By Kate Melchior

Welcome to 2019!  This year, the Center for the Teaching of History at the MHS brings a whole slate of education programs for teachers, students, and history enthusiasts.   

Become a Mass History Day Judge

The MHS is proud to be the State Affiliate Sponsor for Massachusetts History Day, a year-long primary source-based project where students in grades 6-12 create documentaries, exhibits, websites, performances, and papers that explore their favorite topics in history. With 5 competitions state-wide in March and April, we are calling for history enthusiasts to spend a morning talking with passionate students about history!  To learn more about Mass History Day and sign up to judge, visit our Mass History Day website.

Attend a Teacher Workshop

The MHS holds numerous teacher workshops during the year to dive deep into historical topics with educators and to explore methods for introducing them to the classroom. These programs are open to K-12 teachers and museum and heritage educators, and we offer a waiting list for those who are not educators but are interested in our programs. Check out our workshop calendar for more information and to register; e-mail education@masshist.org with any questions. This winter and spring, we have several exciting programs including:

Teaching the Industrial Revolution in Massachusetts
Wednesday, 20 February

Registration Fee: $45
This workshop will be hosted at the Tsongas Industrial History Center in Lowell, Mass.

Lowell’s water-powered textile mills catapulted the nation – including immigrant families and early female factory workers – into an uncertain new industrial era. Nearly 200 years later, the changes that began here still reverberate in our shifting global economy. Hosted in partnership with the Tsongas Industrial History Center, this workshop will explore the history of industrial growth in New England and its impact on immigration, labor movements, women’s rights, and communities in New England and beyond.

The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919
Saturday, 13 April 

Registration Fee: $25

On January 15, 1919, Boston suffered one of history’s most unusual disasters: a devastating flood of molasses. The “Great Molasses Flood” tore through the city’s North End at upwards of 35 miles per hour, killing 21 and injuring 150 while causing horrendous property damage.  With historian and author Stephen Puleo, we will explore how the flood is more than a bizarre moment in Boston history: it offers a lens into Boston and World War I, Prohibition, the anarchist movement, immigration, and the expanding role of big business in society.

“Shall the Tail Wag the Dog?”  The Fight For and Against the Right to Vote
Saturday, 11 May

Registration Fee: $25

Massachusetts citizens played a central role in the suffrage movement; Worcester hosted the first national woman’s rights convention in 1850 and Bostonians, led by Lucy Stone, headed a national suffrage organization and edited a long-running woman’s rights newspaper. In response to these influential reformers, activists formed the first anti-suffrage organizations in Massachusetts as well. Drawing on MHS collections and our new suffrage exhibition, we will explore letters, newspapers, political cartoons, visual propaganda, and other sources that illuminate the history and motivations of women on both sides of the campaign for the vote.

Teacher and Student Fellowships

Teacher and student fellowships deadlines are coming up!  These scholarships are available to K-12 teachers and students who have a serious interest in using the collections at the MHS to perform research in the fields of American history, world history, or English/language arts. Applications must be postmarked by 18 February 2019. This year we are offering the following fellowships:

Swensrud Teacher Fellowships: 

Each summer, the Swensrud Teacher Fellowship program offers educators the opportunity to create lesson plans using documents and artifacts from the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. The fellowships carry a stipend of $4,000 for four weeks of on-site research at the MHS and for the development of a curricular unit based on their research.

Kass Teacher Fellowships:

The Kass Teacher Fellowship program gives educators the chance to perform 20 days of research at the Massachusetts Historical Society on the topic of their choosing. This fellowship will carry a stipend of $2,000 for four weeks of on-site research at the MHS, and teachers will complete a 1-2 page report on their findings at the end of the fellowship.

John Winthrop Student Fellowship:

This award encourages high school students to make use of the nationally significant documents of the Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) in a research project of their choosing. Students apply with a teacher mentor, and the Winthrop Student Fellow and their teacher will each receive a $350 stipend to perform historical research and create a project using materials at the MHS.  This project can be something assigned in a class, a National History Day project, or something of the student’s invention!

