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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for MA250
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251001
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20271219
DTSTAMP:20260723T194752
CREATED:20251017T175135Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251027T141338Z
UID:10003879-1759276800-1829174399@massachusetts250.org
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
GEO:42.2418694;-70.8884264
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Hingham Heritage Museum Main Street 34 Hingham MA 02043 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Main Street 34:geo:-70.8884264,42.2418694
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251201
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20270101
DTSTAMP:20260723T194752
CREATED:20260129T230222Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260129T230222Z
UID:10004377-1764547200-1798761599@massachusetts250.org
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
GEO:41.6352208;-70.9231544
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=New Bedford Whaling Museum 18 Johnny Cake Hill New Bedford MA 02740 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=18 Johnny Cake Hill:geo:-70.9231544,41.6352208
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260621T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20270704T170000
DTSTAMP:20260723T194752
CREATED:20260601T210551Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260624T172803Z
UID:10011383-1782036000-1814720400@massachusetts250.org
SUMMARY:America at 250 at the MFA
DESCRIPTION: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. \nCoinciding 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. \nGilbert 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.
URL:https://massachusetts250.org/event/america-at-250-at-the-mfa/
LOCATION:Museum of Fine Arts\, Boston\, 465 Huntington Ave\, Boston\, MA\, 02115\, United States
CATEGORIES:Black History,Exhibit,Indigenous History,Women's History
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GEO:42.339383;-71.0939642
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Museum of Fine Arts Boston 465 Huntington Ave Boston MA 02115 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=465 Huntington Ave:geo:-71.0939642,42.339383
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260704
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260929
DTSTAMP:20260723T194752
CREATED:20260714T143131Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260714T143131Z
UID:10015211-1783123200-1790639999@massachusetts250.org
SUMMARY:Witness to the Revolution
DESCRIPTION: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.
URL:https://massachusetts250.org/event/witness-to-the-revolution/
LOCATION:Hill Cemetery\, Prospect Street 3\, Hatfield\, MA\, 01038\, United States
CATEGORIES:Commemoration,Memorial,Outdoors,Women's History
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://massachusetts250.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/WitR-for-250th-web-site.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Hatfield Historical Soiety":MAILTO:hatfieldhistoricalsociety@gmail.com
GEO:42.3677342;-72.6061364
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Hill Cemetery Prospect Street 3 Hatfield MA 01038 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Prospect Street 3:geo:-72.6061364,42.3677342
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260715T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260715T173000
DTSTAMP:20260723T194752
CREATED:20260709T162812Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260709T162812Z
UID:10014852-1784113200-1784136600@massachusetts250.org
SUMMARY:American Stories: Rebels and Revolutionaries of the Berkshires
DESCRIPTION:CHOOSE from 11 am or 5:30 pm sessions\nEvery Wednesday in July;  \nA Berkshire History Course \nThis summer when America is celebrating its 250th anniversary\, join us for this historical and civic education program to learn how the Berkshires played a pivotal role in the founding of our nation. \nAmerican Stories: Rebels and Revolutionaries of the Berkshires examines the history of the American Revolution and its reverberating echoes in the region\, nation\, and world by highlighting the fascinating but complicated biographies of Berkshire County residents who impacted American history and culture from the late eighteenth century onward. \nEach class will begin in the galleries of Norman Rockwell Museum’s American Stories: Revolution to Rockwell with a discussion of a work on view that connects to the theme of that day’s class. \nCourse Instructor: Justin F. Jackson is a lecturer and visiting scholar at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst
URL:https://massachusetts250.org/event/american-stories-rebels-and-revolutionaries-of-the-berkshires-2/2026-07-15/
LOCATION:Norman Rockwell Museum\, Glendale Road 9\, Stockbridge\, Massachusetts\, 01262\, United States
CATEGORIES:Event,Exhibit,Tours,Women's History
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://massachusetts250.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Rebels-and-Revolutionaries-of-the-Berkshires.png
GEO:42.2892564;-73.3405966
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Norman Rockwell Museum Glendale Road 9 Stockbridge Massachusetts 01262 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Glendale Road 9:geo:-73.3405966,42.2892564
