The Pioneer Valley is full of opportunities to explore local history. Please check the events calendar often. See Past Events here.
ON-GOING
September 17, 2011 thru February 5, 2012 — “Curators’ Choice: A New Look at Old Objects”
Flynt Center, Historic Deerfield
A new exhibition, Curators’ Choice: A New Look at Old Objects, will display some 22 selections from Historic Deerfield’s sizeable decorative arts collection starting Saturday, Sept. 17. Ranging from well-loved favorites and overlooked gems to recent acquisitions and objects with new stories to tell, the show offers a diverse assemblage drawn from the museum’s collection of furniture, silver, ceramics, glass, silver, base metals, prints, maps, paintings, and textiles.
“The show includes objects where new research has come to light and completely changed our view of it,” said Amanda Lange, Curatorial Department Chair and Curator of Historic Interiors at Historic Deerfield. “A scratch-decorated jug made by Thomas Crafts (1781-1861) of Whately, Massachusetts, is a good example of this.”
Peter Heslip, a student from Bates College, took the opportunity to study the unusual, scratch-decorated jug during his participation in the Historic Deerfield Summer Fellowship Program. The jug features decoration, which runs around the shoulders, depicting a fort flying the British flag from which four rowboats have been launched full of men with firearms heading towards the anchored steamship inscribed Carolina; the ship has her crew on deck, a bellowing smoke stack, and a 28-star American flag flying from the bow; to the left of the ship are fish in the water, a great waterfall, and a small domed island below the falls.
To previous researchers and curators, the scratched scene proved inexplicable and mysterious. But dogged pursuit by Heslip discovered that Crafts’ simply misspelled the name of the ship-the Carolina should have been the Caroline-thus creating the initial confusion and solving the mystery.
It turns out that the jug commemorates the attack on the American steamship Caroline by Canadian militiamen while the ship was lying at port in the Niagara River on December 29, 1837. This ship transported provisions and recruits to Navy Island where William MacKenzie’s Canadian rebels and American sympathizers had retreated after the abortive 1837 Upper Canadian Rebellion. On the night of December 29th, Canadian militia, led by Commander Andrew Drew, Royal Navy, boarded the Caroline, killed one of her crew, and destroyed the ship by sending it over Niagara Falls.
Thomas Crafts may have learned of this incident from accounts published in the Greenfield Gazette and Mercury on January 9, 1838. Why Crafts created this commemorative jug is still unknown. Some mysteries yet remain to be solved.
Other highlights of the exhibition include: a gown which was worn for three weddings in the Hopkins-Worthington-Dwight families between 1759 and 1824; A New and Exact Map of the Dominions of the King of Great Britain on ye Continent of North America by Herman Moll, c. 1735; and a tall case clock by Richardson Miner of Stratford, Connecticut, c. 1760.
The exhibition was organized by several Historic Deerfield staff members. These “curators” included: Philip Zea, President; Ned Lazaro, Collections Manager; David Bosse, Librarian and Curator of Maps; Joshua Lane, Curator of Academic Programs and Curator of Furniture; and Amanda Lange, Curatorial Department Chair and Curator of Historic Interiors.
Curators’ Choice: A New Look at Old Objects will be on view in Historic Deerfield’s Flynt Center of Early New England Life through February 5, 2012. For more information about Historic Deerfield, please call 413-775-7214 or log on to www.historic-deerfield.org.
February 2012 — VISUAL (Ventures in Science Using Art Laboratory) Exhibit
Wistariahurst Museum, 238 Cabot St., Holyoke
During the month of February, images from VISUAL will be on display in the Wistariahurst Gallery. Graduate students from the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center have captured fascinating images as a direct experimental result from research conducted on the Amherst campus or at its partner institutions. The images project anything from pasta-shaped swirls in vibrant hues of purple and blue, aptly named “Angelo Hair Pasta” by Angelo Pedicini, to a leaf-like close up in blues amplified with neon yellow sprays of color in “Storm” by Sam Fakhouri. Accompanying each of the images in the gallery is a description, in non-technical terms, that explains the science behind the picture. VISUAL is an outreach program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst based on the premise that the visual arts provide an effective means to educate and stimulate the general public as well as students of all ages on the importance of scientific research in our everyday lives. Works on view through February.
On Thursday, February 2 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. join us to learn more about the art in our February gallery at Wistariahurst for the opening reception of VISUAL (Ventures in Science Using Art Laboratory) Admission to gallery $3
February 4 thru March 24, 2012 — “Open Hearth Cooking Classes”
Hall Tavern Kitchen, Historic Deerfield, 10 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Have you always wanted to try your hand at open hearth cooking? Now is the time — check out these great classes coming up next year. Historic Deerfield will offer instruction in open hearth cooking for those who are interested in historic foodways and hearth management. A series of seven one-day classes has been scheduled for Saturdays in February and March 2011. In the kitchen of the 1786 Hall Tavern, museum guides will demonstrate cookery techniques and lead discussions on 18th- and early 19th-century food preparation, preservation technology, seasonality, diet, and the availability of local and imported foodstuffs. A bibliography on open hearth cookery will be distributed.
Saturday, February 4, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. – Hearth Cooking Basics
Saturday, February 11, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. – Soups and Stews
Saturday, February 18, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. – A Winter Menu
Saturday, February 25, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. – 17th-Century Cooking
Please note that there will be no class on March 3.
