Berkshire County Historical Society

Cider Tasting and Orchard Walk
2022-10-16 12:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Join us at Arrowhead on a crisp fall afternoon to celebrate the history of cider-making in Berkshire County. During this walk you will learn about BCHS’s new orchard and partnership with the Berkshire Cider Project.
You will walk through the seedlings with orchardist Keegan Schelling and learn about the heirloom apple varieties, expected yields, and grafting practices utilized in the project.
Kat Hand and Matt Brogan, owners of the Berkshire Cider Project, will be on hand with a tasting of their ciders, and to discuss what they have in store for Berkshire County apples and specifically, plans for following in Herman Melville’s cider-making footsteps with Arrowhead’s orchards.
This event is FREE, but registration is required – 413 442 1793 or melville@berkshirehistory.org
This event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union.

Virtual Tour with Elizabeth Melville
2022-10-26 17:30 - 18:30 | Virtual Event
Join actress and Arrowhead docent Francine Ciccarelli as she portrays Herman Melville’s wife Elizabeth and leads a special virtual tour of her house sharing anecdotes about life at Arrowhead, her children, her gardens, and her work as Herman’s copyist.
$10 for BCHS members; $15 for non-members. Click here to reserve.
This project is sponsored by the Mass Humanities Bridge Street Foundation and is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union.

Lace Crochet Workshop, part 1
2022-11-02 10:30 - 12:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
We all probably remember grandmothers or aunts who had “Antimacassars” or lace crocheted covers that protected the arms of chairs and sofas from wear and tear. This lace is created by working chains and other tall stitches to create beautiful openwork patterns. During this two-day workshop you will learn about various stitches, tension, and work on two specific projects.
In our first class, we will get acquainted with the stitches to be used and practicing tension. Crochet tension describes how loose or tight your crocheting is. It takes a little practice to keep your stitches/tension even throughout your project. The first project we be making a dishcloth using a worsted weight yarn. This size yarn and a size “H” crochet hook will make it easier to see and work the stitches.
Longtime BCHS and Nan Pearson leads this workshop imparting over forty years of crocheting knowledge and expertise.
Part 2 of this workshop takes place on November 9.
$50 includes both workshops and all materials. Reservations are required; call 413 442 1793 or email melville@berkshirehistory.org.
This workshop is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union.

Virtual Architecture Tour of Arrowhead
2022-11-03 11:00 - 12:00 | Virtual Event
Take a virtual tour of Arrowhead, with a focus on its architecture. Themes will include how Arrowhead looked when Herman Melville and his family lived there, the changes over its 230-year history, and how the Berkshire County Historical Society has worked to preserve the site where Melville wrote Moby-Dick and three other novels, all of his short stories, and his initial works of poetry. The tour will be lead by John Dickson, Arrowhead docent and Chair of the Pittsfield Historical Commission.
BCHS members $10, non-members $15; click here to reserve.
This program is made possible by the Mass Humanities Bridge Street Foundation and is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union.
Image: Tricia McCormack

Lace Crochet Workshop, part 2
2022-11-09 10:30 - 12:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
In this second class of this two-part workshop, you will work with size 10 crochet thread and a steel size “1” crochet hook. The project will be a crocheted snowflake. We will be using some of the same stitches used in the first project in addition to learning some new ones.
Lace can be crocheted using any size yarn or thread. Once you’ve accomplished the second project, you can try smaller thread and crochet hooks to make even more intricate/delicate designs. Patterns are readily available online and elsewhere.
Longtime BCHS and Nan Pearson leads this workshop imparting over forty years of crocheting knowledge and expertise.
Part 1 of this workshop takes place on November 2.
$50 includes both workshops and all materials. Reservations are required; call 413 442 1793 or email melville@berkshirehistory.org.
This workshop is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union.

A Christmas Journey: Yuletide Readings with Kevin O’Hara
2022-12-14 17:30 - 18:30, 2022-12-14 18:30 - 19:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Please join us for an unforgettable evening as noted Pittsfield author Kevin O’Hara shares joyous and heartfelt tales of his Pittsfield childhood. Kevin will read a selection of his own Christmas tales from his illustrated book, A Christmas Journey, published last December by The Berkshire Eagle.
Readings available at 5:30 and 6:30 pm, tickets are limited. $10 BCHS members and $15 non-members.
Click here to reserve.
This event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union.

