MA250 Lunch & Learns
MA250 Lunch & Learn program provides an opportunity to hear from the experts and embrace the Massachusetts commemorations, celebrations and events.
Rosie Rios, Introduced by Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll
The Chair of America 250
April 29, 2025
Rosie Rios is the CEO of Red River Associates, an investment management consulting firm and a co-host of several reality series focused on pre-IPO investments. She was appointed by President Joe Biden as Chair of America250, the United States Congressional Commission planning the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 2026.
America250 is a nonpartisan initiative working to engage every American in commemorating the 250th anniversary of our country. This multi-year effort, from now through July 4, 2026, is an opportunity to pause and reflect on our nation’s past, honor the contributions of all Americans, and look ahead toward the future we want to create for the next generation and beyond. America250’s mission is to celebrate and commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, marking America’s Semiquincentennial. America250 will foster shared experiences that spark imagination, showcase the rich tapestry of our American stories, inspire service in our communities, honor the enduring strength, and celebrate the resilience of the United States of America.
Rios served as the 43rd Treasurer of the United States and was the CEO of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the U.S. Mint, including Fort Knox with oversight over 4,000 employees and a $5 billion budget. She also initiated and led the efforts to place a portrait of a woman on U.S. currency for the first time in over a century. Following her tenure, she was appointed as a Visiting Scholar at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University with a focus on Millennials and Post-Millennials.
Rosie is a graduate of Harvard University and was selected as the first Latina in Harvard’s 388-year history to have a portrait commissioned in her honor. The portrait was unveiled in Winthrop House in 2019. She currently serves on the board of American Family Insurance, Ripple Labs, Inc., and Fidelity Charitable Trust and was previously a board member for the Alameda County Employees Retirement Association (ACERA) prior to her time in the Obama Administration. Her personal passion includes serving as Founder and CEO of EMPOWERMENT 2026, an initiative that facilitates the physical recognition of historical American women in classrooms and public spaces across the country. Rosie is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was honored as one of USA Today’s Women of the Century. Most recently, Rosie served on the Treasury Transition Team on behalf of President Joe Biden.
Historic Quincy Market
Linda Perlman
May 6, 2025
Linda Perlman has been giving walking tours throughout Boston’s historic streets for 25 years. First, working with Boston By Foot and then starting the business, Walking Tours Boston. She delights in telling the story of Quincy Market and what happened after the American Revolution. Mayor Josiah Quincy on opening day, August 26,1826, welcomed everyone with the words, “The market is to be an ornament to the city…an object of pleasure to the whole community.” Two hundred years later the ‘Festival Market’ concept lives on.
Located next to historic Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market is an historic building which had its construction organized by Josiah Quincy without any tax or debt. Quincy Market is a designated National Historic Landmark and a designated Boston Landmark, being one of the largest market complexes built in the country in the first half of the 19th century. From its beginning, the Market was largely used as a produce and foodstuff shopping center, with various grocers lining its inside walls to accommodate the growing market needs of the city of Boston.
Gerald Ford’s Third Century: Reflection on the Bicentennial
Dr. Mirelle Luecke
Supervisory Curator, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum
May 13, 2025
Dr. Mirelle Luecke is responsible for maintaining the museum’s artifact collections and developing its exhibition program. She curated the museum’s most recent original exhibits, Ford at 50 and The Betty Blip. Trained as a curator and historian, she received her M.A. from New York University and a PhD in American and Maritime History, from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Luecke is committed to fostering public engagement through diverse and compelling programming in museums, historic sites, and cultural institutions.
The 1974-77 Presidential papers of Gerald Ford and his White House staff form the core Ford Library collection. These are supplemented by the pre- and post-presidential papers of Gerald Ford, the papers of Betty Ford, collections of Federal records, and more. Former government officials have donated personal papers, researchers in the period have given copies of research interviews, and private individuals associated with the issues and events of the time have given their materials.
The permanent exhibition galleries at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum in Ann Arbor, Michigan, allow visitors to explore key moments in President Gerald R. Ford and First Lady Betty Ford’s lives and careers. Visitors learn about the impact of democratic citizenship through visually captivating displays and models, archival photography, sculptures, clothing, and an exhibit that features a permanent timeline exhibit on the lives of Gerald and Betty Ford.
