Massachusetts Historical Society

Name: Massachusetts Historical Society
Address: 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, MA, 02215, US
Telephone: +16176460500

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Massachusetts Historical Society

Founded in 1791, the Massachusetts Historical Society is an independent research library and an invaluable resource for American history, life, and culture.

www.masshist.org

07/24/2024

Before photography, how did loved ones remember their deceased family and friends? Find out in this Beehive blog. https://www.masshist.org/beehiveblog/2024/07/mourning-in-miniature

07/23/2024

It’s time for Trivia Tuesday. Which of these houses pictured here was built three centuries ago in 1724?

A. The Thomas Dowse House
B. The Paul Revere House
C. Ancient House in Medfield
D. The Hartt House

07/23/2024

The MHS has a giant problem. Find out what that is in this Beehive blog. https://www.masshist.org/beehiveblog/2024/07/a-giant-problem-at-the-mhs.

07/22/2024

Here are the results from the third set of brackets and moving on to the last level! Each pair needs a winner, choose your favorite in each pair by commenting the matching emoji. Voting will close at the end of this week!

https://www.masshist.org/database/4113
https://www.masshist.org/database/1697

07/22/2024

Does Abraham Lincoln have the greatest love story almost told, or were the papers a hoax so well constructed it fooled the editor of a well-reputed magazine? Find out in this Beehive blog. https://www.masshist.org/beehiveblog/2024/07/the-lincoln-love-letters-wilma-frances-minor-ellery-sedgwick-the-greatest-literary-hoax/

07/19/2024

On this day in history, 19 July 1848, the first Seneca Falls Convention for discussions on women’s right to vote in the United States was opened. Read more about how Massachusetts debated women’s right to vote here: https://www.masshist.org/features/suffrage/antislavery.

07/19/2024

In September 1866, 14-year-old Sarah Gooll Putnam was on a trip to Switzerland when she witnessed a wonderous light show by the Geissbach Falls. She describes it as such; “...After patient waiting, little lights, came twinkling, along in the darkness, on the other side of the gorge between the cliffs, and then we watched their progress nearer and nearer to the falls, and then, as more and more appeared, ... We saw the little lights crossing the bridges. The illuminations were magnificent. The different colored lights shed such a lovely tint on the falling water, and the trees which grew around. It was so perfectly lovely, and fairylike.” She then goes on to say that she would, “advise people by all means, to go and see the illumination.” If only we had a time machine!

Sarah Gooll Putnam’s diaries are part of the Massachusetts Historical Society’s public crowdsourcing transcription project. Sign up for free and try your hand at unravelling her 19th century cursive at https://www.masshist.org/mymhs/

07/18/2024

For World Listening Day revisit a season one episode of The Object of History podcast or listen to one for the first time. With three seasons of episodes, you’ll find something that interests you. https://www.masshist.org/podcast

07/18/2024

Do you prefer A. a willow tree sixpence, 1653-1660, https://www.masshist.org/database/1992, or B. a Massachusetts oak shilling, 1666, https://www.masshist.org/database/1991.

07/17/2024

For World Emoji Day, take a look at this photograph and comment what emojis you see in the faces. https://www.masshist.org/database/6358

07/16/2024

You may know that the MHS holds the papers of the Adams Family, but what does an Adams Papers staff member do? Read this Beehive blog to find out. https://www.masshist.org/beehiveblog/2024/07/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-adams-papers-editor/

07/16/2024

It’s time for Trivia Tuesday! On this day in history John Adams graduated from Harvard, but in what year?
A. 1756
B. 1765
C. 1755
D. None of the above.

07/15/2024

Season 3, Bonus Episode of The Object of History Podcast "Eben Horsford's Nordic Nostalgia" is out today! In this bonus episode, MHS Library Assistant Hannah Goeselt discusses Boston's statue of Leif Erikson and Eben Horsford's efforts to commemorate Norse discoverers of America.

Listen to it here https://www.masshist.org/podcast/season-3-bonus-episode-eben-horsfords-nordic-nostalgia or wherever you usually listen to podcasts.

