UPCOMING
Our exhibit “The Ongoing American Revolution” co-sponsored by Freedom’s Way runs throughout the fall. We are open on Sundays from 1-4 PM.
Coming up this Fall:
OCTOBER
Sunday, October 26 at 5:30 p.m.
A Performance piece by Bianca Broxton
Paying Tribute to Black Women Enslaved in Medford
Location: 10 Governors Avenue
This event has very limited seating. See details below.
Register here.
NOVEMBER
Boston Massacre Trials: Blood in the Snow
Speaker: Hon. Dennis J. Curran, Justice, Mass. Superior Court (Ret.)
Thursday, November 13 at 7:00 p.m.,
Location: Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public Library
Program Sponsored by Tisha Shaughnessy Sullivan and Shamrock Sign & Lettering Co.
Denounced as an act of unprovoked violence and villainy, this event is one of the most familiar incidents in American history, yet one of the least understood. The speaker will revisit this dramatic episode and the resulting trials, the competing narratives that molded public perceptions, and the unheralded courage of one lawyer and a future President – John Adams – tasked with the defense of the captain of British troops charged with murder.
November marks the 255th year commemoration of this historic event – and event that launched the American Revolution.
Register here.
DECEMBER
Holiday Party, Presentation & Toy Drive for MHSM Members
Holiday Traditions in Boston
Speaker: Anthony Sammarco, Historian & Author
Thursday, December 4 at 7:00 p.m.
Location: 10 Governors Avenue
In 1659, the General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony banned by law the celebration of Christmas as it was deemed to be a time of seasonal excess with no Biblical authority. Though repealed in 1681, it would not be until 1856 that Christmas Day became a state holiday in Massachusetts.
In his book on Christmas Traditions in Boston, Anthony Sammarco outlines the celebration (or lack thereof) of Christmas in the first two centuries after the city was settled in 1630. By the mid-19th century a German immigrant named Charles Follen introduced the Christmas tree to Boston, and shortly thereafter Louis Prang introduced his colorful Christmas cards, the first in Boston. Learn more about new and emerging Christmas traditions over the years.
Thanks to the Medford Arts Council for supporting MHSM
“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 Medford, February 2024
Murder at the Harvard Medical School, April 2023
Black Heritage Trail Virtual Tour, February 2022