The Pelham Historical Society
Pelham, MA
| 2013 Saturday June 29 9:30 AM-11:30 AM | VISIT TO EMILY DICKINSON MUSEUM Please join us in a guided tour of both of the houses and a self-guided tour of the grounds of the Emily Dickinson Museum. Cost is $11 per person. Group size limited.For further information or to reserve a place by Saturday 6/15,
contact Blair Bigelow, 259-1117, blairf.bigelow@comcast.net. |
| 2013 Monday September 16 10:30 AM | PELHAM HOLLOW – THE TALK Pelham Hollow was a vital section of Pelham that was taken for the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir. It included a bobbin factory and charcoal kilns. We’ll have recollections from attendees, oral histories and other documentsCommunity Center - Ramsdell Room - following the Business Meeting Chairs: Kathy Keyes, 253-2739, Julie Rysnic,549-3823 |
Severe weather date: Sunday, September 29 2013Saturday September 21 10:30 AM | PELHAM HOLLOW – THE WALK We’ll hike from Gate 11 through Pelham Hollow to the Quabbin Reservoir – a fairly strenuous hike. Bring water and lunch to enjoy at the shore. All DCR rules are to be observedMeet at PHS Museum-corner Rte. 202/Amherst Rd. Information and to sign up: Kathy Keyes, 253-2739 |
| 2013 Sunday September 22 2:00 PM-4:00 PM | DEMONSTRATION OF SHAPE NOTE SINGING Visitors` participation at this 12th annual event is encouraged, but not required. Books available. Participants may come and go as they please.2:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m - Historic Town Hall For information: Barbara Jenkins, 253-2929 |
| 2013 Saturday September 28 6:30 PM | HARVEST SUPPER AND HOWARD D. BARNES MEMORIAL PIE AUCTION Sen. Stan Rosenberg auctions pies, Rep. Ellen Story will also likely attend & Diane Wentworth, caterer since 2010, once again caters the New England boiled dinnerHistoric Town Hall - Tickets: Doris Holden, 253-5993 |
Severe weather date: Sunday October 27th 2013Sunday October 20 11:00 AM | GATE 8 HIKE Co-sponsored by the Swift River Valley Historical Society and led by Marty Howe of SRVHS, we will explore Packardville and a section of Enfield, looking at various sites as we walk to the Reservoir. Bring water and lunch to eat at the shore. Approximately four hour hike. All DCR rules are to be observedMeet at Historic Complex Information and to sign up: Kathy Keyes 253-2739 |
| 2013 Sunday December 22 2:00 PM | HOLIDAY TEA AND MUSICAL PROGRAM We will again co-host this popular event with the Pelham Library by providing tea, sandwiches and sweets.Tea begins at 11:00 a.m. - Program begins at noon --Pelham Library For information: Barbara Jenkins, 253-2929 |
| 2013 Saturday June 15 1:00 PM-3:00 PM | VISIT TO HISTORIC JOEL GROUT HOMESTEAD Robert Groves, restoration specialist and owner of this 18th C. homestead, invites us to make our fifth and final visit to this now fully restored Pelham propertyMeet at Historic Complex, 12:45 PM, to car-pool Information and to sign up: Linda Hanscom, 323-7377 |
| 2013 Saturday June 1 10:30 AM | Pelham Graveyard Tour Come explore some of the many 18th and 19th century burial ground hidden throughout Pelham. Let`s see what stories we can learn from Pelham`s earliest settlers. We`ll start at Pelham`s oldest cemetery, first set aside in 1739, and continue from there.Meet at the Museum to carpool. Approx 3 hours.