If you have questions or are interested in any of these programs, visit the Center for the Teaching of History website or e-mail education@masshist.org.  We look forward to hearing from you!

By Kate Melchior

Are you a student who loves history?  Are you a teacher with students who are intrigued by primary source research?  Want the chance to spend some time in the MHS archives?  Check out the fellowship opportunities at the Center for the Teaching of History! 

John Winthrop Student Fellowship

The John and Elizabeth Winthrop Endowed Fellowship encourages high school students to make use of the nationally significant documents of the MHS in a research project of their choosing. Selected students will be referred to as “Winthrop Fellows”.  Winthrop Fellows and their supervising teacher will each receive a $350 stipend. This fellowship gives students the chance to learn how to navigate an archive, work directly with primary sources, and experience what it is like to be a historian.

Although students are welcome to work at the MHS Reading Room in Boston, online access to hundreds of recently-digitized documents from our collections now makes it possible for students from across the country to identify, incorporate, investigate, and interpret these primary sources in their work. Together with their teacher advisor (a current or past History or English teacher, member of Library/Media staff, etc), students decide on a research project proposal that uses sources from the MHS collections.  This can be a project already assigned in class.  With the support of MHS library and education staff, students then perform research using MHS materials during the spring and must complete their research project to the teacher advisor’s satisfaction by 1 June, and finally write a blog post about their experience.

The John Winthrop Fellowship empowers students to explore a topic of their interest and helps them to access the often intimidating world of historical research. One of the most valuable aspects of this fellowship is the opportunity for students to directly interact with materials from the MHS archives.  In reflecting on their experiences, many students were struck by the immediacy of the artifacts:

“I never expected to be staring at a three hundred year old letter in which Hugh Hall, one of Boston’s prominent slave traders, complains rather vehemently of seasickness. The letter was written in big, loopy handwriting, the polar opposite of Hugh’s brother Richard’s cramped impossibility, on yellowed old paper that felt somewhat slimy. For a moment, I was overcome by the idea that I was touching Hall’s DNA.” (2015 John Winthrop Student Fellow)

“It was incredible to see old newspapers that were transported along the Post Road to relay the world’s current events in the early 1700s, transformed into a computer document and displayed right in front of us.  The only thing that could top it was being able to hold the physical letter that essentially started the Boston Post Road. Oh yeah, we did that too!” (2016 John Winthrop Student Fellow)

Many students appreciated the chance to draw their own impressions of history directly from primary sources rather than interpreted through a textbook:

“At points in the letters, Nora [Saltonstall]’s sense of humor and wittiness were evident which reminded me that she was indeed human and brought to life the events that transpired, in a way that textbooks are unable to.” (2013 John Winthrop Student Fellow)

“I suppose what I liked most was the ability to interpret the original documents on my own and draw my own conclusions around the actual evidence, rather than directly being told a conclusion by a third party.” (2013 John Winthrop Student Fellow)

Students also valued the opportunity to work with MHS staff and librarians, who welcomed them to the archive and made the work of historical research more accessible:

“The staff always took me seriously, and was always ready to help if I had a question. Until now I had never used microfiche, but within two minutes the reference librarian had me set up and I knew all I needed to know to use it. I could even take pictures of the old documents and email them to myself so I could do work at home.” (2014 John Winthrop Student Fellow)

“Although we were entirely new to the MHS, the staff treated us as if we were any other historians. Along with finding great sources, the respect we received from the staff boosted our confidence in our historical research skills.” (2016 John Winthrop Student Fellow)

Most importantly, students walked away from their fellowship opportunity empowered by their experience at the MHS:  

“I have always wanted to be a historian. My time at the Massachusetts Historical Society obliterated any lingering doubts in that ambition. Words cannot describe the joy of these encounters with the past, an opportunity I will never forget.” (2015 John Winthrop Student Fellow)

Applications for 2019 John Winthrop Fellowships should be mailed no later 18 February 2019. Check out our website for more information on the Swensrud Fellowship and how to apply!

