Upcoming Events
Macy's Tree Lighting
November 28, 2008
5:00pm
Home Sweet Home for the Holidays
December 13, 2008
11:00am-4:00pm
Middays at the Meeting House: The Art of the Meal
January 10, 2009
12:15pm-1:15pm
What would be on the menu in a proper upper or middle class home during the Gilded Age? Susan Williams, Professor of History and American Studies at Fitchburg State College, details the astonishing complexity of the table setting and meticulous rules of etiquette. $5; Free for members.
Middays at the Meeting House: Isabella Stewart Gardner in Europe
January 17, 2009
12:15pm-1:00pm
One of the foremost female patrons of the arts, Isabella Stewart Gardner amassed a remarkable collection of fine and decorative arts as she traveled throughout Europe. Join Mary Melvin Petronella, editor of Victorian Boston Today, to hear how Mrs. Jack’s creative vision and intellectual curiosity were sparked by her travels abroad.
$5; Free for members
For more information: http://www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.orgMiddays at the Meeting House: Poland Spring 1860-1900
January 24, 2009
12:15pm-1:00pm
David L. Richards, Assistant Director of the Northwood University Library, chronicles the rise of this 19th-century tourist mecca. By 1900, the Ricker family’s rustic frontier farm had transformed into a magnificent example of Victorian summer hotel culture, and one of the most enduring brands of mineral water, the eponymous Poland Spring.
$5; Free for members Booksigning to Follow
For more information: http://www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.orgThe Preservation of Mount Vernon
January 29, 2009
12:15pm-1:00pm
In the 1850s, Mount Vernon, the once-spectacular estate of George Washington, sat in disrepair and neglect on the banks of the Potomac River. Betsy Chapin, Trustee of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, discusses how the resolve of concerned citizens saved this national icon and birthed America’s historic preservation movement.
$5; Free for members
For more information: http://www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.orgMidday at the Meeting House: Furniture Forensics
February 7, 2009
12:15pm-1:00pm
What can construction techniques and tool marks uncover about the age and maker of your chest of drawers? Conservator John Childs teaches us how to date antique furniture by looking carefully at the subtle marks imprinted in the wood.
$5; Free for members
For more information: http://www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.orgMiddays at the Meeting House:‘Til Death Do Us Part: Marriage and Mourning Jewelry
February 14, 2009
12:15pm-1:00pm
Outward signs of bereavement, fidelity or social status, rings, brooches, and bracelets honoring marriage and mourning have been passed down for generations. Sarah Brierley, Cataloguer at Historic New England, presents images of these unique pieces made of stone, gems, and even human hair.
$5; Free for members
For more information: http://www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.orgMiddays at the Meeting House:The Layered Walls of Beauport Mansion
February 21, 2009
12:15pm-1:00pm
Beauport Mansion, the eclectic 1907 summer cottage of interior designer Henry Davis Sleeper, is lush with delightful and exotic objects and playful designs. Associate Conservator Michaela Neiro discusses the efforts to conserve the Gloucester home’s vivid collection of Chinoiserie wallpaper illustrating Chinese themes of flora and nature.
$5; Free for members
For more information: http://www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.orgThe Charles River Esplanade: Its Fascinating History
February 26, 2009
6:00pm
On February 26 at 6:00 pm the Boston Preservation Alliance and the Old South Meeting House will sponsor a lecture and slide presentation entitled The Charles River Esplanade: Its Fascinating History by Linda Cox, a longtime Esplanade advocate and a student of its history. The lecture will use images from many sources to take the audience through the history and evolution of Boston’s world-famous riverside park. Learn about the political struggle and intrigue, the heroic personalities, and the great care and labor that have made the park what it is today.
