Protest and Promise - The American Revolution in Lexington
2025-04-13 09:00 - 2027-05-22 16:00 (America/New_York) | Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, 33 Marrett Road, Lexington, MA, 02421, United States
After years of tension between Great Britain and its North American colonies, a skirmish on the town green in Lexington, Massachusetts broke long-held bonds and ignited the American Revolutionary War. In an unprecedented moment in 1775, ordinary people in Lexington made extraordinary choices. An entire community—women, men, black, white, young, old, enslaved, and free—helped spark a revolution. Two hundred and fifty years later, Americans continue to remember April 19, 1775, as a moment when everyday people shaped history. This exhibition explores the events of April 19, 1775, with images, objects, and an in-depth look at this watershed event and how it has been remembered.

The Continental Arsenal at Springfield Exhibit
2025-09-13 09:30 - 2026-09-13 16:00 | Springfield Armory National Historic Site, One Armory Square, Springfield, 01105, United States
Established by General George Washington and General Henry Knox in 1777, the Continental Arsenal at Springfield was a critical part of the supply network for the fledgling Continental Army. The enlisted men and officers assigned there fabricated and supplied all manner of military supplies throughout the Revolutionary War. Explore rarely seen collections and historic documents to learn why Henry Knox called this place “one of the most proper spots in America on every account.”

Witness: Hingham in the Age of Revolution
2025-10-01 - 2027-12-18 | Hingham Heritage Museum, Main Street 34, Hingham, MA, 02043, United States
As the Nation marks 250 years of independence, Witness: Hingham in the Age of Revolution explores how one New England town experienced the ideas, contradictions, and upheavals of the American Revolution. Through the lives of Hingham’s residents– white and Black, free and enslaved– this immersive new exhibit traces the ups & downs forging of a nation.

Forging Independence | Building a Nation
2025-12-01 - 2026-12-31 | New Bedford Whaling Museum, 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA, 02740, United States
In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the New Bedford Whaling Museum will open a new suite of conjoined galleries in that explore stories of independence, struggle, and citizenship in the region during the late colonial and early Republican period (1760-1830).
Forging Independence | Building a Nation introduces connections between historical events and pressing issues of today, asking visitors to consider what ideas are embodied in the terms and ideas of Independence and Nationhood. Words like patriotism, freedom, taxation, citizenship, liberty, equality, justice, tolerance, and independence serve as keystones within the installation to encourage thoughtful engagement with concepts that transcend the past and directly connect with our present. Associations forged between objects, concepts, and individuals broach insightful civic-minded questions about what it means to be “American.” What did colonial citizens think America should or would be, and how do we today continue to ask those questions and shape that outcome today?
Forging Independence | Building a Nation outlines important regional historical events of the American Revolution, including the Boston Tea Party, which happened on the locally built and owned vessel the Dartmouth, and Grey’s raid, encompassing the defense of Fort Phoenix, the siege and burning of Bedford Village, and the Bombardment of Fairhaven. The installation frames these war-time events within larger state-wide and national arcs, including the Stamp Tax Crisis, Battle of Bunker Hill, Occupation of Boston, Massachusetts statehood, the adoption of the State Bill of Rights, and early activities tied to nation building. What did it mean to discard a system of governance and colonial allegiance and establish a new country? How did people grapple with and make sense of the revolutionary period and what came after? What ideas and tenets became pillars of that era, how are their legacies felt today, and what complications or tensions arose in that space of negotiation?
The project relies on the Museum’s expansive permanent collection to center and share diverse stories and experiences from Massachusetts, consider the promises and challenges of the American Revolution, and makes connections between past and present. The exhibition utilizes artifacts and archival sources to illuminate the stories of a broad range of individuals, from local merchants who skirted blockades and traded as privateers to the narratives of private citizens and regional residents, including men, women and children of different classes, ages, ethnic and racial backgrounds, and status, immigrants, Indigenous people, and enslaved and free people of color. The exhibition includes the voices and stories of those who served in the American militia, were passionate Revolutionaries, outright ambivalent about Independence, or avid British Loyalists.

