Events

As closed records of adoption are being legally challenged in states nationwide and open adoption is the rule today, journalist Gabrielle Glaser takes us back to a dark time in America’s history. Her acclaimed book reveals the lucrative and exploitative adoption industry during the 1960s Baby Boom, when agencies removed children from their birth mothers, placed them with hopeful families, and then firmly closed the door between them. Acting “in the best interests of all,” they separated families, including Margaret…

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum will present Bridging the Past and Present, a series of virtual conversations with five scholars on the history of Hadley and the Porter-Phelps-Huntington family, starting Wednesday, June 16 at 5pm. All of these talks will be free and open to the public. This series is made possible by a grant from the Bridge Street Fund, a special initiative of Mass Humanities to enable open access to local history.  Kicking off the series on June 16, Entangled Lives:…

In this conversation, we will hear from Elizabeth Solomon (Massachusett Tribe) and Kristen Wyman (Nipmuc Nation) and explore the complexities of the relationships and ways of knowing that Indigenous peoples of the northeast bring to our interactions with each other and the world, from both a historical and contemporary context. We will examine how colonization has disrupted these relationships and subsequently contributed to the decline of environmental sustainability in the region. Finally, we will consider how people from the dominant…

Today there are an estimated 9 million Americans who have Polish ancestry. Connecting to your rodziną—family—in the old country, however, is not without its challenges. Language barriers, changing historical boundaries, and record access can forestall your success in tracing your Polish roots. This three-session course will set you up for success! Topics include how to locate your ancestral town or village using American sources, how to navigate shifting historical borders, review the types of records you are likely to find…

Join Storrs Library and Ben Power for the story of Marion Turner, an African American, gender non-conforming person who lived in Florence, Massachusetts from 1898 to 1903. Turner sometimes dressed in male attire and sometimes in female attire, and alternated pronouns to refer to themselves accordingly. Turner lived and worked with Mrs. J.D. Atkins and became involved with her in abolitionist efforts as they frequented Cosmian Hall. Turner held gatherings of young Black Americans at Mrs. Atkins house, inviting them…

Scituate Historical Society joined by Kate Klise

Grab a pour and take a tour with Curator of Collections, Bronson Michaud. Hear about the untold stories from our collection and take a peek at objects on display just for you. Plus, you’ll receive a Beer with Bronson koozie to keep your beer cold and hands warm! Root beer will be available as well. This tour is free with Museum admission and will focus on postcards from the collection and the stories of places, events, and people they feature.

How did America begin? That simple question launches the acclaimed author of In the Hurricane's Eye and Valiant Ambition on an extraordinary journey to understand the truth behind our most sacred national myth: the voyage of the Mayflower and the settlement of Plymouth Colony. As Philbrick reveals in this electrifying history of the Pilgrims, the story of Plymouth Colony was a fifty-five year epic that began in peril and ended in war. New England erupted into a bloody conflict that nearly wiped out the English colonists…

This two-part program will be live streamed on June 12 and June 26, at 3pm through our Youtube Channel! Featuring Demita Frazier, Co-Founder of the Combahee River Collective “The fecundity and power of oceanic and fresh water meeting in the brackish wetlands of sweet grasses, that is us as Black women coming together.” -Demita Frazier (2021) At the confluence of the Combahee, history was made. Yet long since forming the name-sake radical socialist Black Feminist Combahee River Collective in Boston…