I agree, Tom. It seems beneficial from so many angles—a great way to revitalize a community.
Librarian, gardener. Here for books, nature, music, history (esp. seldom told), NFL, visual arts, New England, Ireland, Italy, France. Bring on the witty, the creative, the kind, and (of course) the cats.
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I agree, Tom. It seems beneficial from so many angles—a great way to revitalize a community.
In Fitchburg, MA, three former municipal buildings have been converted into affordable housing for artists commonwealthbeacon.org/housing/over...
Remembering #SeamusHeaney
Congratulations @ronsexsmith.bsky.social ! Any chance of selling the album via Bandcamp so we can give more $ directly to you?
“To stare into the spiral top of a whelk or cone shell is to see the swirl of the Milky Way.” If you love the intersection of art and science, cultural history and conservation, this lovely read is for you: www.themarginalian.org/2022/07/21/s...
Ends today! Save 20% on everything at librarygiftshop.org.
The death of book reviews is not greatly exaggerated, but it’s greatly protracted. This time, the bell tolls for book reviews from the Associated Press. Readers of papers across the country won’t see reviews syndicated from the AP after Aug. 31. (More below) s2.washingtonpost.com/camp-rw/?tra...
On this day in 1740, coppersmith Shem Drowne was paid for his work constructing Old North Church’s weathervane. Drowne is America’s first documented weathervane maker! Here is a rare close-up photo of the weathervane when it was being reinstalled after maintenance work on the steeple.
Great article on today’s experience of being culturally Irish, whether for those who are second-generation living elsewhere or even for those who live in Northern Ireland, and the importance of avoiding a battle of identities. Despite the photo, the piece is about much more than Ed Sheeran.
"None of these books are obscene." Welcome news out of Florida. So grateful for @flfreedomread.bsky.social's impactful work fighting for the right to read freely.
“Available soon in bulk at a low cost, plus an opportunity to donate to support free distribution.”
How very cool! Safe travels, and be sure to post photos!
Today in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was publicly read for the first time from the balcony of Boston’s Old State House. Abigail Adams recalled the celebration: "bells rang, the privateers fired...the cannon were discharged...and every face appeared joyful."
Highly recommend following @declarationstories.bsky.social for fascinating facts like this
🗃️ “President George Washington knew how to curate a blockbuster exhibit—and with just one artifact.” From the @smithsonianmag.bsky.social archives, I wrote about how the key to the #Bastille ended up at Mount Vernon 🇫🇷 🇺🇸 www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-...
#boston #history fans: give a follow to @westendmuseum.bsky.social (this also applies to #StarTrek fans—Nimoy’s beloved home neighborhood was the West End). This article on the history of the West End library is a nice place to start thewestendmuseum.org/history/era/...
And soon you can get these nice Boston 2026 ones about.usps.com/newsroom/nat...
First draft/rough of a new mini book. Lots of work still to do with text pagination and illustrations. Lots more dormice to draw plus a change of title to come too
An 1899 barrel piano, once a familiar fixture of Boston’s bustling streets, is making a grand return. https://trib.al/V4Ib7RA
Essay: “America the Beautiful” by Katharine Lee Bates is as much critique as celebration, writes documentary filmmaker John de Graaf. While Bates’ first verse celebrates America’s beauty, the other three ask us to fully honor the values that we claim to hold.
Andrew Roth survived the Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald. Jack Moran helped liberate the camp while serving in the U.S. Army. Decades after liberation, the two met and shared their stories.
Stephen Sondheim Manuscripts and Papers Acquired by Library of Congress www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-n...
Now online: the entire Kennedy Family Collection - approximately 6,000 photographs, over 10,000 scanned pages, and 52 scrapbooks and other albums - that documents the lives and times of the Fitzgerald and Kennedy families from 1878 through 1980.
Kadir Nelson’s “Major Taylor, a Champion Who Led the Way” www.newyorker.com/culture/cove...
One of the most important surviving medieval manuscripts written in Irish goes on public display after a two-year long project to conserve it
This is fairly accurate and extremely informative update...... buttondown.com/wellsourced/...
