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August 2019
Medford Square Walking Tour
Historian Dee Morris presents her third and final Medford walking tour of the summer, "Medford Square: Always Looking Towards Tomorrow." A city square that provides a community with the “stuff” that defines daily life. Goods and services that morph over time as new need emerge. Medford's iconic rum distillery and the Royal Oak Tavern are no more, yet there are physical reminders of our history that co-exist with contemporary landmarks. Join Dee for a fresh look at Medford Square that combines…
Find out more »September 2019
Giving Voice: Royall House Annual Benefit
Giving Voice, the annual benefit event for the Royall House & Slave Quarters, will feature a talk by renowned historian Tiya Miles, award-winning author of the book "The Dawn of Detroit: A Chronicle of Slavery and Freedom in the City of the Straits." View the museum interiors, enjoy refreshments on the lawn, and hear remarks by Miles, a professor of history at Harvard University and author of five books of history and one novel. Miles was the co-winner of the prestigious…
Find out more »Brink’s Robbery: Crime of the Century
The Medford Historical Society presents historian, author and Medford resident Stephanie Schorow for the talk "The Brink's Robbery: The Crime of the Century." Schorow, author of a book about the crime, will share the captivating story of a ragtag gang of petty thieves who committed the largest robbery in the United States on January 19, 1950, in Boston’s North End neighborhood. It was nearly the perfect crime. Learn how the robbery "went down" and the Medford connection. Schorow, a former…
Find out more »October 2019
Hikes Through History
The Medford Historical Society & Museum welcomes author and journalist Alison O'Leary for the talk "Hikes Through History," part of a weekend program being co-presented with the Friends of the Middlesex Fells. O’Leary, author of the Appalachian Mountain Club guidebook "Best Day Hikes in Boston," will share some of her favorite hikes using maps and historic photos. Hiking, she highlights, “is more than a stroll through the woods when you know how the land was used in the past. In Massachusetts,…
Find out more »Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds: Slavery in New England
The Royall House & Slave Quarters welcomes historian Jared Ross Hardesty to speak about his forthcoming book, "Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds: A History of Slavery in New England." Shortly after the first Europeans arrived in 17th-century New England, they began to import Africans and capture the area’s indigenous peoples as slaves. By the eve of the American Revolution, enslaved people comprised only about 4 percent of the population, but slavery had become instrumental to the region’s economy and…
Find out more »Medford Messages in Stained Glass
The Medford Public Library and Medford Council on Aging present "Medford Messages in Stained Glass," with historian Dee Morris and artist Susan Altman. Learn about Medford’s fascinating history of stained glass, including windows in homes as well as in houses of worship, which focus on trees, flowers, people and geometric shapes. Participants will enjoy a slideshow and discussion, then make their own small stained glass piece from precut pieces. Space is limited to 20 participants. Please call the Medford Senior Center at…
Find out more »Royall House Tours Closing Day
The Royall House & Slave Quarters concludes its 2019 guided tour season today. Tours are offered on the hour at 1, 2, and 3 p.m. (Tours also are offered on Saturday, October 26, at the same times.) Admission for guided tours of the mansion is $10 for adults; $8 for seniors; $5 for students; $2 for EBT or WIC cardholders; and free for children age 12 and under. Admission to the Slave Quarters, which also houses the archaeological exhibit, gift…
Find out more »Walking Tour: Lydia Maria Child’s Medford
Freedom's Way Walks & Talks: Storied Women presents the walking tour "Lydia Maria Child's Medford." The tour, led by Medford Historical Society & Museum programs volunteer Nancy White, covers Medford during the period of Lydia Maria’s birth (1802), the people who were influential in her education, religious and social development, and the institutions that were present in Medford Square during the early nineteenth century. The Medford Square neighborhood has nine sites that are on the National Registry of Historic Places. The…
Find out more »November 2019
M-BELT Annual Meeting and Brooks Estate Tours
The Medford-Brooks Estate Land Trust (M-BELT) is holding its 2019 Annual Meeting. All are welcome to attend. Paid members are eligible to vote for the organization's president and two directors during the business portion of the meeting. There also will be an update on the Brooks Estate restoration projects, including initiatives being funded through the Community Preservation Act. After the meeting, the Shepherd Brooks Manor will be open for tours, from 1 :30 to 3 p.m. (last tour starts at…
Find out more »Molasses: From the Slave Trade to the Great Flood
The Medford Historical Society & Museum presents a talk by author and historian Anthony Sammarco on "Molasses: From the Slave Trade to the Great Flood," at the Medford Senior Center. Massachusetts has an integral connection with molasses. Rum from New England was traded in Africa for slaves, who were brought to the sugar cane plantations of the Caribbean. The sugar cane was refined into molasses, which was shipped to New England and used in the distillation of rum. This talk will…
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