A little Vermont schoolhouse washed away in the 1927 flood became an inspiring symbol of the state’s resilience when schoolchildren around the country sent in their pennies to replace it. A wealthy woman made a big donation as well, but ...

Mothers have always had to balance competing demands, and some of those who did it best made history. Mindful that Mother's Day is around the corner, we bring you more than six New England mothers who left a mark on ...

  John Winthrop famously wrote in this journal that the Arbella departed for the New World on Easter Monday – March 29, 1630. But upon arriving in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Winthrop and his fellow Puritans took pains to avoid ...

How well do you know the Irish history of New England? If you've been reading the New England Historical Society, you probably know it pretty well. Test your knowledge of New England's Irish heritage by answering the 11 questions below. ...

New England is as unlikely a place as there is to celebrate Christmas firsts. After all, Puritans in Massachusetts and Connecticut officially banned the holiday. It wasn’t until the mid-19th century that most New Englanders took the day off, let ...

Charles Dickens wasn’t impressed with America on his first visit, but he loved Boston enough to return 25 years later with the story that transformed Christmas in New England. Dickens first came to the United States in 1842 for a ...

New England’s first Thanksgiving celebrated by European colonists (the American Indians had harvest celebrations of their own long before) came in 1607 in Popham, Maine. The Popham Colony – a year-long effort to establish a British colony in Phippsburg, Maine ...

Haunted houses are as much a part of New England lore as Revolutionary battles or clipper ship races. New Englanders have been drawn to the supernatural since Cotton Mather blamed earthquakes on the devil. New England. Ghosts, witches, devils and ...

To many Americans, Bastille Day is the big French holiday, but for French-Canadians it’s St. Jean Baptiste Day on June 24. The holiday dates to medieval Europe, not coincidentally near the summer solstice. It started as a pagan celebration of ...

For many, many years, le reveillon was the way Franco-Americans ushered in New Year’s Day in New England’s Little Canadas. The reveillon is a long, late dinner preceding a holiday, and central to it is the tourtiere. The celebrated meat ...