History-Personalities

Arthur Scholfield

Along with his brother John, he manufactured the first broadcloth in Pittsfield in 1804. It was produced from fleece of merino sheep bred in the Berkshires. Born in Liverpool, England, the Scholfields sailed for America in 1793 to start a wool manufacturing business in the United States.

Daniel Chester French

One of the country’s most eminent sculptors, Daniel Chester French created the statue of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial. Born in 1850, in Exeter, New Hampshire, he set up his summer home and studio Chesterwood in Stockbridge in 1920. It has been designated as a National and Massachusetts Landmark.

Herman Melville

Herman Melville, the author of the celebrated novel Moby Dick, moved to the Berkshires form New York in 1847. He settled down in Pittsfield. It was here in his home Arrowhead that he wrote Moby Dick in 1851, inspired by his experiences as a seaman and the fascinating view of Mt Greylock from his window. Melville developed a close friendship with fellow author Nathaniel Hawthorne who lived close by. He left the Berkshires in 1856 to travel in Europe and settled down in New York on his return.

Edith Wharton

Literary celebrity and heiress Edith Wharton moved from New York to Lenox in 1902 to create her celebrated home The Mount, a monument to good taste in stark contrast to prevailing Victorian sensibilities. It was while she was here that she wrote many of her novels. After having lived at The Mount for over 10 years, Edith Wharton had to give it up due to financial reasons. She was the first woman awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

Elizabeth Freeman

Born in 1742 in New York, she was the first American slave to be emancipated following a court trial in 1783. She was purchased by John Ashley of Sheffield when she was six months and served in his household for forty years. Following an altercation with her mistress Elizabeth sued for her freedom and won the case which was heard at the county court. She died in 1829.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

The famous author of the Scarlet Letter was a resident of Stockbridge from 1850 to 1860. While here he completed his celebrated work wrote two other novels- The House of the Seven Gables and The Blithedale Romance and two short fiction collections - The Snow-Image and A Wonder-Book. Hawthorne developed a close relationship with fellow writer Herman Melville who lived in close by Pittsfield.

Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell, famous artist and illustrator, lived at Stockbridge from 1953 till his death in 1978. He is best known for his Saturday Evening Post illustrations. The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge showcases his powerful paintings and illustrations from the last 25 years of his life.

W. E. B. DuBois

Born in Great Barrington in 1868, William Edward Burghdart DuBois was the first African American to receive a Ph. D from Harvard. He was a brilliant scholar and author of works such as Souls of Black Folk and The Negro. He attended Harvard and Berlin Universities.

William Stanley

William Stanley of Great Barrington invented the electric transformer which made possible the transmission of electric power over long distances. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1858, he took to electrical invention in 1879. He moved to Great Barrington in 1885 with his family due to ill health. It was here that he worked on his ideas that resulted in the invention of the electric transformer in 1886.

William Cullen Bryant

Celebrated for his poems that so richly evoke the splendid New England Countryside, William Cullen Bryant was a resident of Great Barrington, where he practiced law, from 1815-25. Associate Editor of the New York Evening Post, he spent his summers at his childhood home in Cummington in neighboring Hampshire.