Herman Melville's Arrowhead

06/18/2026

Is your dad a Moby Dick aficionado? A lover of Melville? We’ve got everything you need for Father’s Day!

06/17/2026

A new podcast! All things Melville and Moby Dick! Pequot Pod!

Podcast Episode · PequodPod · June 16 · 56m

06/14/2026

Flag Day is observed each year of June 14th, marking the adoption of the official United States Flag. On this day in 1777, the Second Continental Congress resolved that the nation’s banner would include 13 stripes and 13 stars, symbolizing the new constellation of states. Although Betsy Ross (1752-1836) is commonly associated with the creation of the original flag, there is no archival evidence confirming her role as its creator. However, Betsy Ross was recognized for making flags for the Pennsylvania Navy and later for the national government.

The connection between Betsy Ross and the creation of the flag did not appear until the 1870s, when her family claimed that George Washington had requested her to make the emblem of the new nation. Flag Day began to gain popularity among school and civic groups in the late 19th century. In 1915, history and folklore combined in a children’s song written by C. Austin Miles, titled “How Betsy Made the Flag.” President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation in 1916, establishing Flag Day nationwide. In 1949, Congress passed an act, signed by President Truman, officially designating June 14th as National Flag Day. While not a federal holiday, many communities, civic organizations, and schools across the country have developed special patriotic traditions, events, and ceremonies to celebrate the Stars and Stripes on June 14th.

Images:

Postcard, the Betsy Ross House, Philadelphia, PA, 20th century

Postcard, promoting U.S. Government War Bonds, 1918

Sheet music, “How Betsy Ross Made the Flag,” 1916 (“The Call to Praise: A Hymnal for the Children’s Division,” 1929)

Newspaper clipping, listing the dates on which the flag was to be flown at schools in North Adams. Undated.

06/13/2026

BIRD BANDING AT ARROWHEAD with Berkshire Bird Observatory! The Berkshire County Historical Society is again partnering with Berkshire Bird Observatory this summer for a series of free bird banding events at Arrowhead. The partnership began in 2024, and in 2025 BBO banded 152 birds or approximately 3 birds per day, representing twenty-eight different species. In addition, forty-three birds were recaptured birds who had been banded in the previous season. This free drop-in event is weather permitting and will be held from 7 - 10 am on June 25; July 2, 16, 25 and 30. This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Cultural Council and Housatonic Heritage.

Bird banding allows researchers the opportunity to study a wide array of wild birds in their natural habitat. Arrowhead’s woods, fields and shrubland make it an ideal site to monitor a broad range of breeding bird species. The BCHS/BBO program allows the public to experience the wonder of a bird in the hand, sparking a curiosity about the natural world while showcasing ecological interactions that connect us all.

06/11/2026

Congratulations! We’re honored to work with Berkshire community college!

BCC is proud to announce that our library has been renamed The Ruth Edmonds Hill Library in honor of a lifelong librarian, educator, oral historian and Pittsfield native whose work helped preserve stories across generations.

Hill began her career in librarianship at the Berkshire Athenaeum and later worked at North Adams State College and BCC before joining the Schlesinger Library at Harvard, where she helped lead groundbreaking oral history projects, including the Black Women Oral History Project.

The new name follows years of research, community feedback and an inclusive review process shaped by faculty, staff, students, alumni and the broader Berkshire community.

We look forward to celebrating this new chapter for BCC’s library this fall in partnership with the Berkshire Historical Society and the Samuel Harrison Society.

Read more about this announcement: https://www.berkshirecc.edu/news-events/2026/ruth-edmonds-library.php

06/10/2026

This is will a fascinating event!
Led by Cynthia Farr Brown, Neighbors and Strangers links the “big story” of America’s rapidly changing population during the 19th and early 20th centuries, as European immigrants flocked to the United States to realize opportunities and escape oppression or catastrophe, to a series of sites in downtown Pittsfield. Learn about how Irish, German, French, and Italian immigrants came to Pittsfield, settled themselves and their families, and contributed to the Berkshire community.

This approximately ninety-minute walk begins at the Berkshire Athenaeum, Wendell Avenue.

Led by Cynthia Farr Brown, Neighbors and Strangers links the “big story” of America’s rapidly changing population during the 19th and early 20th centuries, as European immigrants flocked to the … Continue reading "Downtown Pittsfield Walk – Neighbors and Strangers"

06/10/2026

What a discovery!!!

Braving storms, sharks, and furious whales, 19th-century whalers faced deadly seas and long voyages in pursuit of oil that lit the world.

06/04/2026

So sorry to say that Bird banding is postponed, but we will let you know when it’s happening again.

06/02/2026

Who doesn’t want to learn about star crossed lovers! What a fascinating subject and this talk by Author Julie Dobrow is Wednesday, June 3 at 5:30 PM! There’s still time to sign up…link is in the bio

06/02/2026

We are so proud to have Author Julie Dobrow join us at Arrowhead for a book talk on this fascinating subject… still time to sign up… happening tomorrow , Wednesday at 5:30 PM

This sounds fascinating!! June 3,5:30pm
Author, biographer and Tufts University professor Julie Dobrow’s new book, Love and Loss After Wounded Knee: A Biography of an Extraordinary In*******al Marriage, tells the complicated story of the lives and marriage of Elaine Goodale and Dr. Charles Alexander Eastman. On June 3 at 5:30 pm, the Berkshire County Historical Society hosts Dubrow for a presentation about her book and the fascinating way in which she first discovered this story. Tickets are $5 for BCHS members, $10 for non-members and can be purchased by using the BOOK NOW button at berkshirehistory.org. This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Cultural Council and Housatonic Heritage.

As is the case for many star-crossed lovers, it was amazing that Elaine Goodale and Dr. Charles Alexander Eastman (Ohíye S’a), ever met in the first place. She was a white woman from Mount Washington, Massachusetts, who earned early fame as a childhood poet and was frequently mentioned as a “childhood poetic prodigy of the Berkshires.” Elaine travelled west in 1884 to teach Native American children. Charles was a Santee Dakota who had gone to Dartmouth College and the Boston University School of Medicine. Somehow, they both ended up at the Pine Ridge Agency in South Dakota in December of 1890 and fell in love at first sight. Three weeks later, they announced their engagement. Then the Wounded Knee Massacre changed everything.

About Julie Dobrow
Julie Dobrow is a writer, professor and researcher whose work focuses both on biography and history, and also on children and media. She teaches at Tufts University. Much of her writing and teaching focuses on telling untold and under-told stories and shining new light on them.