New England Historical Society » Today’s History Highlights Archive

A wooden blockhouse that still stands by the Sheepscot River is the unlikely legacy of a cabinetmaker named Moses Davis who strongly disagreed with the purpose of the fort he helped… The pos...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/moses-davis-maine-cabinetmaker-built-fort/

The Cold Storm and Great Freeze of 1857 prostrated New England during the winter of 1856-57, one of the worst ever. Thirty-two snowstorms dumped more than six feet of snow… The post The Cold ...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-cold-storm-and-great-freeze-of-1857/

On Feb. 10, 1945, Jackie and Rachel Robinson got married in a big church wedding in Los Angeles. Two weeks later they boarded a plane to a hostile and unfamiliar… The post Jackie and Rachel R...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/jackie-and-rachel-robinson-a-love-story/

One of our favorite books is the People’s Guide to Greater Boston, a tour guide that goes beyond the usual listing of tourist attractions. The authors — Joseph Nevins, Suren… The post Six...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/six-stops-from-the-peoples-guide-to-greater-boston/

At 4 AM on a warm spring day, a stagecoach rumbled from the White House carrying the outgoing president of the United States. It was March 4, 1801, the day… The post John Adams Skipped the In...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/john-adams-skipped-the-inauguration-of-his-successors-so-did-his-son/

Life for Edith Wharton in Paris was lived in stimulating freedom and aristocratic luxury until World War I broke out. Shocked by the ravages of the fighting the famous American… The post Edit...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/edith-wharton-in-paris-during-world-war-i/

During the Gilded Age, the working girls of Boston had to contend not just with low pay but with reputations as immoral tramps. In the parlance of the day, they… The post The Working Girls of...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-working-girls-of-boston-immoral-floozies-or-honest-toilers/

At age 20, Mildred Taylor Mills’ future seemed stable. Heir to her father’s modest fortune, the Westport, Conn., girl was “for a long time considered the belle of Westport,” a… The po...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/henry-savage-the-n-h-producer-who-put-the-showgirls-in-the-broadway-show/

O Little Town of Bethlehem was written by a parish priest considered to be the greatest preacher of his day. His name was Phillips Brooks, and a visit to the… The post The Brahmin Celebrity P...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-brahmin-celebrity-priest-who-wrote-o-little-town-of-bethlehem/

After decades of neglect the common burial grounds of slaves are now being documented, honored and preserved from New York to Mississippi and beyond. But Agrippa Hull was buried among… The po...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/agrippa-hull-and-race-under-british-rule/