07/15/2024

Here are the results from the second set of brackets and moving on to the next level! Each pair needs a winner, choose your favorite in each pair by commenting the matching emoji. Voting will close when the next set is posted.

👍https://www.masshist.org/database/4113
❤https://www.masshist.org/database/6443

😆 https://www.masshist.org/database/451
🥰 https://www.masshist.org/database/1697

07/12/2024

07/12/2024

Which gold medal do you like more? A. a gold medal presented to John Adams by the States of Holland on his taking leave as minister on 6 March 1788, https://www.masshist.org/database/82, or B. a gold medal presented to W. T. G. Morton and Charles T. Jackson by the National Institute of France for their co-discovery of the anesthetic properties of ether? https://www.masshist.org/database/3298.

07/11/2024

How did one mysterious image of a “hedge theater” in the Arthur A. Shurcliff collection send an MHS staff person on a quest to find out more? Read about her journey through the archives to Baroque Italy here: https://www.masshist.org/beehiveblog/2024/07/hedge-theaters-gardens-as-a-stage/

07/11/2024

Reminder that the Conrad E. Wright Research Conference on Citizenship starts today and continues tomorrow, with a Teacher’s Workshop on Saturday. To learn more and register visit https://www.masshist.org/research/conferences.

07/11/2024

Happy 257th Birthday John Quincy Adams!

07/10/2024

What were a few of the Founding Fathers doing when they weren’t founding? Find out in this Beehive blog. https://www.masshist.org/beehiveblog/2024/07/newspaper-roundup/

07/10/2024

The right to vote was hotly debated in the past. Take a look at how Mass. women debated their right to vote through cartoons, flyers, and graphs in the MHS archives. https://www.masshist.org/learn/history-source-sets/suffrage

07/09/2024

It’s time for Trivia Tuesday! Happy July Birthday, Abraham Lincoln, according to this broadside printed in Boston in 1865. But that’s not right, which month was Abraham Lincoln actually born?

A. June
B. April
C. February
D. September

07/09/2024

What happened to King Edward IV’s sons who disappeared during the reign of his younger brother, King Richard III, in 1480’s England, and could the answers lie in the archives of the MHS? Find out in this Beehive blog.

https://www.masshist.org/beehiveblog/2024/07/the-missing-princes-project-a-research-challenge/

07/08/2024

07/08/2024

If you watched Jeopardy last Friday night, you may have noticed this question, which of course, you all know the answer!

Jeopardy!

07/08/2024

Where is this in Boston?

07/05/2024

If you are interested in attending the Conrad A. Wright Research Conference on Citizenship, now is the time to register! Day 1 virtual, Day 2 in person, and the Saturday Teacher’s Workshop have registrations open. Learn more about the conference here: https://www.masshist.org/research/conferences.

07/05/2024

What was author, playwright, and historian Mercy Otis Warren writing letters about in the 1760s and 1770s? You could find out by transcribing her letters!

Find the project here: https://www.masshist.org/mymhs/projecthub/project/7 #. Signing up to transcribe is free and can be done from your home at any time of day.

07/04/2024

To honor the Fourth of July Boston Pops playing of the 1812 Overture with cannon fire, which portrait painting with a cannon do you prefer? A. A portrait of Benjamin Lincoln, by Henry Sargent, 1806, Lincoln was a farmer and major general in the Revolutionary War, https://www.masshist.org/database/3471, or B. a portrait of George Washington, by Mr. Vivian, 1873-1874, https://www.masshist.org/database/232.

Boston Pops

07/04/2024

John Quincy Adams had some thoughts on the Declaration of Independence. During a speech he made in Washington DC in 1821, he affirmed it “stands and must forever stand alone, a beacon on the summit of the Mountain, to which all the Inhabitants of the Earth may turn their eyes for a genial and saving light, till Time shall be lost in Eternity and this Globe itself dissolve nor leave a wreck behind.— It stands forever, a light of admonition to the rulers of men; a light of salvation and redemption to the oppressed.” Read more here: https://www.masshist.org/beehiveblog/2012/06/an-independence-day-message-for-the-world/

