BCHS Annual Meeting, Friday, December 10, 2021, 3:30

Please join us in person or via Zoom for the Berkshire County Historical Society’s Annual Meeting at the Country Club of Pittsfield
639 South Street, Pittsfield, MA

After the meeting, we hope you will join us for a festive cocktail hour – tickets $37

Please RSVP to let us know if you plan to attend in person or online via Zoom. Once we hear from you, we will send the Zoom link.

For RSVP and tickets for the cocktail hour portion, email us at melville@berkshirehistory.org or call 413.442.1793 by December 8.

Hope to see you there!

Sold Out!

 

Wednesday, December 8–Holiday Lights, 5 pm

 

This special tour of Arrowhead shows the house decorated for the holidays, and includes seasonal readings, 19^th century holiday recipes, and a peek at holiday-themed objects from the museum’s collection that are not often on view.

 

This FREE event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union

Sold Out!

 

Wednesday, December 15–A Christmas Journey: New Readings with Kevin O’Hara, 5 pm

 

Noted Pittsfield author and longtime columnist for The Berkshire Eagle Kevin O’Hara will read Christmas tales included in his new illustrated book, A Christmas Journey, recently published by The Berkshire Eagle. This will be a special evening of joyous and heartfelt tales from Kevin’s Pittsfield childhood.

 

This FREE event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union

Saturday, November 13 – Borderland: The Life and Times of Blanche Ames Ames, 7 pm, Little Cinema at The Berkshire Museum

Borderland: The Life & Times of Blanche Ames Ames (directed by Kevin G. Friend) chronicles the life of a woman who was born in the 19th century, worked to change the 20th century, and whose wisdom still resonates in the 21st century. Blanche Ames Ames (1878–1969) was a woman of privilege who was not afraid to shock polite society. She was an artist, an activist, a builder, an inventor, a birth control maverick, and a leader of the woman suffrage movement in Massachusetts yet her name does not appear in most American history books. This, too, is part of her story. (Running time 55 min.)

Tickets are available through the Little Cinema box office; $5 for BCHS and Berkshire Museum members, $7 for non-members. https://berkshiremuseum.org/event/film-screening-borderland-the-life-times-of-blanche-ames-ames/

Presented by The Berkshire County Historical Society and Little Cinema

 

Friday, November 5–Call Us Ishmael film screening and lecture by Professor Michael Hoberman, 7 pm, Little Cinema at The Berkshire Museum

Call us Ishmael (2019, 1 hr., 19 min., directed by David Shaerf) chronicles Shaerf’s journey into the world of Moby-Dick through his encounters with artists, musicians, professors and performers including Laurie Anderson and Frank Stella. Call Us Ishmael gives viewers insight into a community devoted to Melville’s timeless text. ‘

Prior to the film, Michael Hoberman, author and Professor of English Studies at Fitchburg State University, will make his case that Melville is an ideal writer for people who describe themselves as skeptical romantics. His talk highlights his own path to Melville’s writing and offers a brief discussion of how he teaches two lesser-known Melville texts:  Benito Cereno and The Encantadas. His talk will be follow by an original ballad about Captain Ahab, written and performed by Ashley Kramer, which will segue into the screening of the film. 

Tickets are available through the Little Cinema box office; $5 for BCHS and Berkshire Museum members, $7 for non-members. https://berkshiremuseum.org/event/film-screening-call-us-ishmael/

Presented by The Berkshire County Historical Society and Little Cinema.

Saturday, November 6 – The Act of Reading, 7 pm, Little Cinema at The Berkshire Museum

In this 2021 film directed by Mark Blumberg, a retired high school English teacher is confronted by a former student (Blumberg) who failed her class 15 years prior for failing to read Moby-Dick. He then involves her in a feature-length presentation on Melville’s classic novel and the science of reading. Herman Melville’s Arrowhead and the Berkshires are heavily featured in this film. Experience a fresh take on the region and its literary history. (Running time 1 hr. 27 min.)

Tickets are available through the Little Cinema box office; $5 for BCHS and Berkshire Museum members, $7 for non-members. https://berkshiremuseum.org/event/film-screening-the-act-of-reading/

Presented by The Berkshire County Historical Society and Little Cinema

Friday, October 22 – 7 pm

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) offers certain criteria for the return of Tribal Nations’ ancestral remains and cultural heirlooms. After 30 years of this law, there are still staggering numbers of human remains that have not been returned. There are also often discrepancies between how Tribes and Museums determine if the NAGPRA categories apply to items in museum collections. Bonney Hartley, NAGPRA representative for Stockbridge-Munsee Community, the Tribal Nation indigenous to the Berkshires, will share insights from the community’s recent experiences with repatriation efforts in the region and highlight the ways that museums have increasingly shifted their understandings of Tribal stewardship.

This programming is presented in conjunction with the exhibit Muh-he-con-ne-ok:  People of the Waters that are Never Still, on view at the Berkshire Museum through January 9, 2022.

This FREE event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union and supported through a grant from Housatonic Heritage. To receive Zoom details, please email melville@berkshirehistory.org. 

Wednesday, October 27, 5 pm. Rain date October 28.
Please note: the October 13 tour of the Stockbridge Cemetery has been cancelled. But we encourage you to join us in Pittsfield!

BCHS Executive Director Lesley Herzberg will lead the tour of the Pittsfield Cemetery, located at 203 Wahconah Street. The cemetery dates to 1850 and is the final resting place of many prominent Pittsfield residents, including Lucinda Williams, Phineas Allen, Col. William Williams, Henry Dawes, Sarah Morewood, and Rev. Thomas Allen (also known as the fighting parson).

Please meet at the cemetery entrance. 

This FREE event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Pittsfield Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

Saturday, October 2, 11 am

Long-time Arrowhead tour guide John Dickson and Berkshire County Historical Society Executive Director Lesley Herzberg will conduct an enlightening walking tour of the Arrowhead grounds. Dickson will provide an overview and evolution of the architectural features of the building from the 1780s to the present. In her walk through the north field, Herzberg will discuss the cultural landscape where the entire Melville family participated in the cultivation of the farm and gardens in the 19^th century. (Rain date: Saturday October 9, 11 am),

This FREE event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union

Offered as part of the Housatonic Heritage Walks