A View of Amherst from the Past during Arts Night Plus
On Thursday, June 7th, come to the Amherst Historical Society and take a walk through Amherst, circa 1839!
As the old adage goes, a picture tells a thousand words. Historical images have even more stories to tell. This Amherst Arts Night Plus features a look into life in Amherst in the year 1839 through analysis of the print ‘Valleys of Erosion” by artist Henry J. Van Lennep drawn for Edward Hitchcock’s “Final Report on the Geology of Massachusetts” published in 1841 . This historical illustration, which gives view of Amherst circa 1839 from the Mt. Pleasant Classical Institute to the Holyoke Range, contains a wealth of details and glimpses into the past to unpack. Come and explore!
This event is free, and refreshments will be served.
Opportunities for Local Learning
On Wednesday, November 1st, second graders from the Common School visited the Jones Special Collections and the Amherst Historical Society!
This experience gave the hands-on experience into researching local history by exploring the collections of artifacts and primary documents. They examined straw hats, a wooden yoke, a wooden scythe and a wooden plane and practiced making inferences about the objects using what they had learned in class. Visits like these give kids a first-hand look at the history of their own town, tangible enough to reach out and touch, connecting the next generation with all the generations past.
Facilitating these key historical experiences is one of the most important missions of the Amherst Historical Society. If you’re interested in scheduling a visit for your classroom or other group, please get in touch with us! We would love to hear from you.
The Spectacular Mabel Loomis Todd
What do you know about Mabel Loomis Todd?
For the majority of those who know her name, she is primarily associated with Amherst as the editor of Emily Dickinson’s poems and letters and her long-term relationship with Emily’s brother Austin. While true to fact, these details miss the spirit of a woman intensely involved in this community from her arrival in 1881 until the Todds moved to Florida in 1917. Those who knew her remembered “her vividness, her love of beauty, her ceaseless activity and her joy in the things she did, what she was is undoubtedly more than anything she did,” recalled her daughter, Millicent Todd Bingham, in Mabel Loomis Todd: Her Contributions to the Town of Amherst, our guide for this exhibition.
This exhibit was created with the research and assistance of Dr. Julie Dobrow, author of the upcoming book Outside Emily’s Door: Mabel Loomis Todd, Millicent Todd Bingham and the Making of America’s Greatest Poet, and Emma John, Hampshire College intern.
This exhibit is now open at the Simeon Strong House.
Read more here.
These are all entries under the letter “C” in the book Amherst A to Z, written by Elizabeth Sharpe. The book is illustrated with pictures of artifacts from the Amherst History Museum, historic images from the Jones Library’s Special Collections, as well as photographs of our town and the folks who live here.