This Week at the MHS

Snow in the Northeast

This photograph of an unidentified boy shows the enormous drifts of snow deposited in the streets of New York City by the blizzard of 11–14 March 1888. The storm stretched from the Chesapeake Bay to Canada and left devastation in its wake, disrupting rail, telegraph, and mail service and causing hundreds of deaths and millions of dollars in property damage.

Although Boston was spared the brunt of the snowfall, the effects of the storm were no less daunting. Cities and towns up and down the East Coast really were “cut off,” as the headline in the 13 March issue of the Boston Globe trumpeted. The storm led to many infrastructure improvements, including the burying of overhead utility lines in major cities and the creation of America's first subway in Boston, which opened nine years later.

View the photograph up close here.

Upcoming Events

SEMINAR

Tuesday, 16 January | 5:00 PM

Seeing the Forest as the Key: Lumbermen, Foresters & Racial Power in the Early Twentieth-Century South & the West

Evan Bonney, Centre d'histoire de Sciences Po and Perri Meldon, Boston University, with comment by Megan Kate Nelson, historian and writer.

SEMINAR

Tuesday, 23 January | 5:00 PM

Prostitutes in Private: Sexual & Consumer Culture in Early 20th-Century New York Tenements

Deena Ecker, CUNY Graduate Center, with comment by Kathy Peiss, University of Pennsylvania.

AUTHOR TALK

Wednesday, 24 January | 6:00 PM

A History of Boston

Daniel Dain

Tuesday, 30 January, 5:00 PM: Deported Americans: US Citizens & the Expanding Global Deportation Regime During the Interwar Era with Emily Pope-Obeda, Lehigh University, with comment by Kunal Parker, University of Miami School of Law. This is a seminar.

Tuesday, 6 February, 5:00 PM: The Social World of Revolutionary New England with Nicole Breault, University of Texas, El Paso, and Christopher Walton, Southern Methodist University, with comment by Mark Peterson, Yale University. This is a seminar.

Thursday, 8 February, 5:00 PM: “A New Witch Hunt in Salem”: The Rise & Fall of Low-Cost Birth Control Clinics During the Great Depression with Jeanna Kinnebrew, Boston University, with comment by Lauren MacIvor Thompson, Kennesaw State University. This is a seminar.

Tuesday, 13 February, 5:00 PM: Farm, Factory & Mine: Worcester Coal & the Role of Extractive Industries in Early 19th-Century New England with Katheryn Viens, Independent Scholar, with comment by Brian C. Black, Pennsylvania State University. This is a seminar.

See full calendar.

Looking for More?

Registration and Events

Visit www.masshist.org/events for more information and to register.

Interested in Past Programs?

If you missed a program or would like to revisit the material presented, please visit www.masshist.org/video.

Click below to view the video, Gay Community News at 50: GCN’s Impact & Legacy, with Gerard Cabrera, Gilda Bruckman, and Haden Smiley, moderated by Michael Bronski, and co-sponsored by The History Project. Enjoy more videos by subscribing to the MHS YouTube channel after you view the video.

Exhibition and Library Hours

Now Open! “The Dye is cast”: Interests & Ideals That Motivated the Boston Tea Party. The exhibition is open through 29 February 2024. Learn more about the exhibition and explore items from our collection related to the Tea Party.

Our galleries and library are open Monday and Wednesday through Friday, from 9:30 AM to 4:45 PM, Tuesday from 9:30 AM to 7:45 PM, and Saturday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM (the galleries and library open at 12:00 PM the second Tuesday of the month). Please note that the last admission is 45 minutes prior to closing.

Please check our hours and admissions for hours, building closings, and other events.

An advance appointment is strongly encouraged. Please log in to your Portal1791 account to select your preferred visit dates.

Set up an appointment via Zoom or live chat with a member of our reference staff.

Learn more at www.masshist.org/library.

The MHS Fund and Membership

Our Members make it possible for us to offer an array of complimentary services including admission to our exhibition galleries and library, online access to our collections and digital editions, and onsite and remote reference services for all. Membership begins with a fully tax-deductible contribution of $250 or more to the MHS Fund. All Members enjoy a full year of social, cultural, and educational experiences, including invitations to our annual Holiday Party, FREE program registration, and Member Week perks. Learn more and join today!

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