Berkshire County Historical Society virtual talks to focus on the history of Black and Indigenous residents of the Berkshires – Berkshire Eagle

PITTSFIELD The Berkshire County Historical Society will present a series of three virtual talks "Casting Their Own Light: Perspectives on Berkshires Black History," by historian Cynthia Farr Brown, Ph.D.

Brown's talks will draw from her research and reading on the history of Black, Indigenous and multiracial people of the Berkshires, mostly before the Civil War.

We are very excited to be hosting this lecture series by Dr. Brown, said Lesley Herberg, BCHS executive director in a release. Cindy is a well-known and respected historian, and we look forward to hearing her perspective on the Black experience in Berkshire County prior to the Civil War.

Brown is the president of the board of the Berkshire County Historical Society at Arrowhead. She also serves on the executive committee of the Berkshire County Education Task Force, and as an associate member of Pittsfields Community Development Board.

She has a doctorate in United States history and her scholarly publications have included co-editing the institutional history, "Lesley University: Celebrating Excellence 1909-2009" as well as other book chapters and articles. Her career has been in higher education as a faculty member and administrator. She is currently associate commissioner for Regulatory and Veterans Affairs at the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education.

5 p.m., Feb. 23: Pittsfields First Black Neighborhoods: Thoughts on Black Community in 19th-century Pittsfield

In this first talk, Brown explores questions of where Black Pittsfield residents lived in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the kinds of communities they formed. By reconsidering both well-known resources, such as census records and deeds as well as more obscure records such as town road work lists, Brown asserts that there were at least two or three neighborhood groups of Black households in Pittsfield in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, which coalesced as Black people left or escaped enslavement and started their lives as free people.

The existence of one such neighborhood in south central Pittsfield, parts of which persisted into the early 20th century, suggests contacts that may have shaped Herman Melvilles attitudes about and experiences with Black people during his youth.

In a virtual talk, historian Cynthia Farr Brown will shine light on several important but often overlooked Black women who were important in shaping the history of Berkshire County, such as Sarah Ann Lloyd Askins.

5 p.m., March 23: Women of Color in the Berkshires Before 1850

While Berkshires history often turns to the remarkable life of Elizabeth Mum Bet Freeman, there were other women of color in the Berkshires who helped shape and expanded our understanding of the Berkshires. Brown will introduce three of these important but often overlooked women: Polly Eldridge Williams (abt 1783 1861); Adeline Grant (1813 1895); and Sarah Lloyd Askins (1818 1906).

5 p.m., April 13: From the Slaves Cause to Civil Rights: Community and Liberty in the Berkshires before 1909

In the final talk in this series, Brown approaches the commonly-held progressive arc of Black history in Massachusetts enslavement, abolition of slavery under the Massachusetts constitution, leadership in the Civil War and Reconstruction, and the success of the 20th-century civil rights movement by suggesting that newer scholarship tells a more complex story. She will describe research-informed Berkshires scenarios that complicate the classic trajectory. Her talk considers what we can still discover about how individuals and communities shaped their own and our shared history.

The talks, presented over Zoom, are free. Contact melville@berkshirehistory.org to receive the Zoom link.

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Berkshire County Historical Society virtual talks to focus on the history of Black and Indigenous residents of the Berkshires - Berkshire Eagle