The Revolutionary Journey of William Rotch Sr.
2026-02-19 - 2026-08-02 | The Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum, County Street 396, New Bedford, MA, 02740, United States
A special exhibition of selections from the Historical Graphic Novel Quaker Whaler Traitor Spy! by Dr. Sarah Crabtree, Illustrated by Melissa Philley.
William Rotch was one of the unluckiest men of the eighteenth century. Accused of treason four times by three governments in two decades (1775 – 1795), he became a cautionary tale for any who dared dissent. A member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and thus a pacifist, he vehemently opposed the wars for independence and empire during the late eighteenth century. But William Rotch was also one of the luckiest men of the eighteenth century. Whaling was an exceptional industry in that the factory was a floating one. Ships could be at sea for years at a time, staffed with a motley crew, frequenting ports the world over. Rotch shrewdly used these factors to his advantage, amassing a fortune by exploiting the very political fragmentation he so adamantly protested. Beginning with the Boston Tea Party, the Rotches stretched the bounds of acceptable business practice by claiming residency – simultaneously – in three different countries. This tactic landed Rotch in court almost as frequently as his antiwar stance, but here too he won acquittal.
So was William Rotch a Quaker? A whaler? A traitor? A spy? This exhibit invites the viewer – you! – to decide which label best describes him. Along the way, we’ll revisit some famous (and infamous!) events and we’ll hear from a few characters you’ve definitely heard of and some maybe you haven’t. What we hope is that you’ll agree his-story is a way of reapproaching how history is made – a story that is as much about who and what we remember as how and why we remember them.

Picturing the Revolution
2026-04-18 09:30 - 2027-01-03 16:30 | Flynt Center of Early New England Life, Old Main Street 37, Deerfield, Massachusetts, 01342, United States
Throughout the American War for Independence, scores of images circumnavigated the globe, fighting their own battles to establish a comprehensible narrative for the momentous events occurring in British North America. Differences in politics, disruptions in communication, and the delay of thousands of miles of distance produced competing and often contradictory accounts. Some images became enduring representations of the conflict. Others faded from memory.
Drawing from Historic Deerfield’s rich collection of Revolutionary-era materials, this exhibition explores the diverse ways that 18th-century individuals “pictured” or understood the Revolution as it unfolded. Looking across prints, drawings, maps, broadsides, portraits, powder horns, ceramics, and satirical cartoons, Picturing the Revolution highlights how images shaped local and global perceptions of the war: its landscapes, its actors, its causes, and its goals. Mining these complex visual records reveals the often-overlooked importance of pictures in the shift from revolt to revolution, and in envisioning a future for the new nation.
This exhibition has been made possible with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism.

Dressing the Revolution: Fashion and Politics 1760–1789
2026-04-18 09:30 - 2027-01-03 16:30 | Flynt Center of New England Life, Old Main Street 37, Deerfield, Massachusetts, 01342, United States
The exhibition includes more than 20 garments, accessories, textiles, and prints that illuminate the complex role of clothing at the time of the American Revolution. By posing new questions about fashion’s relationship with class, race, and gender, Dressing the Revolution: Fashion and Politics 1760–1789 places clothing at the center of the political debates, shedding light on dress as a powerful tool that communicated not just status and identity, but political affinities during this volatile period.
The exhibition begins with a look at the consumer revolution of the mid-18th century when an abundance of highly desirable imported goods, especially finished cloth and accessories, became widely available to all levels of society in the Colonies. Fashionable dress connected Colonists with England but also contributed to the construction of personal identities and social status, while providing the potential for social mobility.
When Britain imposed onerous taxes in the 1760s, perceptions around wearing fashionable dress began to change. Patriots called for non-importation and nonconsumption of British goods while advocating for more sober, American-made clothing. Women stepped into new political roles through the many highly publicized spinning bees, putting action to words in their industry and self sacrifice. While the Homespun Movement remained largely symbolic, it nevertheless changed the narrative around the public display of clothing.
Fashionable dress remained a topic of heated debate, and public scrutiny, when consumption of imported goods resumed after the tariffs were lifted. Clothes, whether modest or fashionable, could be read for their political implications. When the Revolution brought closed ports and hardship, Colonists often made due by maintaining and altering existing clothes and dressing more plainly. The show concludes with a look at dressing in the new Nation and the conflicting urges to balance familiar calls for republican modesty and virtue with a new eagerness for American-produced fashions.
This program is made possible by a grant from The Coby Foundation.

