NAACP Berkshire County February program exploring history, memory, and the search for family

The power of names, the weight of history, the meaning of beingfound Thisprogram is free and open to the public. We hope youâll join us for thisimportant conversation and share it with others. đđž Zoom Link: ......More

The power of names, the weight of history, the meaning of beingfound Thisprogram is free and open to the public. We hope youâll join us for thisimportant conversation and share it with others. đđž Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87125061409pwd=a1dJcndqdVpOMzBTc0dtaW1HbWNMQT09 Meeting ID: 8712506 1409 Passcode: 042125 TheNAACP Berkshire County Branch invites the community to a special Februaryprogram exploring history, memory, and the search for family on Wednesday,February 4, 2026, at 6 pm via Zoom Wewill host a virtual conversation featuring Dr. Kendra Taira Field,Chief Historian of the 10Million Names Project, and Lisa Shepperson,the first publicly identified living descendant of Elizabeth Freeman. Thediscussion will be moderated by branch executive committee member Dr. FrancesJones Sneed. The10Million Names Project is a collaborative project dedicated torecovering the names of the estimated 10 million people of African descent whowere enslaved between the 1500s and 1865 on the land that became the UnitedStates. âNames are not footnotes, they are lives,â says Dr. Frances Jones Sneed. âThisconversation brings together rigorous historical scholarship and the livedexperience of descendants.â About Our Guests Dr. Kendra Taira Field is the Gerald R. Gill Associate Professor of History and Director of the Center for Public History at Tufts University and a 2025â26 Hutchins Fellow at Harvard University. She is the author of Growing Up with the Country (Yale, 2018) and is currently writing The Stories We Tell (W.W. Norton), a history of African American genealogy and storytelling and winner of a 2023 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant. A public historian, Field is chief historian of the 10 Million Names Project and has advised major documentaries on African American history. Lisa Shepperson is the first publicly identified living descendant of Elizabeth Freeman, the formerly enslaved woman whose 1781 freedom suit helped end slavery in Massachusetts. A sixth great-granddaughter of Freeman, Sheppersonâs lineage was uncovered through American Ancestorsâ 10 Million Names initiative. A certified nursing assistant based in Richmond, Virginia, she traveled to the Berkshires in 2024 to visit sites connected to Freemanâs life, including her grave in Stockbridge. Shepperson has spoken about her pride in her ancestorâs legacy and her commitment to preserving Elizabeth Freemanâs history and impact. Dr. Frances Jones-Sneed is a professor of history at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, where she previously served as Director of Womenâs Studies. She has taught and researched African American and local history for more than twenty-five years. Dr. Jones-Sneed directed three National Endowment for the Humanities âWe the Peopleâ grants and co-directs the Upper Housatonic Valley African American Heritage Trail. A former Mass Humanities board member, she was an NEH Summer Fellow at Harvardâs W.E.B. Du Bois Institute. Her scholarship centers on African American biography, local history, and social reform movements.

Berkshire Grown Winter Farmers Market

Berkshire Grownâs Winter Farmers Markets host farmers and producers from Berkshire County and the surrounding region.Vendors offer an abundance of locally-grown food, including fresh greens, winter squash, root crops, apples, meat, cheese, jam, honey and maple syrup, ba......More

Berkshire Grownâs Winter Farmers Markets host farmers and producers from Berkshire County and the surrounding region.Vendors offer an abundance of locally-grown food, including fresh greens, winter squash, root crops, apples, meat, cheese, jam, honey and maple syrup, baked goods, and more. Local artisan crafters round out the market offerings, and each market features live music.SNAP and HIP are welcome at our markets: SNAP users receive a Market Match of up to $30 per market, and each market includes vendors with HIP-eligible products, providing SNAP shoppers with an immediate reimbursement for benefit dollars spent on fresh fruits and vegetables.

