MA250

Newburyport's Road to Independence III: Loyalists, Prisoners, and the Homefront
2026-03-06 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 166 High Street, Newburyport, MA, 01950, United States
Step into wartime Newburyport with Alex Cain as loyalists face persecution, prices soar, and fear hangs heavy as we move to independence.
In 1776, as war raged across the American colonies, the clash of armies echoed far beyond the battlefield into everyday life in Newburyport. Historian and fan favorite Alex Cain invites you to step into a time where loyalists were persecuted, British prisoners were confined, and families struggled with soaring prices, shortages, and the constant shadow of loss from combat. At the same time, privateer prizes poured into the harbor, flooding the port with captured riches and stirring hope of fantastic opportunities. Through hardship and adversity alike, Newburyport pressed on in its determined drive toward independence.
Funded, in part, by the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism.

AudaTours Stoneham Audio Tour: Timeless Tales of Historic Pride and Heritage
2026-03-06 12:00 - 14:00, 2026-03-05 12:00 - 14:00, 2026-03-04 12:00 - 14:00, 2026-03-03 12:00 - 14:00, 2026-03-02 12:00 - 14:00, 2026-03-01 12:00 - 14:00, 2026-02-28 12:00 - 14:00, 2026-02-27 12:00 - 14:00 and 1 more date | Nobility Hill Historic District, Stoneham, Massachusetts, 02180, United States
In Stoneham, the shadows of colonial fires and twentieth-century neon flicker side by side. Few realize how many secrets linger behind these iconic facades.
This self-guided audio tour leads straight through the city’s untold stories. Encounter corners and chapters that even locals walk past, and let carefully crafted tales reveal what hides beneath the ordinary.
Why did a quiet night at the Bernard Cogan House erupt into controversy that changed a neighborhood? Who vanished beneath the glowing beacon of Stoneham’s eerily beautiful gas station? What explains the perfectly preserved pencil marks under the Warren Sweetser House staircase?
Move between centuries as you cross storied main streets and hidden lanes. Each step peels back another layer of rebellion, ambition, and intrigue, letting Stoneham rise up around you as never before.
Tap play and see how deep Stoneham’s shadows can stretch. The secrets are waiting.

The Road to Revolution: Massachusetts and the Independence Movement
2026-03-06 10:00 - 17:00, 2026-03-05 10:00 - 17:00, 2026-03-04 10:00 - 17:00, 2026-03-03 10:00 - 17:00, 2026-03-02 10:00 - 17:00, 2026-03-01 10:00 - 17:00, 2026-02-28 10:00 - 17:00, 2026-02-27 10:00 - 17:00 and 1 more date | 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.

1776: Declaring Independence
2026-03-06 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

Hybrid lecture: Benjamin Franklin, Frankenstein, and the Age of Revolution
2026-03-05 18:00 - 19:00, 2026-03-05 08:00 - 17:00 | Geological Lecture Hall, Oxford Street 24, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, United States
Speaker: Joyce E. Chaplin, James Duncan Phillips Professor of Early American History, Harvard University
Ask anyone why Benjamin Franklin is famous and they will likely mention his role in the American Revolution. Yet Franklin’s celebrity began with his science. Decades before independence, Immanuel Kant hailed him as “the Modern Prometheus,” a bold defier of nature whose scientific experiments made him an international star and helped launch his political career. In this lecture, Joyce Chaplin, author of The Franklin Stove: An Unintended American Revolution (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2025), traces Franklin’s scientific pursuits, showing the central role of science in Franklin’s life—and in the revolutionary era more broadly. She will also discuss how Franklin’s reputation lived on in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), a powerful meditation on the rewards and risks of scientific ambition.
Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA. Free admission. Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage starting at 5:00 pm. Presented by the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, and the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture. This lecture is presented to mark the 250th Anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence.