Address

1154 Boylston Street
Boston, MA
02215

Telephone

+16176460500

Website

http://www.masshist.org/

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Videos

JQA Birthday

Happy 257th Birthday John Quincy Adams! #MHS1791 #HappyBirthday #AdamsPapers

Membership

With your help, we can make history accessible to all. Become a Member of the MHS today and support our free exhibitions, publicly available research library, resources for K-12 students and teachers, and more. Find out more at https://www.masshist.org/support/mhsfund. #MHS1791 #Members

Inoculation

On this day in history, 26 June 1721, Zabdiel Boylston conducted his first smallpox inoculations. Read about the ensuing controversy in this Beehive blog. https://www.masshist.org/beehiveblog/2020/05/variolation-vs-vaccination-18th-century-developments-in-smallpox-inoculation/ #MHS1791 #Beehive #Blog #AdamsPapers

Bunker Hill Day Cake

The Battle of Bunker Hill occurred on this day in history, 249 years ago on 17 June 1775. #MHS1791 #OTDH #BattleOfBunkerHill

June 2024 Object of the Month

The June Object of the Month is a Philanthropic Lottery ticket to benefit a young blind man. Learn how he lost his sight, and the funds raised from the lottery, by reading the story here: https://www.masshist.org/object-of-the-month. #MHS1791 #ObjectOfTheMonth

Overman Bicycle Co.

For World Bicycle Day enjoy this Art Nouveau style bicycle magazine created by William H. Bradley, an influential typeface creator, for the Overman Wheel Co. out of Chicopee, Mass. https://www.masshist.org/database/728 #MHS1791 #WorldBicycleDay #ArtNouveau

Trade with China History Source

How did New England merchants engage in trade with China in the decades immediately following the founding of the United States? Read more on this topic with source sets designed to engage a K-12 audience and be used by educators for free. https://www.masshist.org/learn/opium-and-us-trade-china #MHS1791 #HistorySource #K12 #Educators #AAPIHistoryMonth

One week until the Gala!

Counting down to the Making History Gala with just one week left! There's still time to join in the fun, hear the incredible Doris Kearns Goodwin speak, and support a great cause. Secure your spot now for an unforgettable night of history, inspiration, and camaraderie. Your participation directly contributes to supporting our mission and impactful initiatives. Tickets are available here https://www.masshist.org/gala. #MHS1791 #MakingHistoryGala2024

From Nora to her family

In this letter from Nora Saltonstall to her family on 3 April 1918, she was dropping a quick note to let them know she was ok, but very busy in the field while she was volunteering for the American Red Cross in France during World War I. Read the entire letter and learn more about Saltonstall here https://www.masshist.org/database/227. "I have transported refugees, carried wounded, scrubbed, cooked, made fires, done canteen work, & done everything under unusual conditions. It has been extremely thrilling & I am sure I am not likely to forget it all. You need not worry about danger – we are all equally safe in this world & we might as well be doing one thing as another. I am careful not to take risks and am not foolhardy. I am too fond of my own skin for any foolishness.” #MHS1791 #MemorialDay

Letter from Mary Antin to Ellery Sedgwick, 1 June 1911

Read more about this letter from an author to her editor in the May Object of the Month, here: https://www.masshist.org/object-of-the-month #MHS1791 #ObjectOfTheMonth

Ezekiel Price Fish

When transcribing, the stories or moments that are written down can sometimes be a little bit silly, or surprising! Take this quote from the Ezekiel Price Papers: "...there was Thirty Sail of Vessells, Employed on the Bank Fishery [inserted: in] the Year 1762, and that the Quantity of Fish Taken by them that Season, was Twenty six Thousand, Seven Hundred, & Forty Quintels, whereof Six Thousand, Two hundred, & Twenty Three Quintels, was Merchintable, Twenty Thousand, Five hundred, & Seventeen Refuse.” That’s a lot of fish to throw back! You can transcribe documents for the MHS online and signing up is free. Learn more here: https://www.masshist.org/mymhs/ #MHS1791 #Transcribe