Restaurateur, Historian, and Speaker: Rising Eagle Republick House
Jim Turner & Kathi Maino Turner
May 27, 2025
In 2019, Kathi and Jim Turner opened the Rising Eagle Publick House in Melrose—an inspired tribute to the city’s Revolutionary War roots. Located in what was once part of Malden—considered one of the most patriotic townships in 18th-century America—the Rising Eagle celebrates local heritage through food, storytelling, and historical ambiance. The couple’s growing passion for Revolutionary-era history is reflected in the restaurant’s mission: to offer not just a meal, but an experience rooted in America’s fight for independence.
Jim Turner is a lifelong Massachusetts resident, who brings a unique blend of entrepreneurial spirit, historical passion, and community dedication to the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. Born in Melrose and a proud graduate of Malden Catholic, Jim continued his academic and athletic career at Harvard University, where he also met his wife, Kathi. Jim’s deep roots in New England’s seafood industry began during high school and college, working for his family’s business, Turner Fisheries in Boston. In 1985, Jim returned to his passion, founding Good Harbor Fillet in Gloucester, America’s oldest seaport. In 1989, he partnered with his father to establish J. Turner Seafoods, a company thoughtfully designed to navigate the challenges of reduced fish landings and evolving regulations. Over the decades, Jim has built a family of beloved New England restaurants, beginning with Turner’s Seafood Grill & Market in 1994, followed by the opening of Turner’s at Lyceum Hall in 2013. In 2018, Jim fused his passion for Revolutionary War history and hospitality in his creation of Rising Eagle Publick House, named in tribute to the city’s historic role in the birth of the American Revolution. Jim’s commitment to preserving and honoring early American history—especially Malden’s contribution to the cause of liberty—makes him a fitting voice for the 250th commemoration. Through Rising Eagle Publick House, he brings Revolutionary War storytelling to life, blending culinary tradition with historical tribute.
Kathi Maino Turner brings over four decades of experience in the hospitality industry and more than 30 years as co-owner and CFO of Turner’s Seafood, a family-owned company with four acclaimed locations across Salem, Melrose, and Gloucester, Massachusetts. A Magna Cum Laude graduate in Economics from Harvard University, Kathi began her professional career as an analyst and mutual fund manager at Fidelity Investments, later earning her law degree from Boston College in 1990. She served with distinction in the Essex County District Attorney’s Office, where she pioneered domestic violence prosecution units in three district courts. In 1998, she joined Turner’s Seafood full-time, guiding its growth and technological transformation. Nationally, she represents the Commonwealth as a Hill runner for the National Restaurant Association, advocating on Capitol Hill for restaurant policy and reform. A longtime supporter of sustainable fisheries, Kathi has served for over a decade with the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund and sits on several nonprofit and for-profit boards. With her family’s legacy spanning over 100 years in New England’s seafood industry, she continues to lead with purpose, driving innovation and building community through hospitality and history.
Malissa Costa
Guest Experience Manager, Historic Patuxet Homesite, Plimoth Patuxet Museums
June 10, 2025
Malissa Costa (Mashpee, Wampanoag) leads the operations and interpretation on the Historic Patuxet Homesite. The staff of this major exhibit have been interpreting the history, heritage, and traditions of the Wampanoag, Pokanoket, and other Indigenous peoples of the Northeast for more than 50 years. With particular expertise in Wampanoag foodways, Malissa is a cultural knowledge-bearer about the stories and cultural survival of the Indigenous people who have lived on this land since time immemorial and continue to thrive here today.
Located on the Eel River, the Historic Patuxet Homesite is where guests learn about the Native peoples who have lived here for over 12,000 years. Visitors are invited to learn about the Indigenous heritage of the Northeast from contemporary interpreters who discuss the 17th-century lifeways of a culture that continues to thrive today. Thousands of educators and students visit Plimoth Patuxet Museums annually. Explore intertwined cultures, investigate changing landscapes, and understand 17th-century worldviews through immersive hands-on experiences. Plymouth/Patuxet is the place where the ancient traditions of gratitude in both the Indigenous and European cultures merged in the autumn of 1621, and a new holiday of gathering and giving thanks began.
