This Week at the MHS - 12 February

Benedict Arnold’s Unrequited Love

In 1776, Gen. Benedict Arnold was at a great point in his life, despite being recently widowed. He was a favorite of Gen. George Washington and a respected military leader.

Washington sent Arnold to Providence, RI, in late 1776 to take control of the poorly defended state following the British takeover of Newport. Arnold found the Rhode Island militia were ill-equipped for an attack on British forces and went north to Boston in hopes of raising more troops.

It was in Boston that the middle-aged, widowed, and weathered Arnold found himself embraced by Boston’s high society. Here, he encountered the loquacious, flirtatious, and charming 16-year-old Elizabeth “Betsy” DeBlois and fell passionately in love. Though her mother had already chosen another suitor, it did not stop Arnold from pursuing her. He secretly sent gifts and love letters. DeBlois refused his gifts, including the ring pictured above, and his proposal.

In 1779, Arnold married Peggy Shippen. DeBlois never married, refusing several more proposals.

Read more in this Beehive blog post.

MHS News

Object of History Podcast Egyptomania & the Art of Egyptian Revival, Available 15 February

The Object of History podcast Season 3, Episode 4, Egyptomania & the Art of Egyptian Revival, investigates the phenomenon of Egyptomania during the Gilded Age.

This episode releases on Thursday, 15 February. Listen to it here.

Upcoming Events

POSTPONED due to forecasted snowstorm.

SEMINAR

Tuesday, 13 February | 5:00 PM

Farm, Factory & Mine: Worcester Coal & the Role of Extractive Industries in Early 19th-Century New England

Katheryn Viens, Independent Scholar, with comment by Brian C. Black, Pennsylvania State University.

PROGRAM

Thursday, 15 February | 6:00 PM

First Family: George Washington’s Heirs & the Making of America

Cassandra Good, Marymount University, in conversation with Sara Georgini, MHS.

TEACHER WORKSHOP

Monday, 19 February | 9:00 AM–2:00 PM

Teacher Workshop: Perspectives on the Boston Massacre & the Legacy of Crispus Attucks

Tuesday, 20 February, 5:00 PM: Back from Canada, after the Underground Railroad: Recovering Family Stories & Tracing a Mass Migration in the Emancipation Generation of Black North Americans with Adam Arenson, Manhattan College, and Irene Moore Davis, Public Historian and President of the Essex County Black Historical Research Society, with comment by dann j. Broyld, University of Massachusetts, Lowell. This is a seminar.

Thursday, 22 February, 5:00 PM: “I Shall Forward to You My Contraband”: Tracing Wartime Black Movement North through an Incomplete Archive with Marcy Sacks, Albion College, with comment by Amy Murrell Taylor, University of Kentucky. This is a seminar.

Tuesday, 27 February, 5:00 PM: A Nation at the Table with Lucy E. Salyer, University of New Hampshire, with comment by Paul A. Kramer, Vanderbilt University. This is a seminar.

Wednesday, 28 February, 6:00 PM: Project-Based Learning in the Social Studies Classroom: An Introduction to NHD in Massachusetts. This is a teacher workshop.

Thursday, 29 February, 5:00 PM: Memories of Civil War Childhoods & Possibilities of Freedom at the Close of the Nineteenth Century with Ben Davidson, Saint Michael’s College, with comment by James Marten, Marquette University. This is a seminar.

Monday, 4 March, 6:00 PM: Necessary Trouble: A Conversation with Drew Faust with Drew Faust, in conversation with Catherine Allgor, MHS President. This is a program.

See full calendar.

Looking for More?

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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.

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Learn more at www.masshist.org/library.

2024 Making History Gala

Join us for an unforgettable evening on 6 June 2024, with featured speaker Doris Kearns Goodwin at the iconic Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston. Visit www.masshist.org/gala to purchase tickets.

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