Stay engaged with the MHS this year.

“I soon perceived a growing Curiosity, a Love of Books and a fondness for Study, which dissipated all my Inclination for Sports, and even for the Society of the Ladies.”
Featured Item from the MHS Collection

In this three-page draft of a letter, John A. Andrew, the newly inaugurated governor of Massachusetts, writes to General Winfield Scott, the general-in-chief of the United States Army, for advice and information on how to best prepare the state militia for battle. He informs Scott and, by extension the federal government, that Massachusetts would be ready to assist the Union wherever and whenever the need arose. Andrew was the first governor to make this offer and Massachusetts was among the first to respond to President Abraham Lincoln’s call for troops after the attack on Fort Sumter on 12 April 1861. Read more about Governor Andrew and this letter.
Latest Revolution 250 Podcast Features MHS President

In the 8 January 2021 episode of the Revolution 250 podcast, Coordinator of Revolution 250 Jonathan Lane speaks with MHS President Catherine Allgor about the founding of the MHS; its continuing role in preserving the history of the American Revolution; its support of National History Day in Massachusetts; the effect of COVID-19 on historical and cultural communities; and her own work on Dolley Madison. Visit www.buzzsprout.com/1336051 for a full list of episodes.
This Week’s Online Programs

On Tuesday, 12 January, at 5:15 PM, Zachary Bennett, Connecticut College, presents Water Over the Dam: The Destruction of Colonial New England’s River Fisheries with comment by Matthew McKenzie, University of Connecticut. River restoration projects across North America are dismantling dams to restore the legendary fish runs of the past. People incorrectly point to the industrial revolution as the culprit. This paper will show that fish disappeared from most of southern New England’s rivers one hundred years before that. The destruction of New England’s fish runs triggered a cascade of economic and environmental changes that shaped legal and political culture during the Revolution and early republic. This is part of the Environmental History Seminar series. Seminars bring together a diverse group of scholars and interested members of the public to workshop a pre-circulated paper. Register for this online seminar.

On Thursday, 14 January, at 5:30 PM, Agnès Delahaye, University of Lyon, presents Settling the Good Land—Governance & Promotion in John Winthrop’s New England, 1620–1650. Settling the Good Land is the first institutional history of the Massachusetts Bay Company, a cornerstone of early modern English colonization in North America. Agnès Delahaye analyzes the settlement as a form of colonial innovation, to reveal the political significance of early New England sources, above and beyond religion. John Winthrop was not just a Puritan, but a settler governor who wrote the history of the expansion of his company as a record of successful and enduring policy. Delahaye argues that settlement, as the action and the experience of appropriating the land, is key to understanding the role played by Winthrop’s writings in American historiography, before independence and in our times. Register for this online program.
Upcoming January Programs
On Tuesday, 19 January, at 5:15 PM, Rachel Walker, University of Hartford, presents High Brow, Low Brow: Phrenology, Fashion & Female Activism in the 19th Century with comment by Sari Altschuler, Northeastern University.

On Thursday, 21 January, at 5:15 PM, Traci Parker, University of Massachusetts—Amherst, presents Revolutionary Weddings: Marriage in the Black Panther Party with comment by Robyn Spencer, CUNY—Lehman College.

On Tuesday, 26 January, at 5:15 PM, Sarah Ketchley, University of Washington, presents Excavating Egyptology: The Emma B. Andrews Diary Project with comment by Jennifer Stertzer, University of Virginia.

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.

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.