The Bidwell House Museum staff hope that you and yours are safe and healthy in this frightening and uncertain time. Normally, in March and April the Museum is preparing for the season but this year is unlike any in the Museum’s history and we have had to cancel house tours, the opening concert and the Bidwell Country Fair. The remainder of the season will be in flux until we know when life can start going back to normal. So, in lieu of some of the in-person programs we had planned, we have decided to introduce a new weekly feature called Bidwell Lore.
In this feature we want to share with you stories about the Bidwell Family, the history of the land around the Museum and life in the 18th and 19th century Berkshires. The first story in this series will arrive in your inbox next week, but before we begin we wanted to share with you a wonderful video that John Demos filmed for the Museum last summer. Professor Demos is a member of the Bidwell House Museum Board of Trustees, the Samuel Knight Professor Emeritus of History at Yale University, an award winning author and was the honoree at our annual fundraiser last summer, for which he wrote this speech. There is no one who speaks more eloquently about why you should care about history and the Bidwell House Museum. The video is just under 7 minutes long and well worth your time.
Until Next week.