Stay engaged with the MHS this year! |
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“It is very flattering for me, my dear Madam, to be asked for rules, by which I have acquired the good opinion, which you say is entertained of me.— With in your self, you possess a guide more certain than any I can give, to direct you:— I mean the good sence and judgment for which you are distinguished;—but more from a willingness to comply with your request, than from any conviction—of the necessity, I will concisely add...The President having resolved to accept no invitations, it followed of course that I never dined or supped out, except once with the vice President, once with each of the Governers of the state whare we have resided—and (very rarely) at the dancing assemblies.— In a few instances only—I have drank tea with some of the public characters—and with a particular friend or acquantance.”
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Washington-Webster Comitia Americana Medals Box
This burled mahogany box with velvet interior and brass fittings was commissioned by Thomas Jefferson to hold nine silver Comitia Americana Revolutionary War medals, as well as two additional medals, that Congress presented to President George Washington. In turn, Jefferson presented the box and its contents to Washington in 1790.
Comitia Americana Revolutionary War medals were awarded for heroism and strategic success in the war battles. “Comitia Americana” means “American Congress,” so these were the first Congressional medals of honor.
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Calling All History Lovers!
WE NEED YOU to Judge for
National History Day in Massachusetts!
Deadline Today!
National History Day in Massachusetts offers students in grades 6–12 the opportunity to explore history and become informed citizens. They perform extensive research, analyze primary sources, and present their findings through papers, exhibits, performances, websites, and documentaries.
Judges for the virtual regional competitions on 5 and 6 March support student scholars from across Massachusetts. Judges are needed from all backgrounds and experiences; we provide training and you can volunteer from home. Judges work in teams to review entries in a specific category, provide written feedback, and join students for a virtual reflection roundtable after judging is complete.
Read a Bedford Citizen Herald article on students’ experiences in NHD in Massachusetts HERE.
We can’t wait to celebrate history with you!
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Massachusetts Civic Learning Week in March
The 2nd annual MA Civic Learning Week, organized by the MA Civic Learning Coalition, and held in conjunction with similar celebrations in NY and RI, will take place 7 to 11 March. The week seeks to empower all of us to see ourselves as participants and changemakers in our democracy. Events will highlight the voices of youth and teachers.
The MHS is co-facilitating two sessions:
Preparing the Next Generation: The Impact and Future of the (2018) Massachusetts Civics Education Act
Wednesday, 9 March, from 4:15 PM to 5:00 PM
Massachusetts is at the forefront of civics education reform. In 2018, the Commonwealth enacted the Act to Promote and Enhance Civic Engagement, which requires that all students take civics courses and have an opportunity to complete a student-led civics project—the first law of its kind in the nation. In this event, Massachusetts legislative champions of civics education Senator Lewis and Representative Campbell are joined by students, teachers, and administrators who have been implementing the new student-led civics project requirement in their communities. Speakers will share their personal experiences with student-led civics and National History Day projects, highlight the positive impact of the law on civic learning across the state, and emphasize the need to increase support for the Civics Project Trust Fund established by the law to continue strengthening the infrastructure for civics education in the state.
Building Successful School/Community Partnerships: A Case Study in Hingham, MA
Thursday, 10 March, 3:30 PM to 4:15 PM
The MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) will co-facilitate a session to help educators connect with and leverage the resources of their local history society with support from the MCLC. Learn more about a successful partnership between Hingham Public Schools and the Hingham Historical Society, and come away with strategies for cultivating a similar partnership in your community. Designed for K-12 educators, administrators, and staff/volunteers at community organizations.
Interested in civics? Join us 2 May for our Making History Gala featuring Heather Cox Richardson and Jared Bowen. Living Civics is this year’s theme!
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The MHS is open!
We are thrilled to welcome you back to 1154 Boylston Street to attend events, view our current exhibition, and use the library.
Please note that all guests are required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter the building. Learn more about our COVID-19 protocols including vaccination and mask requirements.
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Events in February will be a mix of fully virtual or hybrid, with a choice of in-person or virtual attendance. Please be sure to register in the way you plan to attend.
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Back on the Clock: Labor Control in the Cold War Military’s New Workforce
In 1911, civilian workers at the Army’s Watertown Arsenal struck against the arrival of management engineers with stopwatches, leading Congress to ban certain Taylorist methods in military and other federal workplaces. After three decades, however, the ban was lifted. What explains the military’s return to scientific management? As the Cold War defense establishment took shape, it recruited hundreds of thousands of women, minorities, and foreign nationals to work as civilian employees of the Department of Defense. It was for this feminized and otherwise marginalized new population of workers that the military resurrected a suite of management engineering methods that had previously been deemed too degrading for the government to employ.
