New England Historical Society » Religion and Social Movements

From the tall windows of Sempringham Hall, eleven-year-old Anne Dudley could see out over the vast marshy fenlands of Lincolnshire. Sheep grazed on the low green hills, and horse-drawn wagons… ...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-purely-puritan-love-of-anne-dudley-bradstreet/

A young British aristocrat, Capt. Emmanual Altham, lost his ship and nearly lost his life off the coast of Maine in the early 17th century. But this wasn’t the first… The post The Wreck of ...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-wreck-of-the-little-james-plymouth-colonys-snakebit-ship/

Bowdoin College, chartered in 1794, is the oldest institution of higher education in Maine.  It is located in the small town of Brunswick in Cumberland County near Casco Bay and… The post Es...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/establishing-bowdoin-maines-first-college/

Nathaniel Ingersoll in 1692 stood as a prominent figure in the town of Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony. He served as a deacon of the church, a militia lieutenant and the… The post Nathaniel I...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/nathaniel-ingersoll-host-of-the-salem-witch-trials/

The fourth Thursday in November celebrates a group of immigrants called the Pilgrims. Their story has been told and retold with many errors of omission and commission. Here is the… The post T...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-straight-story-of-thanksgiving/

David Wyman was a historian of the Holocaust. He spent his academic career at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst teaching, researching and writing about this horrific chapter of history. A 1...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/david-wyman-holocaust-scholar/

In July 1934, a Connecticut congressman named Schuyler Merritt presided over the groundbreaking ceremony for the Merritt Parkway. The road would be “constructed for pleasant transit,” he said...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/7-fun-facts-about-the-merritt-parkway/

Puritanism and piracy together helped colonize New England with the zealous oversight of Robert Rich, 1st Earl of Warwick. Known as the “Pious Pyrate” in his day, Warwick sponsored half… ...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/warwick-the-puritan-pirate-king-who-colonized-new-england/

By 1912, social reformer Jacob Riis had spent more than 30 years giving a voice to some of New York City’s most vulnerable citizens using a pen and a camera.… The post Jacob Riis’s “Hap...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/jacob-riis-happy-valley/

In 1692, Satan came to Salem in Massachusetts colony and began to establish his kingdom. He started by cajoling and bullying his first victims, sometimes promising them wealth and comfort… Th...

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/when-satan-came-to-salem-in-1692/