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 Hallways and classrooms, a mural of the sea, a poster with "hello" in eight languages, the nurse's office, and the trophy case -- these are just a few of the subjects students are photographing with cameras provided by Historic New England to document daily life at their schools. As part of our 100 Years, 100 Communities initiative, we are introducing Boston fifth-graders to the importance of documenting history through photography. The students' images will be saved in our Library and Archives along with those taken by Historic New England founder William Sumner Appleton, an early advocate of using photography as a means of documenting the region. Many of the subjects Appleton captured have since disappeared; one hundred years from now, the students' photographs will preserve environments that are equally likely to change over time. View the photo gallery and learn more about 100 Years, 100 Communities. |
Historic New England kicked off its centennial in style with celebrations, a day trip and exhibition in New York, a new video, and great media coverage.
On January 8, 265 guests enjoyed an evening of champagne, dancing, and fine dining at the Copley Plaza Hotel. The Centennial Gala raised almost $300,000 to support Historic New England educational programs, which serve schoolchildren in more than one hundred communities throughout the region. Visit the gala gallery of images.
 In New York, Historic New England gained great visibility with our featured loan exhibition at the fifty-sixth annual Winter Antiques Show. A festive opening night launched the ten-day event. Historic New England's exhibit of fifty items, Colonial to Modern: A Century of Collecting at Historic New England, showcased objects from the house museums and other collections reflecting New England life from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. While the show was on view, staff presented lectures to enthusiastic crowds on topics as varied as how objects tell stories of the past, issues facing house museums, the architectural drawings collection, highlights from the jewelry collection, what tool marks tell us about furniture making, and how the story of the American kitchen illustrates changes in women's lives. A bus full of members traveled to New York to enjoy a tour of the antique show, lunch at the historic Tiffany Room, and a visit to the Museum of Modern Art exhibition Bauhaus 1919-1933: Workshops for Modernity.
Our outstanding experience in New York couldn't have happened without the support of so many volunteers who staffed our information table and exhibition, answered visitors' questions, and promoted the organization.
See what the area media had to say about our exhibition:
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Come chill out on Frog Pond
 Cold weather and a frozen pond add up to lots of skating fun. Join us on March 15, at the Boston Common Frog Pond Skating Rink for an evening of outdoor skating. We have reserved the entire rink exclusively for our members from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Hot chocolate and cookies will be served. Skate rentals are available for $5 for children and $8 for adults. Contact 617-994-5934 or events@HistoricNewEngland.org for more information.
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Nominate us for 1000 Great Places in Massachusetts
Celebrate what is unique about Massachusetts and Historic New England by nominating a Historic New England site for 1000 Great Places.
With twenty sites in Massachusetts, including urban dwellings, collectors' homes, country estates, working farms, greenhouses, and even a former tea room, Historic New England has lots of great places filled with fine art, themed rooms, antiques, Bauhaus furniture, folk art, and more.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts invites residents from all across the state to nominate your favorite places. The nominations will be considered for a final list of 1,000 Great Places in Massachusetts to be announced in May.
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Preservation exhibition
 Trace the history of the preservation movement in New England and the impact of Historic New England and its founder William Sumner Appleton, the first professional preservationist. View The Preservation Movement Then and Now at the Suffolk University Adams Gallery on display through March 15. |
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Drawing Toward Home travels to D.C. On February 13, Historic New England's traveling exhibition Drawing Toward Home opens at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. The exhibition contains one hundred architectural drawings of domestic buildings from Historic New England's stellar collection, showing changes in style and design through two centuries. |
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Program highlights
Conservation workshopsHistoric New England is pleased to sponsor the Northeast Document Conservation Center's (NEDCC) series of preservation workshops in March. The NEDCC is a leader in the preservation of paper and photography, and works with historical organizations, universities, libraries, and other non-profit organizations on document conservation. These day-long workshops cover topics such as the preservation of scrapbooks, disaster planning, basic paper repair, metadata basics, and writing successful grant proposals. For complete information visit NEDCC's web page. Caring for your old house workshopHistoric New England is partnering with the Newport Restoration Foundation, Preserve Rhode Island, and the Providence Revolving Fund to present The Economical Historic Home: Energy Efficiency Workshop for the Old House Owner, a workshop for the historic home owner on February 16. For more information and to register. |
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Historic New England Web 2.0
Download Podcasts for behind-the-scenes glimpses at Historic New England.
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Recent media coverage
Historic New England collections in Magazine Antiques |
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Share the news from Historic New England.
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