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What is your favorite Cold War era tank, and why?Join the conversation and share your thoughts! 💭 Each week, We're posing a question about the history of military vehicles, and we want YOU to weigh in. Whether you’re a history buff, a tank enthusiast, or just curious—we want to hear your thoughts! Leave a comment below to cast your vote! 👇 ... See MoreSee Less
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Here is this week’s challenge for “What is it Wednesday?” - What is it?!Thanks to everyone who played last week… the answer for April 1st was a floatation barrier step on our M551 Sheridan… see the previous post for the full details!Good luck on this week’s challenge! #americanheritagemuseum #historymuseum #visitma ... See MoreSee Less
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The answer to the “What is it? Wednesday” question of March 26 is a spring-loaded step on the side of our M551 Sheridan! The M551 has two of these to assist in climbing over the flotation barrier when performing amphibious operations! Have any of you ever used this step?Stay tuned for the next “What is it? Wednesday” question tomorrow, April 2nd at 10:00 am EST!#americanheritagemuseum #whatisitwednesday ... See MoreSee Less
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On this week 90 years ago: The Consolidated PBY Catalina flew for the very first time on March 21, 1935!An icon of WWII, the PBY was the ultimate patrol and rescue flying boat—tracking U-boats, saving lives, and covering vast oceans with unmatched endurance.One of those heroes, PBY-5A BuNo 2459, flew in the Battle of the Atlantic, scored 3.5 U-Boat victories, and survived. Now, it’s under restoration to flying condition in Florida and will eventually be displayed at the American Heritage Museum. Read more at: www.americanheritagemuseum.org/aircrafts/consolidated-pby-catalina/#OTD #PBYCatalina #WWIIHistory #FlyingBoat #MilitaryAviation #AmericanHeritageMuseum ... See MoreSee Less
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Here is this week’s challenge for “What is it Wednesday?” - a close up of something in the museum or our collection for you to guess what it is in the comments!What is it?! We are looking for what it might be part of within the museum and, for more of a challenge, what the exact part is and what it does! Answer in the comments below and tune-in for the answer next Tuesday at 10:00am EST!#americanheritagemuseum #historymuseum #visitma ... See MoreSee Less
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Speaker Series: Botanical History of the Civil War by Judith Sumner

November 10, 2023 @ 2:00 pm, ending 3:30 pm

$10 – $20

Canebrakes to Cotton Fields: Botanical History of the Civil War

As the first comprehensive botanical history of the Civil War, Judith Sumner’s recent book Plants in the Civil War: A Botanical History examines military and civilian uses of plants, from plantation landscapes and agriculture to slave medicine, prosthetic limbs, and military engineering. Plants provided both the cash crops at the heart of the conflict and the raw material used in waging war. This illustrated talk will emphasize the key topics of crops and enslavement, plantation life, Civil War medicine, and southern landscapes and war—all illuminated from a botanical perspective.

Judith Sumner Biography 

Judith Sumner is a botanist who specializes in ethnobotany, flowering plants, plant adaptations, and garden history. She has taught extensively both at the college level and at botanical gardens, including the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and Garden in the Woods. Judith graduated from Vassar College and completed graduate studies (M.S., Ph.D.) in botany at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst).  She studied at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and at the British Museum (Natural History) and did extensive field work in the Pacific region on the genus Pittosporum.

Judith has published studies in the American Journal of Botany, Pollen et Spores, and Allertonia, as well as monographing two families for Flora Vitiensis Nova.  Her other projects and areas of interest have included field studies in the Great Smoky Mountains, work with AID/Santo Domingo on developing petroleum-rich plants, and a commitment to science education. Judith served as a visiting scientist for several summers in the LEAP (Learning About Plants) program She has spent summers working with teachers the Museum Institutes for Teaching Science (MITS) program and conducting workshops on science writing.

Judith has been a guest on the Martha Stewart Living television show, the PBS program “Cultivating Life” with Sean Conway, the Annenberg Channel, and various other PBS and educational programs.  Her recent Arnold Arboretum lecture on victory gardens is available for viewing online at the WGBH Forum website. Her column “The Gardener’s Kitchen” (under the pseudonym Laura Craig) appeared in Horticulture magazine for several years. She also contributes online to the blog and Herbarium website of the Herbal Academy of New England. Judith is a frequent invited lecturer for botanical and horticultural organizations and symposia, including the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, the New York Botanical Garden, Mohonk Mountain Reserve, Cornell University, the FDR Library and National Archives, and Kykuit/The Rockefeller Estate.

In 2007 Judith was awarded the Gertrude B. Foster Award for Excellence in Herbal Literature by the Herb Society of America. Her book American Household Botany won the American Horticultural Society Book Award in 2005. She recently authored the first botanical history of World War II, Plants Go to War: A Botanical History of World War II (McFarland, 2019). Her newest book, Plants in the Civil War: A Botanical History, was published in late 2022 by McFarland and has been shortlisted for the Council of Botanical and Horticultural Libraries book award.

Details

Date:
November 10, 2023
Time:
2:00 pm, ending 3:30 pm
Cost:
$10 – $20
Event Category:
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OPEN ALL WEEK FOR MA SCHOOL BREAK - Including Monday and Tuesday

We will be open all week for Presidents Day / MA School Break Week from Monday, February 17th through Sunday, February 23rd from 10am to 5pm each day. A great opportunity for families to visit on the school break. Buy tickets at the Admissions Desk or save $2 per ticket by buying online!