Berkshire County Historical Society

Tour of the Church on the Hill Cemetery in Lenox
2023-10-11 17:00 - 18:00 (America/New_York) | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Join Tyringham resident and historian John Hanson on a walking tour of significant gravestones in this historic Lenox cemetery. Hanson has been collecting epitaphs and studying early New England gravestones for years. On this tour, he will discuss the iconography of the stones, share some noteworthy verses, and discuss what they tell us about early New Englanders’ attitudes towards life and death. Meet at the Church on the Hill parking lot.
$15 BCHS members, $20 nonmembers
Use the BOOK NOW button to reserve tickets.
This event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union, Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Theater: Bartleby Prefers Not To - October 13
2023-10-13 17:30 - 18:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Join us at the Arrowhead barn for a theatrical performance of one of Herman Melville’s most iconic and enigmatic short stories – “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street.” Presented by the Amateur Comedy Club’s Special Projects Committee of New York, “Bartleby Prefers Not To’ is adapted and written by Jim Aucoin and directed by Steve Butler.
Originally produced at the Amateur Comedy Club in New York, “Bartleby Prefers Not To” is the tale of a young man who gains employment as a scrivener in the well-respected Wall Street law office of Mr. Allan Gansevoort, Esquire. Excelling at his job at first, he gradually stops working exasperating his boss and the other copyists. A moral dilemma erupts.
This performance will also be presented on October 14.
$20 BCHS members, $25 non-members
Use the BOOK NOW button to reserve tickets.
This event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union, Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Theater: Bartleby Prefers Not To - October 14
2023-10-14 17:30 - 18:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Join us at the Arrowhead barn for a theatrical performance of one of Herman Melville’s most iconic and enigmatic short stories – “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street.” Presented by the Amateur Comedy Club’s Special Projects Committee of New York, “Bartleby Prefers Not To’ is adapted and written by Jim Aucoin and directed by Steve Butler.
Originally produced at the Amateur Comedy Club in New York, “Bartleby Prefers Not To” is the tale of a young man who gains employment as a scrivener in the well-respected Wall Street law office of Mr. Allan Gansevoort, Esquire. Excelling at his job at first, he gradually stops working exasperating his boss and the other copyists. A moral dilemma erupts.
This performance is also presented on October 13.
$20 BCHS members, $25 non-members
Use the BOOK NOW button to reserve tickets.
This event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union, Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Tour of Hillside Cemetery, North Adams
2023-10-22 14:00 - 15:00 | Hillside Cemetery, Brown Street, North Adams
Where can you find a personal friend of two U.S. Presidents, the attorney who invented a railroad brake, the Father of Archaeological Photography, two physicians who started a school, and an eyewitness to President Lincoln’s delivery of the Gettysburg Address?
Join historian Jason Vivori for a walk through one of the historic cemeteries of northern Berkshire County and learn about some of the fascinating people laid to rest there. Please wear sensible walking shoes and meet at the top of the hill off Brown Street.
$15 BCHS members, $20 non-members
Use the BOOK NOW button to reserve tickets.
This event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union, Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Tour of the Woods Cemetery in Monterey
2023-10-25 16:30 - 17:30 | Woods Cemetery, Monterey
Join historian Robert Hoogs as we explore the historic Woods Cemetery. Take a walking tour of the oldest cemetery in Monterey where Rev. Adonijah Bidwell and two of his wives are buried along with many of the early settlers of what was once Township #1 (modern day Tyringham and Monterey).
Meet at the Bidwell House Museum parking lot at the end of Art School Road. We will carpool from there to the cemetery as parking is limited on Beartown Mountain Road. Wear sturdy walking shoes and bring bug repellant.
$15 BCHS members, $20 non-members
Use the BOOK NOW button to reserve tickets.
This event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union, Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Forest Bathing at Arrowhead
2023-10-29 11:00 - 12:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Join licensed leader Kathleen Schoenberg on a new adventure in ecotherapy. Start your Sunday with a guided, gentle stroll on the peaceful nature trail at Arrowhead. Forest bathing can elevate your mood, reduce stress and improve your health. The walk will be less than a mile and includes several breaks for meditation and mindful activities.
The term “forest bathing” emerged in Japan in the 1980s as a physiological and psychological exercise called shinrin-yoku (“forest bathing” or “taking in the forest atmosphere”). The purpose was twofold: to offer an eco-antidote to tech-boom burnout and to inspire residents to reconnect with and protect the country’s forests.
$25 BCHS members, $30 non-members
Use the BOOK NOW button to reserve tickets.
This event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union, Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Community Ofrenda
2023-11-01 18:00 - 22:00 | Hot Plate Brewing, 1 School Stret, Pittsfield, MA, United States
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.
One of the key aspects of the event will be the creation of a Community Ofrenda, which provides community members from all backgrounds to celebrate their ancestry and honor the past. A physical ofrenda will be housed at Hot Plate Brewing’s taproom throughout the holiday season.
The event will also feature food prepared by Tito’s, Decoraciónde Calaveras de chocolate (chocolate skulls decoration activity), an oral history project with Berkshire Community College, music, discussions, and much more!

