Book Release: Cement Dust
2019-08-27 18:30 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Tuesday, August 27, J. Peter Bergman will read from his new novel, “Cement Dust,” at Arrowhead, in the barn, at 6:30pm. Copies of the book are on sale in the gift shop at Arrowhead. Author of the Charles Dickens Award winning collection of short stories, “Counterpoints,” this is his second published novel. Kirkus Reviews said, “its portrayal of complex, unique relationships is impressive… a rewarding novel about unexpected family ties and the pain of mental illness.”

Architecture and Landscape at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead
2022-05-28 11:00 - 12:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Due to inclement weather, the walk has been POSTPONED until Saturday, June 11, at 11am. See you then!
Veteran tour guide John Dickson and Executive Director Lesley Herzberg lead an enlightening walk through Arrowhead and the surrounding grounds. John Dickson will provide an overview and evolution of the architectural features of the building from the 1780s to the present. This talk is followed by Lesley Herzberg’s walk through the north field to discuss the cultural landscape where the entire Melville family participated in the cultivation of the farm and gardens in the 19th century. (Rain date: May 29, 11 am), FREE
This event is sponsored by MountainOne Insurance.

Spring Bird Walk
2022-06-04 07:00 - 09:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Join Rene Wendell, president of the Hoffmann Bird Club for a spring migration bird walk. This will be a gentle, slow hike around Arrowhead’s fields and forests appropriate for beginners and experienced birders alike. We will be looking for newly arriving spring migrants such as warbler and flycatcher species like yellow warbler, blackburnian warbler and least flycatcher. Please bring binoculars if you have them, water, and appropriate footwear. Heavy rain will cancel this event. This FREE event is presented in partnership with the Hoffmann Bird Club.
This event is sponsored by MountainOne Insurance.

Moby-Dick Monologue
2022-06-08 17:30 - 18:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Herman Melville learned about the art of soliloquy from his reading of Shakespeare and after reading the Bard, he re-wrote his whaling epic. Actor and educator Stephen Collins expands on this tradition by performing monologues from Melville’s expansive novel. This performance features the musings of Ishmael, Father Mapple, Captain Peleg, Starbuck, and Ahab. FREE
This event is sponsored by Pittsfield Cooperative Bank and Lee Bank Foundation

Architecture and Landscape at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead
2022-06-11 11:00 - 12:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Veteran tour guide John Dickson and Executive Director Lesley Herzberg lead an enlightening walk through Arrowhead and the surrounding grounds. John Dickson will provide an overview and evolution of the architectural features of the building from the 1780s to the present. This talk is followed by Lesley Herzberg’s walk through the north field to discuss the cultural landscape where the entire Melville family participated in the cultivation of the farm and gardens in the 19th century. FREE
This event is sponsored by MountainOne Insurance.

Hester Blum on Moby-Dick
2022-06-22 17:30 - 18:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Moby-Dick has a monumental reputation. Less well known are the novel’s unexpectedly weird, funny, tantalizing, messy, and wondrous moments. Hester Blum, leading Melville scholar and editor of the new Oxford World’s Classic edition of Moby-Dick, discusses these moments and her additions and annotations of Melville’s best-known novel. Themes will include the novel’s elasticity and continued relevance for twenty-first-century readers, with attention to its queerness and its meditations on race, power, and disability. FREE
This event is sponsored by MountainOne Insurance.

Book Talk: Thirty-Five Days To Baltimore
2022-06-24 17:30 - 18:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Join Writer-In-Residence Emeritus, Jana Laiz and Author Alexis Portillo as they celebrate the release of their new book, Thirty-Five Days To Baltimore. This bilingual book explores topics of migration, immigration, poverty, and hope, through the story of an unaccompanied minor, as he makes his way from Honduras to Baltimore, ultimately arriving in the Berkshires. Part of the Berkshire County Historical Society’s Underrepresented Voices initiative. FREE
This event is sponsored by MountainOne Insurance.

ReWritten
2022-07-22 19:45 - 21:30, 2022-07-23 19:45 - 21:30, 2022-07-24 19:45 - 21:30, 2022-07-29 19:45 - 21:30, 2022-07-30 19:45 - 21:30, 2022-07-31 19:45 - 21:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
ReWritten is an immersive performance that explores the often-silenced intimate relationship between authors Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville. Moving between their lives, work, and remaining letters, ReWritten reimagines an intergenerational queer love story that helped shape American literature. Through dance, live music, visual art, projection, and text this performance questions what happens when we say no to dreams when we want to say yes. Co-created and performed by Tom Truss and Matthew Cumbie.
$10 for BCHS members, $15 for non-members, Use your EBT card and get 50% off, 12 and under free. Order tickets here. This event will sell out in advance.
This event is sponsored in part by Lee Bank Foundation and is 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.

lecture Lace in American Material Culture: Wealth, Refinement, Sex
2022-07-26 17:00 - 18:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Lace came to America more than 400 years ago. Lightweight, easy to pack, it was an expression of civilized European lifestyle, and brought with it the optimism for a similar life in the New World. Over time, lace defied hardship, celebrated socio-economic advancement, indulged the wealthy, often in unexpected format. During this talk, lace specialist Beverly Wolov will discuss how lace became so deeply imbedded in American material culture. FREE
This event is sponsored by MountainOne Insurance.

