SHARE:  
Stay engaged with the MHS this year!
“I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Painting and Poetry Mathematicks and Philosophy. My sons ought to study Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural History, Naval Architecture, navigation, Commerce and Agriculture, in order to give their Children a right to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry and Porcelaine.”
The Education of Henry Adams

Henry Adams was the grandson of John Quincy Adams and great grandson of John Adams. He studied “Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry and Porcelaine,” but possibly not as his great grandfather predicted for his descendants, although this may depend on interpretation.

Henry Adams was a great artist, but not the way John Adams probably meant for his descendants. Henry’s autobiography, The Education of Henry Adams, written in the third person, won a Pulitzer Prize. However, his study of the arts was more of a historical interest, than a practical one. He was a professor of medieval history at Harvard University. Perhaps John Adams would have been satisfied to know that his descendant did study the arts and was creative as a writer, even if he did not carve statues.

The artistry in Henry’s work can be heard in the first paragraph of his book: “Under the shadow of Boston State House, turning its back on the house of John Hancock, the little passage called Hancock Avenue runs, or ran, from Beacon Street, skirting the State House grounds, to Mount Vernon Street, on the summit of Beacon Hill; and there, in the third house below Mount Vernon Place, February 16, 1838, a child was born, and christened later by his uncle, the minister of the First Church after the tenets of Boston Unitarianism, as Henry Brooks Adams.”

MHS President, Catherine Allgor, on GBHs Ask the Expert: Women in History This Week

Join MHS President Catherine Allgor online this Friday, 11 March, at 12:00 PM, as part of GBH’s Ask the Expert. Learn why we study the lives, words, and work of women. Hear fascinating stories about the influence of women throughout history, particularly the lives of First Ladies, and why it is important that everyone knows about the practice of coverture and its impact on women today. Dr. Allgor will discuss famous women such as Abigail Adams, wife and political partner of John Adams, and Elizabeth Freeman, whose suit for her freedom ended slavery in Massachusetts, and other women you might learn about.

Register HERE. The link to this virtual event will be sent once you have registered.
The Object of History Podcast New Episode on 15 March

On 15 March 2022, listen to episode 8, “The Ledger Art of Ft. Marion” This episode examines the sketches produced by Comanche, Kiowa, and Cheyenne men imprisoned at Fort Marion, Florida, in the 1870s. They were interned for nearly three years in an effort by the US military to combat further Indigenous resistance, as part of its campaigns against the Cheyenne, Kiowa, Arapaho, and Comanche Nations in the Red River War. The prisoners, including Making Medicine, Bear’s Heart, and Howling Woolf, produced a collection of artworks during their internment, documenting their memories and experiences.

Set your calendars for the March release! Listen to it on the MHS website here, or whereveryou regularly listen to podcasts.
Call for Seminar Papers!

The MHS invites proposals (500 words) and CVs from researchers interested in presenting in our six seminar series in the 2022–2023 season. Seminars involve discussion of precirculated works in progress, especially article or chapter-length papers (20–40 pages) that the author submits approximately three weeks before the program.

Sessions may take place virtually, in person, or in a hybrid format conditions depending. In your proposal, please indicate which series you are applying to, when your paper will be available for distribution, and your preference (fall or spring) based on when the seminar’s feedback would be helpful to you. Please advise us of any special scheduling conditions, such as planning a trip to Boston or dates when you cannot make a presentation. The steering committee will consider all proposals for the session slots, and their authors will be notified by early summer. Learn more.

Please submit your proposals by 20 March 2022 to research@masshist.org.
Reminder: It Is Massachusetts Civic Learning Week!

The 2nd annual Massachusetts Civic Learning Week, organized by the MA Civic Learning Coalition, and held in conjunction with similar celebrations in New York and Rhode Island, 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. Learn more about Massachusetts Civic Learning Week and register for sessions at www.macivicsforall.org/clw2022.
Events in March 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.
Targeting Reform: CERCLA, Industri-Plex, and Pollution Remediation in the United States

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. This is an online seminar.

The Industri-Plex Superfund Site in Woburn, Massachusetts, now the site of a Target Superstore, has been hailed as a success story. Woburn played a pivotal role in creating, shaping, and reforming Superfund, formally known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Despite contention over Superfund, defenders of the program looked to Industri-Plex as a model for how Superfund can work in remediating a contaminated landscape for productive reuse. By focusing on Industri-Plex to understand this legislative history, the paper reveals the limits and failures in fully addressing toxic contamination across the United States.

Ways and Means: Lincoln and His Cabinet on the Financing of the Civil War

On Wednesday, 9 March, at 6:00 PM, Roger Lowenstein presents Ways and Means: Lincoln and His Cabinet on the Financing of the Civil War. This is a hybrid event.

Upon his election to the presidency, Abraham Lincoln inherited a country in crisis, including a Treasury that had run out of money. Amid the unprecedented troubles of the Confederacy seceding from the Union, Lincoln saw opportunity—the chance to legislate in the centralizing spirit of the “more perfect Union” that had drawn him to politics. Roger Lowenstein reveals, through a financial lens, the largely untold story of how Lincoln used the urgency of the Civil War to transform a confederation of states into a united nation.

In person, $10 per person fee, no charge for MHS Members or EBT cardholders, free to attend online.
Reflecting on Repercussions of COVID-19: Frontline Workers

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. This is a hybrid event.

In March 2020 Massachusetts shut down in the face of COVID-19. Over the course of the past two years, frontline workers have risked daily exposure to the virus every day in hospitals, schools, funeral homes, and grocery stores, as they worked to perform essential services for the general public. Our panel of frontline workers will reflect on society-level impacts, as well as the ways the pandemic has changed how people learn, work, relate, and live, both personally and collectively.

Emily Donahue feels that the pandemic will affect our education system for years to come. Jasmine Laietmark finds that people are now more open to talking about things they didn’t talk about pre-pandemic such as mortality and end-of-life care. Representative Dr. Jon Santiago notes that we have experienced trauma as a country and that we must be kind to ourselves as well as family and loved ones. Join us for a fascinating conversation as these three professionals look back on their experiences as frontline workers during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The series is presented hybrid style, both in-person and virtual, be sure to register for which way you will attend. The in-person reception starts at 5:30 PM, the program begins at 6:00 PM. $10 per person fee for in-person event, $5 virtual fee, and no charge for MHS Members or EBT cardholders.


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.
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. This is an online 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. This is an online event.

On Monday, 21 March, at 6:00 PM, Keith Beutler presents George Washington’s Hair: How Early Americans Remembered the Founding Fathers. This is a hybrid event.

On Tuesday, 22 March, at 5:15 PM, Samuel Backer, Johns Hopkins University, presents Playing in Peoria: Patterns of Mass Culture in Progressive America, with comment by Derek Miller, Harvard University, a Digital History Seminar. This is an online seminar.

On Thursday, 24 March, at 6:00 PM, Vikki Spruill, CEO of the New England Aquarium; Catherine Allgor, President of the MHS; and Matthew Teitelbaum, Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, present Reflecting on Repercussions of COVID-19: Cultural Institutions. This is a hybrid event.

On Tuesday, 29 March, at 5:15 PM, Chana Lee, Harvard University, presents Medical Racism and Political Death: The Case of Juliette Derricote, with comment by Kate Clifford Larson, Brandeis University WSRC Scholar, a Malgeri Modern American Society & Culture Seminar. This is an online seminar.

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. This is a hybrid event.
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.
Help us improve your experience with the MHS.
Adjust your e-mail preferences by updating your profile below,
and we will adjust our e-mails to you accordingly.