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The Combat Zone: Murder, Race, and Boston’s Struggle for Justice
At the end of the 1976 football season, more than forty Harvard athletes went to Boston’s red light district to celebrate. In the city’s adult entertainment district, drugs and prostitution ran rampant, violent crime was commonplace, and corrupt police turned the other way. At the end of the night, Italian American star athlete Andy Puopolo, raised in the city’s North End, was murdered in a stabbing. Three African American men were accused of the crime. Puopolo's murder made national news and led to the eventual demise of the city’s red light district. Starting with this brutal murder, The Combat Zone tells the story of the Puopolo family’s struggle with both a devastating loss and a criminal justice system that produced two trials with nearly opposing verdicts, all within the context of a racially divided Boston.
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Talking Headstones: What Biographers Learn from Visiting Their Subjects’ Graves
Confession time: this idea came about last October. Why not talk about the curious and creepy, eerie and inspiring enterprise of hunting up one’s subject’s final resting place? The NEBS steering committee members, Dobrow, Dykstra, and Marshall, all have stories to tell—one will admit to having peeked into her subject’s coffin! Final chapters can be the most fun to research and write, full of both poignance and relief (for the writer) and revelation (about the subject). There will hopefully be time for audience members to offer their own stories in brief as well. Join if you dare!
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The First Kennedys: The Humble Roots of an American Dynasty
Today, we remember this iconic American family as the vanguard of wealth, power, and style rather than the descendants of poor immigrants. Neal Thompson introduces us to the first American Kennedys, Patrick and Bridget, who arrived as thousands of others did following the Great Famine—penniless and hungry. Less than a decade after their marriage in Boston, Patrick’s sudden death left Bridget to raise their children single-handedly. Her rise from housemaid to shop owner in the face of rampant poverty and discrimination kept her family intact, allowing her only son P. J. to become the first American Kennedy elected to public office—the first of many. Written by the grandson of an Irish immigrant couple and based on the first-ever access to P. J. Kennedy’s private papers, The First Kennedys is a story of sacrifice and survival, resistance and reinvention.
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The MHS offers both virtual and hybrid programs. For hybrid events, please be sure to register how you will attend. Visit www.masshist.org/events for updates, cancellations, and to register.
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On Tuesday, 8 March, at 5:15 PM, Johnathan Williams, Boston University, presents Targeting Reform: CERCLA, Industri-Plex, and Pollution Remediation in the United States, with comment by Elizabeth Grennan Browning, Indiana University, an Environmental History Seminar.
On Thursday, 10 March, at 6:00 PM, Jon Santiago, Physician, Boston Medical Center, and Massachusetts State Representative, 9th Suffolk District; Jasmine Laietmark, Funeral Director at Stanetsky Memorial Chapels; and Emily Donahue, K-12 Educator, present Reflecting on Repercussions of COVID-19: Frontline Workers.
On Tuesday, 15 March, at 5:15 PM, Claudia Roesch, German Historical Institute, presents The Translations of Our Bodies, Ourselves: Comparing Feminist Self-Help Handbooks in the 1970s West Germany and the United States, with comment by Jennifer Nelson, University of Redlands, a History of Women, Gender & Sexuality Seminar.
On Wednesday, 16 March, at 6:00 PM, Jan Turnquist, Executive Director of Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House, and Heather Rockwood, MHS, present Film Club: Little Women.
On Wednesday, 30 March, at 6:00 PM, Marylou Sudders, Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human Services; Dr. Paul Biddinger, Director of the Center for Disaster Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, advisor to Governor Charlie Baker, and leader of the Vaccine Advisory Board; and Dr. Sandra Bliss Nelson, doctor in the Infectious Diseases Division at Massachusetts General Hospital, and lead doctor on Governor Charlie Baker’s school reopening panel, present Reflecting on Repercussions of COVID-19: Policy Makers and Policy Advisors.
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Purchase Your Tickets Today!
Join us on Monday, 2 May, at 6:00 PM (5:30 PM Sponsor Reception) for cocktails, dinner, entertainment, and a speaking program at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston with Heather Cox Richardson and GBH’s Jared Bowen.
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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.
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