Stay engaged with the MHS this year.

“Thus I supposed I had bid farewell to my native Shore perhaps forever: but I was disappointed. The Captain, either to take leave of his friends, or in hopes of obtaining more Sailors, steered a course that was unexpected and We arrived and Anchored in the harbour of Marblehead about noon.”
View of Morris Island from Fort Wagner

Fort (Battery) Wagner formed part of the outer defenses of Charleston, South Carolina, during the Civil War. In this view from within the fort, Henry G. Webber, an officer serving in the 7th New Hampshire Infantry Regiment, illustrates the open beach flanked by ocean and swamp over which Union forces advanced in two desperate attacks on the Confederate lines on 11 and 18 July 1863. There followed a fifty-two day siege that ended on the night of 6–7 September with the evacuation of the Confederate garrison.

Fought on the night of 18 July 1863, the Second Battle of Fort Wagner has become famous through the heroism of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, the first African American unit raised in the North during the Civil War. The extraordinary courage shown by the 54th Regiment vindicated the enlistment of Black soldiers in the Union cause and encouraged the recruitment of more than 150 other African American units. In Boston, the 54th is commemorated by the Shaw and 54th Regiment Memorial on Boston Common where sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens depicted Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, who died on the parapet of Fort Wagner, with men of his regiment. The battle also was popularized by the 1989 film Glory, where fact and fiction are woven together in the service of movie making. Ironically, the role of the 54th Regiment is often all that is remembered of the 18 July battle which was—in spite of the extreme bravery shown by the 54th and other Union regiments—a bloody fiasco in which more than 1,500 of 5,000 attackers were killed, wounded, or captured. The failure of direct frontal attacks on Fort Wagner was only the beginning of a terrible siege that would continue for eight more weeks.

MHS’s online programs are held on the video conference platform Zoom. Registrants will receive an e-mail with a link to join the program.
Nine Days: The Race to Save Martin Luther King Jr.’s Life and Win the 1960 Election

On Tuesday, 20 July, at 5:30 PM, Stephen Kendrick presents Nine Days: The Race to Save Martin Luther King Jr.’s Life and Win the 1960 Election, in conversation with Larry Tye.

Less than three weeks before the 1960 presidential election, thirty-one-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested at a sit-in in Atlanta. While King’s imprisonment was decried as a moral scandal in some quarters and celebrated in others, for the two presidential candidates―John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon―it was the ultimate October surprise: an emerging civil rights leader was languishing behind bars, and the two campaigns raced to decide whether, and how, to respond. Nine Days is the first full recounting of an event that changed the course of one of the closest elections in American history. At once a story of electoral machinations, moral courage, and, ultimately, the triumph of a future president’s better angels, Nine Days is a gripping tale with important lessons for our own time.

Members/Fellows Virtual Gallery Tour of Our Favorite Things Exhibition

On Friday, 23 July, at 2:00 PM, Peter Drummey, MHS, presents an exclusive Members/Fellows Virtual Gallery Tour of Our Favorite Things Exhibition.

Join Peter Drummey, MHS Chief Historian and Stephen T. Riley Librarian, for a closer look at our newest online exhibition. With millions of letters, diaries, photographs, and objects in our holdings, the stories we can tell at the MHS are countless. Our Favorite Things connects a selection of compelling, captivating, and amusing items from our collection to the backgrounds, interests, and memories of the MHS staff. This virtual gallery tour will give online guests a closer look at a few of these staff-curated collection items and the remarkable stories they embody.

Register for this Members/Fellows program here. Please note that you must SIGN IN to your MHS online user account to register. E-mail agrant@masshist.org or call 617-646-0543 with questions or if you need help. 
On Thursday, 29 July, at 5:30 PM, Jon Grinspan, National Museum of American History, presents Age of Acrimony: How Americans Fought to Fix Their Democracy, 1865–1915.

On Monday, 9 August, and Friday, 13 August, at 8:30 AM, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times: Exploring Multiple Perspectives on the Eve of the Revolution in MA, a workshop designed for K-12 educators.

Visit www.masshist.org/events for more information and to register for programs.
Interested in Viewing Past Programs?
If you missed a program or would like to revisit the material presented, please visit www.masshist.org/video or our YouTube channel. A selection of past programs is just a click away.
Share Your COVID-19 Experience(s)

The MHS invites you to contribute your COVID-19 experience(s) to our collection. Record your experiences on a daily, weekly, or intermittent basis. You can contribute your thoughts and images online. Visit our COVID-19 web display to learn more and to share your thoughts. Or you can keep a journal and donate it to the MHS. Contact collections@masshist.org for more information.  
 
Thank you to everyone who has shared so far. If you have not yet done so or would like to contribute again, please visit www.masshist.org/projects/covid/index.php. You can also read what others have shared.

Our Members are the heart of the MHS community and an integral part of the MHS story. Become a Member to help make possible the Society’s mission to promote the study of American history. Receive benefits including invitations to enhanced Member-only events; free or discounted admission to special programs; and access to publications such as our calendar of events, newsletter, and Annual Report.
Learn more at www.masshist.org/members.