Berkshire County Historical Society

Architecture and Landscape at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead
2022-09-11 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | 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.

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.

ReWritten
2022-07-31 19:45 - 21:30, 2022-07-30 19:45 - 21:30, 2022-07-29 19:45 - 21:30, 2022-07-24 19:45 - 21:30, 2022-07-23 19:45 - 21:30, 2022-07-22 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Book Release: Cement Dust
2019-08-27 18:30 - 20:30 | 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.”

Poetry Reading: Pequod Poems
2019-08-20 18:30 - 20:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Wilda Morris, poet, reads from her book “Pequod Poems” at Arrowhead, in the barn, at 6:30pm. Copies of her book will also be for sale that evening. Author of “Szechuan Shrimp and Fortune Cookies: Poems from a Chinese Restaurant” and other books, she is a former President of the Illinois State Poetry Society. She is a winner of the 2009 Prairie Poetry Award and has received two Pushcart nominations. Free event.

MEET DELILAH!
2019-08-04 10:00 - 16:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Community Day Celebration Weekend: 10am-5pm
Due to the forecast, Delilah will be swimming into Pittsfield on Sunday from 10am-4pm
Celebrate Herman Melville’s 200th birthday with a FREE event at Arrowhead!
Melanie Mowinski will demonstrate letterpress printing, 11am-1pm
Also, for kids of all ages, we will have an inflatable bounce house!
Bring a picnic and play croquet on our lawns!
Thanks to Whale and Dolphin Conservation of Plymouth, MA and to generous support from Cultural Pittsfield. Special thanks to Carr Hardware for supplying one of their wonderful bounce houses for the weekend.

Annual Monument Mountain Hike
2019-08-04 09:00 - 11:00 | Monument Mountain, Rte 7, Great Barrington, MA, United States
On Sunday morning, take a walk up Monument Mountain in Great Barrington to celebrate the historic meeting of Melville and Hawthorne. It’s sponsored by the Trustees of the Reservations, the stewards of Monument Mountain, and includes a reading of William Cullen Bryant’s historic poem about the mountain as well as a champagne toast.

Community Day Celebration!
2019-08-03 10:00 - 17:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Community Day Celebration Weekend: 10am-5pm
Due to the forecast, Delilah will be swimming into Pittsfield on Sunday from 10am-4pm
Celebrate Herman Melville’s 200th birthday with a FREE event at Arrowhead!
Come meet Tom Whalen and learn to tie some nautical knots. Herman Melville sailed on a whaling ship before he wrote Moby-Dick and would have known how to tie these same knots!
Also, for kids of all ages, we will have an inflatable bounce house!
Bring a picnic and play croquet on our lawns!
Thanks to Whale and Dolphin Conservation of Plymouth, MA and to generous support from Cultural Pittsfield. Special thanks to Carr Hardware for supplying one of their wonderful bounce houses for the weekend.

Annual Moby-Dick Marathon
2019-08-02 10:00 - 2019-08-05 17:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
The third annual Moby-Dick marathon reading will commence in the barn and continue for the next three days until we finish the book. The reading is interrupted, for the morning of Sunday the 4th, so that people can attend the Monument Mountain walk celebrating the day that Melville met Hawthorne. The marathon concludes on Monday, August 5.