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260715T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260715T190000
DTSTAMP:20260723T194752
CREATED:20260615T173151Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260615T173151Z
UID:10014084-1784136600-1784142000@massachusetts250.org
SUMMARY:Enslavement and Freedom: Elizabeth Freeman and the American Revolution
DESCRIPTION:In 1781\, an enslaved woman named Elizabeth Freeman heard the words “all men are created equal” read aloud from the Declaration of Independence and resolved to claim that promise for herself and other enslaved people. Known as Mum Bett\, Freeman had been enslaved in Sheffield\, Massachusetts. She sought the help of Stockbridge attorney Theodore Sedgwick\, who filed a freedom suit on her behalf. The Great Barrington court ruled in her favor. Brom and Bett v. Ashley established a legal precedent that contributed to the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts. To this day\, Freeman’s story stands as one of the most consequential acts of self-liberation in American history; however\, her victory in that courtroom was not the end. It was a provocation—a call that echoes forward to a nation still measuring the distance between its founding ideals and the lives of its people. \nJoin us for a discussion moderated by Marcus P. Smith\, History and Interpretive Fellow of the W.E.B. Du Bois Freedom Center\, bringing together scholars\, historians\, and practitioners to interpret Freeman’s life and legacy\, examine the growing movement to honor her memory\, and ask what her courage demands of our understanding of liberty and equality in the present. \nBefore the program\, The Mount invites you to a special open house for our new exhibition\, A Wealth of Stories: Building Edith Wharton’s New York\, which uses the lens of Wharton’s family history to explore the flow of wealth and resources in New York City from the Revolutionary-era through the Gilded Age. Curators will be available in the exhibition gallery (located on the third floor of the Mansion) from 4:00–5:00 PM to answer questions and share insights. Feel free to stop by at any time during the hour! \nIMPORTANT EVENT INFORMATION: \n– This 90-minute conversation takes place in The Mount’s Stable Auditorium\, a 140-seat\, climate-controlled\, indoor venue adjacent to the parking lot.\n– Seating for all programs at The Mount is first-come\, first-served. If you have seating preferences\, we recommend arriving fifteen minutes early.\n– Accessible seating is available. To discuss arrangements\, please contact us by phone: 413-551-5111 x5; or email: programs@edithwharton.org. For more information about accessibility\, review The Mount’s accessibility webpage.\n– Questions? Email: programs@edithwharton.org; or phone: 413-551-5111 x2
URL:https://massachusetts250.org/event/enslavement-and-freedom-elizabeth-freeman-and-the-american-revolution/
LOCATION:The Mount\, Massachusetts 2\, Lenox\, MA\, 01240\, United States
CATEGORIES:Event,Women's History
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://massachusetts250.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Elizabeth-Freeman.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="The Mount%2C Edith Wharton Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@edithwharton.org
GEO:42.5725316;-72.1553494
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=The Mount Massachusetts 2 Lenox MA 01240 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Massachusetts 2:geo:-72.1553494,42.5725316
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260715T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260715T203000
DTSTAMP:20260723T194752
CREATED:20260706T191445Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260706T191445Z
UID:10014836-1784142000-1784147400@massachusetts250.org
SUMMARY:Colonial Dance
DESCRIPTION:Darlene Wigton\, director of the Lexington History Museums Colonial Dancers\, will give a brief talk on the history of social dance in the American Colonies. We will be treated to a demonstration of 17th and 18th century English Country Dance\, followed by instructions for anyone who would like to join in. \nOn Sunday afternoon we will briefly review the figures\, then enjoy dancing to live period music. Dancers of all skill levels are welcome\, as well as spectators. Colonial period dress is encouraged\, but not necessary! \nWe are proud to participate in Mass Cultural Council’s Card to Culture program. \nTapley Memorial Hall 13 Page Street\, Danvers MA.\nWheelchair parking at back of ramp. Parking at Elm Street lot and along Page or Cherry Streets\nDanvers Historical Society: 978-777-1666 or E-mail to dhs@danvershistory.org   Donations appreciated.
URL:https://massachusetts250.org/event/colonial-dance/
LOCATION:Tapley Memorial Hall\, 13 Page Street\, Danvers\, MA\, 01923\, United States
CATEGORIES:Celebration,Exhibit,Speakers,Women's History
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://massachusetts250.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Rev250Danvers.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Danvers Historical Society":MAILTO:dhs@danvershistory.org
GEO:42.5658882;-70.9371886
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Tapley Memorial Hall 13 Page Street Danvers MA 01923 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=13 Page Street:geo:-70.9371886,42.5658882
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