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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251001
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20271219
DTSTAMP:20260523T151427
CREATED:20251017T175135Z
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SUMMARY:Witness: Hingham in the Age of Revolution
DESCRIPTION: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.
URL:https://massachusetts250.org/event/witness-hingham-in-the-age-of-revolution-2/
LOCATION:Hingham Heritage Museum\, Main Street 34\, Hingham\, MA\, 02043\, United States
CATEGORIES:Black History,Commemoration,Exhibit,Women's History
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://massachusetts250.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/WITNESS-Hingham-in-the-Age-of-Revolution-2.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251201
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20270101
DTSTAMP:20260523T151427
CREATED:20260129T230222Z
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SUMMARY:Forging Independence | Building a Nation
DESCRIPTION: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). \nForging 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? \nForging 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? \nThe 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.
URL:https://massachusetts250.org/event/forging-independence-building-a-nation/
LOCATION:New Bedford Whaling Museum\, 18 Johnny Cake Hill\, New Bedford\, MA\, 02740\, United States
CATEGORIES:Black History,Exhibit,Indigenous History,Women's History
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://massachusetts250.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Forging-Independence_25-scaled.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="New Bedford Whaling Museum":MAILTO:communication@whalingmuseum.org
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260220T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260220T213000
DTSTAMP:20260523T151427
CREATED:20260107T193753Z
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SUMMARY:The Barzillai Lew Project - A Duke Ellington Concert
DESCRIPTION:The Forgotten Hero Who Inspired Duke Ellington.\nIn 1942\, the renown Duke Ellington composed a piano piece in Barzillai Lew’s honor\, likely inspired by stories Ellington encountered while studying with the pioneering historian Carter G. Woodson.\nThe musical score of this work\, first retrieved and digitized from the Smithsonian American History Museum for this project\, is the basis for a modern adaptation of that composition.\nJoin us at 7:30pm on February 20\, 2026\, Ellington’s work will be presented in a concert along with several original compositions at the Richard and Nancy Donahue Family Academic Arts Center\, Middlesex Community College\, 240 Central Street in Lowell. \nBarzillai Lew\nBarzillai Lew was born a free Black person on November 5th\, 1743\, in Groton\, Massachusetts\, the son of Primus Lew and Margaret [Lew]. Like his father\, Barzillai became a renown fifer in the colonial regiment of Captain Thomas Farrington.\nAfter serving in the French and Indian War\, he purchased the freedom of Dinah Bowman (1744–1837) and married her in 1768. Dinah was a pianist who had been enslaved in Lexington. She may very well have been the first African-American woman pianist in American history.\nIn May of 1775\, Barzillai Lew enlisted in Captain John Ford’s Company\, the 27th Regiment\, out of Chelmsford. Lew\, along with about 3 dozen other ethnic Africans\, fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17\, 1775.\nWith wages earned from his military service\, the Lew family purchased a large tract of farmland in Dracut\, which is now part of Lowell. They built a house near Varnum Avenue and Zeal Road (named for Barzillai\,) now called Totman Road. After the war\, Lew returned to his farm in Pawtucketville\, where they raised 13 children\, the most famous being the abolitionist\, Lucy Lew. His great grandson is Harry ‘Bucky’ Lew\, the first African American Basketball player
URL:https://massachusetts250.org/event/the-barzillai-lew-project-a-duke-ellington-concert/
LOCATION:Richard and Nancy Donahue Family Academic Arts Center\, Central Street 240\, Lowell\, MA\, 01852\, United States
CATEGORIES:Black History,Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://massachusetts250.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Barzillai-Lew-Concert.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Revolutionary Valley RTC":MAILTO:events@revolutionaryvalley.org
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