Amherst Historical Society and Museum

History Begins at Home

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      • The Spectacular Mabel Loomis Todd
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      • Mabel Loomis Todd in the World
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      • Heath Connections – The Emersons of Amity Street
      • Got Milk?
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Online Resources

Here are links to some online books and documents pertaining to the history of Amherst

History of the Town of Amherst (1896)
The Handbook of Amherst (1891)
Early History of Hadley, including Amherst (1863)
Student Life at Amherst College (1871)
History of the Adams and Hastings Families of Amherst (1880)
A Sermon on the Necessities of War (1861)
Western New England – Amherst (1912)
The Amherst Record – March 17, 1888
The Birds of Amherst and Vicinity (1906)
The Hills Family in Amherst: A History and Timeline

A List of Antique Telephone and Business Directories

Amherst Directory 1889 – 1890
Amherst Directory 1892 – 1893
Amherst Directory 1895
Amherst Directory 1897 – 1898
Amherst Directory 1905 – 1906
Amherst Directory 1908
Amherst Directory 1909
Amherst Directory 1910
Amherst Directory 1911
Amherst Directory 1912
Amherst Directory 1913
Amherst Directory 1914
Amherst Directory 1916
Amherst Directory 1917
Amherst Directory 1919
Amherst Directory 1921
Amherst Directory 1923

Over the years, several films have been made which feature one or another aspect of the Pioneer Valley and its surrounding hills.  Here are five:

In the 1950’s, the tobacco industry made a promotional film about tobacco farming in the Connecticut River valley:
Tobacco Valley

In 1973, Northeast Utilities erected a weather monitoring tower on the Montague Plain, as part of a plan to build a nuclear power plant. On Washington’s Birthday in 1974, in an act of civil disobedience, local farmer Sam Lovejoy cut the guy wires for the tower, causing it to fall. This is the story of his trial:
Lovejoy’s Nuclear War

And in 1973, WGBY teamed with Greenfield Community College to gather the stories of the old Yankee farmers in the hilltowns:
Root, Hog or Die

Then forty years later they made a sequel, talking to contemporary farmers:
A Long Row in Fertile Ground

Around that time, WGBY also made a film to celebrate 150 years of the Morrill Land Grant Act, and they focussed on the University of Massachusetts:
The Radical Idea

 

About the Museum

Visit the Amherst History Museum, located at the Simeon Strong House, 67 Amity St., Amherst MA. We held our first exhibition in 1899, received our charter in 1903, and are celebrating over 100 years of the Society’s ownership of the c.1759 Simeon Strong House.

The Amherst History Museum is closed for the 2020 season due to the coronavirus. You can find directions here.

READ MORE

Support Us


The Amherst History Museum accepts donations of any size at any time of the year. We hold our Annual Appeal in late November and renew all memberships in the Spring.

A gift to the Amherst History Museum, whether in memory of a loved one or in honor of a special accomplishment, is always a unique way to help the Amherst Community and recognize an extraordinary individual.

BECOME A MEMBER

Amherst A to Z

Want to know where Amherst’s Cold War bunker is located? Or where the “curragh” district of Amherst was? Or learn about a local factory that made “collapsing skirts!”

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.

BUY THE BOOK

© Copyright 2016 Amherst Historical Society and Museum