Holiday Lights
2022-12-21 17:30 - 18:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
A virtual program that offers a tour of Arrowhead decorated for the holidays, seasonal readings, 19th century holiday recipes, and a peek at some objects from our collection that are not often on view.
This event is free, but registration is required. Click here to register or call 413 442 1793 or email melville@berkshirehistory.org to receive the zoom link.
This event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union.

Virtual Lecture: “Why Here? The Rise of Berkshire County Industry”
2023-01-25 17:30 - 18:30 | Virtual Event
Wednesday, January 25, 5:30 pm
Why Here? The Rise of Berkshire County Industry
Drive around the county, and it’s hard to miss the large, brick building on the corner, behind the trees, or down the street. They’re in almost every town, over 500 of them in the Berkshires by the end of the 1800s, producing glass, cloth, iron, paper, shoes, rakes, or dozens of other goods sold to the farthest reaches of the planet. Join historian John Dickson to explore the forgotten world of these mills, their owners and innovators and the ancestors who worked in them.
This free event will take place on zoom – please call 413-442-1793 or email melville@berkshirehistory.org to request the zoom link.

Why Here? The Rise of Berkshire County Industry
2023-01-25 17:30 - 18:30 | Virtual Event
Drive around the county, and it’s hard to miss the large, brick building on the corner, behind the trees, or down the street. These massive factories were in almost every town, over 500 of them in the Berkshires by the end of the 1800s – producing glass, cloth, iron, paper, shoes, rakes, or dozens of other goods sold to the farthest reaches of the planet. This virtual lecture by John Dickson will explore the forgotten world of these mills, their owners and innovators and the ancestors who worked in them.
John Dickson is on the board of the Berkshire County Historical Society. He also serves on the Pittsfield Historic Commission, is a docent at Arrowhead and teaches classes at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Dickson is a retired Foreign Service officer with the US Information Agency from 1984–1999 and with the US State Department from 1999–2010.
To receive the zoom link, please contact BCHS at melville@berkshirehistory.org or call 413-442-1793.

Reading of New Works by 2022-23 Melville Fellows
2023-02-16 17:30 - 18:30 | Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Avenue, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
2022-23 Melville Fellows Ashton Bird and Josie Overbook, both students at Berkshire Community College, will present free readings of original works created during their time at Arrowhead as part of Pittsfield’s 10 x 10 Winter Upstreet Arts Festival. In addition, both fellows will present original artwork inspired by their time at Melville’s home. Reservations are not required.
Ashton Bird will be presenting a mixed-media piece that involves a digital rendering of Arrowhead’s Piazza, and an abstract component completed with acrylic paint. He will read an introduction about the piece’s inspiration and process, as well as a poem titled “The Dance Of Apollo” that reflects the experience of an artist, both in writing and painting. Bird is a Sophomore at BCC majoring in Psychology preparing to pursue a bachelor’s degree.
Josie Overbeck is a visual artist based in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Through her practice as a writer and painter, her primary interest is exploring the human condition and form. Her current project, “Bury Me Beneath the Apple Tree,” is a collection of poems, drawings, and paintings exploring grief, existentialism, and the universal experiences that make us human. Outside of her artistic practice, Josie is an avid outdoor and travel enthusiast. At the 10 x 10 festival Josie will be presenting an original illustration that captures the spirit of Herman Melville alongside a series of original short texts written at Arrowhead as part of her experience as a Melville Fellow.

