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“If the wind and weather continues as favorable as it has hietherto been; we expect to make our passage in 30 days, which is going a hundred miles a day. Tis a vast tract of ocean which we have to traverse; I have contemplated it with its various appearences; it is indeed a secret world of wonders, and one of the Sublimist objects in Nature.” – Letter from Abigail Adams to Mary Smith Cranch, 6 July 1784.
April Fools’ Day, 1864: The Cartoon Antics of Thomas Nast

Happy New Year!

…And April Fool! Though, according to the Julian calendar developed by Julius Caesar, 1 April was designated the first day of the year. Some believe that when Pope Gregory XIII instituted a new calendar in 1564 with January 1 as the start of the new year, adherents of the Gregorian calendar ridiculed the old-timers who continued to celebrate 1 April as New Year’s Day, labelling them “fools” and heaping pranks upon them. Whether or not this is the actual origin of April Fools’ Day, this tradition of practical jokes and pranks continues today, though in harmless fun and enjoyment for all (hopefully).

Read a Beehive blog post on “The First of April, 1864” by Thomas Nast written by Shelby Wolfe, Reader Services, in 2016.

The work of Thomas Nast was foundational to the creation of modern political cartoons and he used his public platform to advocate for Black voting rights and against corruption in politics. However, his progressive views on civil rights and good government were marred by an extraordinary hostility to Irish immigrants combined with an equal or greater anti-Catholic bias. We hope viewers will approach Thomas Nast’s work with a critical awareness of his legacy.
2021 Theme — Communication in History: The Key to Understanding
Despite the challenges of a school year spent partially, if not, fully outside the classroom, thousands of students across Massachusetts embarked on National History Day projects related to the 2021 NHD theme, Communication in History: The Key to Understanding. The NHD team have even welcomed new teachers this season from Brockton, Hadley, and Milton. The fact that teachers are still participating in NHD during such a difficult year demonstrates their commitment to the program and underscores how integral NHD is to their curriculum.
 
And students are excited about participating, too! Nearly four hundred students are currently competing in a virtual statewide contest which will conclude on 26 April. They have chosen fascinating topics like the US intervention in Paraguay, the American women codebreakers of WWII, and the 19th century obsession with the hoop skirt.
These students are eager to better understand how to work with sources from new perspectives, even ones they don't agree with, and how to make connections between the historical context they're studying and what they see happening in the news today. At its core, NHD fosters curiosity in students, gives them the confidence to evaluate the information they encounter, and encourages them to see their own pathway to participation in our democracy. We are so proud of our 2021 NHD students!
Save the Date!
Tuesday, 13 April, is Virtual Advocacy Day for NHD in MA! Stay tuned to this email or our social media channels for ways that you can help advocate for state support of this vital program.
MHS’s online programs are held on the video conference platform Zoom. Registrants will receive an e-mail with a link to join the program.

The Parlor & the Public: Tin Pan Alley & the Birth of Manhattan Mass Culture

On Tuesday, 30 March, at 5:15 PM, Samuel Backer, Johns Hopkins University, presents The Parlor & the Public: Tin Pan Alley & the Birth of Manhattan Mass Culture with comment by Jeffrey Melnick, University of Massachusetts Boston.

During the late 19th century, the upstart sheet music firms known as Tin Pan Alley developed a revolutionary approach to publishing, constructing a system able to sell songs at a previously unimaginable scale and rate. Relying on New York’s central role in national performance networks to disseminate their compositions, this industry was defined by the tension between publishers’ attempts to create mass-marketing commodities, and the fast-moving, alcohol-drenched urban environments in which their products were required to thrive.

The Dina G. Malgeri Modern American Society & Culture Seminar invites you to join the conversation. Seminars bring together a diverse group of scholars and interested members of the public to workshop a pre-circulated paper.