By Kate Melchior, Center for the Teaching of History

Friday, June 20th marked the end of our three-day teacher workshop, “Loyalism in the Era of the American Revolution”. The program played host to 40 K-12 teachers and heritage educators from the Boston area to as far as Seattle, providing them with an in-depth perspective on both the motivations and struggles of American loyalists in the late 18th century.

Participants arrived early Wednesday morning to begin the workshop. MHS Adams Papers’ Christopher Minty kicked off the program by introducing participants to the roots of Loyalist ideology and motivations.  Teachers then explored Loyalist primary source materials from the MHS collections, including the broadside denouncing Loyalist shop owner William Jackson and his later letter to the Continental Congress protesting his imprisonment and the seizure of his property. Teachers also explored political cartoons and propaganda from the period.  After lunch, Christina Carrick from the MHS Robert Treat Paine papers discussed violence and “civil war” during the Revolution, and we ended the day with MHS intern Lindsay Woolcock presenting on primary sources from the Revolutionary period in South Carolina and comparing the occupations of Boston and Charlestown.

On Thursday, participants received a guided tour at the Royall House and Slave Quarters in Medford from Education Coordinator Amy Peters Clark, where they learned about how the Revolution impacted two familes: the Royall family, who owned the home, and the Sutton family, who were enslaved there.  Afterwards, we headed to the Medford Public Library to hear a talk on Black Loyalists and Loyalist slavery in the Canadian Maritimes from Professor Harvey Amani Whitfield of the University of Vermont.

Upon returning to the MHS on Friday, participants were treated to several other sessions on loyalism by scholars Patrick O’Brien (USC) and Christina Carrick on Loyalist exile and return, ultimately finishing their workshop with a session on technological tips and tricks from local educator Edward Davies. Throughout the course of the workshop, participants received guidance on accessing primary source materials through the MHS website and other digital resources.

Thank you to all of our speakers and staff for helping to make this seminar so successful, and to our wonderful community of educators!

Looking forward, the MHS will be hosting an October workshop titled “Fashioning History” to partner with our upcoming MHS exhibit on “Fashioning the New England Family.”  In December, we will host the “Remembering Abigail” workshop celebrating the life and legacy of Abigail Adams.  To learn more, visit our Teacher Workshops page at the Center for the Teaching of History website.

By Amanda Fellmeth, Intern and Kate Melchior, Education

As the State Affiliates for Massachusetts History Day, Mass Historical and the Center for the Teaching of History are excited to celebrate the incredible work of young historians across the state.  From over 5,000 students competing at the school level to the 63 students advancing to the 2018 National History Day Competition outside Washington D.C. this June, a fabulous group of young people across the state have actively engaged in the research and re-telling of a broad range of historical topics.  

National History Day is a year-long, primary source-based research project for students in grades 6-12 that encourages exploration of local, state, national, and world history.  The competition takes place in two divisions (Junior (Grades 6-8) and Senior (Grades 9-12). The students present their research within the format of five different categories: Research Paper, Exhibit, Performance, Documentary, or Website, and can choose to participate individually or as part of a group.  This year’s theme is “Conflict and Compromise”, and students worked with educators, archivists, librarians, and historians all over the state to research their chosen subjects in this theme.  The diverse array of student topics this year included:

• – “Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Vilifying Women During the Conflict in Salem”
• – “The Flapper Story: A History of Lesbian Development, Modern Feminism and Gender Roles in the 1920s”
• – “A Cloying Compromise: The Story of the Hawaiian Annexation”
• – “Murky Past, Clean Future: The Clean Air Act of 1970”

Mass History Day will also be celebrating student work in a celebration of the life of Frederick Douglass next month! In honor of the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial, MHS and Mass History Day teamed up with Mass Humanities, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and Primary Source to offer special student awards, school scholarships, and teacher stipends for works that illuminate the life and legacy of Frederick Douglass. Students will present their projects and have the chance to speak with noted Douglass scholars David Blight of Yale University, Lois Brown of Wesleyan University, and John Stauffer of Harvard University at the Mass History Day Frederick Douglass Bicentennial on 2 June. For more information on the program and how to attend, visit the Mass Humanities website.