Lecture and Craft Beer Tasting
2023-03-23 17:30 - 19:00 | The Garage at the Colonial Theatre, 111 South Street, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Click here for tickets.
Pittsfield’s commercial brewing history was over 60 years in
the making when, in 1886, Jacob Gimlich, one of the principals of the successful Pittsfield brewery firm Gimlich and White, declared people should “use beer for their refreshment and invigoration in a temperate, manly, proper way.”
Join the Berkshire County Historical Society as it explores this history as well as contemporary Berkshire brewing with a lecture by Cynthia Brown, historian and BCHS President, and tasting from Hot Plate Brewing Co., Shire Breu-Haus, Big Elm Brewing, and Berkshire Brewing Company at Berkshire Theatre Festival’s “The Garage” at 111 South Street. Tickets are $25 for BCHS members, $30 for non-members and can be purchased in advance here. You must be 21 years of age to participate in the tasting, but the lecture is open to all ages.
Brown’s talk, Beer for Their Refreshment: Brewing in Pittsfield from the 18th Century to Prohibition, will present original research and images that will illuminate this fascinating part of Pittsfield’s history and culture. Gimlich’s 1886 proud proclamation was evidenced by the success of the firm, which employed over 100 workers and manufactured tens of thousands of barrels a year at its peak. Later known as the Berkshire Brewing Association, this long-time Pittsfield business was the apogee of a series of commercial brewing concerns that supplied Pittsfield taverns, inns, families and individuals with their beer, starting before 1800 and lasting into the first years of Prohibition.
More recently, Pittsfield as well as Berkshire County have seen the rise and success of several new breweries, growing out of the microbrewery movement that took hold in the 1990s. Exploring the early history of local breweries provides a connection between older brewing traditions and practices and provides rich stories and some intriguing mysteries still to be explored.
Following the lecture, Berkshire-based breweries Hot Plate Brewing Co., Shire Breu-Haus, Big Elm Brewing, and Berkshire Brewing Company will be providing free tasting samples. Additional flights and full pours will also be available for purchase.
Image: Berkshire Brewing Association ca. 1905, from the collection of Berkshire County Historical Society

Bird Walk with Ben Nickley
2023-04-22 08:00 - 09:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Click here to purchase tickets.

Birds are miraculous! Especially in Spring when they dazzle us with bright, nuptial colors and serenade us with a profusion of happy song. This Earth Day the Berkshire County Historical Society will host a bird walk at Herman Melville’s historic home, Arrowhead. Ben Nickley, Director of Berkshire Bird Observatory, will lead the walk, helping participants find and identify many newly arrived migratory birds. This walk will be a celebration of nature, renewal and all that birds do to inspire and uplift us.
Ben Nickley loves sharing his passion for birds and the natural landscapes they inhabit. He is a published scientist and master bird bander who has conducted field studies on birds across North America. Currently, he is the Director of Berkshire Bird Observatory, where he leads research projects that promote bird conservation in the Berkshires. He posts regular updates from the field on Facebook and Instagram @berkshire_bird_observatory
Registration is required and limited; participants are encouraged to bring their own binoculars.
Not a member yet? Click here to learn more and begin saving on programs and events.

Historic Downtown Pittsfield Pub Crawl --- SOLD OUT
2023-05-13 16:00 - 19:00 | Downton Pittsfield, Pittsfield, MA, United States
Celebrate BCHS’s partnership with Berkshire Mountain Distillers and their Cultural Cocktail program with a pub crawl through downtown Pittsfield. We’ll begin at Patrick’s Pub and wind up at Methuselah Bar and Lounge where you can taste BCHS’s Cultural Cocktail developed with Berkshire Mountain Distillers. Along the way we’ll visit also visit Thistle and Mirth, Hot Plate Brewing Co., and Berkshire Palate and explore various aspects of downtown Pittsfield history. Learn about the famous “Fighting Parson,” a Revolutionary War prison, the once-prominent Union Station, and much more!
Tickets are limited and must be purchased in advance online here or by phoning 413 442 1793.
$20 for BCHS members, $25 for non-members. You must be 21 years of age or older to participate in this event.
Not a member? Join here and start saving on programs and events.