A Town Divided: Deerfield in the Age of Revolution
2026-04-18 09:30 - 2027-01-02 16:30 | historic deerfield, 84B Old Main Street, Deerfield, Massachusetts, 01342, United States
This exhibition explores how a rural Massachusetts community responded to the upheaval of the late 1760s through the 1780s. Using objects, documents, and personal narratives, it will present multiple perspectives on how Deerfield residents embraced, rejected, or questioned Revolutionary ideals. While many associate the Revolution with Boston or battlefield sites, A Town Divided brings the promises—and contradictions—of the Revolution to life through the lens of a deeply divided rural town in western Massachusetts.
As in other communities, Deerfield’s citizens struggled to adapt to an everchanging social, political, and economic landscape as rebellion and war affected villages far from urban centers and coastal cities. In Deerfield, which was evenly split between Loyalists and Whigs, conflicts between neighbors upturned lives and polarized the community. By expanding and interpreting Deerfield’s stories, the exhibition investigates overlooked aspects of the Revolution, highlighting a period when Americans faced severe challenges but eventually emerged a new nation.
Objects, documents, and voices from the period allow us to access the urgency and uncertainty of the era. The ideals of equality and liberty engaged not only Loyalists and Whigs, but also rich and poor, women and children, African Americans (both free and enslaved), and Indigenous people.
This program is made possible by a grant from Mass Humanities, which provided funding through the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Myth and Memory: Stories of the American Revolution
2026-05-15 11:00 - 2026-11-16 17:00 | Historic New England – Eustis Estate, 1424 Canton Avenue, Milton, 02186, United States
𝘔𝘺𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺: 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 brings together material from Historic New England’s vast permanent collection of objects and archival materials to explore the multifaceted history of the American Revolution as it played out in New England. These objects tell the stories of everyday people whose lives were linked by the shared experience of revolution. This exhibition engages with the memories and mythologies embedded in this collection, calling attention to how we remember the American Revolution and reckon with its legacy. 𝘔𝘺𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 spotlights the deeply personal experiences of individuals, families, and communities caught up in extraordinary circumstances, organized around the themes of Resistance, Loyalty, Liberty, and Memory. This intimacy invites audiences to consider what it was like to live through these historic events and to contribute in small and not-so-small ways to the shaping of a new nation.

Lost Liberties - Broken Promises
2026-06-04 10:00 - 2026-11-19 16:00 | Golden Ball Tavern Museum, Boston Post Road 662, Weston, Massachusetts, 02493, United States
” Lost Liberties – Broken Promises” a yearlong exhibit focusing on the enslaved, indigenous, displaced Loyalists, and veterans of Weston who were on the wrong side of history.

Yarmouth in Revolution Exhibit : the Captain Bangs Hallet House Museum
2026-06-05 11:00 - 2026-10-10 15:00 | Captain Bangs Hallet House & Museum, Strawberry Lane 11, Yarmouth, Massachusetts, 02675, United States
To mark the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution, the Captain Bangs Hallet House Museum will present a special exhibition during the summer of 2026. “Yarmouth In Revolution” will look at what life was like for the townspeople living through the pivotal years of the American Revolution. We will focus attention on their daily lives: how did political and military events effect them and how did they manage to live ‘normal’ lives during this tumultuous time? What was life like in this village in the 1760s-1780s?
Drawn from the collections of the Historical Society of Old Yarmouth as well as private lenders, the exhibit will showcase a select number of artifacts associated with Yarmouth’s experiences during the Revolutionary War period.
Guided tours are offered Thursday – Saturday at 11:00, 12:00, 1:00 and 2:00.

Norman Rockwell Museum
2026-06-06 10:00 - 2026-10-26 17:00 | Norman Rockwell Museum, Glendale Road 9, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 01262, United States
In commemoration of America’s 250th founding, Norman Rockwell Museum will present Visions of a Nation: 250 Years from Revolution to Rockwell, from June 6 to October 26, 2026. This sweeping exhibition will portray how artists—from the Revolutionary era to today–emblazoned the ideals and evolving story of America. Organized around nine foundational themes, Visions of a Nation will illuminate how iconic imagery created over centuries helped to reflect and shape what it means to be American.

