HADLEY — The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum, closed for much of the last two years because of the pandemic, reopened June 1.
New tours of the historic 18th-century house fwill tell a more complete story of the people who lived and worked on the property, from Native Americans who predated white settlers to enslaved people and servants who once worked on the land.
Other longtime programs, such as Wednesday Folk Traditions, which features appearances by noted ethnic folk music performers and ensembles from New England, will also resume.
Among the Wednesday performers will be Tim Eriksen (June 15), the Grammy-nominated ethnomusicologist from the Valley, who will offer traditional ballads from the region as well as original pieces that have been described as “magical realism in song.”
Other artists in the series include Lee Rozie, “Mixashawn,” who is of Maheekanew, Mohawk, and Cherokee descent and performs indigenous roots music; troubadour and singer-songwriter Dave Mallett, known as the “The Voice of New England”; and The Amherst Area Gospel Choir.
In 1752, Moses and Elizabeth Pitkin Porter erected a farmstead known as “Forty Acres” here, and the house, eventually enlarged, became home to six generations of an extended family; it became a museum in 1949.
A free program on June 29 from 4:30 to 6 p.m., “Three Generations of Reinterpretation at the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum,” will offer details of many new research discoveries and the history of the property.