Call to sign up: Bruce Klotz 253-1601 |
| 2013 Sunday May 26 9:30 AM | MEMORIAL DAY OBSERVANCE March behind the PHS banner at this service honoring individuals removed from their original resting-places for the building of Quabbin Reservoir.Meet at Museum at 9:30 a.m./11:00 a.m. services at Quabbin Park Cemetery Call to sign up: Bruce Klotz, 253-1601 |
| 2013 Sunday May 26 9:00AM-1:00PM | OUTDOOR WORK DAY Please join in sprucing up the grounds around Pelham`s historic buildings. Bring gardening gear, food/drink and your energy. 9:00 a.m - 1:00 p.m. Historic Complex (rain date Monday May 27 ) Call or email Bruce Klotz, 253-1601 brucek@pelhamhs.org, or just show up to help. |
| 2013 Monday May 20 7:00 P.M | GRAVESTONE CSI: Causes of Death Found on Gravestones Al and Betsy McKee, gravestone researchers, will present a slide show and talk about the causes of death recorded on early gravestones. The McKees have photographed hundreds of examples, from dramatic accidents to heart-breaking tragedies. There is much to learn from the stories carved in stone.Community Center - Ramsdell Room - following the Business Meeting Chairperson, Barbara Jenkins, 253-2929 |
| 2013 Thursday May 16 7:00 P.M | Jonathan Edwards and the Gospel of Love Prof. Ronald Storywill give a talk titled: Jonathan Edwards and the Gospel of LoveCommunity Center - Ramsdell Room Co-Sponsored with the Pelham Library |
| 2013 Monday April 15 7:00 P.M | IDENTIFICATION OF LOCAL BAMBOO RODS Rick Taupier, bamboo fishing rod restoration specialist and thirty-year collector, will educate us about rods made in Pelham and Montague and also teach us how to identify rods that have no labels.Community Center - Ramsdell Room - following the Business Meeting Chairperson: Linda Campbell Hanscom, 323-7377 |
| 2013 Thursday April 11 7:00 P.M | Clarence Hawkes (1869-1954)  Clarence Hawkes was physically disabled at a young age; part of one leg was amputated when he was nine, and he became blind four years later after a gun discharged in his face during a hunting accident. Apparently destined for a life of sad passivity, he overcame these traumas.Hawkes composed nearly 60 novels, poetry collections, essays and nature studies. His works found uncounted readers in America and, via translation, among French, Germans, Finns, Chinese, Japanese and the blind. Calvin Coolidge kept Hawkes` picture on his desk; TIME praised him; United Press Services alerted its 1400 newspapers on his birthday. More recently, Governor Patrick proclaimed Clarence Hawkes Day in Massachusetts. Dr. Freeman`s talk will explain his phenomenal popularity and ponder why he has slipped from public notice. Jim Freeman, professor of English at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst, is the author of Clarence Hawkes, America`s Blind Naturalist and the World He Lived In and has written on topics as diverse as John Milton, Joan of Arc, Donald Duck and the Angel of Hadley. Community Center - Ramsdell Room Co-Sponsored with the Pelham Library Information: Barbara Jenkins, 253-2929 |
| 2013 Monday March 18 7:00 P.M | WHAT’S COOKIN’ IN PELHAM? Join us for a discussion about what our neighbors would have been eating in Colonial Pelham and beyond. We will look at the growing, cooking and preservation of foods from the 1700s through the early 20th century. Please bring a family recipe to share from any region of the country. Samples of New England dishes will be available for your enjoyment.Community Center - Ramsdell Room - following the Business Meeting Chairperson: Kathy Keyes, 253-2739 |
Postponed from Last October 2013Monday February 11 7:00 PM | A Woman’s Place is In the Home: The Archaeology of Race and Gender at the A talk in recognition of Massachusetts Archaeology Month (but postponed because of weather):W. E. B. Du Bois Homesite, Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Prof. Whitney Battle-Baptiste, Dept. of Anthropology, UMass, Amherst JOINTLY SPONSORED BY THE PELHAM LIBRARY AND THE PELHAM HISTORICAl SOCIETY Community Center - Ramsdell Room |
| 2013 Tuesday January 1 2:00 P.M | Emancipation Proclamation Commemoration - Public Bell Ringing Help celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation by ringing the bell at the Pelham Historical Society Museum (the former Pelham Congregational Church 1840) on New Year’s Day.
On January 1 at 2:00 pm, churches and towns throughout the valley will ring their bells to recognize the moment the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, the document that led to the permanent end of slavery in the United States.