Remembering the Revolution
2026-06-12 09:00 - 2026-10-18 17:00 | Heritage Museums & Gardens, Grove Street 67, Sandwich, Massachusetts, 02563, United States
How do we remember the American Revolution?
In honor of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Heritage Museums & Gardens presents Remembering the Revolution, a site-wide exhibition exploring what life was like for everyday New Englanders during America’s founding era.
Drawing from Heritage’s collections, the exhibition examines the experiences of Patriots, Loyalists, local Wampanoag soldiers, pacifist Shaker communities, and others whose stories are often overshadowed by famous battles and Founding Fathers.
Highlights include silver crafted by Paul Revere, nine military miniature regiments, and a 24-square-foot diorama depicting the British surrender at the Battle of Yorktown. Throughout Heritage’s 100-acre campus, visitors can also discover interpretive displays connecting the museum’s collections and landscapes to the Revolutionary period.
Included with museum admission.

Mohawk Trail Concerts Celebrates American Music
2026-06-13 17:00 - 2026-07-18 18:30 | Charlemont Federated Church, Main Street 175, Charlemont, MA, 01339, United States
Launched in 1970, Mohawk Trail Concerts has concerts every Saturday evening in the acoustically excellent Charlemont Federated Church. This year to celebrate our nation’s birthday, each concert will feature at least one piece by an American composer.

In Defense of our Just Rights & Liberties: Amherst in the Revolution
2026-06-18 - 2027-05-30 | Amherst History Center, 45 Boltwood Walk, Amherst, MA, 01002, United States
This exhibit gives guests an opportunity to learn how the Revolutionary War played out in Amherst – directly from the voices of the residents who lived through it. Through primary source documents, the exhibit brings visitors on a journey from the Declaration of Independence in Amherst to the stirrings of revolution and eventual outbreak of war.
In Defense of our Just Rights and Liberties is made possible by support from the Amherst Cultural Council and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

America at 250 at the MFA
2026-06-21 10:00 - 2027-07-04 17:00 | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 465 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, United States
A silver bowl. 17-foot-wide painted room divider. A charismatic silversmith considering his craft. A towering mahogany desk and bookcase. Certain paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, and works on paper from the MFA’s Art of the Americas art collection, along with the artists who created them, played a pivotal role in shaping the early history of the United States. Today, as we approach 250 years since the country’s founding, they likewise have a unique ability to recount and reflect that history while also inviting us to reconsider it.
Coinciding with the 250th anniversary of American Independence, the MFA is reimagining its 18th-century galleries on level one of the Art of the Americas Wing for the first time since they opened in 2010. The new display, which opens in June 2026, brings together works from across the Americas—integrating Native and non-native, North, South, and Central American, and Caribbean art—and explores how artists have contributed to, or in some cases resisted, ideas of nationhood and identity. Visitors can immerse themselves in a range of stories and experiences, discovering the interconnectedness of the Americas and its history, institutions, and people.
Gilbert Stuart’s unfinished portrait of George Washington (1796)—the foundational image of the nation’s first president in the public imagination—offers viewers a prescient reminder that democracy is constant work in progress. An early piece of American protest art, Paul Revere’s Sons of Liberty Bowl (1768) honors a group of Massachusetts rebels who paved the way for the Revolution. A ceramic jar (1857) by the enslaved potter and poet David Drake exemplifies literacy as an act of resistance in the decades before the Civil War. Thomas Sully drew on artistic traditions of heroism for The Passage of the Delaware (1819), which portrays George Washington in a dramatic scene of bravery. Meanwhile, a recently acquired work by Alan Michelson, a Mohawk member of Six Nations of the Grand River, offers a contemporary critique of Washington, who was known to the Mohawk Nation as “Town Destroyer.” These and the many other works on view reveal a past in dialogue with the present and propose endless possibilities for assessing history as we look ahead to the future.

