2017 Amherst House Tour
Saturday, November 4, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Our 2017 House Tour focuses on the newly established North Prospect-Lincoln-Sunset Local Historic District. This neighborhood includes modest farm houses lived in by members of the 19th century Black community and Irish immigrants, as well as houses that were home to college faculty members, businessmen, and other professionals and their families. Amherst College faculty member Robert Frost purchased a home in this neighborhood in 1931–and it is on the tour this year! along with 5 other residences. The Historical Society is pleased to showcase this district with its wide range of architectural styles and a complex socio-economic history. You can purchase tickets here.
I Expect Great Pleasure, the Music of Jane Austen
Friday, October 20, 6:30 – 8 p.m. at the Strong House, 67 Amity St., Amherst
General tickets: $15
Benefactor tickets: $30
Join us for a concert of music referenced by Jane Austen in her literary and personal writings including works by George Frideric Handel, J.S. and J.C. Bach, Giovanni Paisiello, Charles Dibdin, and others.
This presentation features Graham Christian playing the 1826 Chickering pianoforte and Libby Maxey soprano, with guests Steven Williams violin and Heather Williams mezzo-soprano. Refreshments will be served. Buy tickets online
Mabel Loomis Todd’s Amherst
Join us on Saturday, October 14 from 1 o’clock to 5 o’clock to experience Mabel Loomis Todd’s Amherst—from her earliest residence at the Amherst House hotel to her final resting place in Wildwood Cemetery. This extended tour given from Mrs. Todd’s perspective will be narrated by Dr. Julie Dobrow as we travel with stops at the Homestead and Evergreens, the Observatory, and Wildwood Cemetery. Be prepared to learn about the artistic and literary achievements that made Mabel extraordinary in her own day, and a fascinating person to study today.
More info
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.
The Value of Looking
Sweetser Family Portraits
Portraits are a window into the past. They not only give us information about the people in them, but they also tell us about the world in which these people lived. As both artistic objects and cultural artifacts, they shed light on the various social, aesthetic and economic elements that influenced their creation. Our collection includes two Sweetser Family portraits painted by H.R. Snyder in 1844 and a later portrait of Abby Sweetser by an unknown artist.
These portraits are the subject of recent research by Dr. Ian Cooke who curated this exhibit.
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.