Book launch - Kill Ahab: Confessions of a White Whale
2026-08-12 17:30 - 18:30 (America/New_York) | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes, Pittsfield, MA, United States
Join author Phil Adamo for the Berkshire launch of Kill Ahab: Confessions of a White Whale. It’s Moby Dick from the whale’s point of view.
Near the end of his life, beached on the New England coast, the White Whale finally sets the record straight, spinning a tale of high adventure and rich emotion, of love and loss, of loathing and revenge. Propelling his story is Ahab, the mad captain fixated on the “monster” who took his leg. But Ahab’s obsession is not one-sided. Whales, too, have long memories.
Fiction’s most famous fish is not who we thought. “Call me…anything,” he says. “But do not call me Moby Dick.”
PHIL ADAMO is a former circus clown turned history professor turned novelist. He has written history books and articles on the Middle Ages, as well as satirical fiction. Kill Ahab: Confessions of a White Whale is his third novel.
Author photo by Chris Court
This free event is sponsored by Massachusetts Cultural Council and Housatonic Heritage.

Strange Fancies - Stories of Hauntings and Ghostly Inspiration at Arrowhead - August 15
2026-08-15 19:00 - 21:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Well-known ghost tour guide Robert Oakes, author of Ghosts of the Berkshires, will discuss the supernatural influences on the imagination of author Herman Melville, as well as the ghostly writings of Melville’s friend and frequent Arrowhead visitor Nathaniel Hawthorne. The talk will be followed by a lantern-lit ghost tour of Melville’s historic home.
Use the BOOK NOW button to purchase tickets $20 for BCHS members, $25 for non-members. Become a member and start receiving discounts on event tickets.
This 90-minute program is offered at 6 pm and 8 pm. Choose a time when purchasing your ticket.
About Robert Oakes
Robert Oakes is an author, teacher, storyteller, and performing songwriter. He has written three books, The Ghostly Tales of the Berkshires (2023), Ghosts of Northwestern New Jersey (2022), and Ghosts of the Berkshires (2020), all published by Arcadia Publishing. He has also released numerous recordings of original songs. Since 2010, Robert has led immersive ghost storytelling experiences at historic locations in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, including Ventfort Hall and Edith Wharton’s home, The Mount. He has appeared on Syfy’s Ghost Hunters, Jeff Belanger’s New England Legends series on PBS, and The Apple Seed show on BYUradio and has been featured in The Boston Globe, The Berkshire Eagle, and numerous other media outlets.
To enhance your experience, you may wish to read “The Piazza” by Melville and “Graves and Goblins” by Hawthorne prior to the program.
This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Cultural Council and Housatonic Heritage.

Hands-on Papermaking Demonstrations - August 16
2026-08-16 12:00 - 15:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Join our friends from Crane Museum of Papermaking for free papermaking demonstrations, hands on papermaking and a Crane paper sale.
Don’t miss the lecture Crane Paper, A Legacy in Every Sheet on August 19.
FREE EVENT
This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Cultural Council and Housatonic Heritage.

Hands-On Papermaking Demonstrations - August 17
2026-08-17 12:00 - 15:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States

Crane Paper, A Legacy in Every Sheet
2026-08-19 17:30 - 18:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
$5, Silver Certificate, series 1899, on Crane paper.
This talk Highlights the rich history of Crane papermaking in the Berkshires and beyond, from its origins in rag-based handmade paper production to modern machine manufacturing. Dennis Croughwell, a fourth generation Crane employee and Crane Museum of Papermaking Museum Educator, will share stories of papermaking from Crane paper connections to the American Revolution to the hidden features in modern currency paper, including Crane’s role in producing secure paper for United States currency.
To accompany the talk, The Crane Museum of Papermaking will offer free papermaking demonstrations, hands on paper making and a Crane paper sale from 12:00 – 3:00 pm Sunday, August 16, Monday August 17, Thursday August 20 and Friday, August 21.
Use the BOOK NOW button to purchase tickets, $10 for BCHS members, $15 for non-members. Become a member and start receiving discounts on event tickets.
This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Cultural Council and Housatonic Heritage.

