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August 2022
Reading the Gravestones of Early New England
Presented by John G. S. Hanson Virtually all genealogists have an appreciation for old graveyards: inscriptions often reveal birth and death dates, family relationships, and other details. Yet the epitaphs inscribed on early New England gravestones—poetic messages expressing contemporary attitudes towards life, death, and eternity—are too often dismissed as sentimental doggerel. Every single epitaph was chosen for a reason of utmost importance—to memorialize the death of a loved one. Knowing the literary context can increase our understanding of these historic…
Find out more »Clothing the Family: A Museum Wide Effort
Join Collections Manager and Curator of Textiles, Rebecca Beall, Coordinator of Households, Jean Contino, and Historical Clothing Coordinator, Carrie Midura as they discuss the new avenues that Old Sturbridge Village is taking in relation to exhibiting, interpreting and recreating textiles and textile production in early 19th century New England. Every year at Old Sturbridge Village, we celebrate the history of textile production through our special Textile Weekend. This year, a new textile exhibit, Needle and Thread: The Art and Skill…
Find out more »“Corn More Precious Than Silver”: The Plimoth Grist Mill and the Importance of Corn in Plymouth Colony
Thanks to the generous support of the Bridge Street Fund, the July, August, and September 2022 Members-Only programs (offered in person and online) are free and open to the public. Typically exclusive to Plimoth Patuxet Museums members, this month we invite everyone to join the Museum for our monthly virtual/in-person program that offers a deeper look into topics relating to 17th-century New England. This program features a conversation between Deputy Executive Director and Chief Historian Richard Pickering, Museum Gardener Dr.…
Find out more »September 2022
The Portraiture of Ezra Woolson
Join Director of Collections and Research, Derek Heidemann and Art Conservator, Theresa Carmichael, as they take a closer look at the portraiture of New Hampshire itinerant painter, Ezra Woolson (1824-1845) within the Old Sturbridge Village Museum Collections. Not much is known about Woolson’s short career as an itinerant painter, but he started painting at a young age. The earliest painting in our collection was created when he was just 16 and the latest when he was 19. Unfortunately, Woolson passed…
Find out more »October 2022
Zoom Lecture: The Effect of Climate Change on Cultural Heritage
Lighthouses, farmsteads, cemeteries, ancient shell middens and shipwrecks--all are part of Cape Cod's history, as well as our present. But what about the future? With the likelihood of rising sea level and more severe storms, climate change poses a real threat not just to natural resources and ecosystems, but to cultural resources as well. Cape Cod National Seashore Historian Bill Burke will discuss what the National Park Service is doing to prepare for climate change effects on prehistoric and historic…
Find out more »November 2022
Zoom Lecture: Nantucket Lightship Baskets
One of the enduring artforms of Nantucket is the lightship basket. This talk will include the early history of the baskets, made originally by men doing hazardous duty aboard the lightships that helped keep other mariners save. The talk will cover the materials and typical construction, as well as some atypical examples that force us to consider how best to define lightship baskets. The discussion will continue with the stories of some of the preeminent lightship basket artists. Speaker Jack…
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