History Bites is a series of thirty minute lectures to inform and entertain, covering various aspects of the history of Amherst and the lives of those who once lived here.
Bring your lunch, and we provide coffee, tea and cider for you as you listen to the presentations. The programs begin promptly at 12:15 with seating and beverages ready just before noon. The lectures are free and everyone is welcome to attend.
Thanks to the work of our dedicated trustees, you can view archived video of past History Bites lectures here.
Sylvester Graham arrived in Northampton, Mass., in the late 1830s, a well- known lecturer and writer on diet, health, and hygiene. An early advocate of vegetarianism, he would be best remembered for crackers and bread made of unbolted flour, commercialization of which at the end of the century would secure him lasting name-recognition. Yet Graham’s dietary prescriptions formed only part of a regimen, which he modestly called “the science of human life.” His association with wholegrain crackers was strong enough that a half-century later his name was being used to sell factory-baked products that – had he lived to see them — he would have roundly condemned. Dr Christopher Clark will speak about the life and influence of the man who helped launch a popular science movement that would flourish even as professional science and medicine grew.
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.