The Mortal & Everlasting Life of Frederic Augustus James: Enduring Life Behind the Deadline of a Civil War POW Camp
Release Date: 06/15/2024
"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...
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The Mortal & Everlasting Life of Frederic Augustus James: Enduring Life Behind the Deadline of a Civil War POW Camp
The Object of History
In this episode, we are focusing on the Civil War and the prisoner of war experience of Frederic Augustus James and others like him. Elaine Heavey, the Director of the Library at the MHS, introduces us to James' diary and letters held by the MHS. Historian Evan Kutzler, author of Living By Inches: The Smells, Sounds, Tastes, and Feeling of Captivity in Civil War Prisons, tells us more about the prisoner of war experience. And the MHS Curator of Art & Artifacts Emerita, Anne Bentley, describes a few objects in our collection created by prisoners of war or taken from prisons during the Civil...
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Events That Did Not Happen
The Object of History
On this episode, we take a look at events that never happened and are yet commemorated in some fashion. We find the monument to one such event on Boston's Commonwealth Avenue Mall. We also take a look at a token that marks the presidential election of an American politician and a set of medals struck to mark a great naval victory, neither of which happened. Learn more about episode objects here: Email us at . Learn more about the Lusitania Medal . Episode Special Guest: Mary Yacovone, Curator of Rare Books & Visual Materials, has been at the MHS since 1994, after beginning her...
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Relics, Part 2: One of a Kind
The Object of History
In this episode, we continue our conversation with Prof. Matthew Dennis, author of the book American Relics and the Politics of Public Memory. Prof. Dennis discussed corporeal relics with us in of this discussion. In Part 2, we talk about natural specimens as well as objects that are given significance by the connection they have to an historic event or figure. MHS Curator of Art & Artifacts Emerita, Anne Bentley, and Chief Historian & Stephen T. Riley Librarian, Peter Drummey, also return to help us look at the remains of a Blackburnian warbler and a pair of epaulets that belonged to...
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Relics, Part 1: Corporeal Remains
The Object of History
In this episode, we speak with historian Matthew Dennis about his book, which looks at relics in American memory. With Peter Drummey, the Chief Historian & Stephen T. Riley Librarian, and Anne Bentley, the Curator of Art & Artifacts Emerita at the MHS, we examine two pieces of a blood-soaked towel and a fishhook made from human bone. Learn more about episode objects here: Email us at . Episode Special Guest: Matthew Dennis is Professor of History and Environmental Studies Emeritus at the University of Oregon and now lives in New York City. His books include Cultivating a...
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Egyptomania and the Art of Egyptian Revival
The Object of History
On this episode, we are investigating the phenomenon of Egyptomania, a "fascination with the style of Egypt, but also the people, and the landscape, and antiquity". We sit down with Lea Stephenson, a PhD Candidate in Art History at the University of Delaware, to examine Egyptomania's second wave during the Gilded Age. Lea helps us examine two collections by Americans who documented their travels to Egypt through various media. We also discuss these American travelers and their relationship with the landscape. Learn more about episode objects here: Email us at . Episode Special Guest: Lea...
info_outlineIn this episode, we are focusing on the Civil War and the prisoner of war experience of Frederic Augustus James and others like him. Elaine Heavey, the Director of the Library at the MHS, introduces us to James' diary and letters held by the MHS. Historian Evan Kutzler, author of Living By Inches: The Smells, Sounds, Tastes, and Feeling of Captivity in Civil War Prisons, tells us more about the prisoner of war experience. And the MHS Curator of Art & Artifacts Emerita, Anne Bentley, describes a few objects in our collection created by prisoners of war or taken from prisons during the Civil War.
Learn more about episode objects here: https://www.masshist.org/podcast/season-3-episode-8-frederic-augustus-james
Email us at [email protected].
Episode Special Guests:
Elaine Heavey, Director of the Library, joined the Library Readers Services team at the MHS 2006. She previously worked as a high school history teacher at Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School. Elaine holds a BA in History and Religious Studies from Stonehill College, and an Masters in Library Science from Simmons College.
Evan Kutzler is an associate professor of U.S. and public history at Western Michigan University. He is the author of Living by Inches: The Smells, Sounds, Tastes, and Feeling of Captivity in CIvil War Prisons (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2019) and a former park ranger at Andersonville National Historic Site.
This episode uses materials from:
Bald Eagle by Chad Crouch (Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International)
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)