This Week @ MHS

By Dan Hinchen

Looking for some midday academic fulfilment this week? Then look no further. We have a couple of free lunchtime talks on the schedule this week at the Society, as well as a free tour and a free exhibition. Open to the public Monday – Saturday, 10:00AM-4:00PM, “Letters and Photographs from the Battle Country: Massachusetts Women in WWI” focuses on two of the hundreds of women from Massachusetts who went to France as members of the U.S. armed forces, the Red Cross, and other war relief organizations. This exhibit commemorates the centennial of the outbreak of World War I in 1914. 

On Monday, 4 August, join us for a Brown Bag lunch talk beginning at noon. “The Labor of Self-Making in New Engand Mill Women’s Poetry,” is presented by Robin Smith, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Through her research into poems and prose pieces written by women mill workers for publication in literary magazines such as the Lowell Offering, Smith argues that writing poetry was an important means of humanizing potentially dehumanizing labor for mill women. The rhythms of poetry helped them to reclaim control of time and, in so doing, made space for fortifying their creative, coherent selves. This talk is free and open to the public. 

And on Wednesday, 6 August, there is another Brown Bag talk, also beginning at noon. This time, Frank Cirillo of the University of Virginia presents “‘The Day of Sainthood Has Passed’: American Abolitionists and the Golden Moment of the Civil War, 1861-1865.” With this project, Cirillo explores divisions among American abolitionists over whether or not to support the Lincoln Administration and the Union war effort during the Civil War. The choices that longtime reformers made in confronting the changed landscape of wartime America, and the series of schisms within the movement that ensued, helps to explain how the Union war achieved both so much and so little in terms of black social and political rights. Pack a lunch and please join us for the talk!

On Saturday, 9 August, come by at 10:00AM for a free tour. The History and Collections of the MHS is a 90 minute, docent-led tour that explores all of the public spaces in the Society’s Boylston St. home and touches 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.

What was it like to live in a town that had existed for years (if not a full century or more) before becoming part of a new nation in 1776? Designed for educators and local history enthusiasts, this workshop will explore some of the social, cultural, economic, and political concerns expressed in New England towns as the United States was attempting to form a new government in the 1780s and 1790s. We will discuss the truly participatory, well-informed conversations taking place in town halls and meeting places throughout the new colonies-turned-states. By turning an eye towards local politics and events we will rediscover the ways in which “ordinary people” contributed to America’s creation story. “Old Towns/New Country: The First Years of a New Nation” is a two-day teacher workshop that is open to the public. This week’s two-day session takes place in Searsport, Maine. Addition two-day workshops will be held in Falmouth, Massacuhsetts (13-14 August) and in Framingham, Massachusetts (26-27 September). 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

 

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From the Magna Carta to Boston School Desegregation: An Educational Summer

By Kathleen Barker, Education Department

Summer is in full swing at the Society, and that means I’m surrounded by teachers and students (of all ages) who love history as much as I do. Our season began with a workshop for a group of educators visiting from Oxnard, California. After viewing artifacts from the era the American Revolution, the group debated the effectiveness of the boycotts of British goods that took place in Boston in the 1760s and 1770s. This program was a great example of the connections MHS staff members have made at workshops and conferences over the years. The group leader, Blake Thomas, was a participant in our 2010 Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop (which was just funded again by the National Endowment for the Humanities for the summer of 2015!).  

July brought new partnerships and new friends to the MHS. July 10-11, MHS education staff co-hosted a workshop with the Museum of Fine Arts to celebrate their special exhibition Magna Carta: Cornerstone of Liberty. The exhibit features many documents from MHS collections, including two manuscript copies of the Declaration of Independence, originally written by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, currency engraved by Paul Revere, and Elbridge Gerry’s annotated copy of the U.S. Constitution. Participants enjoyed viewing the exhibition and analyzing other documents from the MHS and artifacts and paintings from the MFA. As a final activity, participants had to create their own broadsides that offered commentary on the theme of rights and liberties in the pre-revolutionary era.

This month also featured a visit from MYTOWN students researching the American Revolution in the Boston area. MYTOWN is a great organization that engages students in the learning and teaching of their local history. These particular student viewed documents from the period pertaining to the Revolution in general (like the Declaration of Independence), as well as materials related specifically to the Dillaway Thomas House in Roxbury. They even blogged about their experience at the MHS! 

I spent the week of July 18 working with a fun group of educators participating in the Primarily Teaching program at the National Archives in Waltham. Together we researched Boston school desegregation, in particular the records pertaining to Morgan v. Hennigan, the case that prompted Boston Public Schools to adopt busing in order to reverse segregation in its schools and facilities. By the end of the week, I had worked with my counterpart at the Archives, Annie Davis, to develop a new workshop on the changing meanings of equality in education over the last two and a half centuries. (Look for it on our program schedule in 2015.)

August might be right around the corner, but summer isn’t over yet. There are still opportunities to attend an MHS workshop. Join us in Searsport, Maine, or, Falmouth, Massachusetts, for an upcoming workshop on the first years of the Early Republic. These “Old Towns/New Country” workshops introduce participants to local aspects of national stories such as the War of 1812, economic crises, political debates, and the flourishing of a distinctly American culture. We have a number of other programs for educators on the horizon for fall, including a two-day workshop on women and World War I, a program for students and teachers interested in National History Day,  and another two-day session on the history of Boston and the Sea. Keep an eye on our events calendar for more details!

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