Boston Massacre Anniversary
2026-03-05 17:30 - 18:30 | Faneuil Hall, Faneuil Hall Square 1, Boston, MA, 02109, United States
The morning of March 5, 1776, on the sixth anniversary of the Boston Massacre, British troops discovered that Patriot forces fortified Dorchester Heights overnight. The date had not been chosen by accident. Every anniversary of the Boston Massacre, Patriot leaders remembered the event with orations and public commemorations.
This year, for the two hundred and fifty sixth anniversary of the Boston Massacre, join us as we recreate a historic Faneuil Hall Town Meeting debating the fate of the British soldiers who fired into the crowd on King Street. Was it a plot to commit murder or self-defense? Should the people of Boston extract vengeance against the soldiers or call for law and order above all else?
Have your voice be heard in a Town Meeting debate and help decide: vengeance or justice?
Free and open to the public.

Knox Trail 250 – Cambridge
2026-02-28 14:00 - 16:00 | Cambridge Public Library, Broadway 449, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, United States
On July 4, 2026, our nation will celebrate the semiquincentennial anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Leading up to this historic birthday Revolution 250 was created. In keeping with this celebratory campaign, it is with great enthusiasm that we present the momentous commemoration of this country’s founding, Knox Trail 250. This sequenced program is designed to represent the Henry Knox Noble Train of Artillery of 1776, the catalyst for what we now recognize in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as Evacuation Day.
In Massachusetts, starting in Great Barrington, going through over 33 towns, a simulation of the journey will be celebrated in designated hubs.
This sequenced parade of regional recognition will incorporate the invitation and participation of town managers, local historians, celebrating the commemoration and respective connections in the Noble Trail of Artillery.
CAMBRIDGE
Saturday, February 28, 2026
Cambridge Public Library
ROXBURY
Saturday, March 7, 2026
First Church in Roxbury
BOSTON
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Dorchester Heights

African American Patriots® Tour
2026-02-28 10:45 - 12:30 | Boston, Tremont Street 139, Boston, MA, 02111, United States
Freedom Trail® Foundation’s acclaimed African American Patriots® Tours celebrate the African American patriots that played a vital role in the start of the American Revolution in Boston and in the formation of our country. Led by 18th-century costumed guides, tour-goers can view history through the eyes of these courageous men and women throughout Black History Month in February.
African American Patriots® Tours return on Sunday, February 1 and are held on select Saturdays and Sundays in February departing at 10:45 a.m. from the Boston Common Visitor Information Center. Revolutionary figures such as Crispus Attucks, Phillis Wheatley, Prince Hall, Peter Salem, and others come to life during these 90-minute walking tours while zigzagging through the Freedom Trail – Boston’s iconic 2.5-mile brick trail leading to 16 nationally significant historic sites. African American Patriots Tours invite visitors and residents alike to discover the immense contributions of Black Bostonians during the American Revolution and beyond, as the stories unfold along Boston’s historic red-lined path. Hear about the sacrifices these patriots made, the battles they fought, and the legacies they left behind, as well as the stories of significant abolitionists and civil rights activists in Boston’s history.
The tours are ideal for groups, schools, residents and those visiting the city. Public tour tickets may be purchased at the Boston Common Visitor Information Center at $17 for adults, $15 for seniors and students, and $8 for children under 12 years old. Tickets may also be purchased online at TheFreedomTrail.org. The African American Patriots® Tours are also available on June 19, select Saturdays in July and August, and year-round for groups as private tours.
Other events and programs celebrating Black History Month are held at official Freedom Trail sites. For information regarding Freedom Trail events and programs, tickets, reservations, group rates or questions, please call (617) 357-8300 or visit TheFreedomTrail.org.

