The Concord Museum (Concord, MA) presents a new special exhibition, Transformed by Revolution, opening October 3, 2025. While Concord’s role in the start of the American Revolution is widely recognized, less well known are the continued experiences of disruption and turmoil in Concord throughout the war. Through eyewitness historical objects, artworks, and documents, Transformed by Revolution explores what it was like to be part of this war-time community that hosted Harvard College and became a hub of military supplies for the army in Boston.
The exhibition also considers who participated in this fight for Independence and the meanings of freedom for women, the Black community, and sovereign Indigenous nations. These stories are traced through the end of the war and into the years of the early Republic to explore shifting ideas about community, belonging, and what it meant to be part of the new nation.
“This exhibition considers what it was like to live through the Revolutionary War, to see your community changed and challenged by large-scale conflict,” curator David Wood said. “We understand Concord’s importance on the day the ‘shot heard round the world’ brought Massachusetts communities together in violent conflict with the British Regulars, but most of us today don’t grasp what happened after those shots were fired.”
Featured objects include:
- A rarely exhibited portrait of Benjamin Franklin by Joseph Siffred Duplessis, the most accurate timepiece in America in the 1760s, and a portrait painted by John Singleton Copley of Harvard Professor John Winthrop that illustrate the astonishing fact that the war-time relocation of Harvard College to Concord (1775-1776) briefly connected the small town to the most cutting-edge science in the world.
- A story quilt entitled B. Cumming A Freeman by contemporary artist Sharon Chandler, a fragment of the North Bridge, and a military camp stool captured at Saratoga that together invite visitors to consider the development of a free Black community in Concord, including the experiences of Brister Freeman who left Concord enslaved and returned after service a free man to buy a small farm at Walden Pond.
- Furniture, domestic objects, and artwork that explore Concord’s social and charitable societies in the new Republic which helped unite the community to do public good and strengthen social ties.
- A musket assembled in Concord, an engraved powder horn, and original documents that illustrate how Concord served as a military hub, supplying the 15-20,000 soldiers surrounding the British Army trapped in Boston.
- Historic clothing including a newly conserved neoclassical embroidered gown that illuminate the experiences of women in the early republic and their community building efforts that shaped the new nation.
Transformed by Revolution is the second of three special exhibitions presented by the Concord Museum as part of its commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. These exhibitions compliment the Museum’s ongoing exhibition, April 19, 1775, where visitors can experience the day the American Revolutionary War began through dozens of eyewitness objects including the original lantern from Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride.
This exhibition is made possible, in part, by the National Endowment for the Humanities; the Decorative Arts Trust; the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism; and the Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area.
Transformed by Revolution will remain open through February 22, 2026.
About the Concord Museum
The Concord Museum connects people to Concord’s multi-faceted history and its continuing influence on American cultural, political, environmental, and literary life. Founded in 1886, the Museum houses one of the most notable collections of American material culture and decorative arts in the country, consisting of over 45,000 objects that bring Concord’s past to life.
The Museum showcases the many layers of Concord’s remarkable history, including Concord’s pivotal role in the beginning of the American Revolution, the writings of celebrated Transcendentalists, the rich history and continued presence of local Indigenous communities, a strong legacy of social justice activism, and innovations in education and agriculture.
A regional leader in object-based learning, the Museum offers cutting-edge school programming and teacher resources, as well as life-long learning opportunities through exhibitions and public programs. In 2024, the Concord Museum received re-accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums – the highest national recognition available to any museum in the US and the gold standard of museum excellence for over 50 years. Only 3% of all museums nationwide hold AAM accreditation.
More Details: https://www.seegreatart.art/ben-franklin-portrait-that-inspired-100-bill-on-view-at-concord-museum/
