Every historic site has a story—and so do the people who care for them. Meet Jane Hennedy, Site Manager for Southern Rhode Island at Historic New England. She has been with the organization for ten years and manages Casey Farm and Watson Farm. When Jane isn’t running outdoor events and leading tours, she enjoys hiking and making tasty meals from the organic produce at Casey Farm. Tell us a little […]
Sustaining Our Past, usually written by Historic New England’s Director of Sustainability Joie Grandbois, explores Historic New England’s climate action efforts and highlights how we’re adapting historic sites to meet the challenges of a changing environment. This month, our Climate Action Intern, Allison Morse, is taking over Joie’s column with an Earth Day-inspired reading list. […]
At Historic New England, climate action is part of our core preservation mission. Caring for our historic sites has always meant thinking about the long term, which now also means engaging seriously with a changing climate and what it will take to keep these places resilient. In recognition of Earth Month, we asked Katherine Pomplun, one […]
Like many siblings, Phoebe and Sophie Cos grew up with shared interests and values. So perhaps it’s no surprise to outside observers that they both ended up in the GLAM sector—industry shorthand for galleries, libraries, archives, and museums. That outcome, however, was far from inevitable. Phoebe explored engineering, teaching, and publishing before landing in museums. Sophie […]
Historic New England’s landscapes, like the buildings they surround, are dynamic systems shaped by environmental pressures. Today, invasive pests, pathogens, and climate change are accelerating their evolution, threatening two common New England tree species: beech and ash. In historic landscapes, these losses carry added significance because individual trees often define a landscape’s character. Their disappearance […]
At Historic New England, sustainability and climate action are integral to our work. Earth Month offers a meaningful opportunity to highlight these efforts and reflect on their impact. In our region, addressing climate challenges requires a careful balance of preservation, resilience, and the needs of our communities. Joie Grandbois, Historic New England’s Director of Sustainability, […]
Lobster rolls and lighthouses are usually the first things people imagine when they think of Maine. Maine’s rugged coastlines and small-town communities have long nurtured authors whose imaginations have shaped American literature. For many readers, Stephen King defines Maine literature with his tales of the paranormal, but the state’s Gothic literary tradition began long before […]
In this month’s installment of Behind the Exhibition, Curator of Collections Erica Lome reflects on two very different tea parties held in Boston to mark the centennial of the Boston Tea Party—one a festive affair commemorating the original and one thrown by suffragists linking the 1773 act of rebellion to their own cause. These are among […]
On the morning of August 24, 1824, after much anticipatory fanfare, a remarkable scene unfolded on Boston Common. It was the arrival and ceremonial greeting of the Marquis de Lafayette, who was returning to the United States fifty years after his involvement in the American Revolution to celebrate and be celebrated by an adoring population […]
Sustaining Our Past, written by Historic New England’s Director of Sustainability Joie Grandbois, explores Historic New England’s climate action efforts and highlights how we’re adapting historic sites to meet the challenges of a changing environment. Through project updates, partnerships, community engagement—and the occasional reflection on sustainability in our communities and our daily lives—Joie shares how […]
For St. Patrick’s Day, we’re revisiting a story from the Fall 2007 issue of Historic New England magazine that highlights the Irish men and women who worked in the Phillips household in the early twentieth century. Like many prosperous American families of the period, the Phillipses depended on a skilled domestic staff to keep their busy home […]
On June 27, 1860, Dr. Harriot Kezia Hunt threw an elaborate party in her Boston home to celebrate her silver wedding anniversary. However, she was an unmarried woman with no future plans of matrimony. Who was her lucky partner of twenty-five years? The Boston Liberator described the happy pair as Miss Harriot K. Hunt and […]
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