Stay engaged with the MHS this year!

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“I have told them constantly these twenty Years, what would be the Consequences, of their unjust designs against America. And as if an Angel from Heaven had revealed to me, the secrets of futurity, my Predictions have been literally accomplished. I look back with astonishment and recollect, what I have said and wrote, which has been printed thro this Period, and compare it with the Events that have followed.” – Letter from John Adams to Edmund Jenings, 14 July 1780

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Featured Item from the MHS Collection

An Unknown Love: The Letters of Amy Lowell and Elizabeth Seccombe In this 17 September 1907 letter to Robert and Sophie Valentine, Elizabeth “Bessie” Seccombe movingly informs her friends that her long-term relationship with poet Amy Lowell has ended. Read the letter and learn more about Seccombe, Lowell, and the Robert G. Valentine Family Papers at the MHS.

“My life has been spent in the public service”: John Quincy Adams’s Final Years, 1843–1848 Transcriptions of more than 1,700 pages of John Quincy Adams’s diary have just been added to the John Quincy Adams Digital Diary. The new material spans the period January 1843 through February 1848 and chronicles the final years of Adams’s life, including his continued service in the United States House of Representatives. Read more.

This Week’s Events June events will be a mix of virtual and hybrid. Please be sure to register which way you will attend. Visit www.masshist.org/events for more information and to register.

Born in Cambridge: 400 Years of Ideas and Innovators On Thursday, 9 June, at 6:00 PM, Karen Weintraub, USA Today, and Michael Kuchta, present Born in Cambridge: 400 Years of Ideas and Innovators. This is a hybrid event. Register to attend online. Register to attend in person.

Annual Fiori Lecture: Old Institutions, New Things On Saturday, 11 June, at 2:00 PM, Anthea Hartig, Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History; Louise Mirrer, New-York Historical Society; and Catherine Allgor, MHS, present Annual Fiori Lecture: Old Institutions, New Things. This is an online event. Register to attend online.

Only the Clothes on Her Back: Clothing & the Hidden History of Power in the 19th Century  On Monday, 13 June, at 6:00 PM, Laura F. Edwards, Princeton University, presents Only the Clothes on Her Back: Clothing & the Hidden History of Power in the 19th Century. This is a hybrid event. The program will begin at 6:00.  Register to attend online. Register to attend in person.

Upcoming June Events Visit www.masshist.org/events for updates, cancellations, and to register. On Tuesday, 14 June, at 6:00 PM, Mark Arsenault presents The Imposter’s War: The Press, Propaganda and the Newsman Who Battled for the Minds of America. This is a hybrid event. On Monday, 20 June, at 6:00 PM, Robert Gross, University of Connecticut; John Brooke, Ohio State University; David Waldstreicher, City University of New York; and Christine Heyrman, University of Delaware, present Reflecting on the Work of Robert Gross. This is a hybrid event. On Wednesday, 22 June, at 6:00 PM, Peter Drummey, MHS, presents Film Club: The Thomas Crown Affair. This is a virtual event. On Wednesday, 29 June, at 6:00 PM, Tripp Evans, Wheaton College; Heather White, Harvard Divinity School; and Jen Manion, Amherst College, present Hidden in Plain Sight: Documenting Queer Stories in Archives. This is a hybrid event.

2022 Conrad E. Wright Conference Underrepresented Voices of the American Revolution. 14 to 16 July Register for the conference. View the full conference schedule.

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.

Exhibition and Library Hours   Now on display: Part Two of Our Favorite Things   Monday, and Wednesday through Friday, from 10:00 AM to 4:45 PM Tuesday from 10:00 AM to 7:45 PM Saturday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM   Please note that the last admission for exhibition visitors will be 45 minutes prior to closing.   An advanced appointment is strongly encouraged for all researchers. Please visit our Appointment Request Form to select your preferred visit dates.   Please check our calendar for hours, building closings, and other events.

Set up an appointment via Zoom or live chat with a member of our reference staff.  Learn more at https://www.masshist.org/library.

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