History of the Country Club of Pittsfield
2023-11-02 17:30 - 18:30 | Country Club of Pittsfield, 639 South Street, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
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 Union, Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Virtual Author Talk: Skip Finley’s Whaling Captains of Color, America’s First Meritocracy
2023-11-09 17:30 - 18:30 | Virtual Event
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 captain not because he was white or well connected, but because he knew how to kill a whale. Along the way he would also learn navigation and how to read and write. Whaling presented a tantalizing alternative to mainland life. Working with archival records at whaling museums, in libraries, from private archives and studying hundreds of books and thesis, Finley portrays the exciting era of whaling.
$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.

Holiday Tea at Arrowhead
2023-12-03 15:00 - 16:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
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, which chronicles O’Hara’s three decades as a nurse in Berkshire Medical Center’s psychiatric ward; and A Christmas Journey which includes sixteen of his annual Christmas columns published in The Berkshire Eagle.
MENU
Assorted teas
Traditional tea sandwiches – egg salad and cucumber and dill
Buttery scones with clotted cream served with preserves and marmalade
Cherry Bakewell tarts

This event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union, Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Berkshire County Historical Society Annual Meeting
2023-12-14 16:00 - 18:00 | Country Club of Pittsfield, 639 South Street, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
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 a cash bar will be available. Reservations are required and can be made by using the BOOK NOW button. Cost is $30 per person.
BCHS Annual Meeting Agenda 2023

Museum Shop Special Holiday Hours
2023-12-16 11:30 - 14:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
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 authors? Or those inspired by Melville’s writing?

Of course we have a great selection of works by Herman Melville, including the newest Oxford edition of Moby-Dick, as well as the award winning audio book of Moby-Dick narrated by Jonathan Epstein. Looking for the ultimate gift for the Melville enthusiast? We have the 13 volume set of Melville’s works edited by Harrison Hayford, Hershel Parker, and G. Thomas Tanselle.

Virtual Lecture – Why Here? The Rise of Berkshire County Industry
2024-01-31 17:30 - 18:30 | Virtual Event
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 reaches of the globe. Join historian John Dickson as he reprises his popular virtual exploration of the forgotten world of these mills, their owners and innovators, and the ancestors who worked there.
FREE, pre-registration required – email melville@berkshirehistory.org to receive the Zoom link.

Daf Moby: A Voyage through Melville's Talmud
2024-03-06 17:30 - 18:30 | Virtual Event
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 professors of Religion and Jewish Studies at Williams College wondered what would happen if they studied a page of Moby-Dick every day in the tradition of Daf Yomi. They called their project Daf Moby. Join them for this free, virtual discussion of their voyage.
Pre-registration is required; email melville@berkshirehistory.org to receive the event link.
Jeffrey Israel is an associate professor and chair of the religion department at Williams College, where he also teaches in the Jewish Studies program. He is the author of Living with Hate in American Politics and Religion (Columbia, 2019).
Edan Dekel is the Garfield Professor of Ancient Languages and chair of the Jewish studies program at Williams College. His teaching and research interests include ancient Greek and Latin poetry, biblical studies, Jewish folklore, medieval literature, classical and biblical reception, and the history of the book.

Winter Hike/Snowshoeing
2024-03-09 12:30 - 14:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Enjoy a free guided hike around the grounds of Arrowhead with Berkshire Natural Resources Council. The hike begins with an introduction to Arrowhead and its grounds by the Berkshire County Historical Society. Learn about Melville’s sleighrides, and see how Mt. Greylock looks in the winter – does it really look like a white whale? BNRC will provide snowshoes if weather allows.
Register here through BNRC.