Benefit for the Berkshire County Historical Society at Herman Melville's Arrowhead
2019-08-01 16:30 - 19:00 | Country Club of Pittsfield, 639 South Street, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Join us as we celebrate Herman’s birthday at the Country Club of Pittsfield. This benefit will assist in funding the restoration work needed to preserve our historic red barn, built in 1840 and used by the Melville family. Restoring the exterior cladding and improving drainage will ensure that the barn can be enjoyed for years to come. Paint analysis will enable the barn to return to its original paint color and appearance under Melville ownership. The completion of this project will allow us to expand the barn’s community use, our programming of special events and workshops, and improve the visitor experience upon arriving at Arrowhead. More than half of the work is covered by funds from the Pittsfield Community Preservation Committee and the Massachusetts Preservation Project Fund, but we still need you help to meet our goal! At the Benefit, you will be given the opportunity to contribute to this important project.
After a full day of exciting literary events, head to the Country Club of Pittsfield, the former home of Herman’s uncle Thomas, where the party will kick off at 4:30pm.
4:30 – Cash bar and heavy hors d’oeuvres
5:30 – Special program with Tina Packer, Founding Artistic Director of Shakespeare & Company
6:30 – Prosecco toast and birthday cake
Benefits Berkshire County Historical Society at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead.
This is a ticketed event: $85 for one ticket, and $160 for two. Please RSVP by Friday, July 26.
Call 413.442.1793 or email melville@berkshirehistory.org to reserve your tickets today!
To purchase tickets online, please visit our secure PayPal page via the yellow “Donate” button HERE, and specify the number of tickets to the Benefit in the “Additional Notes” field.

Herman's 200th Birthday Celebration
2019-08-01 10:00 - 19:30 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Thursday, August 1, all day. Herman’s 200th birthday with a multi-event, day-long extravaganza co-presented with the Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum. Starting with free tours of the Athenaeum’s Herman Melville Memorial Room at noon, a 1pm dedication of the Literary Landmark plaque at the Library, then tours at Arrowhead.
At 4:30, the party begins at the Country Club of Pittsfield: cash bar, heavy hors d’oeuvres, a special program with Tina Packer, Founding Artistic Director of Shakespeare & Company, Prosecco toast, and birthday cake. Benefits Berkshire County Historical Society at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead. The Benefit is a ticketed event: $85 for one ticket, and $160 for two. Please RSVP by Friday, July 26.
Call 413.442.1793 or email melville@berkshirehistory.org to reserve your tickets today!
To purchase tickets online, please visit our secure PayPal page via the yellow “Donate” button HERE, and specify the number of tickets to the Benefit in the “Additional Notes” field.

Old Salts Day
2019-08-01 10:00 - 16:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Free admission at Arrowhead to any career sailor, marine, merchant marine, cruise ship worker, or pirate. Take a tour where Moby-Dick was written and lift a pint of rum (you bring the rum!).

Film - The Act of Reading: Moby-Dick
2019-07-31 19:00 - 21:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
On Wednesday, July 3rd, at 7pm, come celebrate the eve of Herman Melville’s 200th birthday with his great-great-grandson Peter Whittemore and the filmmakers behind The Act of Reading! We will ‘sneak peek’ the 87-minute long film in the Arrowhead barn in anticipation of its fall premiere and in honor of the author’s bicentennial.
The film takes the form of a 15 year-late book report/documentary on Moby-Dick, following the filmmaker as he attempts to make amends with the high school English teacher whose class he failed. We are then brought on an often surprising journey into the world of Herman Melville, literacy, high school English teachers, and magical reenactments. Herman Melville’s Arrowhead and the Berkshires are heavily featured in the film — come and experience a fresh take on the area and its literary history!
Filmmakers present will include director Mark Blumberg, editor Nathan Berkowitz, and executive producer Alissa Blumberg.

Tickets are $20. Call 413-442-1793 or email melville@berkshirehistory.org to reserve a spot. To purchase online, please use our secure PayPal page HERE.

Mastheads Annual Reading
2019-07-30 19:00 - 21:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
The third annual reading of new work by the five Mastheads authors. This is a FREE event.

Tea and Talk: Historic Lace
2019-07-23 16:00 - 18:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
Irish lace expert Beverly Wolov will speak to the participants at a classic tea party about the lace collections at the Berkshire County Historical Society and answer questions about the customs and use, importance and provenance of lace in the mid-19th century. $20 includes tea and snacks.

Poetry Release: Red Barn, volume 4
2019-07-16 19:00 - 21:00 | Arrowhead, 780 Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA, 01201, United States
We are releasing the fourth volume of RED BARN, our homegrown poetry anthology by poets who have met here all winter and spring to create new work. FREE
