In case you have not seen it yet in its printed form, we are very pleased to have posted our 2012 Annual Report online. Last year was full of celebrations and events to do with our Bicentennial, but that in no way marginalized the full year we had of fellowships, conferences, public programs, book publications, … Continue reading Reflecting on a Bicentennial Year: 2012 Annual Report Online
The AAS’s bicentennial gala—a black-tie affair held in the Society’s reading room, complete with a dance floor where scholars usually sit and an Isaiah Thomas made out of marzipan—has come and gone. But well-dressed enthusiasts of America’s printed legacy still want to know: What is the appropriate sartorial observance of the Society’s bicentennial? While our … Continue reading What Do You Wear to a Bicentennial?
Some of us on the AAS staff are still recuperating from October’s bicentennial celebrations. There were three days of events, beginning with the Baron lecture by Patricia Nelson Limerick on Thursday night. On Friday morning the curators presented a celebration of bicentennial gifts, followed by lunch across the street at the Goddard Daniels House. On … Continue reading How to Celebrate a 200th Birthday – AAS’s Bicentennial Gala
In the next couple of months, Past is Present will be highlighting a number of gifts received in honor of the American Antiquarian Society’s bicentennial. Remember, there is still time to join the group of bicentennial donors. It continues to surprise me when I talk with people who are laboring under the misconception that AAS … Continue reading Bicentennial Gifts: Early Wyoming Imprints
This just in for people looking for something to do in Worcester this Saturday…The Antiquarian Society is teaming up with the other venerable Worcester institution to be celebrating its bicentennial in 2012. That’s right, on Saturday, October 20th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the First Baptist …
As many of you may already know, the story of the American Antiquarian Society is in many ways linked to the War of 1812. For if the war had not been underway when Isaiah Thomas decided to found the Society, we could very well have ended up in Boston rather than here in Worcester. As … Continue reading Celebrating our Mutual Bicentennial: A Conference on the War of 1812
Back in the 1950s, the AAS used to exhibit its items in places with traffic – (skeptical? Check out this 1952 photograph taken by Ted Woolner showing the front window of the Industrial City Bank and Banking Co. in Worcester with our Graphic Arts items) – but then the Internet was born and we learned … Continue reading A View at the Bicentennial
Tomorrow, Thursday, April 19 – 7:30 p.m. “Celebrating the American Antiquarian Society, 1812-2012” Philip F. Gura Philip Gura, William S. Newman Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is the author of the just-published bicentennial history of the American Antiquarian Society. He will tell …
The first of the books about the history of the American Antiquarian Society to mark the 2012 bicentennial has arrived. It is A Place in My Chronicle: A New Edition of the Diary of Christopher Columbus Baldwin, 1829-1835, co-authored by Jack Larkin and Caroline Sloat. We always call it “diary” in the singular, …
On May 25-26, 2021, the American Antiquarian Society is hosting a virtual conference that will bring together a range of scholars in conversation about new directions in textual editing and scholarly editions. Since the late 1960s, AAS has been a sponsor of the Cooper Edition, a scholarly edition of James Fenimore Cooper’s works with the … Continue reading Virtual Conference: Textual Editing and the Future of Scholarly Editions
Most members of the American Antiquarian Society are aware of the enormous contributions made by the Salisbury family of Worcester County, Massachusetts. Stephen Salisbury II served as president of the Society from 1854 until his death in 1884, and his son, Stephen Salisbury III, served as president from 1887 until his death in 1905. (A … Continue reading How Six-Year-Old Stephen Salisbury III Rescued One of the Rarest and Most Important Christmas Documents in American History
Emily Isakson is a senior at Mount Holyoke College and was a Readers’ Services page this past summer. As an ancient studies major with a focus in art history and archaeology, Emily has always been interested in what has shaped the society we know today. Her time at AAS has only furthered her curiosity about … Continue reading An AAS Curiosity: The Puzzle of the Mayan Mural Drawings
!["The Improved and Illustrated Game of Dr. Busby." Salem, Mass.: Published by W. and S. B. Ives., [1843?].](https://pastispresent.org/wp-content/uploads/Dr.-Busby.jpg)
This past summer we completed work to make the Society’s collection of over four hundred games more accessible to our readers and the scholarly community. Christine Graham Ward, the Society’s Visual Materials Cataloger, created detailed records for each game in our General Catalog. These records include a brief description of each game, a tally of … Continue reading Game On: AAS’s Game Collection
Past is Present: I guess we’ll start out with your new projects. Could you both describe the projects you’re working on here? Claudia Bushman: What I’m doing is an extension of a project I began my scholarly work with, which is a study of Harriet Hanson Robinson, second echelon reformer who spent a lot of … Continue reading Richard and Claudia Bushman, AAS Distinguished Scholars in Residence
Many around here thought that this first post-bicentennial fiscal year would be quiet, unexciting, a return to routine. What they didn’t count on was the creation of a digital humanities curator position to refine, focus, and expand our already extensive digital projects; an explosion of our social media presence; and of course, the awarding of a … Continue reading Another year, another annual report (but this time, with Instagram!)