Getting Started in Genealogy
2024-03-20 17:30 - 18:30 | Virtual Event
The Berkshire County Historical Society welcomes Senior Genealogist Rhonda R. McClure for a virtual presentation introducing the genealogical research process and the tools and techniques that support the research. Participants will learn how to create a solid research plan. The first part of the lecture introduces key genealogical tools such as the multi-generational chart, family group sheet, and the research log. The second part of the lecture introduces the range of records and documents that genealogists use in the course of research. Census, vital, and immigration records are highlighted. By the end of the program, participants will understand the most important types of records used in genealogical research and the strengths and weaknesses of each.
Pre-registration is required; use the BOOK NOW button to reserve your spot. Fee is $15 for BCHS members, $20 for non-members. Become a member here.
About Rhonda R. McClure
Rhonda is a nationally recognized professional genealogist and lecturer. Before joining American Ancestors/NEHGS in 2006, she ran her own genealogical business for 18 years. She was a contributing editor for Heritage Quest Magazine, Biography magazine and was a contributor to The History Channel Magazine and American History Magazine. In addition to numerous articles, she is the author of twelve books including the award-winning The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Online Genealogy, Finding your Famous and Infamous Ancestors, and Digitizing Your Family History. She is also the editor of the recently released 6th edition of the Genealogist’s Handbook for New England Research. Her areas of expertise include: immigration and naturalization, Late 19th and early 20th Century urban research, New England, Mid-West, Southern, German, Italian, Scottish, Irish, French Canadian, and New Brunswick research.

Marathon Reading of Billy Budd, Sailor
2024-04-07 12:00 - 16:00 | Hot Plate Brewing, 1 School Stret, Pittsfield, MA, United States
Join us and our friends at Hot Plate Brewing Co. (1 School Street, Pittsfield, MA) for a special marathon reading of Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, Sailor. The event is the official kickoff of a months-long celebration of the centennial of the novella’s publication. To mark the occasion, Sarah Real, Hot Plate owner and head brewer, has created an English IPA, appropriately named the Handsome Sailor. Sign up for a reading slot or just come, imbibe, and listen!
Published posthumously in 1924, Billy Budd, Sailor brought Melville out of obscurity, earning him the fame he so richly deserved, and ensuring his place among America’s literary giants.
Use the BOOK NOW button at berkshirehistory.org to sign up for a 15-minute reading slot. The event is free, but a $5 donation is appreciated.
This event is sponsored by The Feigenbaum Foundation.

Melville's Print Collection
2024-04-17 17:30 - 18:30 | Virtual Event
In 2020 scholars Robert K. Wallace and Samuel Otter set out to create a website that would allow viewers to see all the prints Herman Melville is known to have collected, to appreciate the passion with which he acquired them, and to recognize the illumination they bring to his life, his writing, and his living legacy as an interdisciplinary intellect and global citizen.
Join us as we present a virtual lecture by Wallace and Otter during which they will discuss their findings and progress creating Melville’s Print Collection Online. Discussion will include the importance of the collection held by The Berkshire Athenaeum and its role in bringing Melville’s passion for collecting to light.
This event is free, but reservations are required; email melville@berkshirehistory.org to receive the lecture link.
Melville was known to have collected prints and etchings, but until 1984 no actual prints had surfaced. It was in that year that Wallace came upon a memorandum in the Houghton Library at Harvard University indicating that Eleanor Melville Metcalf, Herman’s granddaughter, had donated three portfolios of engravings from his personal collection of art to the Berkshire Athenaeum in 1952. Since that time Wallace has identified 420 works known to have been collected by Melville.
Image: Persian Tile with Figure of a Horseman and Bird in a Fanciful Landscape; Collection of Berkshire County Historical Society

Melville Fellows Readings
2024-05-08 16:30 - 17:30 | Berkshire Community College, West Street, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Berkshire County Historical Society Melville Fellows and Berkshire Community College (BCC) Honors Scholar Program students Rowan Boyer, Mwila Malama and Clarise Seguin have been busy creating original writings and art while spending time at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead, the location where Melville wrote “Moby-Dick,” working with Writer-in-Residence Emeritus Jana Laiz.
On May 8 they will present a public reading of their works in Melville Hall’s Room M-21 at BCC on West Street in Pittsfield. It is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. For those who cannot attend in person, join via Zoom, visit zoom.us/j/6236694683.

