Learn about the mysterious disappearance of the first steam engine shipped to the US from England in the 1820s. Join the Bidwell House Museum for our 3rd History talk of the summer, this one in person at the Tyringham Union Church with Yale Professor Emeritus John Demos. In the 1820s, right after the first steam...
Learn about lace in Colonial America. One of the themes for the Bidwell House Museum 2023 season is historic textiles and in that spirit we are excited to have Bev Wolov present her talk on the history of lace in early America. Did George Washington Wear Lace? The question is simple. However, the answer is...
Learn about the age old craft of wool spinningJoin the Bidwell House Museum for another presentation in their 2023 theme of historical textiles with local spinner Lisa Daschinger. During this hand spinning demonstration, Lisa will showcase the age-old art of transforming raw wool fibers into beautiful, functional yarn using a traditional spinning wheel. You’ll witness...
Learn about the lawyers who represented the Loyalists after the Revolutionary War Join the Bidwell House Museum for our 4th history talk of the season with Western Michigan University Professor Sally Hadden who will present Lawyering for Loyalists. In the wake of the American Revolution, recovering property lost (or confiscated) in the former colonies provided...
Celebrate the Bidwell House Museum at our annual Summer Party! You are invited to Party Gras the Bidwell House Museum on August 19th from 4-7 pm! Each summer the Bidwell House Museum hosts a fundraiser in the beautiful Museum gardens to celebrate the season and raise money for the Museum's educational programs. In 2023 the...
Hear about enslavement in early New England and the ways that religious figured justified their participation in the slave trade In this, our final history talk of the 2023 season, Dr. Kenneth Minkema will share his talk Religion and Slavery in Colonial New England. While the colonial-period enslavement of persons of color and the business...
Talk a walk in the steps of the early residents of Township #1 Each year, the Bidwell House Museum is excited to participate in the Housatonic Heritage Walk series that takes place throughout the Berkshires and northern Connecticut. This year the Museum will be offering three guided walks, the first on September 2 with Richard...
Learn about Forest Ecology and Tree IDJoin the Bidwell House Museum for our 2nd Housatonic Heritage Walk of 2023, Forest Ecology and Tree Identification with a DCR Forester, on September 9 at 10 am. During this walk visitors will explore the woodland trails of the Bidwell House Museum with Tom Ryan, DCR state forester. Participants...
Learn about Berkshire County's Industrial Heritage Drive around the county, and it’s hard to miss the large, brick building on the corner, behind the trees, or down the street. They’re in almost every town, over 500 of them in the Berkshires by the end of the 1800s, producing textiles, iron, paper, glass, shoes, rakes or...
Explore the history of the Monterey Mills On September 23 the Bidwell House Museum will host its final Housatonic Heritage Walk of the 2023 season at the Monterey Library with Rob Hoogs. The village of Monterey today is small and quaint, but in the 1740s through the late 1800s it was bustling with saw mills,...