“There is one thing that I have learnt lately & which the Daly unit already knows, & that is—work hard when you have to, but Enjoy yourself just as hard when you get a chance.”
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Featured Item from the MHS Collection |
On 24 September 1816, James Monroe wrote to William Eustis, US minister to the Netherlands at the Hague, who had recently returned from a trip to Paris. Like much of the correspondence between public figures of the time, the letter covers a variety of subjects and alternates between official business and personal anecdote. Beginning with Monroe’s memories of Paris and inquiries about the Marquis de Lafayette, the letter moves on to a detailed discussion of trade relations with the Netherlands, praise of Col. James Morrison of Kentucky, an inquiry into the weather, and news of the Monroe family. Read more about this letter in a 24 August blog post. It is the final post in a six-part series looking at a collection of letters to William and Caroline Eustis at the MHS.
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This Week's Online Programs |
On Tuesday, 22 September, at 5:15 PM, Lauren Duval, University of Oklahoma, presents “The Horrid Deeds of our Enemies” with comment by Carolyn Eastman, Virginia Commonwealth University. The American Revolution was waged not only on the battlefield, but in the realm of culture. American homes and the wartime violence within them—particularly directed against women—were prominent subjects in novels and historical paintings. Reimagining women’s interactions with British soldiers solely as relationships of violence and deception, not volition, these narratives promoted a gendered vision of wartime domestic invasion and violation that would, in memory, come to define the war’s devastation and contribute to emergent ideas about the meaning of independence. This is part of the Pauline Maier Early American 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 the online seminar.
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On Wednesday, 23 September, at 5:30 PM, Harold Holzer, Hunter College, presents Monument Man: The Life & Art of Daniel Chester French. Daniel Chester French is America’s best-known sculptor of public monuments, having created the statue for the Lincoln Memorial, the John Harvard statue, and The Minute Man in Concord. This new biography combines rich personal details from French’s life with a nuanced study of his artistic evolution. It explores French’s diligent dedication to perfecting his craft with beautiful archival photographs of his life and work. Register for the online program.
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On Thursday, 24 September, at 12:00 PM, Sean Griffin, CUNY, presents “We Have Always Regarded the Question of Slavery, as Really & Essentially That of Labor”: The Intersection of Race, Class, & Slavery in Radical Antebellum Boston. In the years before the Civil War, Boston was at the forefront of numerous American radical and reform movements. At the same time, the city was also a site of contestation over which reforms should take priority. Although these tensions could at times grow heated, this talk examines the ways that the relationship between the abolitionist and the early labor (or “social reform”) movements in Boston was marked by conversation and cooperation as much as competition, revealing an overlap of personnel and ideas that in many ways grew stronger as the country headed towards an irrepressible conflict over slavery. Register for this online brown-bag program.
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Upcoming September Programs |
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.
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Live Chat
Set up an appointment
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with a member of our reference staff.
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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/support/members.
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