A House Restored
2024-05-08 17:30 - 18:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Old houses share their secrets only if they survive.
Join author Lee McColgan for a free lecture and book signing during which he will share his renovation tales of the Loring House as detailed in his new book, A House Restored.
Trading the corporate ladder for a stepladder, Lee McColgan commits to preserving the ramshackle Loring House, built in 1702, using period materials and methods and on a holiday deadline. But his enchantment withers as he discovers the massive repairs it needs. A small kitchen fix reveals that the structure’s rotten frame could collapse at any moment. In a bathroom, mold appears and spreads. He fights deteriorating bricks, frozen pipes, shattered windows, a punctured foundation, and even an airborne chimney cap while learning from a diverse cast of preservationists, including a master mason named Irons, a stone whisperer, and the Window Witch. But can he meet his deadline before family and friends arrive, or will it all come crashing down? McColgan’s journey expertly examines our relationship to history through the homes we inhabit, beautifully articulating the philosophy of preserving the past to find purpose for the future.
Lee McColgan has worked on Boston’s Old North Church, Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House, and other buildings. His work has appeared in Architectural Digest, Boston Globe, and Wall Street Journal. He lives with his wife in the Loring House in Pembroke, Massachusetts.
PRAISE FOR A HOUSE RESTORED:
“To many, preserving the past seems like a tragic endeavor, but to Lee McColgan, it’s anything but. The journey of his old house is a joyous trip well told with warmth, reverence, and curiosity that will delight. He tells its story with the same craft and care that he uses to form his plaster and hew his timber. His prose is as sharp as his steel. Any lover of old homes and craftsmanship will thoroughly enjoy this tale.” Kevin O’Connor, Emmy Award–winning host of This Old House
“Full of warmth, charm, and beauty, this book invites you in and makes you glad you came. In his tale of ar estoration project, Lee McColgan restores our sense of what makes a house a home. Really terrific, very nicely written.” Jonathan Eig, New York Times best-selling author of King: A Life and Ali: A Life
“This meticulous chronicle describes a series of discoveries: of materials, techniques, and principles common in the time of the Salem Witch Trials but now confined largely to the hands of specialists. It’s also a story of innocence lost. As he confronts the cracks, rot, dissolutions, and disconnections of a very old building, McColgan comes to question his motivation. ‘Why restore anything?’ he eventually asks. Still, with admirable persistence, he gets his happy ending, and we get an intense primer in the joys and horrors of historic restoration.” Kevin Gardner, award-winning author of The Granite Kiss and Stone Building
This lecture is sponsored by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Voices of Melville: The Linguistic Landscape of Nineteenth-Century America Through a Literary Lens
2024-05-29 18:30 - 19:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
We can’t know how Herman Melville sounded or hear his characters’ voices…or can we? In linguistics, the study of language, we can study how English has changed since Melville’s time and why languages are always changing. Join us as we welcome linguist Wren Wood to Arrowhead for a lecture demonstrating how we can hear Melville’s dialect in samples of his work, even without audio recording.
Wren Wood is a linguist and webmaster for the Chicopee Historical Society. They use maps, statistics and linguistics to encourage discussions around local history and historic preservation, which can be found on Instagram @FollowingMassHistories. Prior to moving to Western Massachusetts, they used GIS to study bilingualism and threatened languages in the U.S. They earned a bachelor’s in English from Bridgewater State University and a master’s in Hispanic Linguistics from the University of New Mexico.
Tickets are $5 for BCHS members, $10 for non-members and can be purchased by using the BOOK NOW button. Not a member yet? Join now and begin receiving discounted event tickets, free admission to Arrowhead, and a discount in the museum shop.

Bird Walk
2024-06-02 07:30 - 08:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Birds are miraculous! Especially in Spring when they dazzle us with bright, nuptial colors and serenade us with a profusion of happy song. Join us for a bird walk led by Ben Nickley, Director of Berkshire Bird Observatory. Ben will help us find and identify many newly arrived migratory birds as we explore the historic grounds of Arrowhead together. Come celebrate 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,
Limit 20, please bring your own binoculars.
Tickets are $10 for BCHS members, $15 for non-members and can be purchased by using the BOOK NOW button. Not a member yet? Join now and begin receiving discounted event tickets, free admission to Arrowhead, and a discount in the museum shop.

