“…you sockdologizing old man-trap!” Stomp. Scream. Panic. “Good, good – now next time, keep the scream going longer and continue the dialogue over it. Let’s see how that works.” This was just one of many exchanges between the group of nine actors practicing a staged reading of the historically-based play Sockdology, and Jeffrey Hatcher, the [...]
Did you receive your copy of the Almanac yet? If not, a PDF version is currently available on the AAS website. But that’s not what this post is about. This is not a post about digital surrogacy. It’s a post about good, old-fashioned printing presses (okay, okay, a 1995 press). While we undoubtedly advocate for [...]
Over the next several months we are very excited to offer a new series of workshops for K-12 teachers. First up is “The Emancipation Proclamation” on Saturday, April 20 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., led by prominent Lincoln historian Harold Holzer. During this one-day workshop we will examine carefully the text of the proclamation, [...]
Tonight is the night! Come to AAS at 6 p.m. for the Society’s 6th annual Adopt-a-Book event! There will be food, drinks, original collection materials to view, and curatorial knowledge-sharing. If you haven’t pre-adopted it will be $10 to get in, but if you have, it’s free! You can still browse the 2013 Adopt-A-Book Catalog to [...]
We hope to see you in the library in person tomorrow, Friday, April 5, at 6 p.m. AAS’s 6th annual Adopt-a-Book event will bring together book-loving research fellows, staff, and supporters for an evening of viewing historical material recently purchased by the curators, sharing a drink, and, of course, raising funds for the Society’s future acquisitions. You [...]
Due to the popular demand for “orphans” in our 2013 Adopt-a-Book online catalog, we have recently added twenty new titles for you to review. All of these new items are priced below $200 and the group includes material from the books, newspapers, children’s literature, manuscripts and graphic arts departments. Here are two examples from the [...]
The AAS curatorial team is just delighted by the response to our 6th annual Adopt-a-Book event, with over half of the selected “orphans” already adopted by generous supporters. Thank you! Below, please find one of the few titles for children still available from the online catalog as well as a railroad map from the cartography [...]
Here at AAS we are always happy to collaborate with that institution across the street, Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The students there are required to do what is called an Interactive Qualifying Project, which involves a digital humanities project. To that end, Dan Boudreau and Bryan MacDonald produced “A New Commonwealth Votes: Using GIS to Analyze [...]
On Friday, April 5th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., the American Antiquarian Society will be hosting our 6th Annual Adopt-A-Book event. This event is an important fundraiser for the curatorial team at the Society, and monies raised will go towards future acquisitions of books, prints, newspapers, manuscripts, and children’s literature. Below are examples of two [...]
Chances are if you are looking at this, you like to read. If you are the least bit curious about reading habits in America and how they have been presented in books and images over the past three centuries, I encourage you to visit a new exhibition at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Last week [...]
On Friday, April 5th from 6:00 to 8:00pm, the American Antiquarian Society will be hosting our 6th Annual Adopt-A-Book event. This event is an important fundraiser for the curatorial team at the Society, and monies raised will go towards future acquisitions of books, prints, newspapers, manuscripts, and children’s literature. You can browse the entire catalog [...]
A memorial service for Marcus A. McCorison will be held on Saturday, February 16 at 11 a.m. at United Congregational Church, 6 Institute Road, Worcester, Massachusetts with reception following at the American Antiquarian Society, 185 Salisbury Street, Worcester. For more information go to: http://www.americanantiquarian.org/mccorison.htm.
As we began planning a lengthy piece on AAS president emeritus Marcus A. McCorison for the Almanac newsletter last week, we pulled photographs of him out of the archives for possible use as illustrations. I was struck by this photograph: In it, Marcus is sitting in his office, which is now my office. On the [...]
This past weekend we said goodbye to a dear friend and colleague. Marcus A. McCorison – librarian, director, president, and then president emeritus of the American Antiquarian Society – passed away on Sunday, February 3. He will be sorely missed. Although a more detailed homage to Mr. McCorison’s contributions to the Society will be published [...]
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, [...]
On March 30-31, 2012, as part of our bicentennial programming, AAS hosted a symposium titled “Research Libraries in the Digital Age: Needs and Opportunities.” This symposium was intended to provide the AAS Council and staff with a set of perspectives that would help inform its vision of how AAS can best position itself to remain [...]
Whenever you create a movie you always shoot more footage than you can actually use. When we created our new orientation film describing the Society as part of our bicentennial celebrations last year, we decided to put the extra footage we had created to good use by creating five short video modules and embedding them [...]
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 [...]
Due to popular demand, more items have been added to our Adopt-a-Gift-Book catalog. Adopt now to avoid disappointment and in order to ensure you receive your gift card in time for Christmas. Or, perhaps consider adopting a gift book as a gift to yourself… and to AAS! Choice selections still remain available for adoption. Here [...]
For the past two years, the American Antiquarian Society has partnered with Mass Humanities to co-host a Worcester edition of the foundation’s interactive program “Reading Frederick Douglass in the Era of Barack Obama” in connection with the Fourth of July. We were therefore very happy to hear that the National Federation of State Humanities Councils [...]
Schoolmarm, 1870
