Bidwell House Museum: The First Massachusetts Constitution and How Town Actions Derailed It

MONTEREY, Mass. — Join the Bidwell House Museum on Zoom for the first of four history talks planned for the 2026 season with Western Michigan University Professor Sally Hadden.

According to a press release: 

Massachusetts enjoys the distinction that its constitution is the "oldest functioning constitution" in the world. But this honor applies to the 1780 state constitution, which is far better known than its proposed predecessor, the Massachusetts 1776 state constitution. Why was that version of the state constitution rejected by the people? What faults did they identify, and how did the 1780 document that John Adams drafted differ from the 1776 version?

Sally Hadden is a legal historian of early America and the antebellum United States. Her book Slave Patrols: Law and Violence in Virginia and the Carolinas described the white-on-black violence that pervaded America’s slave societies. She co-edited the Blackwell Companion to American Legal History (with Al Brophy) and Signposts: New Directions in Southern Legal History (with Patricia Minter). She is completing a study entitled Cities of Lawyers: Lawyers in Boston, Philadelphia and Charleston that examines the working lives of attorneys in three eighteenth-century seaports. With Maeva Marcus, she is also writing a study of the first Supreme Court and its forebears. Hadden is a past officer and board member of the American Society of Legal History and she serves on the editorial board of Law and History Review. She is a professor of history at Western Michigan University

This lecture will be held via Zoom. Registration via the Museum event page is required, https://www.bidwellhousemuseum.org/event/the-first-massachusetts-constitution-and-how-town-actions-derailed-it/

Details for how to access the event will be sent via email 1-2 days in advance.

Greenagers Founder Will Conklin Honored as Business Person of the Year

By Breanna Steele12:17PM / Saturday, October 03, 2026

Casey Pease of state Sen. Paul Mark's office presents William Conklin, right, with a state Senate proclamation.

EGREMONT, Mass. — The Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce honored a local businessman and nonprofit leader on Sept. 24 at Catamount Mountain Resort.

 

William Conklin was this year's Business Person of the Year, recognizing his work as founder and executive director of Greenagers, a nonprofit that helps youth and children engage in work in environmental conservation, sustainable farming, natural resource management, and vocational skills building. 

 

Conklin and his family also run Sky View Farm and he is a managing partner of Konkapot Tree and Timber, a small-scale forest products business.

 

"If you spent any amount of time in Southern Berkshire, chances are you've heard his name, whether you realize the connection at the time or not," said board member Sierra King Watson, who emceed the event. "You might be having a conversation about farming, a new barn or structure that was built, students learning hands-on skills in sustainable agriculture, or a family that receives donated firewood to help keep their home warm through a cold Berkshire winter, or maybe you're simply talking about one of those community leaders who somehow manages to show up, support everyone, and seemingly be everywhere all at once.

 

"Well, one name has a way of continuously popping up, and that is Will Conklin."

 

Board President Mark Rulison said the region has more than 1,200 nonprofits. One in four jobs in the county is in the nonprofit sector, which ranks 27th nationally for nonprofit employment. He said the economic impact on the community is huge, thanking those who help.

 

For the event on Thursday, Conklin requested that as much of the food as possible was sourced locally. Most of it came from Greenagers, Sky View Farm, Indian Line Farm and Fancy Feast Supper Club, creative dinner series.