Housatonic Community Center, 1064 Main St, Housatonic, MA 01236, USA

Berkshire Botanical Garden Winter Lecture

Berkshire Botanical Garden Winter Lecture  Celebrated horticulturist Karl Gercens III will headline Berkshire Botanical Gardenâs 29thAnnual Winter Lecture, exploring how bold color, unexpected plant pairings and fearless experimentation can spark moments of surprise ......More

Berkshire Botanical Garden Winter Lecture  Celebrated horticulturist Karl Gercens III will headline Berkshire Botanical Gardenâs 29thAnnual Winter Lecture, exploring how bold color, unexpected plant pairings and fearless experimentation can spark moments of surprise and delight. The lecturewill be held Saturday, Feb. 21, from 2 to 4 p.m., at Lenox Memorial Middle and High School in Lenox, Mass. Drawing on his work at Longwood Gardens inPennsylvania, Gercens will teach how to bring the "Wow" to your owngarden, transforming ordinary spaces into extraordinary experiences. Receptionto follow. Raised on a 10,000-acre cotton plantationin Mississippi, Gercens' passion for horticulture began early. The longSouthern growing seasons gave him room to experiment and innovate, eventuallyleading him to earn a B.S. in Ornamental Horticulture from Mississippi StateUniversity. His impressive career includes internships at Walt Disney World andthe Filoli Estate in California, and today he curates many of the spectacularseasonal displays in Longwoodâs world-famous four-acre Conservatory. With a distinctive eye for combiningcolorful trees, shrubs, and perennials, Karlâs work has earned him recognitionacross the country and around the world. He has visited public gardens in all50 U.S. states and over 24 countries, each journey deepening his expertise andinspiration. For more information and to register, visit BerkshireBotanical.org. Berkshire Botanical Garden is anot-for-profit, membership-supported educational organization encompassing 24acres of land at the intersection of Routes 102 and 183 in Stockbridge, Mass.The Garden is open year-round for classes, lectures, workshops, and exhibits,and the display gardens can be visited daily through Oct. 31, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Lenox Memorial Middle & High School, 197 East St, Lenox, MA 01240, USA

Berkshire Grown Winter Farmers Market

Berkshire Grownâs Winter Farmers Markets host farmers and producers from Berkshire County and the surrounding region.Vendors offer an abundance of locally-grown food, including fresh greens, winter squash, root crops, apples, meat, cheese, jam, honey and maple syrup, ba......More

Berkshire Grownâs Winter Farmers Markets host farmers and producers from Berkshire County and the surrounding region.Vendors offer an abundance of locally-grown food, including fresh greens, winter squash, root crops, apples, meat, cheese, jam, honey and maple syrup, baked goods, and more. Local artisan crafters round out the market offerings, and each market features live music.SNAP and HIP are welcome at our markets: SNAP users receive a Market Match of up to $30 per market, and each market includes vendors with HIP-eligible products, providing SNAP shoppers with an immediate reimbursement for benefit dollars spent on fresh fruits and vegetables.

Housatonic Community Center, 1064 Main St, Housatonic, MA 01236, USA

Seed Saving and Seed Exchange

The Berkshire Atheneum, Pittsfield's Public Library, hosts the Seed Library Openingand Seed Exchange this year, on March 21 from 10:30 am - noon.  More info andpromotional materials are still to come, but for now, save the date!  Visit ......More

The Berkshire Atheneum, Pittsfield's Public Library, hosts the Seed Library Openingand Seed Exchange this year, on March 21 from 10:30 am - noon.  More info andpromotional materials are still to come, but for now, save the date!  Visit https://www.pittsfieldlibrary.org/explore/outreach-programming

Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield's Public Library, 1 Wendell Ave, Pittsfield, MA 01201, USA

Berkshire Grown Winter Farmers Market

Berkshire Grownâs Winter Farmers Markets host farmers and producers from Berkshire County and the surrounding region.Vendors offer an abundance of locally-grown food, including fresh greens, winter squash, root crops, apples, meat, cheese, jam, honey and maple syrup, ba......More

Berkshire Grownâs Winter Farmers Markets host farmers and producers from Berkshire County and the surrounding region.Vendors offer an abundance of locally-grown food, including fresh greens, winter squash, root crops, apples, meat, cheese, jam, honey and maple syrup, baked goods, and more. Local artisan crafters round out the market offerings, and each market features live music.SNAP and HIP are welcome at our markets: SNAP users receive a Market Match of up to $30 per market, and each market includes vendors with HIP-eligible products, providing SNAP shoppers with an immediate reimbursement for benefit dollars spent on fresh fruits and vegetables.

Housatonic Community Center, 1064 Main St, Housatonic, MA 01236, USA