Hands-On Papermaking Demonstrations - August 20
2026-08-20 12:00 - 15:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Join our friends from Crane Museum of Papermaking for free papermaking demonstrations, hands on papermaking and a Crane paper sale.
FREE EVENT
This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Cultural Council and Housatonic Heritage.

Hands-on Papermaking Demonstrations - August 21
2026-08-21 12:00 - 15:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States

Pittsfield’s Historic Buildings Walking Tour
2026-09-05 11:00 - 12:30 | Downton Pittsfield, Pittsfield, MA, United States
Did you know that there are historic markers embedded in the sidewalks in at fifty-seven of Pittsfield’s historic buildings? Join historian John Dickson for a walking tour of the Park Square Historic District and discover the history behind some of these markers and buildings. The tour will last approximately 1.5 hours and cover 1.5 miles of North and South Streets. The tour begins at the front of the Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Ave.
FREE Event
This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Cultural Council, Greylock Federal Credit Union, and Housatonic Heritage.
About John Dickson
John Dickson serves as Chair of the Pittsfield Historical Commission and as a board member of the Berkshire County Historical Society. He is author of Berkshire County’s Industrial Heritage, which chronicles the 19th century mills in this corner of Massachusetts. He received a master’s degree in public history having completed a thesis on the Berkshire Athenaeum.

Fanfare Brass Choir – Patriotic Sing-Along
2026-09-09 17:30 - 18:30 | Berkshire County Historical Society, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
BCHS continues its celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with a patriotic sing-along with Fanfare Brass Choir. The program starts with songs from 1768 and includes current songs and information on their history. Song sheets provided for those wishing to sing along. Songs to be performed include The Star-Spangled Banner, Yankee Doodle, My Country Tis of Thee, Battle Hymn of the Republic, God Bless America, and more.
FREE event
About The Fanfare Brass Choir
The Fanfare Brass Choir provides quality classical and light popular music to the New England area. Founded in 2008 and consistently performs to a high standard and includes the top musicians in Western New England. The choir performs music from the sixteenth century to the present, covers many styles of music including, classical, jazz and light popular.
This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Cultural Council, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Pittsfield Cultural Council, and The Feigenbaum Foundation.

Haute Couture in New England: Status Survivors
2026-09-16 17:30 - 18:30 | Berkshire County Historical Society, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Garments made in the Parisian haute couture system are world-renowned. During couture’s heyday in the late-nineteenth century, women whose families could afford to do so made the trip to the City of Lights to be fitted for at least one garment, sometimes several. While wealthy American clients from metropolitan areas like New York City, Boston, and Chicago are often cited, haute couture patrons came from other areas including the Berkshires and Hartford, Connecticut.
In this talk, Ned Lazaro, Associate Curator of Costume and Textile at The Wadsworth, seeks to nuance the story of haute couture through the analysis of patronage in lesser-known examples, including surviving examples in the collections of The Wadsworth in Hartford and the Berkshire County Historical Society. While wealth is a common denominator in all couture purchases, examples from these two institutions highlight the specifics of buying a treasured Paris-made gow
Tickets are $10 for BCHS members, $15 for non-members, and can be purchased by using the BOOK NOW button.
This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Cultural Council and Greylock Federal Credit Union.
David E. (Ned) Lazaro is the Associate Curator of Costume and Textiles at The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut. He holds a master’s degree in fashion and textile history from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Ned has researched, lectured, published, and taught on various aspects of Western clothing and textiles from the 17th through 20th centuries. His general interests focus on design history, the aesthetics of fashion, and identity formation. Specific publications include seventeenth- and eighteenth-century textiles, nineteenth-century undergarments, the tailoring and dressmaking trades, the influence of Dior’s 1947 New Look, and the 1950s sack dress.
Images:
Wedding dress (detail and overall)
House of Worth (c.1858-1952)
1897
Off-white, figured silk; imitation pearls
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Archer Hamilton, 1976.27
Collection of The Wadsworth

