This Week at the MHS - 11 December

The Destruction of the Tea

Saturday, 16 December 2023, marks the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.

This small glass bottle contains tea leaves gathered across the harbor from Boston, on the shore of Dorchester Neck, on 17 December 1773, the morning after the Destruction of the Tea as it was called in Boston in 1773. This is one of five relics of the Boston Tea Party (including tea caddies said to have been emptied at the Tea Party, and a china punch bowl from which participants are said to have drunk) in the collections of the MHS.

View the bottle up close here or in person at “The Dye is cast” exhibition now on view at the MHS. View a presentation of MHS collections related to the Boston Tea Party here.

MHS News

Object of History Podcast on Disability History Available 15 December

The Object of History podcast Season 3, Episode 2, Gouverneur Morris & the History of Disability, will discuss the field of Disability History and how it relates to several items at the MHS.

This episode releases on Friday, 15 December. Listen to it here.

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, 13 December | 5:30

MHS Members & Honorary Fellows Holiday Party

Tuesday, 16 January, 5:00 PM: Seeing the Forest as the Key: Lumbermen, Foresters & Racial Power in the Early Twentieth-Century South & the West with Evan Bonney, Centre d'histoire de Sciences Po, and Perri Meldon, Boston University, with comment by Megan Kate Nelson, historian and writer.

Tuesday, 23 January, 5:00 PM: Prostitutes in Private: Sexual & Consumer Culture in Early 20th-Century New York Tenements with Deena Ecker, CUNY Graduate Center, with comment by Kathy Peiss, University of Pennsylvania.

Wednesday, 24 January, 6:00 PM: A History of Boston with Daniel Dain.

Tuesday, 30 January, 5:00 PM: Deported Americans: US Citizens & the Expanding Global Deportation Regime during the Interwar Era with Emily Pope-Obeda, Lehigh University, with comment by Kunal Parker, University of Miami School of Law.

See full calendar.

Looking for More?

Registration and Events

Visit www.masshist.org/events for more information and to register.

Interested in Past Programs?

If you missed a program or would like to revisit the material presented, please visit www.masshist.org/video.

Exhibition and Library Hours

Now Open! “The Dye is cast”: Interests & Ideals That Motivated the Boston Tea Party. The exhibition is open through 29 February 2024. Learn more about the exhibition and explore items from our collection related to the Tea Party.

Our galleries and library are open Monday and Wednesday through Friday, from 9:30 AM to 4:45 PM, Tuesday from 9:30 AM to 7:45 PM, and Saturday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM (the galleries and library open at 12:00 PM the second Tuesday of the month). Please note that the last admission is 45 minutes prior to closing.

Please check our hours and admissions for hours, building closings, and other events.

An advance appointment is strongly encouraged. Please log in to your Portal1791 account to select your preferred visit dates.

Set up an appointment via Zoom or live chat with a member of our reference staff.

Learn more at www.masshist.org/library.

The MHS Fund and Membership

Our Members make it possible for us to offer an array of complimentary services including admission to our exhibition galleries and library, online access to our collections and digital editions, and onsite and remote reference services for all. Membership begins with a fully tax-deductible contribution of $250 or more to the MHS Fund. All Members enjoy a full year of social, cultural, and educational experiences, including invitations to our annual Holiday Party, FREE program registration, and Member Week perks. Learn more and join today!

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