Object of the Month

RSS

About This Blog

Each month, an object from the collection at Adams National Historical Park will be featured.

John Adams' Law Desk

July 20, 2026 Posted by: Patty Smith, Museum Curator

John Adams’ standup law desk.  This desk was used by John Adams in the law office in his home at the Farm at Penn’s Hill. John Adams continued to use the desk as Vice-President and President of the United States during summers spent at Peace field in Quincy.  It is most likely the desk that John wrote the Massachusetts State Constitution in 1779 just before he is sent to Europe.

OOTM, objectofthemonth, federalperiod, JohnAdams, StandupDesk, Lawyer, AbigailAdams, DecorativeArts, Furniture

 

Portrait of General Joseph Warren

June 12, 2026 Posted by: Patty Smith, Museum Curator

Joseph Warren became a hero of the early American Revolutionary War at the Battle of Bunker Hill. He was family physician to John and Abigail Adams. He saved John Quincy’s badly fractured finger from amputation.

OOTM, objectofthemonth, JosephWarren, BattleofBunkerHill, BunkerHill, JohnAdams, AbigailAdams, JohnQuincyAdams, JohnSingletonCopley, CopleyPainting, Portrait

 

Abigail's Locket

May 19, 2026 Posted by: Patty Smith, Museum Curator

This essay highlights the sentimental and historical aspects of Abigail’s gold locket, a personal gift from John before his diplomatic mission in 1779. It outlines the locket’s features, its symbolic role during their long separation, and traces the broader tradition of lockets as keepsakes. The locket’s possible origins are explored and its place in the Adams National Historical Park collection.

OOTM, objectofthemonth, Locket, AbigailAdams, JohnAdams, Jewelry

 

Hepplewhite Pole Fire Screens

March 20, 2026 Posted by: Lauren Whitley-Haney, Curatorial Intern

A set of two Hepplewhite fire screens. Abigail Adams likely purchased this set of pole fire screens in the late 1700s or early 1800s.

object, AbigailAdams, OOTM, DecorativeArts, federalperiod, objectofthemonth