BCHS is celebrating the centennial of Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, Sailor. Read about the novella and lans to commemorate its publication here.
Poor Herman Interview with Elizabeth Doss
Read The Berkshire Eagle’s interview with playwright Elizabeth Doss in which she discusses Poor Herman. Use the BOOK NOW button to purchase tickets.
Billy Budd, Sailor Gala – September 20
Celebrate the centennial of Billy Budd, Sailor with a gala evening at Tanglewood’s Linde Center. Enjoy selections from Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd opera performed by Berkshire Opera Festival and readings from Melville’s classic novella.
More information here.
Melville Symposium – August 1
Join BCHS for an afternoon of presentations by Melville scholars. Complete details here.
Arrowhead in The Financial Times
Read this great piece by best selling author and Pittsfield native Mark Vanhoenacker.
Sea Shanties with Alex Harvey and ShinBone Alley, July 24
Celebrate the haunting intercultural exchange of 18th and 19th century maritime music. The grounds are open for picnicking this evening.
Details here. Use the BOOK NOW button to purchase tickets.
Poor Herman, 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.
Details here. Use the BOOK NOW button to purchase tickets.
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. Details here.
Use the BOOK NOW button to register.
Monument Mountain Hike – August 4
Celebrate the day (August 5, 1850) Melville met Nathaniel Hawthorne on a walk up Monument Mountain by joining BCHS for a similar hike. Details here.
The Invisible Community: African Americans in Berkshire County (1830-2012)
The Invisible Community: African Americans in Berkshire County was a project of the Berkshire County Historical Society in the late 1990s. Ethnic groups, most notably the African-American community, have traditionally been overlooked in histories of Berkshire County. The Invisible Community project intended to collect information on the historic presence of African-Americans in Berkshire County, and the role that community has played in the county’s history. Partially funded by a grant from Mass Humanities, this collection includes information concerning specific Berkshire residents, oral histories, as well as institutions & events associated with the African-American community in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Click here to listen to oral history recordings or read transcriptions.