Sailing Towards My Father
2024-06-26 17:30 - 18:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
SOLD OUT!
The Berkshire County Historical Society presents Sailing Towards My Father, a one-man play about Herman Melville performed by Stephen Collins and written and directed by Carl A. Rossi. The play chronicles Melville’s life from youth to old age, concentrating on his evolution as a writer and his complex relationship with God; his parents and siblings; his wife and children; and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The performance takes place at Herman Melville’s historic home Arrowhead at 5:30 pm.
About Stephen Collins
Stephen Collins grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and received a BA in Literature from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. After over twenty years in a sales career, he is currently doing what he truly loves – performing and teaching. He teaches seminars on Walt Whitman,Thomas Hardy, William Shakespeare, Robert Frost, and Contemporary Poetry. He also performs in one-man plays by Carl A. Rossi. In addition to Sailing Towards my Father, he performs as James Abbott McNeill Whistler in Butterfly. Collins also works as a professionally licensed tour guide narrating historical tours of Boston. His Walt Whitman performances have taken him all over the country. He now has eight one-man shows and seven courses where his teaching style has been described as a hybrid between lecture and performance.
Tickets are $15 for BCHS members, $20 for non-members and can be purchased by using the BOOK NOW button. Not a member yet? Join now and begin receiving discounted event tickets, free admission to Arrowhead, and a discount in the museum shop.
This event is sponsored by:

Sea Shanties with Alex Harvey and ShinBone Alley
2024-07-24 19:00 - 20:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Alex Harvey is an old world folklorist who performs street ballads and songs of the sea in a project he calls ShinBone Alley. At his performances listeners learn to celebrate the haunting intercultural exchange of 18th and 19th century maritime music – whose ingredients travelled from the furthest corners of the globe to be remade and stitched anew by sailors of every shade and shape at port and at sea. By teaching the audience to join in on most of the tunes in his concerts Harvey and his ShinBone Alley builds bridges of time through communal singing. From Sea Shanties to Broadsheet ballads to Come-All-Ye’s to Last Good Nights to Hard Luck Satires to Lovesick Dirges to Whaling Serenades – this music was meant as the earliest form of group therapy. And so it is again – a sepia-toned balm for our topsy-turvy time.
The grounds are open for picnicking this evening.
Tickets are $15 for BCHS members, $20 non-members and can be purchased by using the BOOK NOW button. Not a member yet? Join now and begin receiving discounted event tickets, free admission to Arrowhead, and a discount in the museum shop.
This event is sponsored by:

Poor Herman - July 26
2024-07-26 19:30 - 20:50 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
July 26 — August3
Herman Melville’s great-great-great granddaughter, Austin playwright Elizabeth Doss, uses the author as a subject to speculate on the line between utter genius and epic failure in us all. Poor Herman unearths the life of Herman Melville, who arguably wrote America’s best and worst novels back-to-back in 1850 and 1851. The production considers what compelled Melville, struggling to salvage his declining reputation while trying to feed a growing family, to write a virtually unreadable book, Pierre or the Ambiguities, in the aftermath of Moby Dick’s initial failure with critics and readers. The play gives voice to the unsung people in his life, chiefly his mother, wife, sisters, and daughters who each contributed to his fame and flourishing and endured his decline and demise. While hindsight now celebrates his achievements, this production will investigate what it cost him to make history.
Poor Herman is a beautiful, fresh theatrical experience – David Glen Robinson, CTX Live Theatre
Tickets can be purchased by using the BOOK NOW button.
$25 for BCHS members
$30 for non-members
$45 Poor Herman ticket and tour of Arrowhead
$10 EBT card holders
12 and under free
Not a member yet? Join now and begin receiving discounted event tickets, free admission to Arrowhead, and a discount in the museum shop.
This event is sponsored by:

Poor Herman - July 27
2024-07-27 19:30 - 20:50 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States