76 Reading Frederick Douglass Together events in 2026
2026-06-23 - 2026-09-12
We believe Frederick Douglass’ words belong in public spaces. Every year we provide grants to support readings of his influential address, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” in town squares, community centers, churches, museums, libraries, parks, and more.
This year, we’re proud to share that a record-high 76 readings will take place across the commonwealth in 2026. Reference the list below to find a reading near you.
Saturday, May 30
Grantee: Boston Review of Books
Location: Malden
Time: 2:00 pm
Wednesday, June 3
Grantee: Massachusetts Voter Education Resource Network
Location: Boston, Gourdin Memorial Park
Time: 1:00 pm
Thursday, June 4
Grantee: Elite 413 Foundation
Location: Zoom
Time: 5:00 pm
Thursday, June 11
Grantee: Lowell Community Charter Public School
Location: Lowell Community Charter Public School, Luna Theater
Time: 6:00 pm
Saturday, June 13
Grantee: Together Hyde Park/ The Forum for Racial Equity
Location: Boston
Time: 11:00 am
Sunday, June 14
Grantee: Jookender Community Initiative
Location: Framingham
Time: 10:00 am
Tuesday, June 16
Grantee: Center for Law and Education
Location: Boston
Time: 12:00 pm
Tuesday, June 16
Grantee: Artists for Humanity
Location: Boston
Time: 4:30 pm
Wednesday, June 17
Grantee: Wellfleet Preservation Hall
Location: Wellfleet
Time: 7:00 pm
Wednesday, June 17
Grantee: Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts (MIFA)
Location: De La Luz Sound Stage, 114 Race St, Holyoke, MA 01040
Time: 5:00 pm
Thursday, June 18
Grantee: Bristol Community College Foundation
Location: Fall River
Time: 4:30 pm
Thursday, June 18
Grantee: Holyoke Media Center
Location: Holyoke
Time: 6:00 pm
Friday, June 19
Grantee: Medway Marches
Location: Medway
Time: 2:00 pm
Friday, June 19
Grantee: Westford Museum
Location: Westford
Time: 7:00 pm
Friday, June 19
Grantee: Recovery Through Innovation
Location: Indian Orchard
Time: 1:00 pm
Friday, June 19
Grantee: Natick Historical Society
Location: Natick
Time: 10:00 am
Friday, June 19
Grantee: Old Sturbridge Village
Location: Sturbridge
Time: 1:00 pm
Friday, June 19
Grantee: Brookline for the Culture
Location: Brookline
Time: 12:30 pm
Friday, June 19
Grantee: City of Salem
Location: Salem
Time: 12:30 pm
Friday, June 19
Grantee: The Black Response
Location: Cambridge
Time: 1:15 pm
Friday, June 19
Grantee: Black Business Association of Amherst Area
Location: Amherst
Time: 2:30 pm
Saturday, June 20
Grantee: World of Chibuzo
Location: Boston
Time: 6:00 pm
Saturday, June 20
Grantee: Holliston Public Library
Location: Holliston
Time: 10:00 am
Saturday, June 20
Grantee: Engine Room Section/Hyde Park Lions Club
Location: Hyde Park
Time: 1:00 pm
Saturday, June 20
Grantee: The David and Joyce Milne Public Library
Location: Williamstown
Time: 11:00 am
Sunday, June 21
Grantee: Berkshire Community College Foundation
Location: Pittsfield
Time: 12:00 pm
Thursday, June 25
Grantee: Forbes House Museum
Location: Milton
Time: 7:00 pm
Friday, June 26
Grantee: Mass Humanities, Museum of African American History | Boston and Nantucket, and Community Change
Location: Boston Common
Time: 12:00 pm
Friday, June 26
Grantee: NAACP Worcester
Location: Worcester
