Please consider including the MHS in your end of year giving

“On the desicions of this Day, hangs perhaps the Destiny of America, and may those into whose hands the Sacred Deposit is committed be guided and directed by that wisdom which is from above, and the result prove the prosperity, peace and happiness of our Country. This is my most fervent wish and petition to Heaven, totally divested of every personal feeling and Sentiment.”
Featured Item from the MHS Collection

In 1891, Boston collectors Kingsmill and Laura Marrs received a very special volume for Christmas—a beautifully bound, gilt-edged copy of Emily Dickinson's Poems, edited by the poet’s friends Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd. What made this volume precious was not Dickinson’s verse, nor even the lovely gilt depiction of Indian pipes on the cover designed by Mabel Loomis Todd, but the 26 botanical illustrations sprinkled throughout the text. These illustrations, which are not mentioned on the title page, were likely commissioned by either Kingsmill or Laura Marrs from the artist Ellen Robbins, a largely self-taught watercolorist who had a studio at 6 Beacon Street in Boston. Each delicate vignette—ranging from bees to grasses to Massachusetts’ iconic mayflower—is signed “Ellen Robbins 1891.” The quiet beauty of the illustrations perfectly complements Dickinson's ethereal verse. Read more about Ellen Robbins and view the illustrations here.
This Week’s Online Programs

On Tuesday, 8 December, at 5:15 PM, Alisha Hines, Wake Forest University, presents “To Make Her Own Bargains with Boats”: Gender, Labor, & Freedom in the Western Steamboat World with comment by Tiya Miles, Harvard University. Free and enslaved Black women have been rendered nearly invisible in the historical and popular imagination of the antebellum steamboat world. This essay examines how enslaved and free Black women negotiated power and place in this environment that was fraught with danger, but also brimming with opportunity. Hines argues that Black women who were unmoored from plantation landscapes by way of the western rivers trouble the prevailing tropes of gendered mobility and immobility that pervade scholarship on slavery in the United States. This talk is part of the History of Women, Gender, & Sexuality Seminar series. Seminars bring together a diverse group of scholars and interested members of the public to workshop a pre-circulated paper. Register for the online seminar.

On Wednesday, 9 December, at 6:00 PM, join our MHS Holiday Celebration: An Evening of Light & Inspiration with Jonathan Sarna, Brandeis University, and Stewart McLaurin, White House Historical Association. Lights and gatherings are an especially meaningful symbol of hope, celebration, warmth, and remembrance for many at this time of year. In this historic presidential election year, be inspired through an exploration of how the holidays come alive at the White House. Dr. Jonathan Sarna, the Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University, will discuss the tradition of Hanukkah celebrations at the White House. Stewart McLaurin, President of the White House Historical Association, will discuss the 2020 White House Christmas ornament commemorating President John F. Kennedy. As an added bonus, the 2020 White House ornament will be available to purchase at a discount from 1 to 10 December. Details will be sent with event registration confirmation. Register for this online program.
Upcoming December Programs
On Monday, 14 December, at 5:30 PM, John G. Turner, George Mason University, presents They Knew They Were Pilgrims: Plymouth Colony & the Contest for American Liberty.

On Wednesday, 16 December, at 5:30 PM, Nicholas A. Basbanes presents Cross of Snow: A Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
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.

Our Members are the heart of the MHS community and an integral part of the MHS story. Become a Member to help make possible the Society’s mission to promote the study of American history. Receive benefits including invitations to enhanced Member-only events; free or discounted admission to special programs; and access to publications such as our calendar of events, newsletter, and Annual Report. Learn more at www.masshist.org/members.