Pittsfield Marks Herman Melville’s 200th Birthday

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Josh Landes

Published August 1, 2019 at 10:22 AM EDT

A yellow house with brown detail sits in a sun-dappled green lawn — Arrowhead, the Pittsfield, Massachusetts residence where Melville lived from 1850 to 1863

Today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Herman Melville, the American author who called Pittsfield, Massachusetts home while writing classics like “Moby Dick.” Lesley Herzberg, executive director at the Berkshire County Historical Society, spoke with WAMC about the writer’s time in the Berkshires and his lasting impact on literature.

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Josh Landes

Josh Landes has been WAMC's Berkshire Bureau Chief since February 2018, following stints at WBGO Newark and WFMU East Orange. A passionate advocate for Western Massachusetts, Landes was raised in Pittsfield and attended Hampshire College in Amherst, receiving his bachelor's in Ethnomusicology and Radio Production. His free time is spent with his cat Harry, experimental electronic music, and exploring the woods.

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