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New Online Lecture
The Brookline home of famous architect H. H. Richardson, along with two noteworthy adjacent properties, is under threat of demolition. In this program, recorded March 21st, William Tyre, the executive director and curator of the Richardson-designed Glessner House in Chicago, talks about Richardson, his Brookline years, and the significance of the houses and the Green Hill neighborhood.
Zoom recording  H.H. Richardson House courtesy, Digital Commonwealth H. H. Richardson
courtesy, National Portrait Gallery Video Presentations
A Century and a Half of Shopping in Coolidge Corner
Ken Liss takes his outdoor walking tour indoors with this video virtual walking tour. Enhancing the outdoor experience is the video juxtaposition of the old stores and locations with their present-day iterations.
Ken Liss again reprises one of his outdoor walking tours with this augmented video version exploring the developments of Eugene Knapp, forerunners of today's condo complexes with their shared infrastructures.
Kathy Bisbee, Executive Director of the Brookline Interactive Group, interviews Ken Liss about how the 1918 flu epidemic affected Brookline and the striking parallels with the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020.
 President Ken Liss Blogs on Brookline Past & Present
Crowdsourcing a 19th Century Brookline Diary Would you like to help bring the story of a 19th century Brookline woman and her family to life? About five years ago I photographed the 1851-1865 diary of Mary Johanna Wild at the John J. Burns Library at Boston College. Wild lived with her family in a Brookline house that she and her husband, Dr....See the full blog at brooklinehistory.blogspot.com Welcome to the Brookline Historical Society
The Brookline Historical Society is a non-profit community organization dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Brookline's diverse history. The society's headquarters are located in the heart of Coolidge Corner at the Edward Devotion House, one of Brookline's oldest colonial period structures. The Society also maintains the circa 1780 Widow Harris House as well as the Putterham School located in Larz Anderson Park. Our membership program is active and volunteers are welcome.
 We invite you to browse our growing online collection of over 700 historic photos, postcards, atlases and more. Virtual Walking Tour
 Brookline's rich history can now take a virtual walking tour of the town via our new online map. The map presents pictures and descriptions (with links for more information) about homes, commercial buildings, churches and synagogues, schools, neighborhoods, parks, and other parts of the town.
Most of the sites marked on the map are in Brookline Village, Coolidge Corner, Longwood, and the area around the First Parish Church and the old Village Green. Other sites and other areas of Brookline are being added, helping to bring to light stories behind familiar and not-so-familiar places in town. |