“Holding the Atlantic World In His Mouth”: George Washington, an MHS Portrait, and the Culture of Teeth in the 18th Century
Release Date: 11/15/2023
"The Rock of Offense": Visiting the Liberator’s Imposing Stone at the Museum of African American History in Boston
The Object of History
On this episode of The Object of History, we visit an item from the MHS collection currently on loan to the Museum of African American History on Boston’s Beacon Hill. We examine the imposing stone that enabled the printing of William Lloyd Garrison’s abolitionist publication, The Liberator. While visiting the Museum, we learn more about the building’s importance to African American history in Boston as well as the Museum’s current exhibits. Learn more about episode objects here: Email us at . Episode Special Guests: Angela T. Tate is Chief Curator and Director of...
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From Fatal Fashions to Securing Sanctuaries
The Object of History
On this episode, we visit the Massachusetts Audubon Society (Mass Audubon). While there, we examine some objects related to the early history of the Society from Membership Specialist, Emily Gray. MHS Chief Historian Peter Drummey and Bancroft Poor, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Mass Audubon, tell us about the Society’s formation as an advocacy group at the turn of the twentieth century and how its goals have changed over time. Learn more about episode objects here: Email us at . Episode Special Guests: Bancroft Poor serves as Chief Operating...
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Archives in the Landscape: Visiting Isabella Stewart Gardner
The Object of History
On this episode, we continue our visit to Mount Auburn Cemetery. Joined by biographer Natalie Dykstra, we visit the Gardner tomb where Isabella Stewart Gardner is buried. We learn more about Gardner and her family's relationship to the history of Boston from Dykstra and Chief Historian Peter Drummey. is the first American cemetery that purposely combined commemoration with elements of experimental gardening, picturesque landscape design, and access to nature, starting a trend across the nation in the mid-19th century that led to the creation of the first public parks in this country. Learn...
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Unlocking Winthrop's Tomb
The Object of History
On this episode, we visit the Mount Auburn Cemetery in nearby Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts. Following a suggestion by Hannah Elder, Associate Reference Librarian for Rights and Reproductions at the MHS, we investigate one connection that we have to the Cemetery: a key to Robert C. Winthrop’s tomb. is the first American cemetery that purposely combined commemoration with elements of experimental gardening, picturesque landscape design, and access to nature, starting a trend across the nation in the mid-19th century that led to the creation of the first public parks in this...
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"Neither Shall There Be Any More Pain"
The Object of History
In this episode, we visit the Bulfinch Building at the Massachusetts General Hospital to examine one of the most, if not the most, significant discoveries in modern medicine. Sarah Alger, the Director of the Paul S. Russell, MD Museum of Medical History and Innovation, shows us the hospital's Ether Dome where the first public surgery using an anesthetic was performed. Back at the MHS, we sit down with Chief Historian Peter Drummey and Curator of Art and Artifacts Emerita Anne Bentley to learn more about the contentious history of this innovation. Learn more about episode objects here: Email...
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"In the belfry arch Of the North Church tower"
The Object of History
In this episode, we begin our exploration of the greater Boston area and institutions that are connected to the MHS through shared collections. We first visit the Old North Church located in the North End to speak with Nikki Stewart, Executive Director of Old North Illuminated, and Patrick Gabridge, the producing artistic director of Plays in Place. We learn more about the building, its significance to the American Revolution, and its relationship to the Society's collections. Learn more about episode objects here: For more information on the staged reading of Revolution's...
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Welcome To Historians & Their Histories!
The Object of History
Join us on January 6, 2025 for Historians & Their Histories, the new podcast from the Massachusetts Historical Society. In this new series, we are introducing you to the historians who write the histories. In each episode, we sit down with a scholar who has received fellowship support from the Massachusetts Historical Society. We learn about their origin stories and ask them about why they became students of the past. And we get a sneak peek at their current projects, too. Learn more here:
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1154 Boylston Street
The Object of History
On this season of The Object of History, we are visiting institutions and organizations that have a connection to the MHS either through collections that we house or objects that we have loaned to them. But, first, we begin this season by discussing our very own headquarters in Boston. We sit down with various MHS staff members to learn more about the construction of the building, its maintenance, and their own experiences at 1154 Boylston Street. Learn more about episode objects here: Email us at . Episode Special Guests: Dan Sweeney is the Facility Manager at the MHS. He...
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Inside Andersonville
The Object of History
In a recent episode of The Object of History, titled "", we discussed Frederic Augustus James's experience in the Andersonville prisoner of war camp during the Civil War. In this bonus episode, we sit down with MHS Library Assistant Brandon McGrath-Neely. Brandon shares his impressions of James's writings and discusses his experience as a Park Ranger at the Andersonville National Historic Site and National Prisoner of War Museum. Learn more about episode objects here: Email us at . Listen to "". Episode Special Guest: Brandon McGrath-Neely is a current student at Simmons...
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Eben Horsford's Nordic Nostalgia
The Object of History
In a recent episode of The Object of History, titled "", we examined several items from the MHS collections that marked events that did not actually take place. In this bonus episode, we sit down with MHS Library Assistant Hannah Goeselt to learn more about Boston's statue of Leif Erikson and Eben Horsford's efforts to commemorate Norse discoverers of America. Learn more about episode objects here: Email us at . Listen to "". Read , , and of Hannah's blog post on "Horsford's Vikings of New England". Episode Special Guest: Hannah Goeselt joined the MHS as a Library Assistant...
info_outlineIn this episode of The Object of History, we closely examine a portrait of George Washington in which he does not resemble the familiar face on the one-dollar bill. We discuss how this might be related to President Washington’s longtime struggle with his dental health and the cultural significance of teeth in the 18th century.
Learn more about episode object here: https://www.masshist.org/podcast/season-3-episode-1-washingtons-teeth
Email us at [email protected].
Episode Special Guests:
Lucy Smith is a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan in the joint History and Women & Gender Studies program. Her dissertation examines the cultural history of human teeth in the early American Republic and has taken her to 34 archives in 21 cities nationwide. Prior to graduate school, Smith worked nearly a decade in the museum field, most recently as the Education Specialist at George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
This episode uses materials from:
Lens Flare by Podington Bear (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported)
Psychic by Dominic Giam of Ketsa Music (licensed under a commercial non-exclusive license by the Massachusetts Historical Society through Ketsa.uk)
Curious Nature by Dominic Giam of Ketsa Music (licensed under a commercial non-exclusive license by the Massachusetts Historical Society through Ketsa.uk)