Professor Nina Silber traces the emergence of a new sense of self and citizenship among the women left behind by Union soldiers during the Civil War. Silber argues that women found themselves at a disadvantage, with their husbands away, in a male-dominated society; but also found new, active roles for themselves in politics and support.
Preservation consultant Pamela Wilkinson Fox discusses historic country houses and mansions outlying the Boston area. Fox follows the trend of the rich and famous building country homes and communities along Massachusett's North Shore (Essex County), beginning in the 19th century. Her presentation includes slides.
Audio and video options are available.
Professor Karen Ordahl Kupperman and historian Walter W. Woodward examine the history of the Jamestown colony in-depth, focusing on the personalities involved, including John Smith.
New England Victorian Society president Ed Gordon explores the history of Charlestown in the Victorian era, looking at the many Victorian structures that remain today. The presentation includes slides.
The lecture audio can be downloaded separately.
Professors Wlliam M. Newman and Wilfred E. Holton look at how environmental crises and urban crowding led to the massive project for filling Boston's Back Bay tidal marsh in the 19th century. The presentation includes slides.
The lecture audio can be downloaded separately.
Author John Hanson Mitchell outlines his discovery of 2,000 antique glass plate negatives by a previously unknown 19th-century African-American landscape photographer, Robert Alexander Gilbert. Mitchell presents slides of Gilbert's work, and discusses what is known of Gilbert's life.
Professor Marla Miller discusses the falling out of use of the term "mantuamaker" by female dressmakers in Boston and the transition to the term "dressmaker." Miller focuses on the history of dressmaking and of women as dressmakers, beginning in the colonial era and continuing to the 1800s. Her presentation includes slides.
Audio and video options are available.
Writer Carol Bundy talks about the life of her great-great-great uncle, Charles Russell Lowell, Jr., a Boston abolitionist and industrialist eventually killed in the Civil War. The presentation includes slides.
Audio and video options are available.
Reporter Stephanie Schorow, author of Boston on Fire: A History of Fires and Firefighting in Boston, describes the fire that burned down the Boston nightclub Cocoanut Grove in 1942. Schorow looks at the social, medical, and legal repercussions of the fire; myths and misconceptions that surround the fire; and Boston's collective memory of the fire.
A panel including sports columnists and announcers and the Boston Red Sox president discusses how perception and management of baseball has changed over time. The panel addresses contemporary material as well as historical.
Video and audio options are available.