Donna A. Seger
@daseger7.bsky.social
History professor also dabbling in the realms of public history and preservation in Salem, Massachusetts. Streetsofsalem.com.
The demolition of the East Wing of the White House. If I want to paint my 1827 house in Salem, Massachusetts the exact same color it is now, I have to get approval from our city's Historical Commission.
October 21, 2025 at 10:02 AM
The demolition of the East Wing of the White House. If I want to paint my 1827 house in Salem, Massachusetts the exact same color it is now, I have to get approval from our city's Historical Commission.
No Kings rally in York, Me.
October 18, 2025 at 9:29 PM
No Kings rally in York, Me.
Great event coming up at Salem State University in #SalemMA on October 29: a curated view of the multimedia approach crafted to tell the story of Ireland's last witch trial! #publichistory
October 9, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Great event coming up at Salem State University in #SalemMA on October 29: a curated view of the multimedia approach crafted to tell the story of Ireland's last witch trial! #publichistory
Hello #renaissance #reformation & #earlymodern historians: I'm really trying to rev up my Ren&Ref course this syllabus time: any inspiring/successful monographs, sources, websites that you could recommend? Melchior Lorck, Satire on the Papacy @metmuseum.org. Thanks!
July 30, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Hello #renaissance #reformation & #earlymodern historians: I'm really trying to rev up my Ren&Ref course this syllabus time: any inspiring/successful monographs, sources, websites that you could recommend? Melchior Lorck, Satire on the Papacy @metmuseum.org. Thanks!
Happy Fourth! Bridge & Northey Streets, Salem, Massachusetts,1876 from the Phillips Library of the Peabody Essex Museum.
July 4, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Happy Fourth! Bridge & Northey Streets, Salem, Massachusetts,1876 from the Phillips Library of the Peabody Essex Museum.
A very important piece of ephemera as the Massachusetts was the first steam boat in Boston Bay. But it did not go well for her. Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum. #otd
July 3, 2025 at 12:48 PM
A very important piece of ephemera as the Massachusetts was the first steam boat in Boston Bay. But it did not go well for her. Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum. #otd
So it is #BunkerHill day, and I'm wondering how historians of the American Revolution feel about the upcoming 250th anniversary reenacment this weekend in Gloucester, MA? Not my field, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Of course the topography of Charlestown is completely different now, but....
June 17, 2025 at 8:28 PM
So it is #BunkerHill day, and I'm wondering how historians of the American Revolution feel about the upcoming 250th anniversary reenacment this weekend in Gloucester, MA? Not my field, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Of course the topography of Charlestown is completely different now, but....
Lieutenant Benjamin West, Salem's sole casualty at the Battle of Bunker Hill #otd 250 years ago. His sacrifice was unknown until his grand-nephew tracked it down decades later. Peabody Essex Museum portrait.
June 17, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Lieutenant Benjamin West, Salem's sole casualty at the Battle of Bunker Hill #otd 250 years ago. His sacrifice was unknown until his grand-nephew tracked it down decades later. Peabody Essex Museum portrait.
Twenty years since the Bewitched statue was installed in a #salemma square within sight of the location of the courthouse where the accused witches of 1692 were tried. And I think we have an answer to the question of whether there is no limit to the schmuck and hype.
June 15, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Twenty years since the Bewitched statue was installed in a #salemma square within sight of the location of the courthouse where the accused witches of 1692 were tried. And I think we have an answer to the question of whether there is no limit to the schmuck and hype.