Massachusetts History Day is one of the rare programs that helps students refine critical thinking and research skills used in all subject areas. This competition gives students an opportunity to dive deep and truly engage with primary resources, an experience that not only helps to build their appreciation for history and the importance of research societies and libraries, but gives them valuable practice in higher education-type research. The format of the projects and the flexibility in research topics also allows students to play to their own strengths and interests. These types of activities also help students bring their education outside the classroom and engage with students, historians, and enthusiasts from all over the nation. Mass Historical and Mass History Day are proud of our 2018 participants and excited to watch the next generation of historians in action!

By Kathleen Barker, Center for the Teaching of History

What is evidence? What can historians do with the evidence they collect and interpret? On May 13, 2017, a dedicated group of middle-school students tackled these very questions as they immersed themselves in the lives of men, women, and children whose papers reside in MHS collections. The Society’s Center for the Teaching of History collaborated with the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth to host 25 students, parents, and grandparents from across the Northeast for a day of family inquiry. In just a few hours, families experienced the thrill of collecting sources, the challenges of interpreting their findings, and the rewards of sharing their discoveries with classmates.   

Adams Papers Editor Sara Georgini and participants discuss the evidence.

The morning began with an exploration of the kinds of sources historians use to tell stories about the past. Families toured our new exhibition “The Irish Atlantic,” analyzing everything from portraits and poems to statistics and a ship’s wheel. While they were asked to look for answers in specific objects, students were also encouraged to ask questions about what they were finding—and not finding—in their sources. This process of questioning sources continued in our next sessions, which focused more specifically on documents and artifacts from the American Revolution and the Civil War. Sara Georgini, Series Editor of the Papers of John Adams, used five items from each period to demonstrate how historians connect diverse types of evidence, created at multiple times by many different makers, to tell a more complex story about a particular event. Librarian Peter Drummey then modeled a different kind of storytelling, using artifacts, photographs, and documents related to John Brown to help students imagine the life of the infamous abolitionist.

By the end of the day participants were ready to use their accumulated discoveries to draft their own piece of historical fiction. CTH director Kathleen Barker led families in a step-by-step writing exercise that led to the creation of several imaginative and evocative stories starring MHS “characters” and collection items. Students shared stories of Massachusetts soldiers caught in slaughter of Antietam and nurses attempting to care for wounded men during the chaos of battle. Other families reimagined the American Revolution from the perspectives of Abigail Adams, John Hancock, and even Paul Revere’s horse! We look forward to adding more of these inter-generation events to the Center’s expanding calendar of events. Do you have suggestions for family activities? Share them with us at education@masshist.org.

By Kathleen Barker, Center for Teaching History

The calendar has turned to March, which means here at the Center for the Teaching of History we are thinking of summer! Every K-12 teacher knows that it’s never too early to begin planning your upcoming professional development activities. If you teach the American Revolution, nineteenth-century immigration, or the Civil Rights movement, we have a program for you. Participants can earn professional development points at each workshop, as well as graduate credits (for an additional fee) at most events. We are continually adding new programs to our line-up, so we hope you will bookmark our website and visit us often: www.masshist.org/teaching-history. In the meantime, take a peek at some of the workshops we will be hosting this spring and summer.