Paul Revere's handwriting

On this day in history, 18 April 1775, Paul Revere, and others, rode out to Lexington and Concord to alert the militias that soldiers were on their way. Later, the founder of the MHS, Jeremy Belknap, asked Paul Revere to write down his story of that night, which he did! You can read it online here: https://www.masshist.org/database/99. #MHS1791 #PaulRevere #BattlesOfLexingtonAndConcord #Revolution250 #OTDH

Thomas Jefferson Birthday

On this day in history, 13 April 1743 Thomas Jefferson was born. Take a look at the Thomas Jefferson papers at the MHS: https://www.masshist.org/thomasjeffersonpapers/. #MHS1791 #ThomasJefferson #POTUS #HappyBirthday

Ezekiel Price

The volunteer transcription project for the Ezekiel Price papers are a little more than halfway completed! Ezekiel Price (1727-1802), was an attorney and clerk of the Court of Common Pleas and Sessions in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. When you transcribe these papers you may find some surprises, such as papers related to the employment of poor women and children at a linen manufactory; accounts of lumber and fish exported to the West Indies and other goods imported from England; as well as papers relating to the Stamp Act and non-importation before the Revolutionary War. Transcribing online is free and you can do it in your spare time at home. Sign up today and start transcribing here: https://www.masshist.org/mymhs/ #MHS1791 #Transcribe

Abraham Lincoln's hair inside a locket

This small but ornate gold locket conceals a lock of hair said to have been cut from Abraham Lincoln’s head on the night of his assassination. It was given to the Society in 1895 by Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar of Concord, Massachusetts, who had received it decades earlier from a friend who had acquired it from one of Lincoln’s attending physicians that fateful night. Read more about this locket which is April’s Object of the Month, here: https://www.masshist.org/object-of-the-month. #MHS1791 #ObjectOfTheMonth #AbrahamLincoln

JQA Sonnet "To the Sun—eclipsed"

Did today's solar eclipse inspire you to make art? On 25 April 1846, John Quincy Adams composed a sonnet in his diary “on the occasion of the eclipse” “To the Sun—eclipsed— A Sonnet— Celestial source of light and life on earth What envious rival intercepts thy rays. Dares thy own satellite arrest thy blaze, Or stay thy stream of empirean birth. Is it, that ever, of transcendant worth The mortal doom to win the meed of praise Is to be mir’d through slanders, slimy ways, Or fly for refuge to the Hermits hearth— Pure emanation from God’s holy throne Light unobscurable to him above Reserved, throughout eternity endures— Thy beam albeit with passing splendor bright Yielding alternate to the realm of night Each dim eclipse or transient cloud obscures—" Read John Quincy Adams entire diary entry here: https://www.masshist.org/publications/jqadiaries/index.php/document/jqadiaries-v45-1846-04-25-p502/dual. And if you felt moved to create art by the eclipse, share it in a comment below! #MHS1791 #JohnQuincyAdams #AdamsPapers

William Henry Harrison and John Tyler

On this day in history, 4 April 1841, John Tyler became the 10th President of the US after the death of William Henry Harrison, 9th President, died of pneumonia after only 31 days in office. See what items are in the Presidential Letters collection of the MHS from these two presidents. https://www.masshist.org/collection-guides/view/fas0329. #MHS1791 #POTUS

Horace Mann

On this day in history, 3 April 1848, Horace Mann, Massachusetts educator, was elected to the US House of Representatives for Mass. to fill the seat emptied when John Quincy Adams died. Take a look through the Horace Mann papers at the MHS here: https://www.masshist.org/collection-guides/view/fa0234. #MHS1791 #HoraceMann #Education #AdamsPapers

Remember the ladies

On this day in history, 31 March 1776, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, John Adams, while he was a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, hoping that he would “…remember the ladies and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could.” Read the letter online here: https://www.masshist.org/database/5 #MHS1791 #OTDH #AbigailAdams #AdamsPapers #RememberTheLadies

Hello Newman

Did you know that sometimes archivists need to put on a metaphorical detective’s cap and figure out historical or genealogical mysteries? Read this Beehive blog to learn what one MHS archivist learned from a single letter and what they had to find elsewhere. https://www.masshist.org/beehiveblog/2024/03/archivist-as-detective-hello-newman/ #MHS1791 #Archives #Mystery #Beehive #Blog #DYK