Book Talk and Signing with Author Lorraine German
2023-06-07 17:30 - 18:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Local author Lorraine German discusses her book Soil and Shul in the Berkshires: The Untold Story of Sandisfield’s Jewish Farm Colony. Learn about the 1902 settlement in south Berkshire county and its final days when the congregation turned the synagogue over to the Sandisfield Arts Center in 1995.
FREE
Sponsored by MountainOne

Sailing Towards My Father
2023-06-21 17:00 - 18:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Sailing Towards My Father is a one-man play about Herman Melville. The play chronicles Melville’s life from youth to old age, concentrating on his evolution as a writer and his complex relations with God, his parents and siblings, his wife and children, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Performed by Stephen Collins, written and directed by Carl A. Rossi.
$10 BCHS Members, $15 non members. Use the Book Now button to purchase tickets.
Not a member? Join here and start saving on programs and events.
Sponsored by MountainOne, MCC, Housatonic Heritage
Image: Mackenzie Arts and Design

ReWritten - July 13
2023-07-13 07:30 - 20:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Thursday, July 13, 7:30 pm
PLEASE NOTE: THIS EVENT TAKES PLACE RAIN OR SHINE
ReWritten, created and performed by Tom Truss and Matthew Cumbie, is an immersive performance that explores the intimate relationship between Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Through dance, live music, projection, art installations, and text, ReWritten moves in and around the grounds of Arrowhead and reimagines an intergenerational queer love story that has shaped American literature. Our third year in residence at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead, this year’s production will prove to be (yet again) different from previous iterations, by weaving in the stories of some of the women central in the lives of Melville and Hawthorne.
$15 for BCHS members, $20 for non-members; children 12 and under free, $30 combo ReWritten ticket and tour of Arrowhead. Use your EBT card and get 50% off. Use the Book Now button to purchase tickets.
Not a member? Join here and start saving on programs and events.
Sponsored by MountainOne, MCC, Housatonic Heritage, Pittsfield Co-Op
NEFA supports ReWritten – Funded in part by the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies. Presented in partnership with MCLA Arts & Culture

ReWritten - July 14
2023-07-14 19:30 - 20:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Friday, July 14, 7:30 pm
PLEASE NOTE: THIS EVENT TAKES PLACE RAIN OR SHINE
ReWritten, created and performed by Tom Truss and Matthew Cumbie, is an immersive performance that explores the intimate relationship between Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Through dance, live music, projection, art installations, and text, ReWritten moves in and around the grounds of Arrowhead and reimagines an intergenerational queer love story that has shaped American literature. Our third year in residence at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead, this year’s production will prove to be (yet again) different from previous iterations, by weaving in the stories of some of the women central in the lives of Melville and Hawthorne.
$15 for BCHS members, $20 for non-members; children 12 and under free, $30 combo ReWritten ticket and tour of Arrowhead. Use your EBT card and get 50% off. Use the Book Now button to purchase tickets.
Not a member? Join here and start saving on programs and events.

Sponsored by MountainOne, MCC, Housatonic Heritage, Pittsfield Co-Op
NEFA supports ReWritten – Funded in part by the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies. Presented in partnership with MCLA Arts & Culture

ReWritten - July 15
2023-07-15 19:30 - 20:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Thursday, July 15, 7:30 pm
PLEASE NOTE: THIS EVENT TAKES PLACE RAIN OR SHINE
ReWritten, created and performed by Tom Truss and Matthew Cumbie, is an immersive performance that explores the intimate relationship between Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Through dance, live music, projection, art installations, and text, ReWritten moves in and around the grounds of Arrowhead and reimagines an intergenerational queer love story that has shaped American literature. Our third year in residence at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead, this year’s production will prove to be (yet again) different from previous iterations, by weaving in the stories of some of the women central in the lives of Melville and Hawthorne.
$15 for BCHS members, $20 for non-members; children 12 and under free, $30 combo ReWritten ticket and tour of Arrowhead. Use your EBT card and get 50% off. Use the Book Now button to purchase tickets.
Not a member? Join here and start saving on programs and events.
Sponsored by MountainOne, MCC, Housatonic Heritage, Pittsfield Co-Op
NEFA supports ReWritten – Funded in part by the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies.
Presented in partnership with MCLA Arts & Culture

ReWritten - July 16
2023-07-16 19:30 - 20:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Sunday, July 16, 7:30 pm
PLEASE NOTE: THIS EVENT TAKES PLACE RAIN OR SHINE
ReWritten, created band performed by Tom Truss and Matthew Cumbie, is an immersive performance that explores the intimate relationship between Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Through dance, live music, projection, art installations, and text, ReWritten moves in and around the grounds of Arrowhead and reimagines an intergenerational queer love story that has shaped American literature. Our third year in residence at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead, this year’s production will prove to be (yet again) different from previous iterations, by weaving in the stories of some of the women central in the lives of Melville and Hawthorne.
$15 for BCHS members, $20 for non-members; children 12 and under free, $30 combo ReWritten ticket and tour of Arrowhead. Use your EBT card and get 50% off. Use the Book Now button to purchase tickets.
Not a member? Join here and start saving on programs and events.

