May 2024
A House Restored
Old houses share their secrets only if they survive. Join author Lee McColgan for a free lecture and book signing during which he will share his renovation tales of the Loring House as detailed in his new book, A House Restored. Trading the corporate ladder for a stepladder, Lee McColgan commits to preserving the ramshackle Loring House, built in 1702, using period materials and methods and on a holiday deadline. But his enchantment withers as he discovers the massive repairs…
Find out more »On Melville’s Linguistics
We can’t know how Herman Melville sounded or hear his characters’ voices…or can we? In linguistics, the study of language, we can study how English has changed since Melville’s time and why languages are always changing. Join us as we welcome linguist Wren Wood to Arrowhead for a lecture demonstrating how we can hear Melville’s dialect in samples of his work, even without audio recording. Wren Wood is a linguist and webmaster for the Chicopee Historical Society. They use maps,…
Find out more »June 2024
Bird Walk
Birds are miraculous! Especially in Spring when they dazzle us with bright, nuptial colors and serenade us with a profusion of happy song. Join us for a bird walk led by Ben Nickley, Director of Berkshire Bird Observatory. Ben will help us find and identify many newly arrived migratory birds as we explore the historic grounds of Arrowhead together. Come celebrate nature, renewal, and all that birds do to inspire and uplift us. Ben Nickley loves sharing his passion for…
Find out more »Sailing Towards My Father
The Berkshire County Historical Society presents Sailing Towards My Father, a one-man play about Herman Melville performed by Stephen Collins and written and directed by Carl A. Rossi. The play chronicles Melville’s life from youth to old age, concentrating on his evolution as a writer and his complex relationship with God; his parents and siblings; his wife and children; and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The performance takes place at Herman Melville’s historic home Arrowhead at 5:30 pm. About Stephen Collins Stephen Collins…
Find out more »July 2024
Sea Shanties with Alex Harvey and ShinBone Alley
Alex Harvey is an old world folklorist who performs street ballads and songs of the sea in a project he calls ShinBone Alley. At his performances listeners learn to celebrate the haunting intercultural exchange of 18th and 19th century maritime music - whose ingredients travelled from the furthest corners of the globe to be remade and stitched anew by sailors of every shade and shape at port and at sea. By teaching the audience to join in on most of…
Find out more »Poor Herman – July 26
July 26 -- August3 Herman Melville’s great-great-great granddaughter, Austin playwright Elizabeth Doss, uses the author as a subject to speculate on the line between utter genius and epic failure in us all. Poor Herman unearths the life of Herman Melville, who arguably wrote America’s best and worst novels back-to-back in 1850 and 1851. The production considers what compelled Melville, struggling to salvage his declining reputation while trying to feed a growing family, to write a virtually unreadable book, Pierre or the Ambiguities, in the…
Find out more »Poor Herman – July 27
July 26 -- August3 Herman Melville’s great-great-great granddaughter, Austin playwright Elizabeth Doss, uses the author as a subject to speculate on the line between utter genius and epic failure in us all. Poor Herman unearths the life of Herman Melville, who arguably wrote America’s best and worst novels back-to-back in 1850 and 1851. The production considers what compelled Melville, struggling to salvage his declining reputation while trying to feed a growing family, to write a virtually unreadable book, Pierre or the Ambiguities, in the…
Find out more »Poor Herman – July 28
July 26 -- August 3 Herman Melville’s great-great-great granddaughter, Austin playwright Elizabeth Doss, uses the author as a subject to speculate on the line between utter genius and epic failure in us all. Poor Herman unearths the life of Herman Melville, who arguably wrote America’s best and worst novels back-to-back in 1850 and 1851. The production considers what compelled Melville, struggling to salvage his declining reputation while trying to feed a growing family, to write a virtually unreadable book, Pierre or the Ambiguities, in…
