| All events will be held at The John Cabot House (117 Cabot St.) unless otherwise
indicated. For more information, please contact the Beverly Historical Society and
Museum at (978) 922-1186, or info@beverlyhistory.org.
Upcoming Events
Lecture and Book Signing
"The Salem Witch Trials - A Reference Guide"
with
author & historian K. David Goss.
Location: Memorial
Hall - Cabot House
Date/Time: 9 April
2008 - 7 pm.
Part of the enduring fascination of the Salem witch
trials is the fact that, to date, no one theory has been able to fully explain the events
that ravaged Salem in 1692. Countless causes, from ergot-infected rye to actual demonic
possession, have been offered to explain why the accusations and erratic behavior of seven
village girls left hundreds accused, over 20 dead, and the townspeople of eastern Massachusetts
shaken. Through a multitude of resources, this authoritative source explores this
tumultuous episode in early American history, including the religious and political
climate of Puritan New England; the testimony and examinations given at the trials; the
accusers and their relationships to the accused; major interpretations of the events, from
the 17th century to the present day; and the aftermath of the trials and their impact on
later generations. This book gives a unique glimpse into the 17th century politics,
religious culture, and gender issues that created the Salem witchcraft episode, and gives
context to an impact that still resonates today, in everything from modern political life
to popular culture.
About the Author
K. DAVID GOSS is Assistant Professor of History at Gordon College, specializing in
American history and museum studies. His many published works include Cornerstones of Salem
(2000) and Treasures of a Seaport Town (1998).
Admission $5.00 BHS&M members FREE
Lecture & Discussion
Old House Restoration: How to Do it the Right Way
with Historical
Architect Mathew Cummings and Woodwright James Widden
Location: The John Cabot House
Date/Time: April 23, 2008 - 7 PM
Join North Shore-based
architect Mathew Cummings and woodwright James Whidden as they take you on a virtual tour
of colonial homes they have restored in Ipswich, and learn from the experts how to
"do" restoration the right way. Mat and Jim will discuss how to assess the scope
of a restoration project (including what elements can be saved), how and why to document a
house’s architectural history, space use options, repair details (including the
choice of materials), and the drawing and construction process. A question-and-answer
period will follow.
Admission $5.00 BHS&M Members FREE
CURRENT EXHIBIT
Trask & Smith -
Beverly's Early Pewter & Silver
Location: Memorial
Hall, The John Cabot House
Dates: 26 January -
24 May 2008
The Beverly Historical Society & Museum will present an
exhibit of various pewter, Britannia ware and silver items,
featuring the works of Israel Trask, Oliver Trask and Eben Smith. Also included will
be additional silver pieces from the same period by other local New England silversmiths.
The John Cabot House is open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday &
Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm. and Wednesday from 1 pm - 9 pm. A full color exhibit catalog will be produced and will be available
for purchase sometime after 26 January 2008. Please e-mail info@beverlyhistory.org or call 978-922-1186 for
more information.
Beverly
Historical Society & Museum
Calendar of
Events for May 16, 2007 – May 21, 2008
May 16, 2007 –
Memorial Hall - Cabot House - Annual Meeting – Election of Officers and lecture and
PowerPoint presentation in support of our current exhibit “Wrought by her hand –
New England Samplers 1749-1884,” with Ms. Karen MacInnis, Curator, Marblehead Museum
& Historical Society.
June 2, 2007 –
Hale Farm & Balch House - Essex National Heritage Explorer’s Early Settlement
Trail – Visit Hale Farm & Balch House – Free admission.
June 9, 2007 –
Cabot House - Volunteer Breakfast – 9 am – 11 am - Orientation and review of
Volunteer Opportunities, Upcoming Exhibits, and Collections.
June 13, 2007
– 7 pm - Memorial Hall – Cabot House- Lecture and needlepoint
demonstration with Ms. Linda Lane in support of our current sampler exhibit.
June 27, 2007, 7
pm - Memorial Hall - Cabot House - Lecture and book signing with author Ed Brown and his
new book "Thieves, Cow Beaters and other True Tales of Colonial Beverly."
July 7, 2007 –
Hale Farm & Balch House - Essex National Heritage Explorer’s Early Settlement
Trail – Visit Hale Farm and Balch House. Tours:
Adults: $5.00; Seniors/Student $4.00; free to members.
July 26 – 28, 2007
- Various locations – BHS&M hosts the Corning Family Reunion.
August 4, 2007 –
Hale Farm – Beverly Home Coming Week, Tours of Hale Farm, and Gold Coast Trolley Tours
of Historic Beverly. Free tour of Hale
House included in Trolley Ticket purchase.