Berkshire County Historical Society Summer Fundraiser
2022-07-27 16:00 - 19:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Enjoy a summer evening at Herman Melville’s historic Arrowhead and support the work of the Berkshire County Historical Society. The evening includes heavy hors d’oeuvres; a silent auction of wonderful packages that highlight the best in Berkshire arts, outdoor experiences, and creations; and a special performance by Tom Truss and Matthew Cumbie based on their work ReWritten. A cash bar is available.

Tickets
Friend – $85 ($160 for 2)
Supporter – $125 ($240 for 2)
About ReWritten:
ReWritten is an immersive performance that explores the often-silenced intimate relationship between authors Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville. Moving between their lives, work, and remaining letters, ReWritten reimagines an intergenerational queer love story that helped shape American literature. Through dance, live music, visual art, projection, and text this performance questions what happens when we say no to dreams when we want to say yes. Co-created and performed by Tom Truss and Matthew Cumbie.

Monument Mountain Hike
2022-07-31 09:00 - 11:30 | Monument Mountain, Rte 7, Great Barrington, MA, United States
Celebrate the day (August 4, 1850) Melville met Nathaniel Hawthorne on a hike up Monument Mountain by joining BCHS for a similar hike and reading of local poet William Cullen Bryant’s Monument Mountain. The guided hike takes approximately 2 ½ hours and is appropriate for families. Hikers should meet at the Monument Mountain Reservation Parking lot on Route 7 and should be prepared with their own water, proper footwear, hiking gear and bug repellent. FREE
This event is sponsored by MountainOne Insurance.

Artist talk with Christopher Volpe - Loomings: Melville, Art, and the Climate Crisis
2022-08-24 17:30 - 18:30 | Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, 28 Renne Avenue, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 01201
Moving quickly past general background, process, and materials, this illustrated art talk highlights how Loomings addresses our world’s instability through the metaphors at work in Moby-Dick, Herman Melville’s apocalyptic vision of the American quest. Volpe finds in Melville’s account of the doomed commercial whaling voyage of the Pequod a dark, foundational myth of American materialism (and an even darker apocalyptic prophecy of what’s to come). He also finds a “terrible beauty” – and the hope that pairing tragedy and human shortcoming with beauty can redeem our faith in the whole.
This event takes place at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts in Downtown Pittsfield in conjunction with the exhibit Moby-Dick.
This event is sponsored by Berkshire Bank.
Image: Westward #13 (Westward the Star of Empire Takes its Way), Christopher Volpe. Tar, oil, gold leaf on wood.

Architecture and Landscape at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead
2022-09-11 11:00 - 12:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Join long-time tour guide John Dickson and Executive Director Lesley Herzberg for a walk around Arrowhead’s grounds. John will provide an overview of the architectural features of the building and discuss its evolution from the 1780s to the present. This talk is followed by Lesley Herzberg’s walk through the north field where the Melville family cultivated the farm and gardens in the 19th century. Her talk will focus on Arrowhead’s cultural landscape. (Rain date: Sunday, Sept 18, 11am).
This free event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union and is presented as part of the Housatonic Heritage Walks program.

1930s Civilian Conservation Corps Camps: The Genesis of Our State Parks System
2022-09-14 17:30 - 18:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Local historian and author Bernard A. Drew will present a history of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Forest Army of the 1930s, a national program to provide employment, security, and training to young men during the height of the Great Depression. Drew will concentrate on Civilian Conservation Corps facilities in Great Barrington’s Beartown State Forest in and at York Lake in Sandisfield State Forest. Drew will present a visual history of recruit work and leisure utilizing 100 projected images most never shown in the Berkshires or reproduced in books.
Bernard Drew is a newspaper editor and columnist and the author of local Berkshire histories including books about Great Barrington, Monument Mountain, Lake Buel, Beartown, the Knox Trail and, nearing completion, 18th and 19th century water powered industry on the Housatonic River. He is a past president of the Berkshire County Historical Society.
This free program is sponsored by Berkshire Bank and Greylock Federal Credit Union.

