Past Events

The Berkshire County Historical Society welcomes you to a special series of fund-raising readings featuring four authors with strong ties to the Berkshires. The readings take place in Herman Melville’s historic study where he wrote Moby-Dick inspired by his view of Mount Greylock. Following the readings, guests can interact with the authors while enjoying tea, hot toddies, and a selection of sweets. In-person seating for this cozy afternoon is limited; all proceeds benefit BCHS restoration, education, and preservation programs.  November…

This special presentation of the first screen adaptation of Herman Melville’s epic novel Moby-Dick includes an introduction by Professor Richard Matturro. The iconic 1926 silent film stars John Barrymore and Dolores Costello and was directed by Millard Webb. The film, despite taking liberties with Melville’s source material, was a major commercial success and one of the highest grossing films of 1926. This is a rare opportunity to see this film on the big screen at the Beacon Cinema in downtown…

The Berkshire County Historical Society welcomes you to a special series of fund-raising readings featuring four authors with strong ties to the Berkshires. The readings take place in Herman Melville’s historic study where he wrote Moby-Dick inspired by his view of Mount Greylock. Following the readings, guests can interact with the authors while enjoying tea, hot toddies, and a selection of sweets. In-person seating for this cozy afternoon is limited; all proceeds benefit BCHS restoration, education, and preservation programs.  November…

The Berkshire County Historical Society welcomes you to a special series of fund-raising readings featuring four authors with strong ties to the Berkshires. The readings take place in Herman Melville’s historic study where he wrote Moby-Dick inspired by his view of Mount Greylock. Following the readings, guests can interact with the authors while enjoying tea, hot toddies, and a selection of sweets. In-person seating for this cozy afternoon is limited; all proceeds benefit BCHS restoration, education, and preservation programs.  December…

Between December 1775 and March 1776, Henry Knox was ordered by General George Washington to do the unthinkable—transport artillery that had been captured at Fort Ticonderoga and Fort George in New York to the Continental Army in the outskirts of Boston in order to drive the occupying British forces out of the important port city. In the middle of winter, Knox found a way to drag fifty-nine cannons 300 miles, crossing Lake Champlain by boat and using teams of horses…

Close out Pittsfield’s 10 x10 Upstreet Arts Festival with a free family-friendly snowshoe hike around the grounds of Herman Melville’s historic house and farm, Arrowhead. This easy walk includes an introduction to the site and brief history of Herman Melville’s life there as well as a scavenger hunt. Learn about Melville’s sleigh rides and decide for yourself if Mt. Greylock really looks like a white whale. Following the hike, which will be lead by Berkshire Natural Resources Council, visit the…

Herman Melville is one of the greatest writers in world literature and his own quest to understand more of his Scottish ancestry has been noted but rarely explored to any depth. The Scottish recognition of Melville's ancestry was established by Hugh MacDiarmid in the 1920s and extends into present-day scholarship and evolving understanding of his significance as a world-traveler, ecological thinker and original initiator of geographical poetics.  For this presentation, Alan Riach, Professor of Scottish Literature at Glasgow University, draws…