Shades of the Revolution - September 17
2026-09-17 05:30 - 19:00 | Pittsfield Cemetery, 203 Waconah Street, Pittsfield , MA, 01201, United States
Shades of the Revolution will be presented September 17-19 and 24-26
Click here for complete event details.
The Pittsfield Cemetery is the setting for the play Shades of the Revolution being presented by the Berkshire History Theatre in collaboration with the Berkshire County Historical Society. The ghostly tale features Pittsfield’s Revolutionary War era founders—both famous and infamous—telling their stories of merriment, hardship, love, and death in colonial Pittsfield through a series of vignettes at various graves. While Pittsfield’s founding fathers receive their just dues, Shades focuses on the indomitable, outrageous Pittsfield women whose strength, intelligence, and iron determination often triumphed over the male dominated 18th century hierarchy.
Tickets are $20 adults, $15 students (13-18), seniors (65 and over), and can be purchased by using the BOOK NOW button. Tickets may be purchased on site (cash only), and will be available beginning 1/2 hour before the performance.
What to know before you go
This event takes place at the Pittsfield Cemetery, 203 Wahconah Street.
Performances are cancelled in the event of rain.
Audience members must be able to walk 1/2 mile, on paved and dirt cemetery roads, at a leisurely pace, with numerous stops to view performances. Audience members are encouraged to wear comfortable shoes, and to bring lightweight folding stools or chairs if they would like to sit during the vignettes.
This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Cultural Council, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Pittsfield Cultural Council, and The Feigenbaum Foundation.

Shades of the Revolution - September 18
2026-09-18 17:30 - 19:00 | Pittsfield Cemetery, 203 Waconah Street, Pittsfield , MA, 01201, United States

Shades of the Revolution - September 19
2026-09-19 17:30 - 19:00 | Pittsfield Cemetery, 203 Waconah Street, Pittsfield , MA, 01201, United States

Redware in Western Massachusetts
2026-09-23 17:30 - 18:30 | Berkshire County Historical Society, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Redware from the collection of the Bidwell House Museum
Researcher Justin Thomas presents a talk detailing the history of New England Redware including discoveries based on new research, cohosted by the Bidwell House Museum. He will be joined by his colleague, historian Warren Broderick, who assisted in conducting research for Thomas’ upcoming book, A Monumental History: Stories of Red Earthenware Production in Western Massachusetts, the Berkshires and Vermont.
Western Massachusetts has a rich history of red earthenware production dating to the 1700s, later followed by stoneware in the 1800s. The most successful type may have been the black glazed teapots produced in Whately, Massachusetts. However, red earthenware production seems to have been more widespread in the 1700s with some production that can be traced back to the Charlestown and South Danvers, Massachusetts areas before the American Revolution.
A significant portion of Western Massachusetts’s regional production is also linked to the manufacturing landscape of neighboring Vermont. While some of this regional connection was previously overlooked by historians, recent research has uncovered a bustling network of a few dozen or so red earthenware companies operating throughout Vermont during the late 1700s and 1800s. This newly documented data reshapes the understanding of early New England pottery exchange, revealing how deeply the artisans and economic markets of the two regions were intertwined in the 1800s.
FREE Event
Justin Thomas is a collector, researcher, and writer about American utilitarian pottery production from the seventeenth through the early twentieth century. He studied at archaeology departments, museums, and private collections across the country, publishing numerous research articles about American potteries in regional and national publications. He has been a contributor for the New England Antiques Journal, Maine Antiques Digest, Antiques and the Arts Weekly, Antiques & Auction News, and Untapped New York. He has also authored seven books, as part of his ongoing pottery book series, published by Historic Beverly in Massachusetts. Justin has worked with museums, historical societies, and archaeology departments all over the East Coast including the National Museum of American History, the Rochester Museum & Science Center, the New York State Museum, Old Sturbridge Village, Historic New England, and Strawbery Banke, among many others. In 2021, he organized a special Redware conference hosted by Historic Beverly. He currently resides in Newburyport.
This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Cultural Council and Greylock Federal Credit Union.