For Memorial Day weekend, we're bringing you ALL nine Beethoven Symphonies, recorded live with the @bostonsymphony.bsky.social! Hear these spectacular, sold-out performances Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night at 8pm. Full schedule and ways to listen here: bit.ly/4jbJGro
Erin Fletcher BB ’12 of Herringbone Bindery interviews each Bookbinding graduating class about their set book. This year's book was "The Poetical Vagaries of a Knight of the Folding-Stick" and the completed books are gorgeous. Read the full interviews: t.co/bw9IAMUiCC
This book club has been reading the same book for 12 years. They’re not even close to done. The Finnegans Wake Reading Group of Austin, TX reads one page every other week. By Sean Saldana www.texasstandard.org/stories/finn... James Joyce @ PG www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho... #books #literature
“As you have learned, our constitution is vague and abstract; it depends more on norms than hard rules. Our democracy relies more on the good faith and integrity of our leaders than you might have realized before you came to this class.”
NEW: ALA salutes Dr Carla Hayden for her exceptional service to the nation as the Librarian of Congress. We are deeply disappointed in Dr Hayden's abrupt & unjust dismissal last night, an insult to the scope & breadth of her work. Read ALA Pres. Cindy Hohl's statement: www.ala.org/news/2025/05...
![The American Library Association praises servic of Dr. Carla Hayden, decries 'unjust dismissal' of Librarian of Congress. [Image of Dr. Carla Hayden standing in the stacks in a library]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:q5qyswhppr7tiskw43xhcv7f/bafkreicwqv4vszkknu4dvsdfhmrzzmtscjx5eg64gykfmrgynrnhup6sai@jpeg "Click to view full size")
Last Thursday, 4th graders from Witchcraft Heights Elementary visited Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm to learn about the Stekionis family, immigrant tenant farmers. Many students saw their own stories reflected in the past. • Learn more! → www.historicnewengland.org/the-family-t...
Paul Revere's ride has become a mythic American story. But what really happened on April 18, 1775? Who was the man behind the myth? Callie Crossley of WGBH visited Old North Church and The Paul Revere House to learn the true story of Revere's midnight ride. www.wgbh.org/news/local/2...
Deborah Sampson disguised herself as a man to fight in the American Revolution—but how much of her story is fact, and how much is myth? Uncover the truth in today’s blog post! • Read more → www.historicnewengland.org/deborah-samp... #HistoricNewEngland #NE250 #America250 #AmericanRevolution
If you're an ebook person — like me! — this is a major alert. IMLS is part of what makes the Libby App possible. (Plus like a million other library things)
Hello US readers––we've made a special limited edition hardback of my new book Is A River Alive? It’s only available to pre-order from 60 US indie bookstores & comes with a 48-page @fieldnotesbrand.bsky.social "river" notebook. Artwork by the great Stanley Donwood! Orderable here: isariveralive.com
Here is the GoFundMe to create an accessible entry to the library from the Canadian side. www.gofundme.com/f/haskell-in... 🗃️📚📜
Musician Ed Sheeran gives surprise performance at Boston bar | Click on the image to read the full story
Happy #StPatricksDay! In June 1963, JFK spent 4 days in Ireland. A descendant of Irish immigrants, he was welcomed warmly throughout his travels in the country, and later called the trip a “visit that has been one of the most moving experiences of my life.” www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-...
Who was St. Patrick? Our Q&A with the author of a book answering that question: buff.ly/uwMvFaZ Happy #StPatricksDay
In honour of John Sebastian's birthday I thought I'd upload a few of my faves from my channel RS youtu.be/rgjs7ypeBwg?...
Remarks by Taoiseach Micheál Martin at White House Shamrock Ceremony: "Irish labourers came to help build the new Republic, the beacon on the hill. They even built this beautiful White House." Runaway slave advert placed by slave-owning Irish immigrant and architect of the White House, James Hoban:
It's such an unmistakable sound. #birding #pileated #woodpecker #nature
I've read a number of wonderful remembrances of John Feinstein. Some capturing his contributions and complexities as a groundbreaking journalist and bestselling author. Some describing how he impacted colleagues and their careers. Here's what he meant to me and mine. bobsocci.com/2025/03/14/m...
As we get ready to welcome you to our 38 historic sites in June, we’re sharing stories of our “hidden gems". First up: Rocky Hill Meeting House, where you can see. . . 200-year-old graffiti (yes, you read that right!) • Read more from Site Manager Shanna Sartori! → bit.ly/4ifw8vs
Thanks to the local celebrity long-eared owls, I had this red-morph eastern screech owl all to myself last night. The fourth photo was immediately before it flew away for the night. -- March 9, 2025 Essex County, Massachusetts
On March 9, 1961, US Treasurer Elizabeth Rudel Smith was appointed Chair of the Payroll Savings Plan by President Kennedy in the Oval Office. Smith was the 31st Treasurer of the US, and the 3rd woman to hold that role. www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer... #WomensHistoryMonth
The March issue of Boston Irish Magazine is here! 🎉 It’s packed with amazing stories and local highlights that you won’t want to miss. If you’re looking to stay in the loop with the Irish community in Boston, this is a must-read! Check it out at bostonirish.com. 🇮🇪 #BostonIrish
#Science fans rally on #Boston Common against a return to the 16th century www.universalhub.com/2025/science...