Poor Herman - July 28
2024-07-28 19:30 - 20:50 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
July 26 — August 3
Herman Melville’s great-great-great granddaughter, Austin playwright Elizabeth Doss, uses the author as a subject to speculate on the line between utter genius and epic failure in us all. Poor Herman unearths the life of Herman Melville, who arguably wrote America’s best and worst novels back-to-back in 1850 and 1851. The production considers what compelled Melville, struggling to salvage his declining reputation while trying to feed a growing family, to write a virtually unreadable book, Pierre or the Ambiguities, in the aftermath of Moby Dick’s initial failure with critics and readers. The play gives voice to the unsung people in his life, chiefly his mother, wife, sisters, and daughters who each contributed to his fame and flourishing and endured his decline and demise. While hindsight now celebrates his achievements, this production will investigate what it cost him to make history.
Poor Herman is a beautiful, fresh theatrical experience – David Glen Robinson, CTX Live Theatre
Tickets can be purchased by using the BOOK NOW button.
$25 for BCHS members
$30 for non-members
$45 Poor Herman ticket and tour of Arrowhead
$10 EBT card holders
12 and under free
Not a member yet? Join now and begin receiving discounted event tickets, free admission to Arrowhead, and a discount in the museum shop.
This event is sponsored by:

Poor Herman - July 31
2024-07-31 19:30 - 20:50 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
July 26 — August 3
Herman Melville’s great-great-great granddaughter, Austin playwright Elizabeth Doss, uses the author as a subject to speculate on the line between utter genius and epic failure in us all. Poor Herman unearths the life of Herman Melville, who arguably wrote America’s best and worst novels back-to-back in 1850 and 1851. The production considers what compelled Melville, struggling to salvage his declining reputation while trying to feed a growing family, to write a virtually unreadable book, Pierre or the Ambiguities, in the aftermath of Moby Dick’s initial failure with critics and readers. The play gives voice to the unsung people in his life, chiefly his mother, wife, sisters, and daughters who each contributed to his fame and flourishing and endured his decline and demise. While hindsight now celebrates his achievements, this production will investigate what it cost him to make history.
Poor Herman is a beautiful, fresh theatrical experience – David Glen Robinson, CTX Live Theatre
Tickets can be purchased by using the BOOK NOW button.
$25 for BCHS members
$30 for non-members
$45 Poor Herman ticket and tour of Arrowhead
$10 EBT card holders
12 and under free
Not a member yet? Join now and begin receiving discounted event tickets, free admission to Arrowhead, and a discount in the museum shop
This event is sponsored by:

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Eighth Annual Moby-Dick Read-A-Thon
2024-08-01 10:00 - 17:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Eighth Annual Moby-Dick Read-A-Thon – August 1- 4
“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.
August 1 – 10 am-2 pm; all other days 10 am – 5 pm.
Reserve your 15 minute space by using the BOOK NOW button.
$5 recommended donation
This event is sponsored by :