Calling All Kids, Patriots And Sailors: Revolutionary Summer Saturdays
2026-02-28 10:00 - 13:00 | Custom House Maritime Museum, Water Street 25, Newburyport, Massachusetts, 01950, United States
FREE outdoor and indoor activities for kids all summer long
Building on the success of the Road to Revolution partnership programs, each Saturday from now until the end of September, the museum will host children’s outdoor and indoor programming. The hugely successful Discovery Center experience will extend out onto the lawn with 15 new activity stations. Rolling River Printmakers of New England will partner this week with an activity station to make prints. A rideable dolphin and elephant, courtesy of local sculptor Jeff Briggs, along with a bouncy castle, pirate boat with water guns, plus water, sand and craft tables await.
This free program runs from 10 am to 1 pm thanks to generous sponsorship from the Institution for Savings and the Local Cultural Council.
Looking ahead, in September, the museum is pleased to partner with Imagine Studios on a fascinating project to burn and carve out of a pine log and shape into a 20 foot long mishoon (dugout canoe) using traditional methods. Led by Imagine Studios, Darius Coombs of the Mashpee Wampanoag and Jonathan Petty of the Aquinnah Wampanoag will carve over successive weekends. Sponsored by the New England Foundation for the Arts, and with in-kind support from New England Development, the goal is to launch on Indigenous Peoples Day on Oct. 11.
We hope you can join us.–James

Henry Knox’s Trek from Ticonderoga: Myths, Realities, and Results for Boston with J. L. Bell
2026-02-26 19:00 - 20:30 | Acton Town Hall, Main Street 472, Acton, MA, 01720, United States
Thursday, February 26th 7:00 – 8:30 PM
Acton Town Hall, 472 Main Street, Room 204
In early 1776, the young Continental Army colonel Henry Knox moved dozens of heavy cannons and mortars from Lake Champlain to the siege lines around Boston; one of the most famous stories from the Revolutionary War. And like many famous stories, it embodies a fair amount of legend and lore. This talk sorts out what we know, what we only think we know, and what we should know about how Knox brought this “noble train of artillery” that helped to make all of Massachusetts independent.
J. L. Bell maintains the Boston1775.net website, offering daily helpings of history, analysis, and unabashed gossip about Revolutionary New England. He is the author of “The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War.” John is working on a new book about the difficult first year of the Continental artillery force.
Remote Participation: You can watch live on YouTube at Acton TV http://tinyurl.com/Acton-TV. Recordings will be available at Acton TV https://actontv.org/ and on our website https://www.actonma.gov/250 where you’ll find all programming information and a link to our commemorative store.

Black Women at the Center of Revolution
2026-02-26 19:00 - 20:00 | American Antiquarian Society, 185 Salisbury Street, Worcester, 01609, United States
As the United States approaches its semiquincentennial, the American Antiquarian Society brings together a panel of distinguished Black women historians to reconsider how the nation defines “revolution” and whose struggles are recognized as revolutionary. Moderated by Deborah Hall, chief executive officer of YWCA Central MA and founder of Worcester Black History Project, the panelists will examine how Black women have demanded freedom through social, political, and legal activism over the past 250 years, from early petitions and collective resistance to organized movements for justice and liberation.
Panelists Patrice R. Green, curator for African American and African diasporic collections at the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America; Kyera Singleton, executive director of the Royall House and Slave Quarters; and Angela T. Tate, chief curator and director of collections at the Museum of African American History, will discuss questions that challenge traditional narratives of revolution. What makes a revolution truly revolutionary? How have Black women’s visions of freedom, rooted in community, care, and collective survival, reshaped the meaning of political change? And why have these revolutionary acts so often been erased, minimized, or reframed to fit an American mythology of perseverance without structural transformation?
To attend this free program, in person or virtually, visit americanantiquarian.org.

Indigenous Identity, Diplomacy & Sovereignty in the American Revolution
2026-02-26 18:00 - 19:00 | Massachusetts Historical Society, Boylston Street 1154, Boston, Massachusetts, 02215, United States
This is a virtual event free to attend.
Please visit here to register: https://www.masshist.org/events/indigenous-identity
The American Revolution reverberated across New England, touching the lives of the many Indigenous peoples living there. The Northeastern tribal nations reacted to the conflict in support of their sovereign interests; some chose to fight, while others engaged in diplomatic conversations with British and American leaders. Join us for a discussion centered around roles that Indigenous individuals and nations played in the American Revolution and the effects the war had on them. