The Mastheads

FAIN: GW-261168-18

City of Pittsfield, Massachusetts (Pittsfield, MA 01201-6250)
Tessa Kelly (Project Director: January 2018 to present)

Implementation of a two-year community conversation and in-school programming series connecting local residents in the Pittsfield area to the literary and urban history of the Berkshires.

The Mastheads is a public humanities project in Pittsfield, Massachusetts that seeks to connect local residents to the literary and urban history of the Berkshire region. We are applying for a Community Conversations grant over a two-year period to support an annual humanities lecture series in Pittsfield, a publishing venture in support of this series, and auxiliary literacy pedagogy in Pittsfield’s public schools.

Associated Products

Fireside Student Poetry (Exhibition)
Title: Fireside Student Poetry
Curator: Sarah Trudgeon
Abstract: This exhibition displayed original poetry and photographs taken by Pittsfield Public School students between the 2nd and 5th grades, inspired by the work of Harlem Renaissance photographer James Van Der Zee, who was born in nearby Lenox, MA.
Year: 2020

The Early Work of W.E.B. Du Bois and James Van Der Zee in the Berkshires (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: The Early Work of W.E.B. Du Bois and James Van Der Zee in the Berkshires
Abstract: A presentation of the early work of W.E.B. Du Bois and James Van Der Zee in the Berkshires, where each was born.
Author: Frances Jones-Sneed
Date: 07/19/19
Location: Durant Park, Pittsfield, MA

Reading Group of Edith Wharton's Summer (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Reading Group of Edith Wharton's Summer
Abstract: A commmunity reading discussion of Edith Wharton's "Summer," inspired by the relationships of class and culture between Berkshire towns during the Gilded Age.
Author: Jeffrey Lawrence
Date: 07/13/19
Location: Edith Whaton's the Mount

The 2019 Mastheads Reader (Book)
Title: The 2019 Mastheads Reader
Editor: Jeffrey Lawrence
Abstract: This annual Mastheads publication begins with an excerpt from Director of Research Jeffrey Lawrence, discussing figures of the Gilded Age and the Harlem Renaissance in the Berkhires. The book then includes excerpts from W.E.B. Du Bois, Edith Wharton, Henry James, and Mark Twain, and Lenox photographs by James Van Der Zee.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: http://https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58d02493e58c6272b30ed8da/t/5de70d64a6dd143c625e7f28/1575423334567/2019+Mastheads+Reader.pdf
Type: Edited Volume
Copy sent to NEH?: No

The Mastheads x The Berkshire Eagle broadside folds (Article)
Title: The Mastheads x The Berkshire Eagle broadside folds
Author: Tessa Kelly
Abstract: These three broadside folds inserted into the Berkshire Eagle in July combine works from the historic Mastheads writers studied during 2019 (Edith Wharton, W.E.B. Du Bois, Henry James, Mark Twain, James Van Der Zee), along with text from Mastheads Director of Research Jeffrey Lawrence, Fireside student poetry, and works by the Mastheads writers in residence. Tessa Kelly designs, edits, and compiles each issue, which reaches 30,000 doorsteps!
Year: 2019
Primary URL: http://https://www.themastheads.org/publications
Format: Newspaper

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