Join us for our new exhibit “1776 and Beyond”
Open Sundays 1-4 PM.
See some of our upcoming fall programs below.
SEPTEMBER
Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood
Speaker: William J. Mann, Author and Adjunct Professor of History, Central Connecticut State University.
Wednesday, September 30, at 7:00 PM
Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public Library
William J. Mann’s Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood has been praised by reviewers for offering the first account of the notorious crime that’s more focused on the victim than her killer. Critics lauded Mann’s ability to reconstruct the life of Elizabeth Short without exploiting her tragic death. The Wall Street Journal highlighted his skill in capturing the “historical environment that surrounded the crime… Mr. Mann conveys the era’s disillusionment and its rising tide of violence and misogyny.” Such context, the Journal noted, “is crucial to an understanding of Short’s life—which [Mann] reconstructs with compassionate acuity.”
Previous chroniclers have been more interested in the killer than the victim, boasting of solving the case but putting forward unsatisfying or unsupported evidence. Mann suggests a couple possible solutions to the crime and presents compelling evidence to support his theories. “But solving the crime wasn’t my goal,” Mann says. “Understanding it, and understanding Elizabeth, was my goal.” Short’s death was gruesome and sensational and her short life ordinary and unremarkable. “But her life,” Mann says, “is still more important than her death.”
William J. Mann will discuss his process in researching and writing his book and provide a portrait of the young Medford woman at the heart of one of America’s most notorious unsolved crimes. Register here.
OCTOBER
MHSM Historical Book Group
Bound for Gold by William Martin
Book Club Leader: Jay Stott, MHSM Board Member
Thursday, October 15, 7:00 PM
10 Governors Avenue
Would you have joined the greatest migration in US history, leaving family and friends to travel thousands of miles to Gold Mountain (Gum Saan), where gold was said to be free for the taking? The next MHSM Book Club will focus on the history that underlies William Martin’s spell-binding novel of the 1848 California Gold Rush: Bound for Gold. Whether you have read the book, are thinking of doing so, or are just interested in learning about an event that transformed our country (and Medford’s ship-building industry), please join us by registering here.
John Hancock’s Middlesex Canal and Medford
Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public Library
Register here.
NOVEMBER
Lincoln, Life, Law and Leadership
Speaker: Hon. Dennis J. Curran, Justice, Massachusetts Superior Court (Ret.)
Thursday, November 12, 7:00 PM
Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public Library
Where have all the great leaders gone? In today’s sharply polarized America, we can take comfort in looking at Abraham Lincoln, a man who left an enduring legacy of leadership. We will examine how, as a politician, Lincoln mastered the art of communication and compromise; and as a leader, envisioned a goal and attained it by tempering responsibility and determination with compassion and hope. At moments of great challenge, Lincoln was able to summon his “better angels” to enlarge the opportunities and lives of others. The test of a true leader can be found in a man who continues to inspire a country long after his own
voice has faded to the echoes of time. This is Lincoln. Register here.
> Sponsored by Tisha Shaughnessy Sullivan and Shamrock Sign & Lettering Co.
DECEMBER
MHSM Members Save the Date:
Thursday, December 3, 7:00 PM for the 1st Annual Hearthfest!
Member Holiday Party & Toy Drive
Performances by:
Max Heinegg, Medford’s Poet Laureate, singer, songwriter, recording artist,
& Lemon Queens, featuring Laura Lacombe & fellow band members
10 Governors Avenue, Medford