August 4, 2007 - Hale
Farm & Balch House- Essex National Heritage Explorer’s Early Settlement Trail
– Visit Hale Farm & Balch House - 11
am – 3pm
August 11, 2007 –
Memorial Hall - Cabot House - “Wrought by her hand – N. E. Samplers
1749-1884,” exhibit closes.
August 24, 2007 –
Cabot House, Rear Yard – Trustees/Staff/Volunteer Appreciation Cookout, 5 pm – 7
pm
September 1, 2007 -
Hale Farm - Essex National Heritage Explorer’s Early Settlement Trail – Visit
Hale Farm & Balch House 11am- 3pm.
September 15, 2007
– Memorial Hall – Cabot House – New Exhibit opens – exhibit title
– “Presidential Summers at Beverly, Taft’s Summer Capital 1909-1912”
September 28,
2007– October 8, 2007 - Topsfield Fair – BHS&M Informational Booth
(volunteers needed)
September 29, 2007
– In cooperation with The Essex National Heritage – “Trails and Sails”
tours with Fred Hammond and Ginny Currier – Various locations. Call for more
information.
October 17, 2007 –
Memorial Hall - Cabot House- Lecture – “Summers in Beverly with President
Taft,” presented by Stephen P. Hall.
November 15, 2007
– Balch Thanksgiving Dinner – Dinner for six at Balch House for the lucky
winner.
December 1, 2007 –
BHS&M – Trustees, Staff & Volunteer Holiday Party
December 12, 2007 - Lecture - Memorial Hall - Cabot
House Helen Clay Frick: Bittersweet Heiress
- with author Martha Frick Symington Sanger - 7 pm.
December 29, 2007
– “Presidential Summers” exhibit closes.
January 26, 2008 –
Memorial Hall – Cabot House - Exhibit Opens – “Trask & Smith – Beverly’s
Early Pewter & Silver”
February 27, 2008
– Memorial Hall – Cabot House - Lecture - book signing – "The Devil of
Great Island - Witchcraft & Conflict in Early New England" with author &
historian Emerson W. Baker. 7 pm.
March 19, 2008 –
Lecture/Workshop, “New England Genealogy in the 21st Century” –
with genealogist and local historian Stephen P. Hall.
April 23, 2008 –
Memorial Hall – Cabot House – Lecture/Presentation – TBA
May 21, 2008 –
Annual Meeting & Election of Officers – Lecture/Presentation to follow meeting.
PAST EVENTS
Genealogy in the
21st Century
Location: Memorial
Hall - Cabot House
Date/Time: 19
March 2008 - 7 pm.
A large group of genealogical enthusiasts
joined New England genealogist Stephen P. Hall in an informational lecture and discussion,
regarding how to find your ancestors using the tools of the 21st century. Old vs. New
technologies; advantages and pitfalls.
This was a great opportunity to look at how genealogical research has changed
in the last 20 years since the advent of the personal computer and the explosion of the
Internet.
Lecture and Book Signing
Location: Memorial
Hall - Cabot House
Date/Time: 27
February 2008 - 7 pm.
"The Devil of
Great Island - Witchcraft & Conflict in Early New England" with author &
historian Emerson W. Baker. 7 pm.
In 1682, ten years before the infamous Salem witch trials, the town of
Great Island, New Hampshire, was plagued by mysterious events: strange, demonic noises;
unexplainable movement of objects; and hundreds of stones that rained upon a local tavern
and appeared at random inside its walls. Town residents blamed what they called
"Lithobolia" or "the stone-throwing devil." In this lively account,
Emerson Baker shows how witchcraft hysteria overtook one town and spawned copycat
incidents elsewhere in New England, prefiguring the horrors of Salem. In the process, he
illuminates a cross-section of colonial society and overturns many popular assumptions
about witchcraft in the seventeenth century.
Helen Clay Frick:
Bittersweet Heiress - with author Martha Frick Symington
Sanger
Date/Time: December 12, 2007 - 7 pm
Location: Memorial Hall - Cabot House
Martha Frick Symington
Sanger has spent the past twenty years researching her Frick family and its contributions
to industry, art, philanthropy and the cities that family members called home.
Her first biography focused on the life, accomplishments and
controversies of Henry Clay Frick, her great-grandfather ("Henry Clay Frick: An
Intimate Portrait," Abbeville Press 1998).
Martha Frick Symington Sanger signing books at event.
Her research yielded a second book, The Henry Clay Frick Houses:
Architecture-Interiors-Landscapes In the Golden Era, published by the Monacelli Press in
2001, that captured in great detail the homes Frick built in Pittsburgh, New York and
Boston’s North Shore.
