Past Events

Continue celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with a first-of-its-kind Dia De Los Muertos event in the heart of the Berkshires! Hot Plate Brewing, a local Latina-owned brewery will host The Community Ofrenda event in partnership with Latinas413 and the Berkshire County Historical Society. The community will come together to honor the history of Dia De Los Muertos and our shared experiences. The event will be held at Hot Plate’s taproom, located 1 School Street in Pittsfield. Doors open at 3:30 pm.…

Join us at the historic Country Club of Pittsfield for a talk about the house, its famous residents and visitors including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Tyler, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Elkanah Watson, General Benjamin Lincoln, and more. Also hear the ghost story of Sarah Morewood’s haunting. Refreshments will be served. $30 BCHS and Country Club of Pittsfield members, $35 non-members Use the BOOK NOW button to reserve tickets.  This event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit…

Join us online to learn about the fascinating history of whaling captains of color with author, Skip Finley. In his fascinating book Whaling Captains of Color, America’s First Meritocracy, Mr. Finley covers such topics as Ambergris and rats, while intertwining the individual stories of more than fifty whaling masters of color, their adventures, successes, and struggles. Whaling was the first American industry to exhibit any diversity, and the proportion of men of color was high. A man got to be…

Celebrate the winter season at Arrowhead with a cozy tea in the historic house. Traditional tea with all the accompaniments provided by Kate Baldwin, with readings by local author Kevin O’Hara. $25 BCHS members, $30 non-members Use the BOOK NOW button to reserve tickets. About Kevin O’Hara O’Hara is the author of Last of The Donkey Pilgrims, about his travels with Missie the donkey around Ireland; A Lucky Irish Lad, about his boyhood; Ins and Outs of a Locked Ward,…

Country Club of Pittsfield, Collection of BCHS Join us at the historic Country Club of Pittsfield for the Berkshire County Historical Society annual meeting. The meeting will include an overview of 2023 BCHS activities by Executive Director Lesley Herzberg as well as election of directors and officers for 2024. The meeting is free and open to the public; no reservation  required. A reception immediately follows the meeting from 5 - 6 pm.  Hot and cold appetizers will be served and…

Shop the Berkshire County Historical Society museum shop and get great gifts for family and friends while supporting the work of BCHS. Can't wait for December 16? Shop the online store here. Don't forget - Members receive a 10% discount on all purchases. Not a member yet?  Click here to join, or sign up on December 16.  Got writer's block? Looking to make a fashion statement? Need to wake up your morning coffee routine?   Looking for books by local…

Robbins, Kellogg & Company, Wholesale Shoe Manufacturers, c. 1880. Collection of the Berkshire County Historical Society Drive around Berkshire county, and it’s hard to miss the large, brick buildings on the corner, behind the trees, or down the street. These old mills are in almost every town; over five hundred of them were built in the Berkshires by the end of the 1800s. They produced glass, cloth, iron, paper, shoes, rakes, or dozens of other goods sold to the farthest…

There is a Jewish tradition of studying a single page of the Talmud every day until its completion. This tradition is called Daf Yomi (Hebrew for “page of the day”). Because the Talmud is a multi-volume work of ancient law, narrative, and commentary, a full cycle of Daf Yomi takes about seven and a half years to complete. Jews from around the world who study the same page on the same day over this long period of time share a distinct sacred experience. Two…