Saturday, March 10, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. – On the Rise: Breads, Cakes and Biscuits
Saturday, March 17, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. – Pies
Saturday, March 24, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. – Cooking with Herbs
Registrants will participate in the process and assist hearth cooks in the tasks undertaken. We recommend that you dress comfortably, bring an apron, pen, and paper for notes. Participants will sample the foods prepared in the program or, if preferred, participants may bring a brown bag lunch. For program information, please contact Claire Carlson at ccarlson@historic-deerfield.org or 413-775-7217.
September 2011 thru June 2012, 1st Wednesday of the Month
Western Mass. Genealogical Society
Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main St., Agawam, 6-8 p.m.
Interested in learning your family history? Join us for a meeting or workshop to trace your roots. We meet on the first Wednesday of the month, 6-8 p.m., at the Agawam Senior Center. Meetings are free and open to the public.
We also offer Genealogy Computer Workshops on the third and fourth Thursdays of the month, 6-8 p.m., in the Agawam Senior Center’s computer room. workshops are free for members; $10 for non-members. Annual membership to WMGS is $20.
Website: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mawmgs/index.html
Email: WestMassGen@GMail.com
February 25, 2012 thru February 17, 2013 — “Furnishing the Frontier: The Material World of the Connecticut River Valley, 1680-1720″
Historic Deerfield, Deerfield
Deerfield at the end of the 17th century bore little resemblance to what is here today. Fewer than 50 families lived in small houses with one or two-rooms and a 
garret, clustered within and around a protective stockade. Their dwellings provided modest living space and a place to store crops, marketable commodities such as furs and lumber, and farming tools. Only the wealthiest owned luxury goods such as a clock, refined textiles, or perhaps several silver spoons. This exhibition features objects drawn from Historic Deerfield’s collection, many with local histories. On view through February 17, 2013.
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
February 5, 2012 — “Cantabile” 10th Anniversary Performance
Wistariahurst Museum, 238 Cabot St., Holyoke, 2 p.m.
On Sunday, February 5 at 2:00 p.m., name that tune! The music on the Cantabile’s program is a mixture of the sacred and secular, combining mass movements and the secular tunes they were based upon. Composers include Josquin, Ockeghem, Isaac, Palestrina and many other masters of the Renaissance. The members of Cantabile will be joined by special guests playing an array of Renaissance-style string and wind instruments, for a sound and texture treat.
Cantabile is a self-directed vocal ensemble based in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts that specializes in a cappella performances of vocal chamber music from the European Renaissance of the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries.
Cantabile was founded as an octet in 2001 and made its concert debut in January 2002 at the Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke, Massachusetts with a program of a cappella Venetian Renaissance works. Since 2005 the group has performed as a sextet. The current members are Diana Brewer, Dorie Goldman, James Mead, David Olsson, Peter Shea, and Kayla Werlin.
Now it’s Cantabile’s 10th Anniversary and we want to celebrate with them! Join us in marking this milestone on Sunday afternoon, February 5 at 3:00 p.m. at Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke. Tickets $15
February 11, 2012 — “Victorian Valentines Workshop”
Wistariahurst Museum, 238 Cabot St., Holyoke, 12:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Come to Wistariahurst Museum for this fun and creative program that will inspire the artist in everyone! View antique valentines for inspiration, and make some of your own valentines to send to special friends, family and sweethearts.
Valentine’s Day has a long history. Although named after St. Valentine, the holiday’s origins seem more firmly rooted in pagan celebrations. Valentine’s Day traditions range far and wide. At one time the celebration of the holiday involved the exchange of a token gift of love, including a hand-made valentine card, especially during 18th century England and North America. Home-made cards were widely replaced by commercially produced valentine cards in the 19th century when valentines were sent not only to one special valentine, but often to a wider circle of friends and relations. Join us for a fun and festive program. You won’t want to miss it! Reservations for the workshop are suggested. $5 per person
February 26, 2012 –”Slow Food/Sustainable Gardens”
Deerfield Community Center, Deerfield, 2 p.m.
In 2012, the Historic Deerfield Open Hearth Cooking Program will enter its 25th year of service! To celebrate this special occasion, scholars and experts will come together on three Sundays this winter to delve into the savory and seductive world of food and gardening in a winter lecture series titled “Gathering, Gardening, Preserving: Exploring Local Food in New England.”
“Slow Food/Sustainable Gardens,” will be delivered by John Forti on February 26. Forti is Curator of Historic Gardens and Landscapes at Strawbery Banke Museum, and co-author of American Household Botany: A History of Useful Plants, 1620-1900.
All of the lectures will be offered at 2 p.m. at the Deerfield Community Center (formerly known as the White Church Community Center), and are free and open to the public.
For more information visit www.historic-deerfield.org .
MARCH
March 18, 2012 — “Banbury, Succotash, and Bannocks: Transplants, Natives, and Universals in New England Cookery”
Deerfield Community Center, Deerfield, 2 p.m.
In 2012, the Historic Deerfield Open Hearth Cooking Program will enter its 25th year of service! To celebrate this special occasion, scholars and experts will come together on three Sundays this winter to delve into the savory and seductive world of food and gardening in a winter lecture series titled “Gathering, Gardening, Preserving: Exploring Local Food in New England.”
Sandra L. Oliver will present the lecture, “Banbury, Succotash, and Bannocks: Transplants, Natives, and Universals in New England Cookery,” on March 18. Oliver is an Independent Food Historian, and author of Food in Colonial and Federal America.
All of the lectures will be offered at 2 p.m. at the Deerfield Community Center (formerly known as the White Church Community Center), and are free and open to the public.
For more information visit www.historic-deerfield.org .
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