Ms. Sanger’s third book, Helen Clay Frick:
Bittersweet Heiress, (University of Pittsburgh Press 2007), is the first biography
documenting the life and contributions of her great-aunt, an important, private and
sometimes tempestuous leader in the fields of art history, art collecting, land and
historic preservation, and women’s issues.
Memorial Hall was filled to beyond normal capacity to
accommodate this event.
"Summers in Beverly with President Taft"
A lecture and PowerPoint presentation by local
historian Stephen P. Hall was held on October, 17, 2007 at 7 pm - John Cabot House, 117
Cabot St. Beverly, MA 01915
On June 27, 2007, at 7 pm - John Cabot House we held a Book Signing and
Lecture in support of Ed Brown’s latest book,
THIEVES,
COW BEATERS
AND OTHER TRUE TALES
OF COLONIAL BEVERLY
Colossal military blunders, home invasion and
kidnapping, animal cruelty, theft by trusted servants, family members quarreling over
inheritances. Headlines in today’s newspaper? Perhaps, but they were also part of
life in Colonial Beverly.
A large grouped enjoyed author Ed Brown's
lecture, as he explored the fascinating true tales of the trials and tribulations endured
by the early settlers of Beverly.
June 13, 2007 at 7pm - John Cabot House
Lecture and Needlepoint Demonstration with Linda Lane
Beverly Historical
Society & Museum
Receives 2007 H. Albert Webb Memorial
Railroad Preservation Award
The Beverly Historical Society & Museum is
the winner of the 2007 H. Albert Webb Memorial Railroad Preservation Award, given by
Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts (Mass Bay RRE) member Leigh A. Webb. The $10,000
grant associated with the Award will support the scanning and cataloging of 5,000 railroad
images from the famed Walker Transportation Collection at the Museum.
Leigh A. Webb created the H. Albert Webb Award in 2000 to recognize
his father's love for New England railroading. The award aids non-profit, tax-exempt
organizations that preserve historically-significant railroad equipment, structures, or
information about New England railroads.
"We are honored that Mr. Webb would
bestow this award, given in his father’s name, on the Beverly Historical Society
& Museum to help us promote and preserve railroad images for future generations. We
also applaud the work of the Mass Bay RRE Award Committee, which administers the award for
Mr. Webb, for selecting this project," said Stephen P. Hall, Director, Beverly
Historical Society & Museum.
Mr. Hall added that "Trains, streetcars, trucks, buses, cars,
ships, and planes all provide transportation. More than this, they often hold a
fascination that set them apart from other facets of our daily lives. Railroads
revolutionized travel in the 1800's and soon connected nearly every community in New
England, and all across the country. From an
age dominated by horse power and wagons to our present period overshadowed by supersonic
jet aircraft and sport utility-vehicles, the Walker Transportation Collection of the
Beverly Historical Society & Museum has something to captivate anyone’s
attention. If it moved within, around, or above New England; the Collection most
likely has a photo of it. But at the core of the collection is its fantastic
collection of railroad images."
The H. Albert Webb Award will provide the Walker Transportation
Collection an opportunity to further catalog and make available information and images of
historic locomotives and railroad rolling stock that once traveled the rails in New
England. By scanning and cataloging these historic images into its PastPerfect
museum database, thousands of New England railroad images will become more accessible to
visitors and researchers alike who visit the Museum. The Walker Transportation
Collection is moving from the thousands of b/w prints, slides, and negatives in its files
into the digital age of the 21st century, by capturing both historic and
contemporary images digitally, for future generations of railroad enthusiasts to enjoy.
The 2006 H. Albert Webb Award went to the New England Electric
Railway Historical Society (Seashore Trolley Museum) to help fund the restoration to
operating condition of Atlantic Shore Line electric locomotive #100, and created a
curriculum and other educational resources. The 2005 award was presented to The
Railroad Museum of New England to support restoring Boston & Maine #1732 diesel
locomotive to operation. The 2004 award went
to restore the interior of six-double-bedroom-lounge Pullman "Pine Tree State,"
the last sleeping car built for the New Haven Railroad. The 2003 Award to the
Friends of Bedford Depot Park in Bedford, MA paid for rebuilding a quarter-mile of
two-foot-gauge track on the original Billerica & Bedford Railroad right-of-way.
The 470 Railroad Club of Portland, Maine, received the 2002 Award for boiler work on Maine
Central 2-8-0 steam locomotive #501. Mr. Webb gave the 2001 Award to assist in
restoring B&M 4-6-2 steam locomotive #3713.
The 2007 H. Albert Webb Award presentation took place at the Beverly
Historical Society & Museum on Wednesday, April 4, 2007, at the John Cabot House, 117
Cabot Street, Beverly, MA. Beverly Historical Society members, Mass Bay RRE members,
and other invited guests enjoyed the event.
|
