A panel of prominent Massachusetts politicians reads from the letters of John and Abigail Adams.

Producer Elizabeth Deane presents a "sneak preview" of her documentary American Experience: John and Abigail Adams, detailing the development of the relationship between the two, as revealed in their correspondence. The preview is followed by a panel discussion.

Audio and video options are available. The video is captioned, and a transcript is also provided.

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.

Boston Historical Society editor Helen R. Deese discusses the 45-volume diary of Boston Transcendentalist, feminist, writer, and reformer Caroline Healey Dall (1822-1912). Deese focuses on the thorough, extensive picture of the life of a 19th-century woman that the diaries represent.

Professor Lewis Dabney traces the life of Edmund Wilson (1895-1972), major literary critic of the 20th century. Dabney discusses Wilson's three classics of literary and intellectual history—Axel's Castle, To the Finland Station, and Patriotic Gore—and the many women with whom Wilson had rocky relationships.

Audio and video options are available.

Spencer Crew, CEO of the Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and other presenters outline the lives of David Walker and Maria Stewart, African American Boston activists in the 1800s, as well as the lives and efforts of abolitionists generally and the history of the Underground Railroad.

Audio and video options are available.

Professor Mary Frances Berry reviews the life of Callie House, an ex-slave and civil rights activist in the late 1800s and early 1900s who started the Ex-Slave Mutual Relief, Bounty and Pension Association, which sought African-American pensions based on those offered Union soldiers. Berry presents House as a forerunner of figures such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Her presentation includes a question-and-answer session.

Audio and video options are available.

Photographer and writer Susan Wilson outlines the "Literary Trail" of Boston—tracking the history of significant writers in Boston through the historical sites related to their lives remaining in the city. Wilson focuses specifically on female writers.

Historian and lawyer Diane Rapaport recovers stories from pre-Revolutionary-War New England court records, examining cases that highlight the concerns of ordinary people and reveal the daily life of Puritans during this period. The presentation includes slides.

Audio and video options are available. The video can be watched with or without captions.

Historian Eve LaPlante examines the life of Judge Samuel Sewall, who condemned over 30 people to death for witchcraft in 1692 and publicly apologized in 1697, spending the rest of his life in penitence and social action. The presentation includes slides.