Bunker Hill commemoration coming up! An opportunity to focus on the creation of the US Army in a more meaningful way than this weekend's co-opted event. @Rev250 events have been planned for quite some time, so hopefully are (somewhat) impervious to executive imperialism. @mhs1791.bsky.social
June 15, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Bunker Hill commemoration coming up! An opportunity to focus on the creation of the US Army in a more meaningful way than this weekend's co-opted event. @Rev250 events have been planned for quite some time, so hopefully are (somewhat) impervious to executive imperialism. @mhs1791.bsky.social
Military anniversaries, 1925: Soviet troops pay tribute to Lenin; a large crowd assembles in Cambridge, MA to hear President Coolidge pay tribute to the Continental Army. #armyanniversary
June 14, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Military anniversaries, 1925: Soviet troops pay tribute to Lenin; a large crowd assembles in Cambridge, MA to hear President Coolidge pay tribute to the Continental Army. #armyanniversary
Bluesky folks seem to love both bunnies and cats so here is a photo of a Lynn, Massachusetts pet shop windows in the 1930s by Alton Blackington via Digital Commonwealth. #caturday
June 1, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Bluesky folks seem to love both bunnies and cats so here is a photo of a Lynn, Massachusetts pet shop windows in the 1930s by Alton Blackington via Digital Commonwealth. #caturday
The lady's slippers have emerged! #gardeningfeed
May 29, 2025 at 11:50 PM
The lady's slippers have emerged! #gardeningfeed
A former button factory in Waldoboro, Maine.
May 25, 2025 at 2:21 PM
A former button factory in Waldoboro, Maine.
Sweet Cecily is the best herb for shade--and it's beautiful all summer. This is before ur New England nor'easter but after the dogwood petals fell. #gardeningfeed
May 23, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Sweet Cecily is the best herb for shade--and it's beautiful all summer. This is before ur New England nor'easter but after the dogwood petals fell. #gardeningfeed
Great photo of two newsboys in #salemma, c. 1910, from the Salem Boys and Girls Club collection at the #SalemState archives. Wish I could fix the resolution a bit, but you can clearly see the 10 cent cigar sign!
May 19, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Great photo of two newsboys in #salemma, c. 1910, from the Salem Boys and Girls Club collection at the #SalemState archives. Wish I could fix the resolution a bit, but you can clearly see the 10 cent cigar sign!
Teddy just said no.
May 18, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Teddy just said no.
Graduation this morning at Salem State! We had the best group of history majors among the #classof2025: I will miss them all and they give me hope for the future.
May 17, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Graduation this morning at Salem State! We had the best group of history majors among the #classof2025: I will miss them all and they give me hope for the future.
Lungwort time in the garden! And the best example of the doctrine of signatures imho.
May 14, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Lungwort time in the garden! And the best example of the doctrine of signatures imho.
Distressed by the firing of Librarian of Congress #carlahayden but also confused: as the LOC is part of the legislative branch why do presidents hire and fire its heads? Librarian Herbert Putnam (left below) with the Declaration of Independence after its transfer from the State Department in 1921.
May 11, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Distressed by the firing of Librarian of Congress #carlahayden but also confused: as the LOC is part of the legislative branch why do presidents hire and fire its heads? Librarian Herbert Putnam (left below) with the Declaration of Independence after its transfer from the State Department in 1921.
I happened to be grading a final exam in which there is a question about Reformation iconography illustrated by this image of Martin Luther as an Augustinian friar when the news of Leo XIV's election was announced....and I immediately thought the first Augustinian Pope! A grading daze moment.
May 8, 2025 at 6:10 PM
I happened to be grading a final exam in which there is a question about Reformation iconography illustrated by this image of Martin Luther as an Augustinian friar when the news of Leo XIV's election was announced....and I immediately thought the first Augustinian Pope! A grading daze moment.
Excited to have our cover and release date for Salem's Centuries, from @templeunivpress.bsky.social's History and the Public Series! 2026 is the 400th anniversary of #salemma's European settlement, and even though we're tired, we look forward to sharing the city's rich and varied history.
May 6, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Excited to have our cover and release date for Salem's Centuries, from @templeunivpress.bsky.social's History and the Public Series! 2026 is the 400th anniversary of #salemma's European settlement, and even though we're tired, we look forward to sharing the city's rich and varied history.