Lydia Maria Child

Lydia Maria Child

by | Mar 13, 2023 | Blog

March is Women’s History Month, and Dr Lydia Moland of Colby College has recently published a new biography of the abolitionist author Lydia Maria Child, who spent 2 years in Northampton. 

From the Chicago University Press website: 

By 1830, Lydia Maria Child [1802 – 1880] had established herself as something almost unheard of in the American nineteenth century: a beloved and self-sufficient female author. Best known today for the immortal poem “Over the River and through the Wood,” Child had become famous at an early age for spunky self-help books and charming children’s stories. But in 1833, Child shocked her readers by publishing the first book-length argument against slavery in the United States—a book so radical in its commitment to abolition that friends abandoned her, patrons ostracized her, and her book sales plummeted. Yet Child soon drew untold numbers to the abolitionist cause, becoming one of the foremost authors and activists of her generation.

Regicide in the Family

Regicide in the Family

by | Mar 2, 2023 | Blog, Uncategorized

The History Bites lecture series returns, beginning its Spring 2023 lecture series at noon on Friday, March 3, over Zoom.  Here is the Zoom link.

… What if you had someone in your family tree who played a role in the beheading of King Charles I in 1649, the only English monarch ever sent to his death? How would that make you feel?

That’s a question Sarah Dixwell Brown wrestles with in “Regicide in the Family,” her lively account of discovering that a distant ancestor, John Dixwell, was one of 59 judges who signed the death warrant for King Charles I following the conclusion of the English Civil War, which had pitted the king’s forces against those of Parliament.  When Charles II restored the monarchy in 1660, many of the 59 judges and members of Parliament who had signed his father’s death warrant were arrested and publicly executed in gruesome fashion. Dixwell fled first to Germany, then came to New England in the mid-1660s, eventually settling in New Haven, Connecticut after spending a brief time in the tiny settlement of Hadley.

Note: There will be no History Bites on March 17. We will resume the series at noon on Friday, March 31, with a live lecture in the Woodbury Room of the Jones Library; Phyllis Lehrer will talk about the history of the Amherst Record.
Re-Orienting Dickinson

Re-Orienting Dickinson

by | Feb 24, 2023 | Blog

In Black History Month, we can take note of the talented Amherst College graduate Anna Smith (Amherst College ’22), whose historical research led to the creation of the Reorienting Dickinson website.

‘During her first semester at the college, she took “Global Valley,” an introductory American studies course with Karen Sanchez-Eppler, L. Stanton Williams 1941 professor of American studies and English. Even as a first-year, Smith’s passion for the course material and its implications was apparent. “From that first fall, in her first year at Amherst, [she] was an extraordinarily inventive and tenacious researcher, and had a real interest in history and how it’s told,” Sanchez-Eppler said.

‘Throughout her time at Amherst, Smith solidified her role as an attentive American studies major, led research as an assistant for the Archives & Special Collections’ Racial History of Amherst project, and worked as an intern to plan the college’s Bicentennial, where she created a timeline of the college’s history. Ultimately, her research culminated in a thesis on Amherst’s connection to slavery by way of its founders. In many ways, Smith’s work contributes to the broader campus and community conversation about the college’s multifaceted history.’

Coming up next week: History Bites returns at noon on Friday, March 3, with Sarah Dixwell Brown‘s Zoom presentation on her book, Regicide in the Family. The zoom link is here.

And on Saturday, March 4, at 4PM, at the Shea Theatre in Turners Falls, Dr Margaret M Bruchac will give a talk on Native Memories: Recovering Pocumtuck Histories in Franklin County. For more information, go here.
The Joy of Collecting Rare Books

The Joy of Collecting Rare Books

by | Feb 17, 2023 | Blog

Tuesday, February 21, at 6PM at the Jones Library Woodbury Room

Kenneth Gloss, proprietor of the internationally known Brattle Book Shop in Boston’s Downtown Crossing section, will give an in-person presentation on the value of old and rare books

Ken, who is also a frequent guest appraiser on PBS’ Antiques Roadshow, will talk in part about the history of his historic bookshop, which goes back to 1825. He is a second-generation owner.  Ken will talk about and show some of his favorite finds and describe some of the joys of the “hunt,” as well as explain what makes a book go up in value. He has many fascinating anecdotes to share, as well as guidelines for what to look for when starting a collection.

There will be time for questions and answers after the talk.

The talk is co-sponsored by the Jones Library and the Amherst Historical Society.

The magic of old photographs

The magic of old photographs

by | Jan 20, 2023 | Blog

Pictured above: Mr. & Mrs. Spencer Miller and Spencer Miller, Jr. 1895

There is a charm in finding an old photograph; in seeing an image of a place you know, but taken when it was a hundred years younger. The trees are smaller, the neighboring buildings are different, and of course the people in the photo are wearing the clothes of a past time.

Recently I was going through some boxes of old papers at the Strong House, and I found this print of a family group in the front yard, taken in 1895, when the house was still a private residence…