A new cat café in Lowell opened their doors to the public today. Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iheartradio.
"Never-before-released album recorded at 1967 concert featuring members of The Duke Ellington Orchestra was recently unearthed in the private tape collection of Verve Records founder Norman Granz" womeninjazzmedia.com/new-releases...
Organizers of the National Baseball Poetry Festival announced the festival's third season with two national poetry contests, the first for grades 4 through 12, and the second for adults 18 and over.
In the latest Staff Picks from JFK Library archivists, find out cinematic fun facts like: Which Marx Brother offered to join JFK's Cabinet What movie JFK thought was too long Which tough guy actor worried about conservation on Martha's Vineyard And more!
The American Antiquarian Society has received what it calls "an unprecedented gift" of more than 18,000 items of rare 18th and 19th century ephemera including flyers, prints, broadsides and even steamboat schedules.
1 MARCH 1775, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS BAY: A food fight breaks out when a group of Harvard students insist on bringing tea into the dining hall in defiance of the Continental Association’s ban: buff.ly/3ErPJJG
I’d recommend consulting the Great Irish Famine Online project www.irishfamine.ie/greatirishfa... or the related book Atlas of the Great Irish Famine www.ucc.ie/en/cacsss/re...
Two good articles from Historic New England Magazine
Bow down: Spiders, octopi, and certain snails, while not kings and queens, actually bleed blue. So what makes them so royal? One of the main functions of blood is to carry oxygen around the body. 🧵🔽
John Steinbeck, born #otd on 2/27/1902, to JFK: "A nation may be moved by its statesmen and defended by its military but it is usually remembered for its artists. It does seem to me that you sir, have discovered or rather rediscovered this lost truth." www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer...
"Jazz is a cornerstone in our country’s creative culture. On March 20, join Elizabeth Alexander, president of Mellon Foundation, for a conversation exploring the lineage and legacy of jazz with Farah Jasmine Griffin, Terri Lyne Carrington, and esperanza spalding." events.mellon.org/americanjazz...
The surprising (and rather delightful) history of the pencil
Plese repost & share widelye: open access, free, scholar-produced resource for studyinge & teachinge *The Canterburye Tales* at the university level: THE OPEN ACCESS COMPANION TO THE CANTERBURY TALES opencanterburytales.dsl.lsu.edu
Great explanation by @jmendelsohn.bsky.social of what actually happened with this late 19th/early 20th c immigrant. The truth is always more interesting.
Interesting first-person account of disguised redcoats being recognized in a Watertown tavern and warned not to go further
NEW Publishing moves fast, and we tend to forget books almost as fast as they arrive. We spoke to Rebeka Russell of Manderley Press about five forgotten classic books that are ripe for rediscovery.
Northern Lights in Zenith, by Harald Moltke, 1900. One of the many images of Aurora Borealis collected in our post “Firelight Flickering on the Ceiling of the World”, looking at how this otherworldly phenomenon has been depicted over the centuries: buff.ly/38dxgft
Tomorrow on my live webcast History Matters: “On Kings” Thomas Paine (and I) have a LOT to say Tune in. We need to talk. Friday 10AM ET NCHEteach.org/conversations
I've been writing a series of essays for PBS on men whose style I admire. The latest is about James Baldwin, a man who knew how to sing through clothes. www.pbs.org/wnet/america...
Mt. Washington was visible this morning from 74 miles away on the Southern Maine coast at Biddeford Pool. -- February 20, 2025
Are you a journalist, genealogist or historian who has ever used records from the National Archives? It's time to step up and take some simple steps to preserve federal records. And save our nation's history. Please visit this website. And share widely. fundnara.com
Serendipity! On our recent CWB research trip at NARA I took a look at the naval pension file of a "Charles Brown", given it was such a common Nordic sailor alias. Low and behold a "new" Finn! He came from Nystad/Uusikaupunki, and had his leg broken when a Parrott Rifle exploded at First Fort Fisher.
This key unlocked the doors in Cell Block C, Reading Gaol, including that of Landing 3, Cell 3: Oscar Wilde’s cell, during his imprisonment from 20 November 1895 to 18 May 1897. It features in Magdalen's Wilde: an exhibition in our Old Library, which is open TODAY 2-4:30pm.