Shades of the Revolution - September 24
2026-09-24 17:30 - 19:00 | Pittsfield Cemetery, 203 Waconah Street, Pittsfield , MA, 01201, United States

Shades of the Revolution - September 25
2026-09-25 17:30 - 19:00 | Pittsfield Cemetery, 203 Waconah Street, Pittsfield , MA, 01201, United States

Planting the Liberty Tree
2026-09-26 10:00 - 11:00 | The Common, 100 Fenn Street, Pittsfield, 01201, United States
Join BCHS and the City of Pittsfield in the continuing celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with the planting of a young American Elm “liberty tree” at The Common. These trees were symbolic of the freedom that patriots were seeking and they served as gathering places and rallying points throughout the colonies during the revolution.
FREE Event
This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Cultural Council, Greylock Federal Credit Union, City of Pittsfield, and The Feigenbaum Foundation.

Shades of the Revolution - September 26
2026-09-26 17:30 - 19:00 | Pittsfield Cemetery, 203 Waconah Street, Pittsfield , MA, 01201, United States

H. Knox...On the Knox Trail
2026-10-06 17:30 - 18:30 | Berkshire County Historical Society, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
In 1973, emerging professional photographer and media producer Jonathan Barkan was contracted by the Massachusetts Bicentennial Commission. His assignment – create a multi-projector traveling slide show to inspire a statewide reenactment and tell the story of Revolutionary War hero Henry Knox and his plan to retrieve and haul cannons from Fort Ticonderoga, New York, to Boston, Massachusetts. This historic event linked the entire Commonwealth from west to east and led directly to the first major military victory of the War for Independence–Evacuation Day.
The original media program has been modernized for twenty-first century audiences as a state-of-the-art video. It is enlivened by additional imagery and retains a re-creation with period cannon, draft horses, and oxen that was filmed at the Jug End Resort in South Egremont. Mr. Barkan will screen the video and briefly share his personal experiences and production challenges…both then and now.
Tickets are $10 for BCHS members, $15 for non-members, and can be purchased by using the BOOK NOW button.
About Jonathan Barkan
Jonathan Barkan is the executive producer/director and founder of Communications for Learning (CFL), a full-service communications firm with offices in Conway and Arlington, Massachusetts. His work demonstrates a career-long commitment to the accuracy, appeal, and creative presentation of essential content, the value of careful process design and project management, and aesthetic and production quality.
He is multi-disciplined, with education and experience in communications strategy, media direction and production, graphic and 3-D design, photography and video, sound recording, music, teaching, and consulting. His extensive experience includes the management and creative direction of high-profile video, slide, and desktop multi-media presentations, interactive and web-based media, events, print graphics, and exhibits. Barkan has planned, designed and supervised the installation of numerous theaters, classrooms and conference rooms, and has led media, photography and production courses and workshops.
This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Cultural Council, Greylock Federal Credit Union, City of Pittsfield, and The Feigenbaum Foundation.

Run for the Revolution
2026-10-18 09:00 - 12:00 | Pittsfield State Forest, Cascade StreetPi, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Join in the on-going celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and Run for the Revolution! This race, presented in partnership with the Berkshire Running Foundation, takes place at the Pittsfield State Forest with three distance options. The course is an out and back 5K run down a foliage lined street that leads out of the state forest then circles back to the start. Attendees can take part in the loop once for a 5K distance, twice for the 10K, and three times around for a 15K distance. Not a runner? No problem – walkers are encouraged for all 3 distances. Proceeds benefit BCHS preservation and education programs.
For completed details and to register click here.
This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Cultural Council, Greylock Federal Credit Union, and The Feigenbaum Foundation.
