Paradise or Plight? Melville and Berkshire Industry

Actor Marcus Kearns and historian John Dickson team up for a program discussing Herman Melville’s influence on industry in Berkshire County during the nineteenth century.  

The evening begins with a dramatic reading of Melville’s short story The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids. First published in 1855, the story combines two sketches, one set in the center of London’s legal industry and the other in a New England paper factory (possibly based on The Old Red Mill in Dalton, Massachusetts, where Melville had visited). 

John Dickson will then lead a discussion of the story and how Melville’s views on Industrialization influenced Berkshire County’s industrial history followed by a Q & A.

Use the BOOK NOW button to purchase tickets; $15 BCHS members, $20 non-members.