“Fighting the Dogs:” Fugitivity, Canine Hunters and Slave Resistance in the Rural South

On Thursday, 1 April, at 5:15 PM, Tyler Parry, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, presents “Fighting the Dogs:” Fugitivity, Canine Hunters, and Slave Resistance in the Rural South with comment by Harriet Ritvo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As slavery expanded in the Americas, canine attacks were used as a particularly sadistic aspect of racist dehumanization. Through linked processes of breeding and training, slave hunters believed they had developed “natural” enemies between black people and the canines trained to hunt them. This paper investigates how fugitives responded to this interspecies violence by using various techniques of environmental resistance outside the plantation’s confines. By analyzing how fugitives used herbal combinations, waterways, and offensive weapons to subvert the canine’s sensory advantage, this paper argues that enslaved communities should be understood as knowledge producers who studied their environments and used scientific awareness in their resistance.

The African American History Seminar invites you to join the conversation. Seminars bring together a diverse group of scholars and interested members of the public to workshop a pre-circulated paper.

On Tuesday, 6 April, at 5:30 PM, Kate Masur, Northwestern University, presents Until Justice Be Done: America’s First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction in conversation with Edward Ayers, University of Richmond.

On Thursday, 8 April, at 5:30 PM, David S. Brown, Elizabethtown College, presents The Last American Aristocrat: The Brilliant Life and Improbable Education of Henry Adams.

On Monday, 12 April, at 5:30 PM, Scott Kirsner, Boston Globe, presents 11 Places That Have Shaped Innovation in Boston 1636–2021 in conversation with Helen Greiner, co-founder of iRobot.

On Tuesday, 13 April, at 5:15 PM, Garrett Nelson, Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center, presents Kaleidoscope Metropolis: Autonomy and Integration in the Fractured City with comment by Lizbeth Cohen, Harvard University.

On Thursday, 15 April, at 6:00 PM, Martha Minow, Harvard Law School; Becky Shuster, Boston Public Schools; and Rachel E. Twymon present Boston School Desegregation through the Rearview Mirror with moderator Matthew F. Delmont, Dartmouth College. This is the second program in the series Confronting Racial Injustice.

On Tuesday, 20 April, at 5:15 PM, Kwelina Thompson, Cornell University; Shoniqua Roach, Brandeis University; and Laura Puaca, Christopher Newport University, present Contesting Domesticity—A Panel Discussion with comment by Allison Horrocks, Lowell National Historic Park.

On Thursday, 22 April, at 5:30 PM, Karen Mauney-Brodek, Emerald Necklace Conservancy; Rep. Nika Elugardo; and Chris Reed, Harvard Graduate School of Design, present Clean Water, Green Spaces, and Social Equity moderated by Sarah Glazer.

On Monday, 26 April, at 5:30 PM, Christopher Capozzola, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, presents Bound by War: How the United States and the Philippines Built America's First Pacific Century.

On Tuesday, 27 April, at 5:15 PM, Danielle Battisti, University of Nebraska Omaha, and Carly Goodman, La Salle University, present The "Other" Illegals: Unauthorized European Immigration to New York City and Boston in the 20th Century with comment by Christopher Capozzola, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

On Thursday, 29 April, at 5:15 PM, Caroline Weber, Barnard College, and Channing Joseph, University of Southern California, present Fashioning a Life: How Style Matters in Biography moderated by Natalie Dykstra, Hope College.

Visit www.masshist.org/events for more information and to register for programs.
Interested in Viewing Past Programs?
If you missed a program or would like to revisit the material presented, please visit www.masshist.org/video or our YouTube channel. A selection of past programs is just a click away.
Share Your COVID-19 Experience(s)

The MHS invites you to contribute your COVID-19 experience(s) to our collection. Record your experiences on a daily, weekly, or intermittent basis. You can contribute your thoughts and images online. Visit our COVID-19 web display to learn more and to share your thoughts. Or you can keep a journal and donate it to the MHS. Contact collections@masshist.org for more information.  
 
Thank you to everyone who has shared so far. If you have not yet done so or would like to contribute again, please visit www.masshist.org/projects/covid/index.php. You can also read what others have shared.

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Learn more at www.masshist.org/members.