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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Berkshire County Historical Society
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260301T130000
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SUMMARY:Melville in Scotland: From the Pacific to Glasgow\, to Fife and Beyond
DESCRIPTION:Herman Melville is one of the greatest writers in world literature and his own quest to understand more of his Scottish ancestry has been noted but rarely explored to any depth. The Scottish recognition of Melville’s ancestry was established by Hugh MacDiarmid in the 1920s and extends into present-day scholarship and evolving understanding of his significance as a world-traveler\, ecological thinker and original initiator of geographical poetics.  \nFor this presentation\, Alan Riach\, Professor of Scottish Literature at Glasgow University\, draws on his reading of Melville’s original works and biography\, as well as his own experiences studying and teaching Melville in New Zealand\, his personal relationships with Glasgow and Fife\, and his visit to  Arrowhead. This accessible\, illustrated talk is presented via Zoom and brings a new engagement with Melville’s life and work into vivid focus. \nFREE\, email melville@berkshirehistory.org to receive the zoom link \nAbout Alan Riach\nAlan Riach\, Professor of Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow\, is a poet\, critic\, and one of the leading interpreters of Scotland’s cultural imagination. Born in Airdrie in 1957\, he studied at Cambridge and Glasgow before spending over a decade in New Zealand\, returning to take up his chair in Scottish literature. His publications span both poetry — This Folding Map\, An Open Return\, First & Last Songs\, Clearances\, Homecoming\, The Winter Book\, and The MacDiarmid Memorandum — and criticism\, most notably as General Editor of the Carcanet Collected Works of Hugh MacDiarmid and author of Hugh MacDiarmid’s Epic Poetry and Representing Scotland in Literature\, Popular Culture and Iconography. His work continually explores the intersections of literature with art\, music\, and national identity. Co-authored with Alexander Moffat\, Arts of Resistance: Poets\, Portraits and Landscapes of Modern Scotland (Luath\, 2008)\, was described in the Times Literary Supplement as ‘a landmark book’ and Riach’s 734-page Scottish Literature: An Introduction (Luath\, 2022) was described in The Times as ‘magisterial.’ Beyond his own writing\, Riach has been a cultural leader: former Convener of the Saltire Society\, he also served as President of the Association for Scottish Literary Studies (2006-2010) and remains active in literary and educational trusts. He has contributed widely to newspapers\, debates\, and public discussions\, championing the role of the arts in shaping Scotland’s sense of self. Combining scholarship with a poet’s sensibility\, and rooted in both family and community\, Riach embodies the conviction that literature is a living conversation between people\, place\, and history.
URL:https://berkshirehistory.org/event/melville-in-scotland-from-the-pacific-to-glasgow-to-fife-and-beyond/
LOCATION:Virtual Event
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260304T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260304T210000
DTSTAMP:20260529T150200
CREATED:20260226T003236Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260226T003236Z
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SUMMARY:Film: The Sea Beast
DESCRIPTION:  \nThis special presentation of the first screen adaptation of Herman Melville’s epic novel Moby-Dick includes an introduction by Professor Richard Matturro. The iconic 1926 silent film stars John Barrymore and Dolores Costello and was directed by Millard Webb. The film\, despite taking liberties with Melville’s source material\, was a major commercial success and one of the highest grossing films of 1926. This is a rare opportunity to see this film on the big screen at the Beacon Cinema in downtown Pittsfield. \nVisit https://berkshirehistory.org/events/ and click BOOK NOW to purchase tickets; $20 for BCHS members\, $25 for non-members.
URL:https://berkshirehistory.org/event/film-the-sea-beast/
LOCATION:Beacon Cinema\, 57 North Street\, Pittsfield\, 01201\, United States
CATEGORIES:Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://berkshirehistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Theseabeast-scaled-1.jpeg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260326T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260326T183000
DTSTAMP:20260529T150200
CREATED:20260211T190627Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260213T180923Z
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SUMMARY:Poor in the Berkshires:  Poverty and Public Relief Before 1935
DESCRIPTION:The Pittsfield Town Farm\, or Poor Farm\, now the site of Berkshire Community College.\nIn this lecture presented by the Berkshire County Historical Society and The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute\, Cynthia Farr Brown examines questions related to related to poverty and public relief in the Berkshires before 1935. What happened two centuries ago when people had no food\, no housing\, or no fuel? Where did people go for support? How did they understand poverty? What did law and custom prescribe? What changed over time – and how quickly or slowly? This talk will examine being poor in the Berkshires\, from the mid-18th century when Europeans settled in the region\, until the depths of the Great Depression. Using primary records\, newspaper accounts\, and more\, we can learn about who was among the poor and how communities both supported and at times chose not to support those in need.  \nThis lecture takes place in the Susan B Anthony Center\, room G-12 Berkshire Community College and will be available online. Register for this event here. $10 \nAbout Cynthia Farr Brown\nBrown is President of the Board of Directors of the Berkshire County Historical Society at Arrowhead. She also serves on the board of the Non-Profit Center of the Berkshires and on the executive committee of Berkshire Educational Resources K12 (BERK12). Brown has a doctorate in United States history and her scholarly publications have included co-editing the institutional history\, “Lesley University: Celebrating Excellence 1909-2009”; as well as other publications. She is currently Senior Associate Commissioner for Regulatory and Veterans Affairs at the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education. \nAbout OLLI\nThe Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College in western Massachusetts is a dynamic learning community with over 1\,500 members that offers 200+ programs a year\, including five terms of courses\, lectures\, special events and trips\, shared interest groups\, and more! Our programs meet both online\, and in-person.
URL:https://berkshirehistory.org/event/poor-in-the-berkshires-poverty-and-public-relief-before-1935/
LOCATION:Berkshire Community College\, West Street\, Pittsfield\, MA\, 01201\, United States
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