 1876-1800
July 2011
Ring Those Bells: Paul Revere, Bell Maker
Advertising card, circa 1800
June 2011
Crossed Swords: Prescott and Linzee Swords from the Battle of Bunker Hill
Plaque with two swords, circa 1730s-1750s and circa 1780s
May 2011
A Record of Thomas Jefferson's Garden
Manuscript, 1771 (featured page), 1770-1824 (whole volume)
April 2011
The Battle Lines are Drawn: the Attack on Fort Sumter
Broadside, 1861
March 2011
An Early Daguerreotype of Seth Easton on Dighton Rock
Photograph, 1857
February 2011
"Propaganda destructive to the home and church": The Massachusetts Public Interests League and the Battle against "Radicalism"
Letter, 1923
January 2011
Celebrating Charles Sumner: Abolitionist, Orator, Reformer, and Statesman
Portrait, 1887
December 2010
Christmas Revels: A Bowditch Family Christmas Play
Playbill, 1883
November 2010
"The Usual Consequence of Martial Law": William Cheever's Diary during the Siege of Boston
Manuscript diary, May 1775 - March 1776
October 2010
Historical Editing in Wartime: The Extraordinary Military Career of Samuel Miller Quincy Highlights of the Quincy Family Papers
Watercolor drawing, circa 1865
September 2010
"Only the Beginning of Difficulties": The Trial and Rendition of Anthony Burns
Letter, 1854
August 2010
Spoils of War: John Vryling's Silver Punch Strainer
Punch Strainer, circa 1741
July 2010
"A rash and dreadful act for a woman": The 1915 Woman Suffrage Parade in Boston
Broadside, 1862
June 2010
Extraordinary Living Wonders: The Aztec Children in Boston
Broadside, 1862
May 2010
"We are within measurable distance of a terrible military disaster...."
Letter, 1898
April 2010
A Draft Copy of "Notes on the State of Connecticut": Letter (draft) from Roger Sherman to François Marbois
Letter, 1782
March 2010
Letter from Margaret Fuller to James Freeman Clark
Letter, 1836
February 2010
"I wish the British would stop this 'We who are about to die, salute thee' attitude": Letter from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Roger Merriman
Letter, 1939
January 2010
The Birth Announcement of the Massachusetts Historical Society: The 1791 Circular Letter, of Historical Society
Printed pamphlet, 1791
December 2009
Abigail Adams' Pocket
Dimity fabric, late 18th century
November 2009
High Adventure: James Norman Hall's Final Combat during the First World War
Photograph, 1918
October 2009
A Daughter of the Revolution: Rachel Walker Revere Writes to Her Husband, Paul Revere, in the Aftermath of His Famous Ride
Letter, 1775
September 2009
A Commission in John Brown's Provisional Army
Printed form completed in manuscript, 1859
August 2009
The Party before the Boston Tea Party
Porcelain bowl, circa 1760-1773
July 2009
Celebrating the Fourth in a Time of National Distress
Broadside, 1881
June 2009
"Mr. Wythes books &c are packed up ..."
Manuscript letter, 1806
May 2009
"This I cannot but regard as perhaps most the important corps to be organized during the whole war..."
Manuscript letter, 1863
April 2009
Prospect Hill. Bunker's Hill. Pyschological Warfare During the Siege of Boston
Handbill, 1775
March 2009
Frederick Douglass corrects an "injustice" done to Robert C. Winthrop
Manuscript letter, 1882
February 2009
"He is very homely, but I looked on him with great interest and should like to see more of him." Abraham Lincoln visits the camp of the 1st Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.
