July 30 – August 2, 2026, the Berkshire County Historical Society celebrates the tenth anniversary of its reading of Moby-Dick
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Each year people across the country come together to read aloud Moby-Dick in its entirety. The locations vary from historic sites, to museums, to beaches. Each place is special and offers a unique lens through which to interpret Melville’s epic tale. In Mystic, Connecticut, you can read aboard the Charles W. Morgan, the last remaining wooden whale ship. You can hear the crash of the waves and perhaps see a whale from Venice Beach. Or you can visit the port of New Bedford where Melville set sail in 1841.
But…there is only one place where you can participate in a community reading at the place where the novel was written – Arrowhead, Herman Melville’s historic home and farm.
It was here that Melville was inspired in part by his view of the whale-like shaped Mount Greylock. Of his time at Arrowhead Melville wrote to his editor, “I have a sort of sea-feeling here in the country. When I look out my study window, especially now that the ground is covered with snow, it reminds me of looking out a ship’s porthole.” You, too, will be inspired by Melville’s home and surrounding landscape.
This year we’ve invited some special guests. Elected officials participating include Mark Lannigan (representing Senator Paul Markey), state Senator Paul Mark, state Representatives Tricia Farley Bouvier and Leigh Davis, and former Representative Smitty Pignatelli. The City of Pittsfield will have a large group of readers lead by Mayor Peter Marchetti.
The acting Executive Directors of The Massachusetts Cultural Council and Mass Humanities David Slater and Brian Boyles, respectively, will show their organizations’ continued support of arts and culture in the Berkshires by participating.
Local journalist and media representatives include Jennifer Huberdeau, Berkshire Eagle Features Editor; WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Josh Landes; and Sarah LaDuke, Executive Director of Folk Alley. Former Melville Writer-in-Residence and Berkshire Eagle columnist Kevin O’Hara also will participate. Visual artist Christopher Volpe, whose paintings are inspired by Moby-Dick, returns to the Berkshires for the event. Volpe exhibited his work at a BCHS exhibition in 2022 at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts in Pittsfield.
This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Cultural Council and Housatonic Heritage.
Refreshments on August 1 generously provided by Starbucks.