Massachusetts
Massachusetts was one of the original thirteen colonies and became the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution on February 6, 1788. Known as the Bay State, it has Boston as both its capital and largest city. Its geography extends from the Atlantic coastline, Cape Cod, and the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket to the river valleys and rolling hills of central Massachusetts and the Berkshire Mountains in the west.
The founding of Plymouth Colony in 1620 and the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 established the region as an important center of colonial life. More than a century later, events in Boston, Lexington, and Concord helped ignite the American Revolution. During the nineteenth century, the state became a leader in manufacturing, education, literature, and social reform, giving Massachusetts an enduring influence on the political and cultural development of the nation.
Recent Articles
SS HOPE Shipboard Radio
The shipboard radio station from the SS HOPE, preserved at the Marconi-RCA Wireless Museum, represents the vital communications link between a ship at sea and the world on shore. The vessel began its service as the USS Consolation, a United States Navy hospital ship commissioned in 1945. It treated wounded service members during the Korean War and […]
From Telegraph to Teletype
The development of telegraphy transformed long-distance communication. Instead of waiting days or weeks for a written message to travel by ship, train or horseback, information could be transmitted across wires almost instantly. In 1844, Samuel Morse publicly demonstrated an electric telegraph connection between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Messages were translated into patterns of dots and […]
Life Savers and the Rise of American Board Games
The game Life Savers transformed the dangers of a shipwreck into a contest of rescue. Produced by the Milton Bradley Company near the turn of the twentieth century, the game challenged players to send lifeboats to a wrecked vessel, rescue its sailors, and return them safely to shore. Its illustrated cover, playing board, spinner, and colored pieces […]
USS Cassin Young
The USS Cassin Young, identified by the hull number DD-793, is preserved at the Charlestown Navy Yard as part of Boston National Historical Park. The Fletcher-class destroyer represents both the industrial effort that produced thousands of American warships during the Second World War and the experiences of the sailors who served aboard them. The ship was […]
Boston Women’s Memorial
Located on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, the Boston Women’s Memorial honors Abigail Adams, Lucy Stone and Phillis Wheatley, three women whose words challenged the political, social and intellectual boundaries of their times. Created by sculptor Meredith Bergmann, the bronze-and-granite memorial was dedicated by the City of Boston on October 25, 2003. The idea for the […]
Samuel Adams
Standing beside the grave of Samuel Adams at Boston’s Granary Burying Ground offers an opportunity to remember a man whose influence extended far beyond the familiar name associated with a modern beer company. Samuel Adams was one of the most determined political organizers of the American Revolution and an early advocate for independence from Great […]
Samuel Eliot Morison Memorial
Walking along the Commonwealth Avenue Mall reveals a series of monuments honoring people connected to Boston and the wider world. Among them is a particularly distinctive sculpture of Samuel Eliot Morison. Rather than placing him formally on his feet or astride a horse, sculptor Penelope Jencks portrayed him as a sailor seated on an enormous […]
William Lloyd Garrison Memorial
I love walking along Commonwealth Avenue in Boston and stopping at the different sculptures and memorials placed along its tree-lined central mall. Each one introduces another person or event connected with the city’s history. Among them is the seated bronze figure of William Lloyd Garrison, one of the nation’s most influential voices against slavery. Born […]
Edison Stock Ticker
Among the historical objects preserved at the Bancroft Memorial Library is an Edison stock ticker, a reminder of the period when electricity and telegraphy began transforming the speed at which information traveled. Before machines like this became available, brokerage firms depended upon messengers to carry the latest prices from the trading floor. By the time […]
Red Auerbach
This bronze statue honors Arnold “Red” Auerbach, the coach and executive who helped establish the Boston Celtics as one of the most successful franchises in professional sports. Auerbach coached the Celtics from 1950 through 1966, leading the team to nine NBA championships, including an unprecedented eight consecutive titles from 1959 through 1966. Auerbach’s influence extended […]
Mohawk Trail State Forest
While driving the Mohawk Trail across Massachusetts, we stopped at Mohawk Trail State Forest. The forest was not our final destination, but it offered us an opportunity to pause within the landscape through which this historic route passes. Long before automobiles crossed the Berkshire Hills, Indigenous peoples traveled through this region along pathways connecting the […]
Haffenreffer Walk
While walking through the Boston Public Garden, I noticed this granite marker identifying Haffenreffer Walk. The inscription says that the walkway was named for Theodore Haffenreffer, 1880–1956, who served on Boston’s Board of Park Commissioners from 1930 until his death in 1956—a remarkably long period of service to the city’s parks. Haffenreffer was also part […]
