“I forgot to say that we went to Grandmamma’s and had our delicious macaroni, and then! Oh! then! We had whackingly good chocolate pies. You know the kind with chocolate frosting and heaps of cream between. Oh! they were so good.”
–Barbara Channing to Henry Morse Channing, 10 June 1898
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Featured Item from the MHS Collection |
This broadside, printed on silk with hand-painted floral decorations, is the menu for a farewell dinner for Japanese diplomats and technical advisors who were about to depart for Europe after a seven-month visit to the United States. Alexander H. Rice, the president of the Boston Board of Trade, hosted a groaning repast on behalf of local political and business leaders at the Revere House. Gov. Emory Washburn, Mayor William Gaston, and other local dignitaries addressed 150 or more guests. The main dinner speakers were Boston literary lights Ralph Waldo Emerson and Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. The latter composed a poem for the occasion that begins with the line, "We welcome you, Lords of the Land of the Sun!" Read more about the visit and the banquet.
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This Week's Online Programs |
On Tuesday, 6 October, at 5:15 PM, Heather S. Nathans, Tufts University, presents “Our Turn Next”: Slavery & Freedom on French & American Stages, 1789–1799 with comment by Jeffrey Ravel, MIT. As the French abolitionist movement gathered momentum alongside the Revolution, Parisians could have seen hundreds of theatrical performances on themes related to race and slavery. By contrast, the American stage grappled with the choice to perpetuate a slave system within a democracy. Some performances hinted at slavery’s cruelty, some depicted newly freed Black characters living happily alongside whites, and others proposed returning Blacks to the continent as the solution for a dilemma Thomas Jefferson described as holding “a wolf by the ears.” This paper explores the Black revolutionary figure on the US and French stages during the last decade of the 18th century, as both nations struggled to put their principles of universal freedom into practice. 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 this online seminar.
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On Wednesday, 7 October, at 5:30 PM, Karen Mauney-Brodek, Emerald Necklace Conservancy; Rep. Nika Elugardo; and Chris Reed, Harvard Graduate School of Design, present Clean Water, Green Space, & Social Equity. The chain of green spaces and waterways that make up the Emerald Necklace park system is an invaluable urban oasis. Described as “the lungs of the city” this parkland and its rivers and ponds clean the city air, provide habitats for birds and other wildlife, and greatly improve quality of life for Boston residents. Our panel will explore the past, present, and future of this urban wild, beginning with Olmsted’s vision, through the lens of social equity and environmental justice. Register for this online program.
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On Thursday, 8 October, at 5:15 PM, Marc Stein, San Francisco State University, and Ashley Ruderman-Looff, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, present Queer Institutions – A Panel Discussion with comment by Aaron S. Lecklider, UMass Boston. This panel discussion considers the queer histories of two modern institutions: colleges and prisons. Marc Stein explores how activists at more than 20 colleges went to court in the 1970s to challenge their institutions’ refusal to recognize LGBT student groups. Stein’s paper analyzes these cases and situates the successful litigation at Virginia Commonwealth University in relation to contemporaneous Virginia rulings that upheld the criminalization of same-sex sodomy and the prosecution of an interracial threesome. Ashley Ruderman-Looff’s essay considers the Lavender Scare’s impact on women’s prison reform. Her essay tells the story of Dr. Miriam Van Waters, a superintendent of the Massachusetts Reformatory for Women who was dismissed from her post in 1949. This paper analyzes Van Waters’s subversive use of the Rorschach inkblot test, allowing her to eschew homosexual diagnosis and include queer women in the reformatory’s rehabilitative programs. This is part of the History of Women, Gender, & Sexuality 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 Friday, 9 October, at 2:00 PM, Eleanor Citron presents Tour of Boston Monuments. In recent history, the question of what to do with monuments—particularly those of Confederate origins—has become a source of contentious debate. The City of Boston possessed one such monument on Georges Island. It was removed in 2017. Does this mean that Boston no longer possesses any problematic statues? In the words of Boston Globe journalist Ty Burr, “Are Boston’s statues honoring all the right men?” And who gets to decide? Join Eleanor Citron, a summer intern at the MHS, for a virtual tour of Metro Boston’s monuments—from those championed by the city to those beheaded, uprooted, and things in between. Register for this online program.
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Upcoming October Programs |
Please register for each session you wish to attend.
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On Monday, 12 October, at 2:00 PM, Ellen DuBois, University of California Los Angeles; Thomas Dublin, SUNY Binghamton; and N. Lynn Eckhert, Partners Healthcare International, present Biographies of Suffrage Champions with comment by Manisha Sinha, University of Connecticut. This is conference session 1 of 5.
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On Tuesday, 13 October, at 12:00 PM, Helene Quanquin, University of Lille; Carol Faulkner, Syracuse University; and Jessica Derleth, SUNY Binghamton, present Marriage & the Amendments with comment by Kathi Kern, University of Kentucky. This is conference session 2 of 5.
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On Thursday, 15 October, at 1:30 PM, Corinne T. Field, University of Virginia; Nicole Etcheson, Ball State University; Kara W. Swanson, Northeastern University School of Law; and Rabia S. Belt, Stanford Law School, present Is She Disqualified From Voting? with comment by Paula Austin, Boston University. This is conference session 4 of 5.
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On Friday, 16 October, at 1:30 PM, Adam H. Domby, College of Charleston, and Elizabeth Katz, Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, present What did the Amendments Not Cover? with comment by Akhil Reed Amar, Yale Law School. This is conference session 5 of 5.
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On Thursday, 22 October, at 5:30 PM, Richard Bell, University of Maryland presents Hamilton the Musical.
On Thursday, 29 October, at 5:30 PM, Peter Onuf, University of Virginia and Annette Gordon-Reed, Harvard University, present Jefferson: Then & Now.
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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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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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