We’re joined this week by Nancy Seasholes, editor of the new book The Atlas of Boston History, which just came out on Thursday. It’s a historic atlas of Boston that covers the period from the last ice age, right up to the present day. It contains essays contributed by a wide range of well regarded local historians, as well as many written by Seasholes herself. However, what sets this book apart is its beauty. As the name Atlas indicates, it is richly illustrated with maps, charts, diagrams, infographics, historical photos, paintings, and more. It’s a book that I will use as a reference far into the future, and one that any of my fellow Boston history nerds will love.
The Atlas of Boston History
Nancy Seasholes is a historian and a historical archaeologist. She’s the past author of Walking Tours of Boston’s Made Land and Gaining Ground: a History of Landmaking in Boston, which is a favorite reference for your humble hosts. Since the book has such a heavy emphasis on visual elements, you may want to follow along at the Atlas of Boston History website as you listen to our conversation this week. It includes sample pages from each of the book’s eleven sections, giving you a much better idea of why I’m so enthusiastic about this beautiful book.
Make sure to catch Nancy’s upcoming local appearances:
If you’re still on the fence, here’s how the publisher describes the Atlas:
Few American cities possess a history as long, rich, and fascinating as Boston’s. A site of momentous national political events from the Revolutionary War through the civil rights movement, Boston has also been an influential literary and cultural capital. From ancient glaciers to landmaking schemes and modern infrastructure projects, the city’s terrain has been transformed almost constantly over the centuries. The Atlas of Boston History traces the city’s history and geography from the last ice age to the present with beautifully rendered maps.
Edited by historian Nancy S. Seasholes, this landmark volume captures all aspects of Boston’s past in a series of fifty-seven stunning full-color spreads. Each section features newly created thematic maps that focus on moments and topics in that history. These maps are accompanied by hundreds of historical and contemporary illustrations and explanatory text from historians and other expert contributors. They illuminate a wide range of topics including Boston’s physical and economic development, changing demography, and social and cultural life. In lavishly produced detail, The Atlas of Boston History offers a vivid, refreshing perspective on the development of this iconic American city.
Upcoming Historical Event(s)
Douglas Egerton will give a lunchtime talk at the Boston Athenaeum on November 8, titled “Heirs of an Honored Name: the Decline of the Adams Family and the Rise of Modern America.” Anyone who’s been listening to our show for a while will realize that I’m a big admirer of the Adams family. I often use the letters of John and Abigail Adams as primary sources, we quoted passages from the letters and diaries of John Quincy in our show about early Charles River bridges, and we’ve even outlined how two of John Quincy’s brothers were involved in a riot at Harvard. John Quincy Adams’ son (and John Adams’ grandson) Charles Francis Adams was a respected historian in his own right, whom we’ve quoted in our episode about the epidemics that decimated Boston’s Native American population.
After those three generations, however, Professor Egerton would argue that the Adams family in America entered an irreversible decline, always living in the shadow of its famous past. Here’s how the Athenaeum describes his talk:
John and Abigail Adams founded a famous political family, but they would not witness its calamitous fall from grace. When John Quincy Adams died in 1848, so began the slow decline of the family’s political legacy. In Heirs of an Honored Name, award-winning historian Douglas R. Egerton depicts a family grown famous, wealthy, but also aimless. After the Civil War, Republicans looked to the Adamses to steer their party back to its radical 1850s roots. Instead, Charles Francis Sr. and his children-Charles Francis Jr., John Quincy II, Henry and Clover Adams, and Louisa Adams Kuhn-largely quit the political arena and found refuge in an imagined past of aristocratic preeminence. An absorbing story of brilliant siblings and family strain, Heirs of an Honored Name shows how the burden of impossible expectations shaped the Adamses and, through them, American history.
That talk will begin at noon on Friday, November 8 at the Boston Athenaeum on Beacon Hill. Advanced registration is required, but there’s no additional charge other than admission to the Athenaeum.
And because we recognize that not everyone can find time to attend a lunchtime talk, we also have a bonus event this week. On Thursday, November 7 at 6pm, Old South Meeting House will host an event in honor of the centennial of women’s suffrage, titled “Massachusetts Women at the Forefront of Change.” Here’s how they describe it:
Fredie Kay, Founder and President of Suffrage100MA, will provide an overview of the suffrage movement in American history, with special attention to Massachusetts activists who paved the way for womens suffrage, including African Americans and other marginalized groups.
This event is free, but advanced registration is required.