Past Events

Join us at Herman Melville's Arrowhead for a spectacular evening of award-winning music, reading, and performance by The Mastheads' Summer Residents: Auyon Mukharji, Daniel Lavery, Elisa Gonzalez, Julia Mounsey, and Kristina Gaddy. FREE- BYOB and picnic  Sponsored by MountainOne, MCC, Housatonic Heritage

Mark Vanhoenacker is a native of Pittsfield, a commercial airline pilot and the author of the international bestseller Skyfaring as well as a columnist for the Financial Times and a frequent contributor to the New York Times. In his latest book, Imagine a City—"a love song to cities the world over," according to the Wall Street Journal—he explores the storied metropolises he visits as an airline pilot, through the lens of the hometown his heart has never left. Vanhoenacker will be…

Please join authors Kevin O’Hara and Debby Applegate for an entertaining and wide-ranging conversation on literary life and the Berkshires.  O’Hara is a memoirist and columnist for the Berkshire Eagle (and former Writer-in-Residence at Arrowhead).  Applegate is a  Pulitzer Prize winning historian for  The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher who has written about the role of the Berkshires in creating the American literary renaissance of the 19th century. $10 BCHS members, $15 non members. …

Beginning Thursday, August 3 “Call me Ishmael” and sign up to read part of Melville’s masterpiece on the site where it was written. Come on your own or bring a group to read with us until we finish the book. Or join online with people from around the globe. Pre-registration is required, sign up HERE. $5 recommended donation. This event is sponsored by MountainOne, MCC, Housatonic Heritage, Berkshire Bank, and Adams Community Bank.

Celebrate the day (August 5, 1850) when Melville met Hawthorne on a hike up Monument Mountain. Read the poem they read together at the summit and share sparkling wine (they had champagne). Meet in the parking lot at Monument Mountain, off Route 7 in Great Barrington. FREE Sponsored by MountainOne

Tim Abbott, an independent researcher and 18th century living history practitioner living in North Canaan, Connecticut, has made a study of Shay’s Rebellion in the Berkshires.  He will present his research on the final fight of that conflict that took place in Sheffield on February 27, 1787,  and its impact not only on local communities but on larger issues that would play out in the Constitutional Convention later that summer in Philadelphia. $10 BCHS members, $15 non-members. Use the Book Now…

Join us in Herman Melville’s historic barn at Arrowhead for an evening of new and inspired writing. Participants from our recent and highly successful Writers Workshop Series will celebrate the series with readings of their works. Reception to follow, FREE This event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union, Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Enjoy the start of the fall season at Arrowhead with a FREE day of food, fun, music, history, hands-on activities, traditional craft demonstrations, and more! House tours are available by ticket only, Revolutionary War reenactors will be interpreting camp life, and visitors are encouraged to speak with participants about their activities and everyday life during the war. Drills will be performed, along with three separate musket demonstrations throughout the day. Refreshments for purchase will be provided by SoCo Creamery. In…