Manuscript letter, 1863
January 2009
The Boston Roots of Edgar Allan Poe
Newspaper advertisement, 1808
December 2008
Rufus Putnam's Map of Worcester County
Manuscript map, 1785
November 2008
Letter from Margaret Fuller to Mary Peabody, 1836
Manuscript letter from the Nitzsche Unitariana collection
October 2008
"Bedazzling the Eyes...Like an Angel of the Sun:" Shem Drowne's Indian Archer Weathervane
Weathervane, 1716
September 2008
The Birth of the Gerrymander
Broadside, [1812]
August 2008
Sons and Daughters of Liberty Unite to Boycott William Jackson
Broadside, [between 1768-1770]
July 2008
The Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Boston, 18 July 1776
Letter from Henry Alline to his brother and sister, 1776
June 2008
"Cash Given for Handsome and Healthy Live Teeth"
Broadside about one of the first American dentists, 1796
May 2008
Governors William Bradford and John Winthrop discuss Anne Hutchinson, the "American Jezebel," and the Quaker martyr, Mary Dyer
Manuscript letter and memorandum of reply, 1638
April 2008
Thwarting the Slave-Hunters: Henry Ingersoll Bowditch and the Boston Anti-Man-Hunting League
Manuscript diagram, circa 1854-1859
March 2008
John Adams and his "Dearest Friend": A Life in Letters
Portrait, circa 1766
February 2008
225th Anniversary of George Washington's Newburgh Address
Manuscript, 1783
January 2008
Moses Greenleaf's Map of West Point
Manuscript map, 1779
October 2007
General Washington's Terrible Dilemma
Letter from George Washington to Benjamin Lincoln, 1782
September 2007
"I am here too soon": Francis Dana's Failed Attempt to Establish Diplomatic Relations with Russia During the American Revolution
Letter from Francis Dana to John Adams, 1781
August 2007
A Ribald Acrostic in the Eliot Indian Bible
Manuscript verse (incomplete)
July 2007
A Fourth of July Feast, 1844 Style
Printed menu
June 2007
The Education of John Adams
Letter from John Adams to William Dawes, 28 July 1821
May 2007
"The Other Emersons": The Correspondence of William, Ralph Waldo, Edward Bliss, and Charles Chauncy Emerson
Miniature portrait of William Emerson, circa 1833
April 2007
The "literary leather dresser": Thomas Dowse and his Library
Engraving of the Dowse Library at the Massachusetts Historical Society, circa 1856
March 2007
Eliza Susan Quincy
Watercolor drawing of Presidential birthplaces, 1822
February 2007
The Education of Henry Adams: One Hundred Years Later
Photograph of Henry Adams, 1858
January 2007
"All are gone who desire to do so": Robert E. Lee and Slavery
Manuscript letter from Robert E. Lee to George W. C. Lee, 1863
December 2006
Boston Burning: the Fire of 1787
Manuscript map of Boston drawn by Jeremy Belknap, 1787
November 2006
"She had always aspired to something noble": Caroline Dall and Her Extraordinary Diary
Daguerreoptype of Caroline Wells Healey Dall
October 2006
Meet the Ochterlonys
Miniature portrait of Major General Sir David Ochterlony
September 2006
Indian deed for Boston
Quitclaim deed for the peninsula of Boston, 19 March 1685
August 2006
Sally Putnam visits the Aquarial Gardens
Sarah Gooll Putnam diary 2, 22-23 February 1862
July 2006
Will Bradley and the Art of the Bicycle
Catalog of the Overman Wheel Co., designed by Will Bradley
June 2006
Orphans of the Revolution:
caring for the children of Dr. Joseph Warren
May 2006
The Diary of a Black Civil War Sailor
William B. Gould diary, 15 April 1865
April 2006
The Massachusetts Pine Tree penny
Copper pattern coin designed and engraved by Paul Revere, 1776
March 2006
The last days of the telegram
Telegram from Dean Rusk to Leverett Saltonstall, 24 September 1963.
February 2006
"Boston Harbor a tea-pot tonight"
Tea leaves in glass bottle collected on the shore of Dorchester Neck the morning of 17 December 1773.
January 2006
Benjamin Franklin recalls Boston, the place of his birth
Letter from Benjamin Franklin to Samuel Mather, 12 May 1784
December 2005
The Darkest December: George Washington during the crisis of the American Revolution in 1776
Letter from William Tudor to Delia Jarvis, 24 December 1776
November 2005
The Cape Ann Earthquake of November 1755
Broadside by Jeremiah Newland
October 2005
The Last Survivor of the Battle of Bunker Hill?
Ambrotype of Ralph Farnham, 7 July 1858
September 2005
Harvard in 1726:
The First Prospect of an American College
August 2005
Slavery, Bleeding Kansas, and a Test of Friendship
A letter from Abraham Lincoln to Joshua Fry Speed
July 2005
"A Covenant with Death and an Agreement with Hell"
Broadside advertising a Fourth of July rally sponsored by the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society in 1854.
