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Learn more about accessing information on your house in the lecture on House Histories and Fascinating Finds.
View a video of the lecture here. Need the Handout? Download a copy of the accompanying handout in PDF format here.

 

UPCOMING

Note: unless noted, all program are free.
Please consider making a donation to MHSM via Paypal.

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SPRING 2024

April 2024, Poetry Month 

New England Poetry Club at the Medford Historical Society & Museum
Poets: Max Heinegg, Denise Bergman, Kevin Gallagher, and Scott Ruescher
Thursday, April 4, 7:00-8:30 PM
10 Governors Avenue

Join Medford High School English teacher and poet Max Heinegg and three other New England Poetry Club poets for a night of poetry and song. Max will perform some classic poems (from Keats to Frost) that he adapted into song, giving a brief talk about each poem and the way in which a great lyric can be read or sung. Denise Bergman is the author of five poetry books. The Shape of the Keyhole is about a woman falsely accused and hanged for murder. Three Hands None unravels assault and its aftermath. A Woman in Pieces Crossed a Sea dismantles the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty. The Telling unfolds a child refugee’s lifelong secret. Seeing Annie Sullivan explores the early life of Helen Keller’s teacher.
 Kevin Gallagher, a poet, publisher, and political economist living in Greater Boston, will present poems from his recent books And Yet it Moves and The Wild Goose.  Gallagher edits spoKe, a Boston-based annual of poetry and poetics. Scott Ruescher is the author of Waiting for the Light to Change (Prolific Press, 2017) and Above the Fold (Finishing Line Press, forthcoming). His recent poems appear in About Place, Ohio Today, Pangyrus, and the Common Ground, Latin-American Literary, and Naugatuck River reviews.

(Note this is a program change as of 2/22/24)

Sign up on Eventbrite here. Limited seats in the MHSM hall.

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Medford Poet Laureates: Past, Present, and Future
Speakers: Terry E. Carter, Vijaya Sundaram, & Max Heinegg, Poets
Thursday, April 25, 7:00-8:00 PM
MHSM, 10 Governors Avenue

Join Medford Poet Laureates — past, present, and future — for a night of poetry in celebration of national poetry month. Come and hear past poet laureate Terry E. Carter, current poet laureate Vijaya Sundaram, and poet laureate elect Max Heinegg as they read from their new books.
Sign up on Eventbrite here. Limited seats in the MHSM hall.

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Meet “Kaiser” the WWI Carrier Pigeon!
Speakers: Sunday MHSM Volunteers
Sunday, May 5, 1:30-3:00 p.m.
Medford Historical Society & Museum, 10 Governors Ave.

Join us on this special Sunday afternoon MHSM program for kids and families to see and learn about the museum’s taxodermied carrier pigeon, “Kaiser.” The program will share information about carrier pigeons—how they were trained, how they carried information, and how they were an important part of the communication internet in the past. “Kaiser” served in WWI and eventually found its way to Medford, where he became a local celebrity. The program will be specially designed for children and families. The information will be geared toward a young audience from preschool through elementary school (plus any others who are interested!). It will include a craft project with craft paper and supplies that lets kids make their own paper carrier pigeon with flappable wings and attach a handwritten message for their bird to carry. Snacks and bird-shaped cookies will be provided. The event is free, and open to the public!

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The Murder Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti: Inciting Passions a Century Later
Speaker: Hon. Dennis J. Curran, Justice, Massachusetts Superior Court (Ret.)

Thursday, May 23, at 7:00 p.m.
Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public Library
Co-Sponsored by Friends of the Medford Public Library

On April 15, 1920, a robbery and double murder in South Braintree, Massachusetts, led to the arrest of two Italian anarchists, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. They were tried and convicted at Dedham Superior Court in 1921. No one could have foreseen that this local criminal case would become an international affair. Arguably the most famous trial in the 20th century, this murder trial propelled two Italian immigrant anarchists into the international media spotlight. It divided a nation in the 1920’s, and has continued to arouse deep emotions, giving rise to enormous literature.
Sign up on Eventbrite here.


Thanks to the Medford Arts Council for supporting MHSM

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5daf1964c6ef27112dfe2480/1579285354734-6VF1URPGGUUAIHNZ7W53/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kLqeu7G4FqzW8EmoqaGWzhRZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpwd3KsdC60xe6xA3C-cMVShlgCrC9Ff9vw8YszfwhcWoSCSfIAKRwT1HhFsuyviSg0/MAC_MCC_Logos_CMYK_v2.jpg?format=500w“These programs are supported in part by a grant from the Medford Arts Council, a local commission that is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the City of Medford.”

The Power of Truth: Early Diversity in a Medford Neighborhood, February 2024
Murder at the Harvard Medical School, April 2023
Black Heritage Trail Virtual Tour, February 2022