Sponsored by MountainOne, MCC, Housatonic Heritage, Pittsfield Co-Op
NEFA supports ReWritten – Funded in part by the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies.
Presented in partnership with MCLA Arts & Culture

The Mastheads Summer Finale
2023-07-20 18:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
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

Author Talk and Book Signing: Mark Vanhoenacker in conversation with Kirun Kapur
2023-07-27 17:30 - 18:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
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 in conversation with the poet Kirun Kapur, author of Women in the Waiting Room and the Director of Creative Writing at Amherst College. $10 BCHS Members, $15 non members. Use the Book Now button to purchase tickets.
Not a member? Join here and start saving on programs and events.
Sponsored by MountainOne, MCC, Housatonic Heritage

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Debby Applegate in conversation with local author Kevin O’Hara.
2023-08-02 17:30 - 18:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
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. Use the Book Now button to purchase tickets.
Not a member? Join here and start saving on programs and events.
Sponsored by MountainOne, MCC, Housatonic Heritage

Seventh Annual Moby-Dick Read-A-Thon
2023-08-03 10:00 - 17:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
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.

Monument Mountain Hike
2023-08-05 09:00 - 12:00 | Monument Mountain, Rte 7, Great Barrington, MA, United States
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

Historian Tim Abbott speaks about Shay’s Rebellion
2023-08-22 17:30 - 18:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
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 button to purchase tickets.
Not a member? Join here and start saving on programs and events.
Sponsored by MountainOne, MCC, Housatonic Heritage

Writer’s Salon
2023-09-08 17:30 - 18:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
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.

Arrowhead Community Day
2023-09-16 10:00 - 16:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
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 addition, Berkshire Cider Project will offer free tastings and bottled cider for sale.
This event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union, Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Fall Fundraising Dinner
2023-09-20 17:00 - 19:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Enjoy a special farm to table dinner in Arrowhead’s historic barn. Brennan’s Catering has created a menu highlighting the bounty of fall including pork, brisket and butternut squash ravioli. Dinner will be served with cider pairings selected by Berkshire Cider Project. .
Our special guest is renown historian John Demos, who will present the lecture In the Shadow of the Founders: Greatest Generations in American History (see more info below). The event also includes a silent auction that includes food, recreation, art and history packages (see list below)..
Use the BOOK NOW button to purchase tickets.
$150 for BCHS members; $175 for non-members
ALL PROCEEDS BENEFIT BERKSHIRE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY’S EDUCATION AND PRESERVATION PROGRAMS.

