Herman Melville's Arrowhead

05/28/2026

Need a Melville fix!? You’ve got to visit our shop here at Herman Melville‘s Arrowhead in Herman’s red barn! We’re having so much fun getting new merch for your literary pleasure! Open Thursday through Monday 10-4. Come for a tour while you’re here!

05/28/2026

This sounds fascinating!! June 3,5:30pm
Author, biographer and Tufts University professor Julie Dobrow’s new book, Love and Loss After Wounded Knee: A Biography of an Extraordinary In*******al Marriage, tells the complicated story of the lives and marriage of Elaine Goodale and Dr. Charles Alexander Eastman. On June 3 at 5:30 pm, the Berkshire County Historical Society hosts Dubrow for a presentation about her book and the fascinating way in which she first discovered this story. Tickets are $5 for BCHS members, $10 for non-members and can be purchased by using the BOOK NOW button at berkshirehistory.org. This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Cultural Council and Housatonic Heritage.

As is the case for many star-crossed lovers, it was amazing that Elaine Goodale and Dr. Charles Alexander Eastman (Ohíye S’a), ever met in the first place. She was a white woman from Mount Washington, Massachusetts, who earned early fame as a childhood poet and was frequently mentioned as a “childhood poetic prodigy of the Berkshires.” Elaine travelled west in 1884 to teach Native American children. Charles was a Santee Dakota who had gone to Dartmouth College and the Boston University School of Medicine. Somehow, they both ended up at the Pine Ridge Agency in South Dakota in December of 1890 and fell in love at first sight. Three weeks later, they announced their engagement. Then the Wounded Knee Massacre changed everything.

About Julie Dobrow
Julie Dobrow is a writer, professor and researcher whose work focuses both on biography and history, and also on children and media. She teaches at Tufts University. Much of her writing and teaching focuses on telling untold and under-told stories and shining new light on them.

05/27/2026

“When we say our new Melville merch ROCKS, we aren’t kidding! Our shop is free to browse for all visitors during regular business hours: Thursday through Monday from 10 am to 4 pm. Stop by the big red barn to grab some special gifts for the dads, grads, and book nerds in your life!

While you’re here, feel free to wander our 45 acres of grounds and trails, where songbirds nest, wildflowers bloom, and all roads lead to that inspiring view of Mt. Greylock. And if you want to find out what inspired Melville to write his masterpiece, come for a tour! We look forward to seeing you!”

05/25/2026

Over a century before Memorial Day was established, the First National Decoration Day, May 30, 1868, was created to honor all Civil War soldiers who had died in battle.

According to Pittsfield historian Edward Boltwood (1870-1924), a large crowd of townsfolk met at the City’s cemetery on May 31, 1868, to lay flowers on the soldiers’ graves: the act that gave the day its name. At the grave of Capt. William W. Rockwell (1839-1863), flowers were laid and a brief address was made by Pittsfield’s Gen. Henry S. Briggs (1824-1887).

Captain Rockwell, son of prominent Pittsfield Republican legislator and judge Julius Rockwell (1805-1888), had enlisted in the 8th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. At the end of the three-month enlistment period, Rockwell enlisted in the 31st Massachusetts Infantry. While participating in the Union occupation of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the young officer, now a captain, contracted typhoid fever and died on December 3, 1863. Rockwell left behind hundreds of letters, manuscripts, and records of his military adventures. His papers, the majority of which are held in a private collection, have been described as the most detailed first-hand accounts by any Pittsfield Civil War soldier. His memory was institutionalized when the Grand Army of the Republic Veterans formally chose the name W.W. Rockwell Post 125, G.A.R.

In 1971, Decoration Day was renamed Memorial Day to honor all of America’s fallen heroes, and the date was fixed as the last Monday in May, creating a three-day weekend. Veterans’ graves are still decorated with flowers and flags on this day.

Images:

Postcard, Entrance to Pittsfield Cemetery, postmarked May 16, 1913.

Members of the Rockwell Post 125, G.A.R., stand in front of the Berkshire Museum, circa 1910. Detail of photograph by Matthew H. Powell (1869-1922), gift of William Cramer.

A portion of the collection sold by Poulin Auctions in November 2024, featuring several copies of a portrait of William Walker Rockwell (1839-1863). Image from poulinauctions.com.

