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June 2021
Historical Photos from the Winfried P. Sommerfeld Collection
Who doesn’t remember postcards of the many roadside hotels and restaurants dotting New England highways from the 1950s-1970s? Not only are they nostalgic, their historical value is immeasurable: they document the physical, economic, and leisure landscape of the era. Where did these postcards come from? Shortly after the end of World War II, German native Winfried P. Sommerfeld immigrated to the United States and settled in Auburn, Massachusetts, where he established his photography studio on Southbridge Street. His business was…
Find out more »September 2021
Using Probate Records in Your Family History Research
Probate records are crucial—but sometimes overlooked—sources for family historians. Hiding in these legal documents may be full family groups, immediate and extended family connections, origins, and even maiden names. These sources may also be used as vital record substitutes and provide a glimpse into your ancestor’s property and worldly possessions. This three-week online course will provide an in-depth tutorial on how to understand, locate, and leverage wills, inventories, guardianships, and other probate records in your family history research. This course…
Find out more »Monuments and Memorials: Visual Culture and Historical Traumas
Museum Educator Waleska Santiago-Centeno will present a lecture and discussion about public art that will focus attention on the intersection between visual culture and historical trauma. The purpose of this presentation is to raise awareness and increase understanding about the sensitivities that advocate the removal, renaming, repositioning and appreciation of monuments and memorials around the world. Santiago-Centeno will deconstruct the semiotics at the intersections between monuments and memorials, on the one hand, and history, culture, space, memory, manifest destiny, ideologies,…
Find out more »Foggy Mountain Consort
Wednesday, September 22, 2021, 7:30 pm The Foggy Mountain Consort is Boston’s premier R&B band, Renaissance & Bluegrass! This five-member ensemble fuses the delicate beauty of Renaissance music with the inventiveness and energy of fiddle and banjo-driven roots music, with the honest beauty of traditional folk songs https://goreplace.org/whats-on/foggy-mountain
Find out more »Nathaniel Philbrick with Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy
In the fall of 1789, Washington, only six months into his presidency, set out on the first of four road trips as he attempted to unite what were in essence thirteen independent states into a single nation. In the fall of 2018, Philbrick, his wife Melissa, and their dog Dora set out on their own series of road trips as they retraced Washington’s route. At historic houses and landmarks from Savannah, Georgia, to Kittery Point, Maine, Philbrick met reenactors, tour…
Find out more »A Taste of Old Colony History
Join the OCHM staff from their home kitchens as we try our hand at historic recipes and local favorites. Once you've registered, you’ll have access to the Zoom meeting so you can cook along with us, step-by-step, or just sit back and watch! The recipe of the month is Apple Cider Doughnuts!
Find out more »Online Close Encounters – Addison B. LeBoutillier – Architect, Artist and Designer
On September 23rd at 7pm, we’ll share the story of Addison B. LeBoutillier (1872-1951), an architect, renowned artist, jewelry designer and chief designer at Grueby Faience Company in Boston. LeBoutillier's work lives on in museums throughout the world. We’ll share his life through some of the more than 500 items belonging to LeBoutillier that are part of the Andover Center for History & Culture collection. Time for questions and discussion will follow the presentation of the LeBoutillier story. There is…
Find out more »American Patriotism
For Americans, the word Patriotism tends to mean shared celebrations like the national anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance. Prof. Ben Railton will demonstrate that this communal expression of an idealized America is just one of four types of Patriotism, and that there are also a mythic version (the creation of national myths that exclude certain communities), an active version (acts of service and sacrifice for the nation), and a critical version (arguments for how the nation has fallen short…
Find out more »Writing History: An Extended Q&A with Nathaniel Philbrick
Following his Zoom Webinar public talk (separate registration required), Nathaniel Philbrick will engage in further conversation and Q&A. He’ll answer your questions about his inspirations, research, and process behind writing Travels with George and his other works of American history. Moderator Ryan J. Woods will be joined by Catherine Allgor, President of the Massachusetts Historical Society to facilitate this more intimate Zoom meeting.
Find out more »Walking Tour of Green Street
Join the Jamaica Plain Historical Society on a walk along Green Street. Laid out in 1836, the street played a key role in Jamaica Plain’s development, functioning as a residential, commercial, and transportation conduit in the lives of the district’s residents. Although Green Street was subdivided as early as 1851 for stores, factories and houses, it was not extensively developed until the late 1870s with construction continuing until the early 1900s. The Bowditch School was completed in 1892, and early…
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