The Esplanade’s history dates back to 1892, when Frederick Law Olmsted designed Charlesbank, a park that was created on newly made land between what is now the Museum of Science and the Longfellow Bridge. Defining moments in the park’s history include the construction of the Charles River dam in 1910 and the creation of the “Boston Embankment,” a new strip of land extending from the Longfellow Bridge to Charlesgate; the widening and beautification of the Embankment in the 1930s, according to the plan of landscape architect Arthur A. Shurcliff; and the construction of Storrow Drive in the 1950s, at which time new land was also created and the park was redesigned with a series of lagoons and new plantings.
Free and Open to the Public. Please contact Erin Ware at eware@bostonpreservation.org or 617-367-2458 to reserve your seat or for more information.
For more information: http://www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.orgMiddays at the Meeting House: Voices from the Backstairs
February 28, 2009
12:15pm-1:00pm
The grand homes of New England required the work of legions of household servants, domestics whose stories are rarely seen in the historic record. Now, Jennifer Pustz, Museum Historian, through painstaking research, restores the lost voices of those who silently walked the halls.
$5; Free for members
For more information: http://www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.orgMiddays at the Meeting House: In Her Own Words: Harriet Beecher Stowe
March 6, 2009
12:15pm-1:00pm
Spend an afternoon with Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist and author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Watch as actress and educator Jan Turnquist speaks as this deeply driven crusader who Abraham Lincoln called “the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war.”
$5; Free for members
For more information: http://www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.orgMusic at the Meeting House: The Conservatory Concert Series
March 7, 2009 to March 28, 2009
12:15pm
The New England Conservatory and Old South Meeting House present FREE classical music every Friday at 12:15 pm with Boston’s most gifted classical artists.
For more information: http://www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.orgFreedom of Expression, Freedom of Dissent
March 12, 2009
6:30pm
Boston’s battles in the 1920s over free speech were similarly waged nationally, and ushered in new interpretations of freedom of expression. What are our modern battles? What does dissent mean in the 21st century?
For more information: http://www.oldsouthmeetinhouse.orgMiddays at the Meeting House: In Her Own Words: Francis Ellen Watkins Harper
March 13, 2009
12:15pm-1:00pm
Born in free Maryland, but witness to the pervasive oppression of the era, Frances Harper was a devoted abolitionist and feminist activist. Drawing from Harper’s essays, letters and poems, performer Dorothy Prince brings to life this leading African American poet and prolific novelist of the 19th century.
$5; Free for members
For more information: http://www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.orgMiddays at the Meeting House: The Saturday Evening Girls
March 20, 2009
12:15pm-1:00pm
Organized by local reformers to educate immigrant girls, the Saturday Evening Girls’ Club created the charming ceramics of the Paul Revere Pottery. Nonie Gadsden, Curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, shares the story of one of this social and trade group’s most gifted artists Sara Galner.
$5; Free for members
For more information: http://www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.orgThe Rights of Immigrants
March 26, 2009
6:30pm
American history is filled with examples of immigrant exclusion and deportation. Do today‘s immigration policies reflect fear and hostility, or legality and justice? Can examining our past bring us new insight?
For more information: http://www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.orgMiddays at the Meeting House: In Her Own Words: Annie Sullivan
March 27, 2009
12:15pm-1:00pm
Meet the acclaimed “Miracle Worker,” Annie Sullivan, who taught Helen Keller to communicate, in this first-person performance by storyteller and actor Kate Carney. Nearly blind in her youth, Sullivan overcame adversity and pioneered education techniques to reach the deaf and blind with innovative sensory experiences.
$5; Free for members
For more information: http://www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.orgTorture and Unlawful Imprisonment, Justice and Power
April 2, 2009
6:30pm
Anti-terror policies including torture, rendition and indefinite detention of suspects have necessitated examination of the expansion of executive power. Should the justice system be redefined to preserve national security?
For more information: http://www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.orgThe Right to Vote
April 30, 2009
6:30pm
Voting rights in American history have been shaped by economic development, immigration and class relations. How do new efforts to regulate voting change our concept of this civic act?
For more information: http://www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.org
