Edward Bellamy House
Bellamys Abroad: Edward and Frederick’s Trip to Hawai‘i
The trip that Edward Bellamy took to Germany with his cousin is well documented as being one of the reasons he became interested in social reform. Less well-known, however, is that he took another long journey with a family member in the 1870s—to Hawai‘i. What might that trip have been like?
Keep readingLooking Back at Equality
The sequel to Looking Backward was a bestseller when it was published, but it is generally forgotten today. In this blog post, we look at how it differed from the earlier novel and why it didn’t become an enduring classic.
Keep readingBehind the Scenes: Volunteering at the Edward Bellamy House
Did you know that the Edward Bellamy House is run entirely by volunteers? Read on to learn more about the work that goes on behind the scenes as we dispel some common misconceptions about volunteering…
Keep readingDocumenting the Past: A Closer Look at Our Historical Collections
When you think of the historical collections at the Edward Bellamy House, what comes to mind? In this blog post, we’ll introduce you to some of the collections that we regularly draw on for information, photos, and exhibit content…
Keep readingAmbrotype, Daguerreotype, or Tintype?: Identifying Early Photos
It’s easy to recognize when a photograph is an antique, but it’s not always as easy to identify at first glance the photographic process that was used to create it. In this blog post, we explore a few common forms of 19th-century photography…
Keep readingA Family of Faith: Edward Bellamy’s Spiritual and Moral Influences
Edward Bellamy did not attend church as an adult, but religion played a big role in his upbringing. Who were the people who influenced him morally and spiritually…
Keep readingTalking Politics: Edward Bellamy, Populism, and the Election of 1892
Published at a time when Americans were becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the national political climate, Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward inspired many to try implementing social reforms by enacting political change…
Keep readingBuildings and Boundaries: The Bellamy Property in the 19th Century
Did you know that the oldest parts of the Edward Bellamy House were likely constructed in the 1820s? In this blog post, we take a closer look at the property that the Bellamy family owned…
Keep readingRevising History: Edward Bellamy and the Romance of Shays’s Rebellion
While Edward Bellamy’s best-known work focuses on the future, he was also interested in the past. Nearly a decade before the publication of Looking Backward, he wrote a novel that challenged the generally accepted narrative about a turbulent time in American history…
Keep readingThe SS Edward Bellamy
The SS Edward Bellamy was a Liberty ship that was launched on April 14, 1943. How was this type of vessel used to support the war effort?…
Keep readingA Bit of Perspective
Consciously or unconsciously, biographers bring their own perspectives to their work. Some writers set out to tell an untold story, focus on an important figure in a field or era that particularly interests them, or examine a life through a more objective lens…
Keep readingDistinguishing Features
While the Bellamy House isn’t as architecturally distinctive as the houses of other Gilded Age writers (think Mark Twain’s Hartford, Connecticut home), many small details still come together to give it a unique character…
Keep readingLike Mother, Like Son
Edward Bellamy was said to be his mother’s favorite son following the death of his oldest brother, Packer, but his biographers describe her as stern and somewhat cold. What do we know about their relationship, and about Maria Bellamy as a mother?…
Keep readingThe Warners of Chicopee Falls: Carrie
Researching women in the 19th and early 20th centuries can be challenging. More limited in the occupations and interests they could pursue, women were often overshadowed and left out of the historical record…
Keep readingMaking Headlines: Edward Bellamy the Journalist
Edward Bellamy began his writing career in newspapers, penning editorials and literature reviews for newspapers in New York City and Springfield, Massachusetts, before co-founding two newspapers of his own…
Keep readingHow did our garden grow?
A lot can be learned about what the exterior of a house used to look like by examining it for signs of old paint colors, different foundations, and ghosts of features that were removed long ago. However, it is much more difficult to know what its gardens may have looked like—especially in the years before photography became accessible to the general public…
Keep readingThe Art of the Short Story
Best known for his novel, Looking Backward, Edward Bellamy, like many other notable authors of his time, began his career in fiction by writing short stories. He continued to produce short stories even as his novels brought increasing success, publishing a total of 23 between 1875 and 1889…
Keep readingThe Warners of Chicopee Falls: John, Part 2
In The Warners of Chicopee Falls: John, Part 1, we met John Warner and learned about his time farming in the Dakota Territory in the 1880s. Read on to find out where he went next, and if he ever returned to Massachusetts…
Keep readingThe Warners of Chicopee Falls: John, Part 1
For those familiar with Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, in the 1880s, it probably wouldn’t be surprising to learn that some of Edward Bellamy’s neighbors were connected to manufacturing or farming. But what about connections to the Dakota Territory and Alaska?…
Keep readingThe Strength of the Vote
Equal wages for all, improvements in education, the abolition of political parties: Edward Bellamy’s bestselling utopian novel, Looking Backward, is full of what his contemporaries considered radical ideas. In fact, Bellamy openly expressed less-than-traditional ideas throughout his writing career. It stands to reason, then, that women’s suffrage would have been among the many social changes his novel proposed—except it wasn’t…
Keep readingThinker, Writer, Father
We know a lot about Edward Bellamy’s worldview from his published works. But what about his personal life?
Keep reading
Edward Bellamy House 