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Beside the Still Waters

Author Jacqueline T Lynch will talk about her book, Beside the Still Waters, which takes the reader back to the four towns of Dana, Enfield, Greenwich and Prescott before they were submerged by the Quabbin Reservoir.

Early Architecture at Amherst College

Challenging the narrative that Amherst College was primarily a breakaway from Williams College, Mr Blair Kamin will describe how the people of the Town of Amherst gave birth to the College—and how the Acropolis-like plan of the early College and its Greek Revival centerpiece reflected their highest aspirations.

Reading Early Epitaphs in the Amherst West Cemetery

Jones Library Woodbury Room 43 Amity Street, Amherst, MA, United States

Mr. John Hanson has been collecting and studying early New England epitaph verse for years.  In this talk, he will share some outstanding verses on old stones in Amherst's West Cemetery and discuss their sources, including Scripture, hymnody, poetry, and original poetry composed for a particular individual.

The Unlikely Marriage of Elaine Goodale and Charles Alexander Eastman (Ohíye S’a).

Jones Library Woodbury Room 43 Amity Street, Amherst, MA, United States

When they first arrived in Amherst, Elaine and Charles Eastman were already both well-known figures from their respective careers as authors, public speakers and reformers of Indian policy, as well as from their unusual interracial marriage which was frequently written about in the press of the day. But the early promise of their marriage dissolved during their time in Amherst, along with their union, itself, the victim of personal tragedies, professional failures and the ongoing tensions as 19th century America yielded to the 20th century.

West Cemetery – Amherst’s Founding Families

Jones Library Woodbury Room 43 Amity Street, Amherst, MA, United States

During this brief virtual tour, we will visit some of the graves in Amherst's West Cemetery with Bob Drinkwater. They are a relatively small sample of the families who lived in Amherst prior to the Revolution.  What became of the others, whose names appear on lists of early Amherst residents, published in Judd’s History of Hadley?

Mount Toby Friends Meeting

Jones Library Woodbury Room 43 Amity Street, Amherst, MA, United States

From their first meeting in 1939, through their residence at the Amherst Grange, to their current location one route 63 in Leverett, follow the history of the Mount Toby Friends meeting.

Finding R H Weakley

Jones Library Woodbury Room 43 Amity Street, Amherst, MA, United States

We've all heard the expression if walls could talk, but what about historic firearms? What would they have to say about the battles they were in and the soldiers they were issued to? Join Park Ranger Susan Ashman as she highlights one of these rifles - an 1856 British Enfield used during the Civil War with the initials "R.H. Weakley" carved into the stock.

The Storm and the War that Changed Amherst

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Both the hurricane of 1938 and World War II were transformative events for Amherst College. Listen to Pulitzer Prize winning architectural critic Blair Kamin as he explains the events and the reactions of the college and the community of Amherst.

Henry Wilson and the Civil War

Jones Library Woodbury Room 43 Amity Street, Amherst, MA, United States

Henry Wilson was a native of Natick Massachusetts, who rose from humble beginnings to be a major influence in the abolitionist movement.

“Unlike Any Other”

Jones Library Woodbury Room 43 Amity Street, Amherst, MA, United States

Lecture with slides by author Ed Londergan. ‘Unlike Any Other’ is a novel based on the life of Bathsheba Spooner, a Revolutionary War-era woman, and Loyalist, married to a man she did not love, who is driven to thoughts of murder

Amherst History Museum collection

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Diana Lempel, consulting curator to the Amherst History Museum since May, will share some of her discoveries and insights from the Museum.

Managing the River Commons

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New England's rivers were an important source of power and of food for the indigenous people and early settlers in the area. The history of their cooperative efforts to guard the river's resources has not been widely known.