This Month’s Featured Articles…

Since the October issue celebrates the area’s rich history, it proved to be an opportune time to honor the achievements of William Edward Burghardt Du Bois. Renowned as W.E.B. Du Bois, he was a scholar, sociologist, historian, activist, and journalist. The Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, MA, features a permanent exhibition that highlights some of his life’s work. Visit The Feigenbaum Hall of Innovation, an interactive exhibition that celebrates innovators like Du Bois who hail from the Berkshires. Here’s a history and a few highlights [...]

Anyone who visits Millbrook, NY, will likely notice a series of panels mounted on posts that bring them to a comfortable reading level. Once noticed, they do seem to mushroom. In fact, there are 29 in all, three of which are most accessible by car; otherwise the panels, recounting the lives, occupations, and dwellings of Milbrookers through the ages, are by their very nature “for pedestrians only.” They militate in the nicest possible way against the tendency of people to rush from one errand [...]

With the news of the advanced Titanic 8K footage, which shows the most detail ever captured of the sunken ship and Titanic: The Exhibition debuting in Manhattan next month (at 526 6th Ave., New York, NY), there’s been a new wave of interest in this intriguing yet tragic story. Of course, everyone is familiar with the history of the RMS Titanic – the luxurious ocean liner that collided with an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City in April, 1912. [...]

Life is about following our dreams, creating happy memories, achieving personal goals, and simply enjoying the many moments we’re gifted. It’s also about pursuing interests and activities that make us feel truly alive. Many people enjoy the act of exploration. Driven by a sense of curiosity, they’re on a quest for knowledge and novel experiences. Many yearn to wander the world. These explorers enjoy engaging with people of other cultures, turning strangers into friends, and all of the stimulation that comes along with their [...]

Book censorship, especially in recent years, has become an increasingly prevalent topic in both national media and local regions where book challenges have arisen. According to Unite Against Book Bans, an American Library Association (ALA) initiative dedicated to standing up against book censorship, “there were more censorship attempts in 2021 than at any time since the American Library Association began tracking more than two decades ago.” This same source notes that in 2021 alone, the ALA kept track of over 700 cases in which materials [...]