History – Creative Minds Out Loud

Episode 74: New Bedford Asks: What Would an Abolitionist Do Now?

There’s more to New Bedford than just whaling. Lee Blake, President of the New Bedford Historical Society, discusses how the city’s residents are pulling their history together to create a new conversation about what New Bedford did to end slavery, and how that history can inform and inspire a more progressive social agenda.

Lee Blake As president of the New Bedford Historical Society, Ms. Blake leads an organization that preserves and celebrates the legacy of African Americans, Cape Verdeans, and Native Americans in her home town of New Bedford, MA. The Society has worked to preserve and document the history of the freedom seekers who found their way to New Bedford, a hub on the Underground Railroad in the 19th century.
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Episode 72: Mass Historical Society is “Getting Out”

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Catherine Allgor, President of Massachusetts Historical Society, shares her path to becoming an historian, and how the Society is expanding efforts to “get out” – by digitizing collections, expanding community partnerships, and more. (Also, don’t miss this conversation we had with Allgor last year about Mass History Day, a state affiliate of National History Day, a highly-regarded program that gives students a chance to dig deep into the past through creative learning and presentations.)

Catherine Allgor has been appointed the next president of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Previously, she had been the Nadine and Robert Skotheim Director of Education at the Huntington Library in San Marino, CA, and a former Professor of History and UC Presidential Chair at the University of California, Riverside. Allgor attended Mount Holyoke College as a Frances Perkins Scholar and received her Ph.D. with distinction from Yale University, where she also won the Yale Teaching Award. Her dissertation received a prize as the best dissertation in American History at Yale and The Lerner-Scott Prize for the Best Dissertation in U.S. Women’s History.
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Episode 65: Museum Apprenticeships Transform Lives of New Bedford Youth

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The City of New Bedford wanted to increase its high school graduation rates. As their response, New Bedford Whaling Museum launched the High School Apprenticeship Program, which provides resources and support to students that deepen community engagement and cultivate college and career readiness. Director of Apprentices and Interns Christina Turner and then Vice President of Education and Programs Sarah Rose share how the apprenticeship program has grown into a nationally-recognized model for creative youth development – with a 100% graduation rate for its participants.

Sarah Rose (left) and Christina Turner (right) Christina Turner is the Director of Apprentices and Interns at the New Bedford Whaling Museum where she directs the Museum’s High School Apprenticeship Program which earned the 2017 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award and the 2018 American Alliance of Museum Education Committee’s Excellence in Programming Award. In this role, she leads all recruiting and community engagement efforts and designs, implements, and evaluates all aspects of the program’s curriculum, daily activities, and operations.
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Episode 63: Boston’s Literary District Engages Writers of Today with the City’s Rich Past

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In 2014, Boston became the first American city to have a Literary Cultural District. Last year we spoke with Eve Bridburg, Executive Director of GrubStreet and Founder of the Boston Literary District, and Alysia Abbott, Director of the Boston Literary District. They discuss what it takes to support long-term collaboration between organizations of different sizes and missions. Alysia says a big part of her job is sustaining engagement in shared work while providing a partnership flexible enough to withstand institutional needs and transitions.

Eve Bridburg and Alysia Abbott Eve Bridburg is the Founder and Executive Director of GrubStreet which has grown into a national literary powerhouse. Her mission is to work with her team toward building the most inclusive and accessible writing center in the country. Interested in the connection between civics and the narrative arts, Eve sits on the Executive Committee of the Boston’s Literary Cultural District and is an active partner with the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture.
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Episode 57: Mounting a Comeback for Edith Wharton’s Legacy

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Susan Wissler, Executive Director of The Mount, shares her experience of bringing an organization back from the precipice, and how retiring its $9M debt helped its community rethink what a historic home can be.

Susan Wissler joined The Mount in 2001 as Vice President and became Executive Director in 2008. Ms. Wissler graduated from Brown University, received a J.D. from Columbia University, and, prior to joining The Mount, practiced law in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Highlights of Ms. Wissler’s sixteen years at The Mount include the return of Wharton’s books to the library, the retirement of The Mount’s debt, and most recently, welcoming over 50,000 visitors to the property in 2017.
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