Find out more »Poor Herman – July 29
July 26 -- August 3 Herman Melville’s great-great-great granddaughter, Austin playwright Elizabeth Doss, uses the author as a subject to speculate on the line between utter genius and epic failure in us all. Poor Herman unearths the life of Herman Melville, who arguably wrote America’s best and worst novels back-to-back in 1850 and 1851. The production considers what compelled Melville, struggling to salvage his declining reputation while trying to feed a growing family, to write a virtually unreadable book, Pierre or the Ambiguities, in…
Find out more »Poor Herman – July 30
July 26 -- August 3 Herman Melville’s great-great-great granddaughter, Austin playwright Elizabeth Doss, uses the author as a subject to speculate on the line between utter genius and epic failure in us all. Poor Herman unearths the life of Herman Melville, who arguably wrote America’s best and worst novels back-to-back in 1850 and 1851. The production considers what compelled Melville, struggling to salvage his declining reputation while trying to feed a growing family, to write a virtually unreadable book, Pierre or the Ambiguities, in…
Find out more »Poor Herman – July 31
July 26 -- August 3 Herman Melville’s great-great-great granddaughter, Austin playwright Elizabeth Doss, uses the author as a subject to speculate on the line between utter genius and epic failure in us all. Poor Herman unearths the life of Herman Melville, who arguably wrote America’s best and worst novels back-to-back in 1850 and 1851. The production considers what compelled Melville, struggling to salvage his declining reputation while trying to feed a growing family, to write a virtually unreadable book, Pierre or the Ambiguities, in…
Find out more »August 2024
Eighth Annual Moby-Dick Read-A-Thon
Eighth Annual Moby-Dick Read-A-Thon – August 1- 4 “Call me Ishmael” and sign up to read part of Melville’s masterpiece on the site where it was written. Come on your own or bring a group to read with us until we finish the book. Reserve your 15 minute space by using the BOOK NOW button. $5 recommended donation
Find out more »Poor Herman – August 1
July 26 -- August 3 Herman Melville’s great-great-great granddaughter, Austin playwright Elizabeth Doss, uses the author as a subject to speculate on the line between utter genius and epic failure in us all. Poor Herman unearths the life of Herman Melville, who arguably wrote America’s best and worst novels back-to-back in 1850 and 1851. The production considers what compelled Melville, struggling to salvage his declining reputation while trying to feed a growing family, to write a virtually unreadable book, Pierre or the Ambiguities, in…
Find out more »Poor Herman – August 2
July 26 -- August 3 Herman Melville’s great-great-great granddaughter, Austin playwright Elizabeth Doss, uses the author as a subject to speculate on the line between utter genius and epic failure in us all. Poor Herman unearths the life of Herman Melville, who arguably wrote America’s best and worst novels back-to-back in 1850 and 1851. The production considers what compelled Melville, struggling to salvage his declining reputation while trying to feed a growing family, to write a virtually unreadable book, Pierre or the Ambiguities, in…
Find out more »Poor Herman – August 3
July 26 -- August 3 Herman Melville’s great-great-great granddaughter, Austin playwright Elizabeth Doss, uses the author as a subject to speculate on the line between utter genius and epic failure in us all. Poor Herman unearths the life of Herman Melville, who arguably wrote America’s best and worst novels back-to-back in 1850 and 1851. The production considers what compelled Melville, struggling to salvage his declining reputation while trying to feed a growing family, to write a virtually unreadable book, Pierre or the Ambiguities, in…
Find out more »Monument Mountain Hike
Hikers are invited to celebrate the day (August 5, 1850) Melville met Nathaniel Hawthorne on a walk up Monument Mountain by joining BCHS for a similar hike and reading of local poet William Cullen Bryant’s Monument Mountain. The guided hike takes approximately 2 ½ hours and is appropriate for families. Hikers should meet at the Monument Mountain Reservation Parking lot on Route 7 and should be prepared with their own water, proper footwear, hiking gear and bug repellent. This event…
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