Heather Harrington, Associate Librarian, explores 19th century Christmas celebrations by examining a December 27, 1860 letter from Edward Wells Colton of Northfield, MA to his fiancée Susan Heard in Boston.
The Village Broadside
The Blog of Historic Deerfield
The Man with the Golden Smile: A 19th Century Visit to the Dentist
Heather Harrington, Associate Librarian, explores 19th century dentistry practices by examining a passage in a September 16, 1860 letter from Edward Wells Colton of Northfield, MA to his fiancée Susan Heard, in Boston.
Stebbins House Archaeology Program – Fieldwork Update Part 1
Claire C. Carlson, Director of Archaeology, provides an update on the fieldwork completed to-date in the Stebbins House Archaeology Program.
Fearnothing Seamen’s Jackets and Honey Comb Breeches: A 1760 Shipping Invoice for Ready-Made Clothing in the Memorial Libraries
Guest blog contributors Tyler Rudd Putman and Henry Cooke examine a 1760 shipping invoice for ready-made clothing to Boston merchant-tailor William Waine. The authors explore the clothing trade in mid-18th-century Boston.
A Unique Book of Maps
Most academies taught geography through an understanding of maps, perhaps influenced by Emma Willard’s teachings. Willard (1787-1870) declared maps “the written language of geography,” and persuasively argued for their use in the classroom.[3] This often took the form of students creating a graphic representation, whether with pen, ink, and watercolors, or needle and thread, or some combination of the two.
Take a Look: A Woman’s Early Nineteenth-Century Riding Hat, Part 1
In 2001, Historic Deerfield acquired a rare woman’s riding hat. Dating to about 1815, its accompanying riding suit, or habit, no longer survives. Nevertheless, it is an important object in the museum’s fashion and dress collection, helping to inform visitors today about conventions of female fashion and sport at the turn of the 19th century.
Deerfield Through the Decades: Onward! The Philip Zea Retirement Celebration
On Wednesday, May 19, 2021, Historic Deerfield celebrated the career of its President and CEO, Philip Zea, who is retiring after 36 years working at the museum.
My Favorite Object at Historic Deerfield
In April’s blog, Historic Deerfield President and CEO Philip Zea shares one of his favorite objects in the museum collection – and gives a primer on the nine points of connoisseurship in collecting that you can take with you in the quest for significant art and antiques.
Siege of Boston Powder Horns
March 17, 2021 marks the 245th anniversary of the end of the Siege of Boston, which lasted from April 1775 to March 1776 during the early years of the American Revolution. The siege followed on the heels of the infamous battles at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts in April 1775.
The Champneys: Deerfield’s Artistic Power Couple
In 1876, the Centennial World’s Fair in Philadelphia equally commemorated our country’s past and envisioned its bright future. This fused energy swept into Deerfield with the arrival of artist James Wells (“Champ”) Champney and his writer wife Elizabeth Williams (“Lizzie”) Champney that summer.
Baby It’s Cold Outside: A Sweet History of Chocolate in New England
Although cacao trees don’t grow in our climate, chocolate has a long history in New England, given our close economic connections to the West Indies. New England merchants supplied barrel staves, lumber, onions, salt fish, salt beef, and horses to the Caribbean in exchange for sugar, molasses, rum, and cacao.
Pass it Round: Festive Drinks for Holiday Cheer
In this installment of Maker Mondays we want to treat you to some recipes for holiday drinks that were popular in early New England.
Spiders in the Attic, Beetles in the Basement: Pest Management at Historic Deerfield
Historic Deerfield is proud to welcome visitors from all over the world, but when it comes to the insects that also call western Massachusetts home, we would prefer that they observe our historic houses from the outside. However, since spiders and other insects are wont to set up house wherever they like best, the museum has put in place a program to keep track of these tiny intruders. This system is known as an integrated pest management program, or IPM.
Light Up the Dark Days with a Homemade Lantern
As the days get shorter and the sun sets early in the Northern hemisphere, we look to the past for inspiration for lighting our homes and lives. Historic Deerfield’s collection of eighteenth and nineteenth-century lighting equipment includes fat lamps, candlesticks, sconces, oil lamps and lanterns.
The Life and Death of Mary Arms Harvey
A look into the life and death of one Deerfield resident, Mary Arms Harvey, whose unique gravestone in Deerfield’s Old Burying Ground depicts a heartbreaking story.
Blue and White Needlework Table Scarf
About twenty-five Deerfield women were paid to embroider vegetable-dyed linen yarns on hand-spun linen cloth. If their work was of sufficient quality, a flax wheel with a “D” was embroidered on the piece by one of the two founders as a “seal of approval.” This table scarf is an example of Pattern No. 7: Shepherd’s Thistle. This scarf is made of unbleached linen cloth with linen embroidery threads with traditional Blue and White Society stitches, in three shades of blue, plus white, detailing the large thistle at each end of the scarf.
A Blog About Abigail and John, Part 5: “…I Cannot Be Happy, Nor Tolerable Without You”
In the final blog post about Abigail and John Adams, author David Bruce Smith explores the couple’s greatest triumph and greatest regret.
Wedgwood’s Anti-Slavery Medallion
Despite its popularity in the 17th and 18th centuries as a sweetener in beverages such as tea, coffee, hot chocolate, and punch, sugar in New England (and globally, for that matter) has a very bitter history. As the popularity of sugar increased, the amount of enslaved labor required to harvest sugar also increased to meet the ever higher demand. However, beginning in the 18th century in places such as England, critics of slavery and the slave trade grew louder, and took to expressing their condemnation of slavery on a variety of media, including ceramics. Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) was one such critic, producing in 1787 a ceramic medallion that effectively advocated the abolitionist cause.
Celebrating our Ambassadors – An Interview with William Fennessey
Historic Deerfield is honoring our volunteers this year with a series of interviews we are calling “Celebrating our Ambassadors” that introduces a few of our volunteers to our friends and followers. Our Ambassadors give their time with a variety of special talents. In this blog interview, William (Bill, to us) Fennessey shares his thoughts and memories of his volunteer time.