Upcoming Boston Area History Events

There are several upcoming history related events in the Boston area.  Below are just a few that crossed my desk in the last couple of weeks.  I’ll be attending some of them and you should too.  Support your local historical societies, museums, and other cultural institutions!

The West End Museum has a number of great events coming up.  Visit their website here for more information.  They have exhibits about preservation in Boston, walking tours, and lectures about West End history, costumes and burlesque (image at right), and urban renewal.  

The Boston Preservation Alliance’s Meet the Author series presents Christopher Klein, author of Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands (cover at right).  Where: Old South Meeting House, 310 Washington Street, at 5:30pm.  The author will take you “on a virtual tour through the colorful history and natural beauty of one of our best-kept local secrets during…[the Alliance’s] first ‘Meet the Authors’ series, presented in collaboration with Old South Meeting House.  Hear tales of ghosts, shipwrecks, prisoners of war, and Revolutionary War battles that took place on ‘the real Shutter Islands’ and get inspired to leave port and visit this urban oasis.”

Admission is free for Boston Preservation Alliance and Old South Meeting House members; $10 for non-members.

Visit here to sign up!

Thursday, March 29th
The focus of the Old South Meeting House’s winter and spring “Middays at the Meeting House” series is the history of Boston’s neighborhoods.  A different Boston neighborhood is highlighted each week and on March 29th Charlestown is the focus.  From OSMH’s website: “Rebuilt after it was burned by the British following the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, and annexed to Boston in 1874, today Charlestown is home to extraordinary historical architecture; major national landmarks and a new generation of immigrants and young professionals that have joined its traditionally Irish-American population. Carl Zellner, Historian of the Charlestown Historical Society, explores the city’s oldest neighborhood, which today is a thriving 21st Century community. $6; Free for OSMH Members.”  The event starts at 12:15pm at the OSMH, 310 Washington Street.  See their website for details. 

Tenants’ Development Corporation will be hosting “Sharing Our Stories” in collaboration with the Center for Art and Community Partnerships from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.  The flyer reads: “Seasoned Citizens” share their personal narratives of life in the South End- Then and Now- in a dramatic and humorous presentation.”  The event will have an art and photo display, Q & A, refreshments, a raffle, and special guests.  It is Friday, March 30th, from 6 to 9pm at the Harriet Tubman House, 566 Columbus Avenue.  The event is free.  RSVP needed.  Please contact Ekua Holmes at 617-780-9765 or at ekua.holmes@massart.edu or Arnesse Brown at 617-291-7307 or at abrown@tenantsdevelopment.com to sign up!

The Boston Preservation Alliance’s 2012 Auction & Gala will be held at State Street Pavilion at Fenway Park at 5:30pm in association with the ballpark’s centennial celebrations.  Enjoy live and silent auctions featuring: travel packages, tickets to cultural and sporting events, gift certificates to Boston’s finest restaurants and historic hotels, and novelties related to preservation.  All proceeds support the Alliance’s advocacy efforts and help to sustain our education programs in the city’s underserved communities. To purchase tickets and for a preview of auction items, click here.

  

On Thursday, April 5th, the Gibson House will present Victorian Baseball in Boston.  From their website: “the evening will feature discussions on the early baseball rules, the Boston-New York rivalry, the first Boston dynasties and the poetry of baseball.  Festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. with a cocktail hour of beer and hot dogs at the Gibson House Museum, located across the street from Fisher College. The program gets underway at 6:45 p.m at Fisher College, 118 Beacon Street. Heading the list of panelists will be Bill Nowlin, author of more than 30 Red Sox-related books. Larry McCray…the coordinator of ‘Project Protoball,’ a record of print references to baseball prior to 1860, will also be on hand. Filling out the panel will be Joanne Hulbert, co-chair of SABR’s Music and Poetry Committee and a distant relative of William A. Hulbert, one of the founders of the National League. 

Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door, with a special $10 admission for members of the Gibson House Museum, SABR, the Boston Braves Historical Society, the Boston Preservation Alliance, the Ayer Mansion, the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, the South End Historical Society, and the Victorian Society.
To purchase tickets online visit www.thegibsonhouse.org/events.asp or call to reserve a space at 617-267-6338