Time: 12:00 pm
Saturday, June 27
Grantee: Rediscover Mapledale
Location: Stow
Time: 10:30 am
Saturday, June 27
Grantee: Historic Beverly
Location: Beverly
Time: 10:00 am
Saturday, June 27
Grantee: Hawthorne Youth and Community Center
Location: Roxbury
Time: 2:00 pm
Saturday, June 27
Grantee: Bristol Black Collective
Location: Fall River
Time: 12:30 pm
Saturday, June 27
Grantee: Everyday Boston
Location: Boston
Time: TBD
Sunday, June 28
Grantee: The John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum Foundation
Location: Hyannis
Time: 1:00 pm
Tuesday, June 30
Grantee: The Wayland Museum & Historical Society
Location: Wayland
Time: 7:00 pm
Tuesday, June 30
Grantee: Somerville Museum
Location: Somerville
Time: 6:00 pm
Wednesdsay, July 1
Grantee: Greenfield Community Television
Location: Greenfield
Time: 5:00 pm
Wednesdsay, July 1
Grantee: Reading Public Library
Location: Reading
Time: 6:30 pm
Wednesdsay, July 1
Grantee: Haitian Studies Association
Location: Vineyard Haven
Time: 5:00 pm
Thursday, July 2
Grantee: Town of Swampscott & S.U.R.E. Diversity
Location: Swampscott
Time: 4:00 pm
Friday, July 3
Grantee: Northshore Juneteenth Association
Location: Lynn
Time: 11:00 am
Friday, July 3
Grantee: Museum of African American History | Boston and Nantucket
Location: Nantucket
Time: 12:00 pm
Saturday, July 4
Grantee: Wakullah Street Community Garden
Location: Boston
Time: 2:00 pm
Saturday, July 4
Grantee: Drag Story Hour Berkshires
Location: Pittsfield
Time: 1:00 pm
Saturday, July 4
Grantee: Plainfield Reads
Location: Plainfield, Alden Pavilion
Time: 10:00 am
Saturday, July 4
Grantee: Old Parish Preservation Volunteers
Location: Norwood
Time: 2:00 pm
Saturday, July 4
Grantee: Solidarity Arts & Education Decolonial initiatives (SAEDi) Collective
Location: Auburn
Time: 1:00 pm
Saturday, July 4
Grantee: Royall House and Slave Quarters
Location: Medford
Time: TBD
Sunday, July 5
Grantee: Cape Cod Cape Verdean Museum and Cultural Center
Location: East Falmouth
Time: 4:00 pm
Sunday, July 5
Grantee: South Congregational Church
Location: Amherst
Time: 3:00 pm
Sunday, July 5
Grantee: Castle of Our Skins
Location: Roxbury
Time: 3:00 pm
Sunday, July 5
Grantee: Unitarian Universalist Society of Grafton and Upton
Location: Grafton
Time: 5:00 pm
Sunday, July 5
Grantee: Newburyport Preservation Trust
Location: Newburyport
Time: 10:00 am
Sunday, July 5
Grantee: The Poets’ Theatre of Boston
Location: Belmont
Time: 3:00 pm
Monday, July 6
Grantee: Marion Art Center
Location: Marion
Time: 1:00 pm
Wednesday, July 8
Grantee:Multicultural AIDS Coalition
Location: Roxbury
Time: 5:30 pm
Wednesday, July 8
Grantee: Whittier Home Association
Location: Rocky Hill Meeting House, Amesbury
Time: 6:00 pm
Saturday, July 11
Grantee: African American Association of Brockton
Location: Brockton
Time: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Saturday, July 18
Grantee: Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services
Location: Springfield
Time: 5:00 pm
Wednesday, July 22
Grantee: Indian Orchard Citizens Council
Location: Springfield
Time: 2:00 pm
Saturday, September 12
Grantee: Porter-Phelps-Huntington Foundation
Location: Hadley
Time: 2:00 pm
Saturday, September 12
Grantee: Think Outside The Vox
Location: Littleton
Time: TBD