Arrowhead Community Day
2022-09-17 10:00 - 16:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Join us for a day of free activities and fun celebrating local history!
Architectural tours of Arrowhead’s historic buildings will be offered throughout the day and the grounds will be open for hiking. In addition, a small presentation in the barn explores the sixty-year history of BCHS including highlights from past events, exhibits, and more. The presentation will feature highlights from the BCHS collection that are not normally on view.
BCHS will also welcome representatives from the Bidwell House who will discuss their work and mission and The Crane Museum of Paper Making and the Paper Arts who will assist visitors with papermaking and printing activities. They will be joined by our friends from the Baseball in the Berkshires Museum, whose mission is to present exhibits and educational programs that will assist in telling the story of Baseball in the Berkshires.
The Worthington, Massachusetts food truck Worthy-Que Smoke N’BBQ will be on hand offering smoked meats, fish, and homemade unique eats using farm fresh local ingredients. The Berkshire Cider Project, based in North Adams, will conduct tastings of their dry and sparkling ciders.
Special musical performances by:
Bobby Sweet and Lara Tupper, 11 am – 12 noon
Bobby Sweet (guitar and vocals) and Lara Tupper (vocals) achieve a complementary blend that’s packed with heart, soul, and fun, whether singing new interpretations of their favorite folk/pop songs or Bobby’s original compositions. Bobby, who toured with Arlo Guthrie for many years, is an award-winning singer-songwriter with seven albums. Lara has performed all over the world as a resident vocalist for Hilton Hotels International. With their rich harmonies and natural stage presence, they have a special way of connecting with listeners.
David Hodge, Guitarist, 12:30 – 2:30 pm
David is a long time resident of Egremont, a writer, music teacher, and guitarist “par excellence” who performs a wide range of oldies and current musical selections sure to please a varied listening audience.
Spare Parts, 2:30 – 4 pm
Liz Stell (flute) and Bill Matthiesen (keyboard) will perform music popular or published in the mid-19th century.
This event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union.

Up from the Depths: Herman Melville, Lewis Mumford, and Rediscovery in Dark Times
2022-09-28 17:30 - 18:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Join author and historian Aaron Sachs for a free book signing and discussion of his latest book Up from the Depths: Herman Melville, Lewis Mumford, and Rediscovery in Dark Times (Princeton University Press) on Wednesday, September 28 at 5:30 pm. Sachs will be joined in discussion at Arrowhead by author and former University of Albany professor of literature Richard Matturro.

Aaron Sachs is professor of history and American studies at Cornell University. He is the author of The Humboldt Current: Nineteenth-Century Exploration and the Roots of American Environmentalism and Arcadian America: The Death and Life of an Environmental Tradition.
Up from the Depths tells the interconnected stories of two of the most important writers in American history—the novelist and poet Herman Melville (1819–1891) and one of his earliest biographers, the literary critic and historian Lewis Mumford (1895–1990). Deftly cutting back and forth between the writers, author Aaron Sachs reveals the surprising resonances between their lives, work, and troubled times—and their uncanny relevance in our own age of crisis.
The author of Moby-Dick was largely forgotten for several decades after his death, but Mumford helped spearhead Melville’s revival in the aftermath of World War I and the 1918–1919 flu pandemic, when American culture needed a forebear with a suitably dark vision. As Mumford’s career took off and he wrote books responding to the machine age, urban decay, world war, and environmental degradation, it was looking back to Melville’s confrontation with crises such as industrialization, slavery, and the Civil War that helped Mumford to see his own era clearly. Mumford remained obsessed with Melville, ultimately helping to canonize him as America’s greatest tragedian. But largely forgotten today is one of Mumford’s key insights—that Melville’s darkness was balanced by an inspiring determination to endure.
“Up From the Depths takes up the dialectic method so central to Melville’s writing for its unique investigation of parallel lives. . . . Fittingly, Mr. Sachs’s chapters interweave periods of the two men’s lives, creating a dappled effect of shared shadows and light. Certain biographical overlaps are particularly striking.” —Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal

Cemetery Tour of Hillside Cemetery
2022-10-08 14:00 - 15:00 | Hillside Cemetery, Brown Street, North Adams
Where can you find a personal friend of two U.S. Presidents, an 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 veteran historian and guide Paul W. Marino for a walk through one of the historic cemeteries of northern Berkshire County. Children are welcome as a treasure hunt will accompany the tour. Please wear sensible walking shoes and meet at the top of the hill off Brown Street in North Adams. (Rain date: Sunday, Oct 9, 2pm)
Click here for tickets; $10 members, $15 non-members

Stockbridge Cemetery Tour
2022-10-15 14:00 - 15:00 | Stockbridge Cemetery, Main Street, Stockbridge, 01262
The Stockbridge Cemetery has been the burial site of Stockbridge residents for over 270 years. Join historian Elizabeth Dillman as we visit the headstones of notable residents and discuss their contributions to the town, the country and the world. And, of course, we’ll visit the Sedgwick Pie! (Rain date: Sunday, October 16, 2pm)
Click here for tickets – $10 members, $15 non-members
This event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union.

Cider Tasting and Orchard Walk
2022-10-16 12:00 - 16:00 | 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.