Tours for Massachusetts 250
Taunya Wolfe
June 24, 2025
In 2002, Taunya Wolfe started Wolfe Adventures & Tours in Boston. In building her tours business, Taunya, brought experience in the tourism world, Bachelors in Travel & Tourism, and a masters in teaching English as a Second Language to the forefront. Since 2011 Wolfe Adventures & Tours has been based in Newburyport. This year, Taunya received ta Leadership Award for North of Boston. She is a Boston Chapter member of the travel and tourism organization Skål International, a two-term board member for the North of Boston Convention & Visitor’s Bureau and one of their Small Business of the Year Award recipients. The Wolfe Tours team specializes in developing custom tours for all ages throughout New England, the US and beyond.
1775: the Year the War Began
Robert J. Allison
Professor of History at Suffolk University
July 8, 2025
The War for American Independence began in 1775. Why? Why did armed conflict not begin sooner? Could war have been avoided? Neither side wanted a war, but each would accept one in order to establish its aims. What were the aims of each side, what obstacles were in the way of achieving them, and how was the situation different at the end of the year?
Robert J. Allison is a professor of history at Suffolk University. His books include The Crescent Obscured: The United States and the Muslim World, a biography of American naval hero Stephen Decatur, and short books on the history of Boston, the American Revolution, and an edition of The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Two of his classes, “Before 1776: Life in Colonial America,” and “The Age of Benjamin Franklin” are available from The Great Courses. As chair of Revolution 250, a consortium of organizations planning Revolutionary commemorations in Massachusetts, he hosts its weekly podcast (https://www.buzzsprout.com/1336051) featuring conversations on the Revolution with historians and interpreters. He received his Ph.D. in the History of American Civilization at Harvard, the first American studies doctoral program. He is President of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts (https://www.colonialsociety.org/), a scholarly organization focused on early American history, and a life-trustee of the USS CONSTITUTION Museum.
For contact information, visit https://www.robertallisonhistory.com/
Mariners, Privateers, and Soldiers: Marblehead's Revolutionary History
Lauren McCormack
Executive Director, Marblehead Museum
July 22, 2025
Lauren McCormack has served as the Executive Director of the Marblehead Museum since 2018, where she has led several projects to uncover and share the history of Black individuals who lived and worked in Marblehead throughout its history, for which the Museum earned a 2023 AASLH History Leadership in History Award. The Museum’s current project is to research, preserve, and interpret the newly-acquired 1766 detached Kitchen and Slave Quarters of the Jeremiah Lee Estate. Prior to that, she was the Project Director for an Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant, Engage Families, with the USS Constitution Museum, where she led a team that studied best practices for encouraging engagement and learning among and between all family members in museum programming (engagefamilies.org). She has also served as the Assistant Director of Education and Programming for Old Sturbridge Village. McCormack served as the Research Coordinator and Mass Humanities Scholar-in-Residence for the USS Constitution Museum, where she studied People of Color who served in the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812, as well as researched over 1,000 of USS Constitution’s crewmembers during the War of 1812. McCormack has a Masters of Arts degree in American History from Brandeis University and a Masters of Arts degree in American and New England Studies from Boston University, where her major paper was a study of the Black community living on the North Slope of Boston’s Beacon Hill in the early 19th century.
Expanding the Massachusetts Story
Brian Boyles
August 12, 2025
Brian Boyles is Executive Director of Mass Humanities, a foundation that creates opportunities for the people of Massachusetts to transform their lives and build a more equitable commonwealth through the humanities. Boyles joined the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities in 2006. As Vice President of Content, he served as director of the Louisiana Humanities Center and publisher of LEH’s award-winning quarterly magazine, 64 Parishes. He was Executive Publisher for New Orleans & the World: 1718-2018 Tricentennial Anthology, a landmark book published by LEH in partnership with the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Boyles joined Mass Humanities in 2018. During his tenure, Mass Humanities has grown its impact as a grant maker focused on supporting grassroots organizations, delivering more than $9.7 million in direct funding to nonprofits across Massachusetts.
