This winter we introduce a new interactive feature on our website centered on the work of renowned New England architect William Ralph Emerson (1833-1917). The online database is searchable and includes information on all of Emerson’s known commissions, including those that are no longer standing and those that were never constructed. Visitors can browse or […]
Although we celebrate women’s achievements all year long, Women’s History Month is an opportunity for Historic New England to look at some of those special stories. A Few of the Tales We Tell at Our Historic Homes Women’s history is central to the stories at most Historic New England sites. From Eliza Susan Quincy at […]
This post is the second in a series on the “reduce, reuse, recycle” waste hierarchy. The series examines contemporary waste management practices in the US, how we dealt with waste in the past, and what we can do today to make an impact on waste reduction now and in the future. In 1960, a person […]
Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire will soon unveil a new mural commemorating Ona Judge Staines. Who was she, and what was her relationship to Portsmouth, New Hampshire? In 2023, the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire unveiled plans to paint a mural of Ona Marie Judge Staines on its Portsmouth, New Hampshire, headquarters. As […]
What can we learn about a family’s history from cherished books passed down through the generations? This update from our Study Center, prepared in cooperation with David Chesnut’s descendants, reveals some surprising answers. In 1903, David Chesnut Jr. was several years into his position at the Eustis Estate in Milton, Massachusetts, working as a coachman […]
New England has experienced record levels of river and coastal flooding over the past several weeks. Our social media feeds are filled with images of vehicles, propane tanks, even entire buildings floating down rivers and coastlines. Flash flood warnings light up our phones, while news headlines inform us of which precipitation or storm surge records […]
From the charming main street of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, to the bucolic vistas of Jamestown, Rhode Island, to the bustling city center of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, preservation is an essential ingredient in the places where we love to live in New England. In this season of gratitude and giving, we want to recognize six new donations […]
In the early days of the telephone, it was impossible for users to directly dial one another. Rather, they called the telephone exchange where an operator manually relayed the call using a central switchboard. When telephone exchanges first became operational in early 1878, the switchboards were operated by teenage boys. However, due to issues with […]
Historic New England is happy to announce the loan of our archival object entitled Rio De Janeiro; Vessel; Boston, Massachusetts; Paris, Maine. is on loan to the American Folk Art Museum through March 2024 for their new exhibit Unnamed Figures: Black Presence and Absence in the Early American North. The curators believe that Pedro Tovookan […]
Historic New England’s Study Center welcomed two community liaisons, one new and one returning fellow to continue the work done on the Recovering New England’s Voices project. Dr. Alissa Butler, Ph.D., the manager of the Study Center, states: “With each passing year, I grow more excited about the new cohort of researchers coming into the […]
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