Resources
The Massachusetts region holds a wealth of resources for students interested in history, including:
- American Antiquarian Society
- Old Sturbridge Village, a recreation of a rural New England village of the 1830s
- Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
- Hancock Shaker Village, which preserves the legacy of the Shakers in Hancock, Massachusetts
- Worcester's Higgins Armory, the only institution in the Northeast dedicated to the collection, preservation, exhibition, and interpretation of arms and armor
- Lowell National Historical Park, which tells the story of the early textile industry in Massachusetts
- Massachusetts Historical Society
- Mystic Seaport, a recreated 19th century seafaring village and research center in Connecticut
- Peabody-Essex Museum, a major resource for maritime history and art, New England life and culture, American decorative arts, Asian art and culture, Native American history and art, the art and culture of Oceania, natural history and genealogy (in Salem, Massachusetts)
- Plimoth Plantation, a recreation of the 1627 Pilgrim settlement in Plymouth
- Worcester Historical Museum
- Worcester Public Library's Local History Collection
Old Sturbridge Village
Through its partnership with nearby Old Sturbridge Village, the History Department offers U.S. History graduate students an internship for credit at Old Sturbridge Village. Last fall, graduate student Hannah Kelley researched the history of Quakerism in Massachusetts and located documents and images to help interpret the Village's Quaker Meetinghouse. Through our partnership with Old Sturbridge Village, the History Department offers opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students. The Department offers a seminar, "Explorations in History: Rural New England, 1780-1860," taught by the Village's Chief Historian, Jack Larkin. The class meets at Old Sturbridge Village where the museum's collection of 60,000 artifacts and exhibits enhance the study of the past.
U.S. History graduate students are eligible to take an internship for credit at Old Sturbridge Village. Last fall, graduate student Hannah Kelley researched the history of Quakerism in Massachusetts and located documents and images to help interpret the Village's Quaker Meetinghouse.
The American Antiquarian Society (AAS)
As a nationally renowned research center for research in early American history located in Worcester, the American Antiquarian Society describes itself as "an independent research library founded in 1812 in Worcester, Massachusetts. The library's collections document the life of America's people from the colonial era through the Civil War and Reconstruction. Collections include books, pamphlets, newspapers, periodicals, broadsides, manuscripts, music, graphic arts, and local histories." Every year, the History Department offers a seminar course at the Society.