Boyles serves on the state’s Special Commission on the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution, and is co-chair of Everyone 250, an initiative of Embrace Boston to produce a citywide, curated cultural experience in Boston in 2026.
Revolutionaries: The Artists who made America
Ethan W. Lasser
John Moors Cabot Chair of the Art of the Americas & Head of Exhibitions Strategy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Ethan W. Lasser is the John Moors Cabot Chair of the Art of the Americas Department and the Head of Exhibitions Strategy at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He leads the curatorial team responsible for the Museum’s renowned collection of paintings, sculpture and decorative arts from across North, Central and South America, ancient to modern. A curator, scholar and convenor, Lasser has contributed to exhibitions and publications on a range of American art topics. His most recent show, Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina considers the enslaved artists who led the ceramics industry across the 19th-century South. Lasser has also curated exhibitions of Philip Guston, Winslow Homer, and 19th century African-American art (with artist Theaster Gates, Jr.). Prior to the MFA, he held curatorial positions at the Chipstone Foundation in Milwaukee and the Harvard Art Museums. He received his PhD from Yale University, and graduated from Williams College, where he is currently a Trustee. In 2023, President Biden appointed Lasser to serve on the Committee for the Preservation of the White House. Lasser lives in West Newton, Massachusetts with his wife and three children.
Past Lunch & Learn
Celebrating with Collections: Utilizing Collections in Your Community’s Anniversary Celebration
Jesse Keel provides preservation consultations, training programs, assessments, and disaster advice to a variety of cultural heritage organizations nationwide. Since joining NEDCC in 2023, she has performed preservation assessments and custom consultations for museums, historical societies, historic homes, and universities both large and small in addition to presenting over 25 hours of training on topics ranging from digital preservation to disaster preparedness. Jesse currently serves as education chair and member-at-large on the Society of American Archivists Preservation Section Steering Committee and as the Web Administrator for New England Archivists.
When the Lions Write
Dr. Noelle N. Trent
February 18, 2025
Dr. Noelle N. Trent, President & CEO of the Museum of African American History | Boston & Nantucket, combines her passion for history with professional expertise to craft empowering experiences about Black history. As an accomplished public historian, Dr. Trent has served on committees in national museum organizations such as the American Alliance of Museums, American Association of State & Local History, the Association of African American Museums, and the International Sites of Conscience. She has collaborated with notable institutions including the National Park Service and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Previously, Dr. Trent served as Director of Interpretation, Collections & Education at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, spearheading major exhibitions as well as collections and educational initiatives, including the commemorative service for the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination, MLK50. Her contributions have garnered media attention from outlets such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and The Today Show. Dr. Trent graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude from Howard University and holds a doctorate in United States History.
Kayla Coleman, NEMA
March 11
Kayla Coleman is the Executive Director of the New England Museum Association (NEMA). With a notable background in the fine arts and museum industry, she excels in driving program and organizational development. Kayla is adept at optimizing internal workflows and processes, enhancing organizational capacity and deliverables. Her expertise in program development and project management has consistently achieved comprehensive organizational growth with reduced resource expenditures. Kayla is also skilled in identifying best practices for productivity, time management, stakeholder relationships, event planning, and management, ensuring quantifiable results.
Lisa Krassner, Concord Museum & Reed Gochberg, PhD, Concord Museum
April 8
For the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution, the Concord Museum will offer a host of immersive programs and experiences, including three new special exhibitions with eyewitness objects from the Revolution, a free Community Day celebration and living history encampment on April 19th, an ongoing Forum speaker series, a national conference on the theme “1775”, a new book by Curator David Wood, and the inaugural Paul Revere’s Bike Ride. Join Lisa Krassner, Executive Director, and Reed Gochberg, Associate Curator and Director of Exhibitions, who will share how the Concord Museum will serve a leading role as the nation marks its semiquincentennial, offering an important cultural gathering space for critical reflection, dialogue, and engagement as Americans consider the legacy and continued relevance of the Revolution today.