Join us at 2:00 PM up the hill at the museum and help us ring our bell. Please dress warmly, as there is no heat at the museum.
At 2:00 pm on New Year’s Day, January 1, 1863, using his war powers as president, Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, providing that all persons held as slaves would be “then, thenceforward, and forever free”. The Emancipation Proclamation made the permanent abolition of slavery a Union war aim and provided the legal framework for the emancipation of nearly all four million slaves as the Union armies advanced. Hearing of the Proclamation, many slaves escaped to Union lines as the army units moved south. At the end of the Civil War, slavery was forever outlawed in the United States with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in December, 1865. Pelham Historical Society Museum |
| 2012 Saturday December 22 2:00 PM | HOLIDAY TEA AND MUSICAL PROGRAM We'll again co-host this popular event with the Pelham Library by providing tea, sandwiches and sweets.Tea begins at 11:00 a.m. - Program begins at noon --Pelham Library For information: Barbara Jenkins, 253-2929 |
| 2012 Monday November 19 7:00 PM | IDENTIFY YOUR MYSTERIOUS HISTORIC PHOTOS Doug Kimball, Kimball Auctions, and Justin Kimball, photographer and associate professor of art at Amherst College, will help us learn about old photos, so please bring your own intriguing photosCommunity Center - Ramsdell Room - following the Annual Meeting
Chairperson: Linda Campbell Hanscom, 323-7377 |
| 2012 Monday October 22 7:00 PM | Highlights of Massachusetts Archaeology A talk in recognition of Massachusetts Archaeology Month:Prof. Eric Johnson, Dept. of Anthropology, UMass, Amherst Bring artifacts you have found in Pelham for identification! JOINTLY SPONSORED BY THE PELHAM LIBRARY AND THE PELHAM HISTORICAL SOCIETY Community Center - Ramsdell Room |
| 2012 Saturday October 20 10:00 AM | WHAT'S SO NICE ABOUT PELHAM GNEISS
A Geological History of Pelham
Mount Holyoke College Professor of Geology Steve Dunn will first presents a talk & then will guide a field trip. Come back 600 million years before Daniel Shays and visit the real birth of Pelham! We will car pool to visit examples of our geology, including some old quarries and an asbestos mine.The talk begins at 10:00AM in the Ramsdall room of the Pelham Library immediately followed by the field trip (approx. 11 AM.) For more information contact Bruce Klotz @ 413-253-1601 or email programs@pelhamhs.org |
| 2012 Monday October 1 7:00 PM | An Archaeology of Native American History in Western Mass.: 10,000 BC to 1700 AD. A talk in recognition of Massachusetts Archaeology Month:Prof. Elizabeth S. Chilton, Dept. of Anthropology, UMass, Amherst. JOINTLY SPONSORED BY THE PELHAM LIBRARY AND THE PELHAM HISTORICAL SOCIETY Community Center - Ramsdell Room |
| 2012 Saturday September 29 6:30 PM | HARVEST SUPPER AND HOWARD D. BARNES MEMORIAL PIE AUCTION Rep. Steve Kulik auctions pies, Sen. Stan Rosenberg and Rep. Ellen Story will also likely attend & Diane Wentworth, caterer since 2010, once again caters the New England boiled dinner. Historic Town Hall - Tickets: Sara Van Steenburgh 413-549-2944 |
| 2012 Sunday September 23 2:00 PM | DEMONSTRATION OF SHAPE NOTE SINGING Visitors' participation at this 11th annual event is encouraged, but not required. Books available. Participants may come and go as they please.2:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m - Historic Town Hall For information: Barbara Jenkins, 253-2929 |
| 2012 Sunday September 16 2:00 PM | Robert Lord Keyes Memorial Service A gathering to remember the life and public service of Robert Lord
Keyes, Town Archivist, Pelham Historian, Constable, Library History
Room Coordinator and loyal native son of Pelham will be held in the
historic Pelham Town Hall. There will be some brief introductory
accounts of his life and service to Pelham by co-workers and family
members, followed by comments, stories, etc. from audience members who
wish to participate. Refreshments will be available at the end.
