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“My name is Rebeccah Codman Butterfield. I was born in 1841. My mother made me and I was the darling of the Brook Farmers & their children. Brook Farm was called The Transcendentalists. I grew up with the Alcotts, George Ripley, John S [Dwight], Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Thoreau, William Ellery Channing, Elizabeth Peabody & Nathaniel Hawthorne--no wonder I look a bit cracked!”
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Doll belonging to members of the Codman and Butterfield families
Doll-making and doll clothing-making was serious business in the 19th century. Sewing, knitting, and lace-making would prepare young doll owners for the domestic work of womanhood. According to a note pinned to the doll, she was created in 1841 by 16-year old Sarah Rebecca Codman or her mother, Rebecca B. (Hall) Codman. The doll has a two-piece head, with shining brown glass eyes, which was probably purchased and attached to the body. Although the dress is of a later vintage, it is handmade, as are the possibly original undergarments, trimmed in delicate hand-knit lace.
In 1843, the Codman family moved to Brook Farm, a Transcendentalist utopian community. The doll accompanied Rebecca and her family as they took their place in the community. Rebecca kept this doll with her after Brook Farm burned in 1846. During her time there, Rebecca met printer Jonathan Butterfield. They married in 1847. Rebecca eventually passed this doll, and many of her family’s items, to her neighbor Ellis Phinney Taylor, who penned the note pinned to the doll’s petticoat. Taylor donated the doll to the MHS.
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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.
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Writing History: An Extended Q&A with Nathaniel Philbrick
For MHS Members and Fellows only.
LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER!
On Thursday, 23 September, at 7:30 PM, Nathaniel Philbrick presents Writing History: An Extended Q&A with Nathaniel Philbrick. Ryan J. Woods, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of American Ancestors/NEHGS, will be joined by Catherine Allgor, President of the Massachusetts Historical Society, for further Q&A with Nathaniel Philbrick. He will answer your questions about his inspirations, research, and process behind writing Travels with George and his other works of American history.
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Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy
LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER!
On Thursday, 23 September, from 6:00–7:00 PM, Nathaniel Philbrick presents Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy.
In this book, Philbrick tackles the question “Does George Washington still matter?” He argues for Washington’s unique contribution to the forging of America by retracing his journey as a new president through all thirteen former colonies, which were then an unsure nation. In the fall of 2018, Philbrick embarked on his own journey into what Washington called “the infant woody country” to see for himself what America had become in the 229 years since. Writing in a thoughtful first-person voice about his own adventures with his wife, Melissa, and their dog, Dora, Philbrick follows Washington’s presidential excursions. The narrative moves smoothly between the eighteenth and twenty-first centuries as we see the country through both Washington’s and Philbrick’s eyes.
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A Revolutionary Encounter in London
On Monday, 27 September, at 5:30 PM, Debbie Wiess presents A Revolutionary Encounter in London, a historically based play. Local actors Cathryn Philippe and Steve Auger are featured in the roles of Miss Wheatley and Mr. Franklin.
On May 8, 1773 enslaved African-American poet Phillis Wheatley left Boston to travel to London to promote her book of poetry Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, to be published there later that summer. During her six week stay Phillis would have the opportunity to meet many notables, one of whom was American founding father Benjamin Franklin. The play recounts the meeting of these two Colonial American icons. A special version of the full-length play will be presented as a staged reading.
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Graduate Student Reception
On Tuesday, 28 September, at 3:30 PM, the Research team at the MHS invites graduate students in history, American studies, and related fields to attend the Graduate Student Reception.
Calling all graduate students and faculty! Please join us at our twelfth annual Graduate Student Reception for students in history, American Studies, and related fields. This year we invite you to join a virtual gathering to learn about the resources the MHS offers to support your scholarship, from research fellowships to our seminar series.
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The Nazis of Copley Square: The Forgotten Story of the Christian Front
The Nazis of Copley Square provides a crucial missing chapter in the history of the American far right. The men of the Christian Front imagined themselves as crusaders fighting for the spiritual purification of the nation, under assault from godless Communism, and they were hardly alone in their beliefs. Gallagher chronicles the evolution of the Front, the transatlantic cloak-and-dagger intelligence operations that subverted it, and the mainstream political and religious leaders who shielded the Front’s activities from scrutiny. This grim tale of faith perverted to violent ends serves as a warning for those who hope to curb the spread of far-right ideologies today.
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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.
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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.
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