By Dan Hinchen

Please note that the Society is CLOSED on Monday, 4 July, in observance of Independence Day. Normal hours resume on Tuesday, 5 July. 

We’re back after a long holiday weekend and we’re ready to give you some more public programs! Here is what we have lined up this week:

– Wednesday, 6 July, 12:00PM : Join us for a Brown Bag lunch talk with David Faflik of the University of Rhode Island. The talk is titled “Passing Transcendental: Harvard, Heresy, and the Modern American Origins of Unbelief.” The project examines the idea of the transcendentalists of Boston in the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s, as “infidels” in their day. Faflik also asks if the alternative faith that they articulated constituted not just a kind of unorthodoxy, but of outright unbelief. This talk is free and open to the public. 

– Wednesday, 6 July, 6:00PM : Bone Rooms: From Scientific Racism to Human Prehistory in Museums is an author talk featuring Samuel Redman of UMASS – Amherst. Redman unearths the story of how human remains became highly sought-after artifacts for both scientific research and public display. This talk is open to the public with a fee of $10 (no charge for MHS Members and Fellows). A pre-talk reception begins at 5:30PM and the talk begins at 6:00PM. 

– Saturday, 9 July, 10:00AM : The History and Collections of the MHS is a 90-minute docent-led walk through our public rooms. The tour is free, open to the public, with no need for reservations. If you would like to bring a larger party (8 or more), please contact Curator of Art Anne Bentley at 617-646-0508 or abentley@masshist.org.

While you’re here you will also have the opportunity to view our current exhibition: Turning Points in American History.