Songs of Liberty
2026-07-01 09:30 - 2026-07-26 17:00 | Old Sturbridge Village, 1 Old Sturbridge Village Road, Sturbridge, MA, 01566, United States
A 25-minute live performance explores how music carried revolutionary ideas through taverns, homes, and meetinghouses across New England—often faster and with greater impact than the written word. A cast of musicians, joined by a Massachusetts Minuteman storyteller, will perform songs from the Revolutionary era with a contemporary folk-rock twist, highlighting enduring themes of liberty, resistance, and unity. The Songs of Liberty is produced in partnership with ClockJack Productions.

Voices of a Revolution
2026-07-01 09:30 - 2026-07-26 17:00 | Old Sturbridge Village, 1 Old Sturbridge Village Road, Sturbridge, MA, 01566, United States
Visitors will step into a rural Massachusetts community and meet six Revolutionary-era residents—a printer, housemaid, lawyer, shopkeeper, tavern keeper, and farmer’s wife—each navigating the growing conflict in their own way. To make the experience even more immersive, guests will have an opportunity to learn about a specific person and build their own character, allowing them to move through the Village as active participants in the unfolding story and decide whether it is in their best interest to fight for independence or remain loyal to The British Crown. Voices of a Revolution is produced in partnership with ClockJack Productions.

Witness to the Revolution
2026-07-04 - 2026-09-28 | Hill Cemetery, Prospect Street 3, Hatfield, MA, 01038, United States
In Hatfield’s oldest cemetery, the Hill Burying Ground, are 217 graves of people who were living in Hatfield during the Revolutionary War. Each one has been flagged with their name and age, including the handful of babies born in 1776 or before the war ended in 1783. This is an on-going installation, and will be open during daylight hours through October 3rd.

Independence on Martha's Vineyard: Then, Now & Forever
2026-07-05 11:00 - 2026-09-06 14:00 | Vincent House, Main Street 99, Edgartown, Massachusetts, 02539, United States
Independence on Martha’s Vineyard: Then, Now & Forever is an immersive exhibition that explores how independence has shaped the Island over 250 years. Through historic objects and storytelling, this exhibit reveals the distinct culture of self-determination and the lasting influence of Revolutionary ideals on Vineyard life. Exhibit open Tuesdays-Saturdays, July 4-September 5: 11:00am-2:00pm.
The Vincent House, the Vineyard’s oldest home, is the stage for this exhibit, which is presented as part of the Commonwealth’s MA250 commemorations, made possible by the Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation and the MV Mass Cultural Council.

Special Exhibit: Mary Baker Eddy and Her Revolutionary Legacy
2026-07-08 | How Do You See the World? experience, Massachusetts Avenue 210, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, United States
Learn about the revolutionary ideas and historical legacy of Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) — one of the only women to found a worldwide religion — in a temporary exhibit this spring and summer at the Christian Science Plaza celebrating MA250: Mary Baker Eddy and Her Revolutionary Legacy.
This free exhibit is part of the interactive How Do You See the World?® experience, exploring the world through a lens of hope, progress, and generosity. Walk through the three-story, stained glass Mapparium® globe (ticketed) that shows the world as it was in 1935 — from the inside of the world, looking out. You can then explore “Our World: Mapping Progress,” an exhibit featuring stories from The Christian Science Monitor, the Pulitzer Prize-winning international news source headquartered in the building. Learn more about Eddy’s remarkable life and the global church she founded in “Christian Science and Mary Baker Eddy.”
This special exhibit will be open through spring and summer 2026 as part of the statewide MA250 celebrations. Tickets for the Mapparium® globe are free for youth under 18, $6 for adults. All other exhibits, including this special exhibit, are free.
Hours of operation:
Monday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Tuesday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Wednesday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Thursday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Friday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
The How Do You See the World?® experience is located at 210 Massachusetts Ave. in the heart of Boston’s Back Bay.
For additional information and to buy tickets to the Mapparium® globe, please visit christianscience.com/howdoyouseetheworld

America 250 Declaration of Independence Reading
2026-07-08 | Waltham, North Street, Waltham, Massachusetts, 02453, United States
Reading of the American Declaration of Independence in commemoration of 250th Anniversary from the comfort of your home. Contact globalpeacesecretariat.com if you need copy of the Declaration.

The Aspirations of Ordinary People - Stories of the American Revolution from a local perspective
2026-07-08 08:00 - 14:00 | North Andover Historical Society, 800 Massachusetts Ave., North Andover, 01845, United States
The Andover revolutionaries understood that creating a truly free society would take many generations. Their records and artifacts, preserved at the North Andover Historical Society, are here to remind us that history matters. They depict stories of battles won, hardships endured, hometown and battleground heroes, and the start of a long fight for liberty, equality and justice. Their ideals and aspirations are the standards by which we measure our progress today.
Come discover the amazing stories brought to life at the North Andover Historical Society (NAHS) through REV250, a series of programs and exhibits dedicated to the American Revolution.
The exhibit will be open every week, Tuesday through Saturday, from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm Please check the website for more information.