Historic Town Hall (Rt 202 & Amherst Road) |
| 2012 Monday September 10 7:00 PM | Harvesting History Ruth Owen Jones and Sheila Rainford will show slides and talk about their book featuring stories and illustrations documenting the rich agricultural history in the Amherst area from 1700 – 2010. Community Center - Ramsdell Room - following the Business Meeting
Chairperson: Barbara Jenkins, 253-2929 |
| 2012 Saturday July 7 10:00 AM | VISIT TO EMILY DICKINSON MUSEUM Please join us in a guided tour of both of the houses and a self-guided tour of the grounds of the Emily Dickinson Museum. Cost is $9 per person. Group size limited.For further information or to reserve a place by Saturday 6/23,
contact Blair Bigelow, 259-1117, blairf.bigelow@comcast.net. |
| 2012 Saturday June 16 1:00 PM | WALK AROUND WELL-AWAY FARM Join us for a walk along the new conservation trails at the Shaw-Keyes Farm on South Valley Road. The walk may include a visit to the horse burying ground, old steam saw mill site and the largest well in Pelham.Meet at Pelham Library Parking Lot to carpool For information call Bruce Klotz, 253-1601. (Rescheduled from last year) |
| 2012 Sunday June 3 9:00AM-1:00PM | OUTDOOR WORK DAY WE HAVE GONE TO THE RAIN DATEPlease join in sprucing up the grounds around Pelham's historic buildings. Bring gardening gear, food/drink and your energy. 9:00 a.m - 1:00 p.m. Historic Complex (rain date Sunday June 3 ) Call or email Bruce Klotz, 253-1601 brucek@pelhamhs.org, or just show up to help. |
| 2012 Sunday May 27 9:30 AM | MEMORIAL DAY OBSERVANCE March behind the PHS banner at this service honoring individuals removed from their original resting-places for the building of Quabbin Reservoir.Meet at Museum at 9:30 a.m./11:00 a.m. services at Quabbin Park Cemetery Call to sign up: Chris Gould, 253-9162. |
| 2012 Monday May 21 7:00 PM | UNCLUTTERING THE ARCHIVES: A Close Look at the Work of an Archivist Martha Noblick, who worked in the Jones Library Special Collections, will explain and demonstrate some of the intricacies of archiving historical documents and artifacts. She will also help us to understand and appreciate the work that Rob Keyes did for Pelham. A quick tour into the library’s local history room and a peek into the Pelham archives will conclude the evening.In Memory of Robert Lord Keyes Community Center - Ramsdell Room - following the Business Meeting Chairperson: Chris Gould , 253-9162 |
| 2012 Thursday April 26 7:00 PM | PURITANS AND JEWS IN EARLY NEW ENGLAND Fitchburg State Univ. Professor Michael Hoberman will read from and discuss his new book New Israel/New England: Jews and Puritans in Early America (UMass Press, October 2011)Presented by Michael Hoberman of Fitchburg State University JOINTLY SPONSORED BY THE PELHAM LIBRARY AND THE PELHAM HISTORICAl SOCIETY Community Center - Ramsdell Room - following the Business Meeting Chairperson: Blair Bigelow, 259-1117 blairf.bigelow@comcast.net |
| 2012 Monday April 9 7:00 PM | FLORA OF THE MOUNT HOLYOKE RANGE: Karen Searcy, Senior Lecturer in the Biology Department and Curator of the Herbarium at UMass will present a talk and slide presentation focusing on current vegetation and how the flora has changed.Community Center - Ramsdell Room - following the Business Meeting Chairperson: Linda Campbell Hanscom, 323-7377 |
| 2012 Monday March 19 7:00 PM | FROM VALLEY TO RESERVOIR: This talk and slide show presentation by Clif Read, Supervisor of Interpretive Services, MA Department of Conservation and Recreation, Quabbin Reservoir will combine information on the history of the metropolitan Boston water supply and the history of the Swift River Valley with a particular focus on Pelham.Community Center - Ramsdell Room - following the Business Meeting Chairperson: Linda Campbell Hanscom - 323-7377 |