Rockwell’s grave in Pittsfield Cemetery. Image from findagrave.com.

05/21/2026

MELVILLE IN DOWNTOWN PITTSFIELD. Herman Melville didn’t stay holed up in his study at Arrowhead when he lived in Pittsfield. He went to the center of town frequently, attended church there and lived off South Street for one year. On June 6 at 11 am join author and historian John Dickson for an engaging walk around downtown and check out the places around Park Square that Melville frequented and used in his writing. This approximately ninety-minute walk begins at the Berkshire Athenaeum, Wendell Avenue. Tickets are $15 for BCHS members, $20 for non-members and can be purchased by using the BOOK NOW button at berkshirehistory.org. This event is sponsored by Massachusetts Cultural Council and Housatonic Heritage.

About John Dickson
John Dickson serves as Chair of the Pittsfield Historical Commission and is a board member of the Berkshire County Historical Society. His most recent book, Herman Melville in the Berkshires, reveals the connections between Melville’s writing and the beauty of the Berkshire landscape that inspired him.

05/19/2026

From May 15 to May 21, 1938, the United States observed National Air Mail Week, marking two decades since the inception of the U.S. Air Mail. Berkshire County Postmasters, under the guidance of Pittsfield Postmaster Dennis P. Sweeney, organized a special celebration to honor this milestone, culminating in a historic event in Pittsfield on May 19, 1938. On the morning of May 19, special mail planes departed from Dalton, Great Barrington, Sheffield, and North Adams, each carrying mail with commemorative markings, or cachet. These planes arrived at Pittsfield Municipal Airport, near Barker Road, where their cargo was transferred at a temporary mail field station. The collected mail, weighing 300 pounds and representing a total of 25,000 letters, was carefully transferred to the cargo area of a Waco J5 aircraft. The manager of the Pittsfield Airport, H. Roscoe Brinton, who had recently taken an oath as an Official US Air Mail pilot, was selected to make the First Scheduled Air Mail Flight from Berkshire County. At 1:40 pm, Roscoe Brinton took off for Westfield, cheered on by an excited crowd that included Mayor Fallon and photographer Leo Lincoln, son of photographer Edwin Hale Lincoln. Lincoln, serving as Chairman of the Cachet Committee of the Berkshire Stamp Club, assured attendees that their letters, each bearing the special commemorative seal, would be delivered that very evening, May 19. It was a landmark day for Pittsfield and Berkshire County.

Images:

Preparing for the flight. Leo Lincoln, right, holds a bag of mail. Collection of the Berkshire County Historical Society.

“H. Roscoe Brinton signs receipt for Berkshire County mail at the request of Matthew D. Guiltinan, Pittsfield Postoffice foreman.” Berkshire Eagle, May 20, 1938

“Postal workers and others wave farewell to Brinton as he soars into the air with first air mail flow out of Pittsfield.” Berkshire Eagle, May 20, 1938

Berkshire County airmail cachet, featuring the Veterans War Memorial Tower on Mount Greylock, which had been dedicated five years earlier.

05/18/2026

Berkshire County Historical Society hosts Gail Gelburd for a talk on her newest book, The Liberation of Sue Moody. The book chronicles the true story of an Otis resident who, as a journalist in 1939 Paris, endured war, hunger, and constant threats to her safety, yet refused to lose her voice or her sense of identity. Surviving war and starvation is not a backdrop in this book, it is the lifeline that runs through every chapter. In her talk, Gelburd will discuss her research which involved pouring through boxes of journals and letters written by Moody. Tickets are $5 for BCHS members, $10 for non-members and can be purchased by using the BOOK NOW button at berkshirehistory.org. This event is sponsored by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and Housatonic Heritage.



About Gail Gelburd
Gail Gelburd has a PhD and is an artist and author having written more than a dozen books, mostly about artists. It is their personal stories that have inspired her in each of her manuscripts. She has also been a professor and museum director and is currently a member of the Otis Historical Commission.

Link in bio! Don’t miss it!

05/16/2026

Fabulous opening day! Carriage rides, tours, customers, and a wonderful book launch with our very own John Dickson!!!

05/16/2026

So many reasons to come to Arrowhead! And today’s the day we start a new season! Welcome! Hope to see you soon!

05/08/2026

05/08/2026

OPENING DAY AT ARROWHEAD! MAY 16!