"Sharing the Spirit of America" in Taunton
2026-07-08 08:00 - 17:00 | Old Colony History Museum, 6 Church Green, Taunton, MA, 02780, United States
The City of Taunton and Old Colony History Museum invite you to “Sharing the Spirit of America” on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.
Join a statewide initiative marking the 250th anniversary of the reading of the Declaration of Independence. At 6pm, we will host our own public reading of the Declaration of Independence.
Come early beginning at 5pm and enjoy “revolutionary” activities such as quill writing, patriotic sing-alongs, and a tour of the Museum’s exhibit: Voices of the Revolution.
Old Colony History Museum
66 Church Green
Taunton, Massachusetts
Questions?
Call: 508-822-1622
Email: info@oldcolonyhistorymuseum.org

Collecting Wonders: Tomorrow’s Discoveries
2026-07-08 09:00 - 17:00 | Harvard Museum of Natural History, Oxford Street 26, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, United States
When you imagine a museum, you might picture cases of artifacts. But the objects on display at the Harvard Museum of Natural History are a tiny percentage of the total collections. Behind the scenes, experts care for 26 million specimens. These objects form the basis for studying life on Earth. They are records of the planet from different times and places. Objects span billions of years and come from every continent, ocean, and beyond. They are stone and bone, plant and animal, feather and fossil.
Since the early days of Harvard University, collections have been central to teaching and research. People continue to study these collections and uncover knowledge. Come explore some treasures of the collection!
Explore historic specimens presented to mark the 250th Anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence on June 27.

1776: Declaring Independence
2026-07-08 09:30 - 16:00 | Massachusetts Historical Society, Boylston Street 1154, Boston, Massachusetts, 02215, United States
Featuring manuscripts, artifacts, and rarely seen treasures, this exhibition captures a monumental moment in American history.
In 1776, people grappled with ideas of liberty, loyalty, and the role of government in society. Private letters, intimate diaries, and newspaper accounts reveal how the Declaration of Independence grew from draft to founding document. 1776: Declaring Independence spotlights handwritten copies of the Declaration by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson as well as multiple early printings, including a rare Dunlap broadside. On and off the page, we explore how it echoed across the commonwealth and around the world, reshaping the colonists’ chances of launching a new nation. How did the Declaration change Americans’ quest for liberty, then and now? We invite visitors to trace the Declaration’s complex legacy as a national beacon for celebration and protest.
Check here for closures and more admission information: https://www.masshist.org/visit/hours-and-admission

The Road to Revolution: Massachusetts and the Independence Movement
2026-07-08 10:00 - 17:00 | Old State House, 206 Washington St, Boston, MA, 02109, United States
Explore major Massachusetts events in the first year of the American Revolution at the Old State House, where protest turned into action and the momentum for independence accelerated. Created through a partnership between Revolutionary Spaces and the Massachusetts Historical Society, The Road to Revolution: Massachusetts and the Independence Movement invites visitors to step into 1775 and 1776—a moment defined by uncertainty, debate, and decisions that would reshape the world.

Patriots of Color Exhibition
2026-07-08 10:00 - 18:00 | Family Heritage Experience, Newbury Street 97, Boston, Massachusetts, 02116, United States
Patriots of Color, a new exhibit in the Family Heritage Experience at American Ancestors, sheds light on the overlooked histories of Black, Native, and multiracial men and women who fought, labored, and led in the struggle for American independence across all thirteen colonies. Through documents, personal narratives, and digital interactives, the exhibition uncovers the courage and resilience of those whose contributions helped shape a new nation, even as they continued to confront inequality and enslavement.
Bridging past and present, Patriots of Color highlights the voices of descendants who are reclaiming these stories today—connecting revolutionary ideals of freedom and justice to the ongoing pursuit of equality in America.
Entrance to the exhibit is included in admission to the Family Heritage Experience and can be purchased either in person or online.

Group Reading of the Declaration of Independence
2026-07-08 11:00 - 11:30 | Leverett Library, Montague Road 75, Leverett, MA, 01054, United States
Come read the Declaration of Independence out loud together in a relay where we each read a piece. Be part of the nation-wide group readings on this day to celebrate the declaration’s 250th anniversary. We’ll have iced tea (fresh from Boston Harbor). All ages!