Melville Symposium
2024-08-01 15:00 - 17:00 | Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Avenue, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
The Berkshire County Historical Society celebrates Herman Melville’s birthday with a symposium exploring a variety of topics including the Berkshires as inspiration, new research into his sources, and Arrowhead as a source of inspiration for contemporary writers and performers.
Lectures take place at the Berkshire Athenaeum (1 Wendell Avenue, Pittsfield, MA) and are free and open to the public.
A reception at Arrowhead (780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA) follows.
PROGRAM
3-3:30 pm – John Dickson – Inspired by the Berkshires
From his first visit to Pittsfield as a young boy, the Berkshires captivated Herman Melville. “His first love,” is the way his cousin described his relationship to the setting. Whether he was seated at his writing table gazing north toward Mount Greylock or on the move around the county, Melville tapped into the Berkshires in his art. The places he visited are sprinkled through the pages. The mountains, the forest, the flowers, the lakes, the stones all make appearances. He wrote what he saw; and what he saw helped him compose.
John Dickson is a former board member 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. He is the author of several books and articles that focus on history and foreign service.
3:30-4 pm – Warren Broderick – Allan Melville, Bartleby, and the Court of Chancery
Herman Melville’s Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street (1853), is considered by many to constitute one of the earliest pieces of existential literature. Bartleby’s publication even predates Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s landmark work, Notes From the Underground (1864).
Melville’s sources for Bartleby’s tragic story include brief articles on the so-called “Dead Letter Office” and a popular sentimental novel about an unfortunate law clerk. But the plot of Bartleby is inseparably connected to the state of New York’s Court of Chancery in the 1840s.
Documents recently discovered in the Archives of the New York County Clerk reveal that Herman’s younger brother, Allan Melville, worked with a Master in Chancery such as Bartleby’s employer. This presentation will demonstrate how previously untapped sources, including original documentary materials, can still be discovered that shed new light on Herman Melville’s life and the genus of his writing.
A senior archives and records management specialist at the New York State Archives, Warren F. Broderick has published extensively on topics including local, American literary, and Native American history. He is co-author of Pottery Works (1995), editor of a new edition of Granville Hicks’s Small Town (2004), and a contributor of numerous journal articles of historical subjects.
4-4:30 pm – Richard Matturro – Electra
Local author Richard Matturro will read his short story “Electra,” in which a young woman’s plot to avenge her father’s death turns upon the fateful meeting of Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne on their hike up Monument Mountain, August 5, 1850.
Richard Matturro, a native of Rye, New York, holds a doctorate in English with a specialization in Shakespeare and Greek Mythology. After sixteen years at the Albany Times Union, and another fourteen teaching literature at the University at Albany, he now lives on an old farm in the foothills of the Berkshires.
4:30-5 pm – Performing Arrowhead: Expanding Research Practices Through ReWritten, Matthew Cumbie, Tom Truss, Roma Flowers, Dr. Katherine Stubbs
Join artists and scholars from the performance project ReWritten as they share their research, performance, and pedagogical outcomes around the relationship between and writing of Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Co-created and led by Matthew Cumbie and Tom Truss, ReWritten uses the relationship between Melville and Hawthorne as a way to explore notions about history, queerness, and how we bring our bodies to the written word. In this symposium session Cumbie and Truss will be joined by ReWritten collaborators Roma Flowers (project design) and Dr. Katherine Stubbs (dramaturg) to reflect on performance-making as research methodology and discuss their use of Arrowhead as the backdrop for site-specific performances.
Matthew Cumbie is a collaborative dancemaker, writer, and artist educator. His choreography and dancemaking weaves together a physical vocabulary of momentum and clarity, moving imagery, and a commitment to relationship-building and community participation. He was a part of the inaugural Artist Leadership Cohort for APAP and is currently a Creative Community Fellow with the National Arts Strategies. Matthew has an MFA in dance from Texas Woman’s University and is on faculty at Colby College.
Roma Flowers, a theatrical lighting and projection designer and screen dance filmmaker, has worked with theatre, concert and dance and video productions for over thirty years. Roma recently retired from Texas Christian University, where she was an Associate Professor of Lighting Design and Dance Production in the School for Classical & Contemporary Dance.
Katherine Stubbs is Chair and Associate Professor of English at Colby College. She is a scholar and teacher of late eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth century US American literature. Her publications include investigations of representations of women in industrial culture; the role of ready-made clothing in the writing of Anzia Yezierska; the literary legacy of Anzia Yezierska; early communications technology, gender, and queerness; and Alex Katz’s sketches of Melville’s Moby-Dick. She teaches a course at Colby on the writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville.
Tom Truss is a performer, creator and educator. His thirty plus year career has included dancing, acting, choreographing and directing. Truss has worked with all ages and abilities from children, firefighters, and inmates to teens, older adults, and professional actors and dancers. Truss graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting from the University of Texas, obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree in dance from the University of Iowa and a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from the College of Wooster. He has been published in Dance Magazine, was a frequent contributor to OutRightRadio an award-winning radio show on PRI and a recipient of Austin Critics Table Awards for best actor.
Haven’t had enough Melville?
Here are a few complimentary events happening on August 1.
Moby Dick Read-a-Thon – Read a passage from the book at the place where it was written. Pre-Registration required.
Poor Herman – Herman Melville’s great-great-great granddaughter, Austin playwright Elizabeth Doss, uses the author as a subject to speculate on the line between utter genius and epic failure in us all. The play gives voice to the unsung people in Melville’s life, chiefly his mother, wife, sisters, and daughters who each contributed to his fame and flourishing and endured his decline and demise. While hindsight now celebrates his achievements, this production will investigate what it cost him to make history.