April 20: Boston to the Rescue: Robert Bennet Forbes & Irish Famine Relief
On April 12, 1847 Boston merchant Robert Bennet Forbes arrived in Ireland aboard the U.S.S. Jamestown. The ship carried more than 8,000 barrels of food and provisions to the island inhabitants at the height of the Great Famine. Learn more about this venture and the history of Irish immigrants in Boston at this one-day workshop, offered in conjunction with the upcoming MHS exhibition, The Irish Atlantic.

April 29: Civil Rights in America
Offered in conjunction with the Ashbrook Institute, this program will explore the tumultuous path of the Civil Rights Movement. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States, and the Fourteenth Amendment should have guaranteed freedoms, equality, and civil rights for all men. Instead, it would take many generations of struggle, court cases, and additional legislation for this reality to be achieved. Join Dr. Peter Myers for a discussion on the complicated road endured by African Americans after the Civil War.

July 19-20: The American Revolution in Art & Artifacts
How were the growing tensions between great Britain and her American colonies depicted in art here and abroad? In this workshop we will explore portraits, artifacts, songs, plays and other art forms created during the era of the American Revolution. We will also investigate how the Revolution has been portrayed in art forms over the last 250 years, from epic poems to Broadway musicals!

July25 & 27: America in World War I
Massachusetts men and women joined the war effort long before America entered the conflict in 1917. Using first-hand accounts, we will follow the work of Red Cross volunteers, soldiers, pilots, and medical professionals. We will also take a closer look at America’s conflicted approach to WWI though an examination of propaganda posters, political cartoons, government documents, and other primary sources,

August 9-11: Food in American History
Experience the connections between food and history through historical accounts and field trips to local producers and providers!  There will be opportunities to consider the importance of food items such as coffee, tea, and chocolate; Boston’s role in the creation of American food culture; and the role of cookbooks, television, and other media in creating the myth of the American melting pot.

All programs will be offered at the Society’s headquarters at 1154 Boylston Street. For more information, or to register, contact education@masshist.org or 617-646-0557.

By Kathleen Barker, Public Programs & Education

Are you an educator looking for a relaxing and rewarding summer professional development opportunity? Consider applying for a Swensrud Teacher Fellowship! Perhaps you don’t have much time to devote to research this summer, but you have a student (or a few) who would love to do some original research. We have a fellowship for them, too!

New England School by Charles Frederick Bosworth (c.1852). Massachusetts Historical Society

Each year the MHS offers at least three fellowships to K-12 educators. Applications are welcome from any candidate (living anywhere in the United States) who is interested in developing an engaging series of lessons using documents and artifacts from the Society’s collections. Each fellow receives a $4,000 stipend in exchange for approximately 4 weeks of research and writing. Our 2016 teacher fellows investigated topics including the coming of the American Revolution in Boston, Bostonians’ experiences in World War I, and the Transcendentalist movement and the creation of Brook Farm. Other fellows explored the role of women in the abolitionist movement and how Boston’s abolitionist movement influenced ideas about Black identity and racial equality. Throughout 2017, we will be adding these (and more) curriculum units to our website, so visit our education pages frequently. (http://www.masshist.org/2012/education/lessonplans)

Our Winthrop Student Fellowship encourages budding historians to engage with primary sources to write a paper, create a website, or design an exhibit … whatever piques the student’s interest. Prior to applying, a student should consult with his or her teacher to agree upon an appropriate topic and product. This year’s Winthrop Fellows were a group of students from Stoneham (Mass.) High School. They created an exhibition for National History Day on the Boston Post Road, and described their research experiences in a recent blog post. (http://www.masshist.org/blog/index.php?series=46) Both the teacher and the student(s) receive a stipend upon completion of the fellowship, as well as an opportunity to attend a behind-the-scenes tour of MHS.

Applications for teacher and students fellowships must be postmarked no later than February 16, 2017. Learn more about application requirements, suggested topics, and other guidelines on our website (http://www.masshist.org/education/fellowships), or contact education staff members for more information (education@masshist.org).