The Evening’s Menu
Appetizers
Asparagus, Gruyere and Caramelized Onion Tarts
Spanikopita
Scallops Wrapped in Bacon with Maple Glaze
Buffet Dinner
Pear, Walnut and Gorgonzola Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette or House Salad
Roast Pork Tenderloin with Apples, Leeks and Cider Brandy Sauce
Beef Brisket with Berkshire Brewing Coffee House Reduction
Roasted Red Potatoes with Garlic and Rosemary
Autumn Vegetable Medley
Butternut Ravioli with Brown Butter Sage Sauce with Pistachios
Dessert
Warm Apple Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream
About the Ciders
Golden Russet Champagne
A fine champagne-method cider featuring one of our favorite apples. Delicate acid and a nutty profile pairs well with cheese and lighter faire.
Windy Hill
Sparkling barrel-aged cider selected and pressed right at the orchard in Great Barrington. Bright acid pairs well with pasta and fish with subtle oak finish.
Bittersweet
Dry and hazy, inspired by our favorite draught ciders and cozy pubs. English bittersweet apples add bold tannins and warm cider notes, pairs well with pork and slow-cooked meats.
About John Demos
John Demos, Samuel Knight Professor of American History Emeritus at Yale University, is an award-winning author and Tyringham resident. He is the author of numerous books, including The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story from Early America, and The Heathen School: A Story of Hope and Betrayal in the Age of the Early Republic, a 2014 National Book Award finalist, and most recently Puritan Girl Mohawk Girl. His book Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England (1982) won the Bancroft Prize.
At several strategic points in the American past, events have cast a particular generational cohort in a special, outsize role. The first colonial “settlers” (born 1580-1600); the nation’s “founding fathers” (born 1740-1760); the generation that fought the Civil War (born 1810-1840); and, most recently, the so-called “greatest generation,” the one that overcame the Great Depression and won World War Two (born 1890-1920): those are the leading examples. Their lives and deeds have given a distinctive shape to our history, a recurrent and transformative charge of renewal. In each case, the immediately following generations have lived in their shadow–beholden, as it were, to their “greatness.” The regularity of their spacing is notable; with one omission they appear at 70-80 year intervals, which might suggest that we’re about due for the next one. Born 1981-1996, hello, millennials. What have you got for us?
Silent Auction Items

FORE! Experience the beauty of fall golf in the Berkshires with a round of golf and cart for two at Miraval Resort and Country Club of Pittsfield. Sharpen up your game pre-round with tees and practice balls.
The Spirit of the Berkshires The Berkshires is fast becoming a hub for creative wine and spirit makers. Enjoy the bounty with a gift basket from Balderdash Cellar, a tasting for six at Berkshire Mountain Distillery Tasting plus two Complimentary Bottles of Spirits, and a gift basket from one of Berkshire County’s most respected food and spirits stores, Spirited Wine and Liquor.
Let’s Get Cookin’ Restock your kitchen drawers and cupboards with Cutting Boards, a vegetable peeler, an ice cream scoop and towels and oven mitts from Berkshire County’s inimitable Blue Q.
Coffee’s on Us! Gift certificates from some of Berkshire County’s favorite coffee purveyors: Currency Coffee, Panera Bread, Dottie’s Coffee Lounge, and Dory and Ginger.
A Whale of a Time Visit the New Bedford Whaling Museum (and bring a friend!), followed by a meal at The Black Whale Kitchen + Restaurant courtesy of a $50 gift certificate.
Hopping along with Brewers of the Berkshires Explore the Berkshires craft beer scene with a $25 gift certificate from Downtown Pittsfield’s Hot Plate Brewing and a $50 gift certificate from Antimony Brewing in Lenox. Needing to chill after that? We’re throwing in four tickets to the Beacon Cinema.
A Hauntingly Fun Evening Do you love ghost stories? Have a frighteningly good time learning about some of the Berkshires famous hauntings with a haunted tour of The Mount, and Ventfort Hall. Can’t get enough of spooky stories? This item also includes the book Ghosts of the Berkshires, by Robert Oakes.
It’s Doggone Pawfect We know you love them. It’s time to treat your fur baby with a $50 gift certificate to Benson’s, a doggie toy basket with accessories, and a $75 gift certificate to Animal Inn.

Author Talk with Tom Piazza
2023-09-22 17:30 - 18:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Noted author Tom Piazza will discuss The Auburn Conference, his new historical novel that features Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Frederick Douglass, Walt Whitman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and other notable figures appearing at a fictionalized tiny upstate New York college in 1883.
Tom Piazza is celebrated both as a novelist and as a writer on American music. His twelve books include the novels The Auburn Conference and City Of Refuge, the short-story collection Blues and Trouble, the post-Katrina manifesto Why New Orleans Matters, and the essay collection Devil Sent The Rain: Music and Writing in Desperate America.
He was a principal writer for the innovative New Orleans-based HBO drama series Treme, and the winner of a Grammy Award for his album notes to Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: A Musical Journey.
$10 BCHS members, $15 non-members
Use the BOOK NOW button to reserve tickets.
This event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union, Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Read Elvis Costello’s interview with Tom here.
Read Library of American interview with Tom here.
Photo by Mary Howell