June 2005
Fort Independence
Castle Island in Boston Harbor
May 2005
Three extraordinary women:
The Peabody sisters of Salem
April 2005
From the desk of Phillis Wheatley
Published in London in 1773, Wheatley's Poems on Various Subjects, Religous and Moral, was the first book of poetry by a Black American.
March 2005
Deborah Sampson, soldier in disguise
Paul Revere writes in support of Deborah Sampson Gannett, who served during the American Revolution disguised as a man.
February 2005
Montcalm and Wolfe
Francis Parkman's Account of the Deaths of Montcalm and Wolfe
January 2005
The Know-Nothing Party
The American Party (the Know-Nothing Party) comes to power in Massachusetts in 1855
December 2004
Benjamin Franklin's milk punch recipe
Benjamin Franklin sent a recipe "To make Milk Punch" to James Bowdoin, a Boston merchant and the
future governor of Massachusetts, on 11 October 1763.
November 2004
Certificate of attendance at Dr. John Warren's course of anatomical lectures
One of two known surviving copies of a certificate of attendance at Dr. John Warren's anatomical lectures and demonstrations, engraved by Paul Revere.
October 2004
GOP campaign mugs
Mugs depicting the heads of the 1960 Republican candidates for President, Richard M. Nixon, and Vice President, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
September 2004
The Selling of Joseph A Memorial
Written by Samuel Sewall in 1700, The Selling of Joseph was the first anti-slavery tract published in New England.
August 2004
Letter from Eleanor "Nora" Saltonstall to her family
Saltonstall wrote this letter to her family while she was serving with the American Red Cross in France during World War I.
July 2004
Letter from Alexander Hamilton to Theodore Sedgwick, 10 July 1804
Hamilton wrote this letter the day before his duel with Aaron Burr.
June 2004
Colombo Yogurt: A Massachusetts Success Story
Colombo Yogurt 8-ounce container
May 2004
The Columbia and Washington Medal
The Columbia and Washington Medal commemorating "the first American Adventure on the Pacific Ocean."
April 2004
The Boston News-Letter
This is the first issue of the first continuously published newspaper in America.
March 2004
The Tragedy of Zara
"On Saturday next will be perform'd, by a society of ladies and gentlemen, at Faneuil-Hall, the Tragedy of Zara ... "
February 2004
Preble before Tripoli
Edward Preble and the burning of the Philadelphia
January 2004
The Mischief at Deerfield
Letter from William Whiting to Fitz-John Winthrop,
4 March 1703/4 [1704]
December 2003
100th Anniversary of First Flight
Letters by Octave Chanute and Godfrey L. Cabot following the Wright brothers' successful flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
November 2003
Atkins Family Photographs
Robert M. Grey, Mr. Brooks, and Thomas Barbour gathering papayas at the Harvard Botanical Garden, Soledad, Cuba
October 2003
View of Boston & Albany passenger train from grounds of Keewaydin
Photograph by Francis Blake, circa 1885
September 2003
John Paul Jones Comitia Americana medal
Copper medal by Augustin Dupré, circa 1787
August 2003
Map of Massachusetts Proper
Compiled from actual surveys made by Order of the General Court and under the inspection of Agents of their appointment.
by Osgood Carleton; engraved by Joseph Callender and Samuel Hill, 1801.
From the Cabinet
The Historical Society's Object of the Month collection from 2001 - 2003.
June 2003:
The Last Horse Drawn Streetcar in Boston
May 2003:
Daguerreotype of Faneuil Hall
April 2003:
The Boston Red Sox
March 2003:
Aid for Mother Ireland
February 2003:
The Ratification of the U.S. Constitution in Massachusetts
January2003:
Amistad Letters to JQA
December 2002:
Benjamin Franklin Tries to Electrocute a Turkey
November 2002:
John Hancock
October 2002:
John Singleton Copley
September 2002:
New England Maps
August 2002:
Schoolgirl Needlework
July 2002:
Declaration of Independence
June 2002:
Women and War
May 2002:
Order of the Rising Sun
April 2002:
Paul Revere's Ride
March 2002:
Harriet Beecher Stowe
February 2002:
Anthony Burns Checks
January 2002:
New Year's Address
December 2001:
Santa Claus Bank Note
November 2001:
The Parkman Murder
October 2001:
Indian Ledger Art
September 2001:
Phillis Wheatley
August 2001:
The Sons of Liberty
|