19 February 1922 | Władyslaw Bartoszewski was born. Prisoner of Auschwitz (4427), Home Army member, activist of "Żegota" Council, participant of the Warsaw Uprising; historian & writer; Chairman of International Auschwitz Council, Founder of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation.
New England farmers can now apply for funding in exchange for leaving their hayfields alone in the early summer. The funds come from the Bobolink Project, which started as a research study and now makes grants through Audubon chapters in Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire.
Consider supporting the JFK Library Foundation so they can help the institution continue the great work it does. www.jfklibrary.org/about-us/joi...
Lost and Found: A Newly Discovered Poem by Robert Frost Nothing New,” which the American poet wrote in 1918, is published for the first time in The New Yorker’s Anniversary Issue. By Jay Parini www.newyorker.com/books/double... #books #literature #poetry
Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People To Find Their Lost Families www.simonandschuster.com/books/Last-S...
Breaking - White House is forcing out top leadership at the National Archives. “The exodus of senior staff is seen as a huge loss for the agency, which is considered nonpartisan and dedicated to the preservation of history and documents.” www.cnn.com/2025/02/14/p...
Over 70 turtles recovering from life-threatening conditions have been given names inspired by Greek mythology at a Massachusetts sea turtle hospital. www.nbcboston.com/news/local/s...
Great choices, Jason. My favorite is this scene from Before Sunrise. It’s so real. Each of them trying not to get caught looking at the other, and not being able to resist. And the perfect song. m.youtube.com/watch?v=sBpn...
Monitoring wastewater from international flights for pathogens would be a useful way to get ahead of the next pandemic or even a biological threat from abroad, researchers from Northeastern University say. news.northeastern.edu/2025/02/12/n...
"For me, as a reader, I think novellas are about being able to get into a story that is intense and engrossing—more so than a short story—but one that you can hold in your head all in one go, unlike a longer novel"
At WBUR this week I wrote about David Lynch.
Died #OTD in 1970: poet Louise Bogan. Quite a fascinating life. I didn’t know she was poetry reviewer for the New Yorker for nearly 40 years.
If you want to see an example of great leadership, watch this press conference by NTSB Member J. Todd Inman. He is clear, meticulous, courteous, measured, and caring. Truly impressive and reassuring www.pbs.org/newshour/amp...
"The Flying Ace" is one of the few remaining examples of early cinema marketed to Black audiences during the era of segregation. Made in 1926, it features an all-Black cast.
Bookshop.org is launching an ebook store to take on Amazon 📚 www.theverge.com/tech/597137/...
"We are deeply grateful to the Italian Ministry of Culture for their collaboration, which will enable the Worcester Art Museum to regularly showcase new antiquities for visitors in Central Massachusetts,” said Whitner.
Stanford University to Assume Stewardship of California Historical Society Collection 📜 library.stanford.edu/news/stanfor...
Helpful thread on all the excellent resources you can find on climate.gov
Have books, will travel — the history of Vermont’s first mobile libraries, the women-led project to fund traveling libraries in #Vermont, and the subsequent expansion of #libraries serving all our communities. www.rutlandherald.com/features/wee...
Winter light shining into our bell ringing chamber!
‘We were raided regularly’: with Assad gone, banned books return to Syria’s shelves www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
The Jewish Chronicle features the story of Jackie Young, a child survivor of Theresienstadt and the first case we worked on as a team. He'll always hold a very special place in our hearts at @holocaustreunions.bsky.social . 1/2 www.thejc.com/news/holocau...
With dear Bill Mullen in the background! Oh how we miss him.
the barcode for this book about books is books
NEW: Issues affecting Native citizens and their tribes—a reckoning over the wealth gap, the redesign of the state seal, the run up to the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, & the ever-present question of land rights—are playing out across MA.
Bingham started doing these drawings two days after the fires began. She realized she couldn’t afford to donate to all of her friend’s recovery funds. So she put out a call on Instagram asking people to send her pictures of their homes, which she'd draw for free. via @kcrw.com
Index of the Week today is from the glorious "The Secret Lives of Colour" by @kassiastclair.bsky.social @indexers.bsky.social
“His Scots-Irish Presbyterian great grandparents, John Poe of Dring, County Cavan and Jane McBride of Balleymoney, County Antrim, emigrated with their son David (Edgar’s grandfather) from their farm in Cavan to the American colonies.” Also interesting that Poe was on Castle Island while in the army