By Dan Hinchen

It’s August and it’s high time that you dropped by the MHS to get out of the heat and enjoy some history. Here is what we have on tap in the week ahead:

– Monday, 1 August, 12:00PM : We start the month with a Brown Bag lunch talk presented by Cassandra Berman of Brandeis University. “Motherhood and the Court of Public Opinion: Transgressive Maternity in America, 1768-1868” examines the figure of the transgressive mother in the United States during a period in which an indealized version of motherhood began to be seen as integral to the moral development of the nation. Berman’s research shifts the focus away from ideals and instead examines how the public judges those mother who either could not or would not conform. This talk is free and open to the public, so pack a lunch and come on in!

– Wedensday, 3 August, 12:00PM : Another Brown Bag! With “‘Missionary Nation’: Imagining America’s Role in the Post-Civil War World,” James Shinn of Yale  University examines how the struggle for the Union exercised a powervul and lasting–but deeply ambiguous–influence on the Republican foreign policy vision of the late 1860s and 1870s. This talk, also, is free and open to the public. 

– Thursday, 4 August – Friday, 5 August :  “Whaling in Nineteenth-Century Massachusetts” is a teacher workshop taking place here at the Society and at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Using documents from the MHS and the Leventhal Map Center, the workshop explores the lives of sailors, whaling wives, and entrepreneurs, and traces the expanding geographical horizons afforded by the whaling industry. This program is open to educators and history enthusiasts. To register, or for more information, complete this registration form, or contact the education department ateducation@masshist.org or 617-646-0557. 

– Saturday, 6 August, 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.