BCHS Presents 'Poor Herman'

12:16PM / Monday, July 22, 2024Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire County Historical Society will present "Poor Herman," by playwright Elizabeth Doss, Herman Melville's great-great-great granddaughter.

According to a press release:

Poor Herman unearths the life of Herman Melville, who arguably wrote America's best and worst novels back-to-back in 1850 and 1851. The production considers what compelled Melville, struggling to salvage his declining reputation while trying to feed a growing family, to write a virtually unreadable book, Pierre or the Ambiguities, in the aftermath of Moby Dick's initial failure with critics and readers. The play gives voice to the unsung people in his life, chiefly his mother, wife, sisters, and daughters who each contributed to his fame and flourishing and endured his decline and demise. While hindsight now celebrates his achievements, this production will investigate what it cost him to make history. All characters in the play, including Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne are played by five women: Diana Lynn Small, Katie Bender, Alexis Scott, Marie Ponce and Zoë Laiz.

Performances take place at Arrowhead's historic barn and begin at 7 pm. Tickets are $25 for BCHS members, $30 for non-members, $10 for EBT card holders, children under 12 are admitted free. A $45 ticket includes a tour of Arrowhead.

Tickets are available by using the BOOK NOW button at berkshirehistory.org. This event is sponsored by The Feigenbaum Foundation and MOSAIC/Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

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Pittsfield ARPA Funds Have Year-End Expiration Date

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:20AM / Thursday, January 15, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — American Rescue Fund Act monies must be spent by the end of the year, and Pittsfield is already close.

In 2021, the city was awarded a historic amount of money — $40,602,779 — in federal remediation funds for the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the end of September 2025, more than $37 million had been expended, and 90 percent of the 84 awarded projects were complete.

Special Project Manager Gina Armstrong updated the City Council on the ARPA funds during its first meeting of the new term on Tuesday.

As of September 2025, the $4.7 million allocated for public health and COVID-19 response has been fully expended. Additionally, $22.7 million of the $24.9 million allocated for negative economic impacts has been expended, and nearly all of the infrastructure funds, more than $5.8 million, have been expended.

Less than $3 million of the $3.7 million allocated for revenue replacement has been spent, along with about $873,00 of the $1.1 million allocated for administration.

Armstrong noted that in the last quarter, "Quite a bit more has been done in the areas of the housing projects." In 2022, then-Mayor Linda Tyer allocated $8.6 million in ARPA funds for affordable housing initiatives, and the community is eager for those additional units to come online.

Nine supportive units at the Zion Lutheran Church on First Street received more than $1.5 million in ARPA funds, the 7,700-square-foot housing resource center in the basement received more than $4.6 million, and the Westside Legends' home construction project saw more than $361,000 for two single-family homes on South Church Street and Daniels Avenue.

"This is just about complete, and I believe that people who are currently homeless or at risk of homelessness will be able to take these apartments in the very near future," Armstrong said, noting the supportive units and resource center that had a ribbon-cutting in late 2025.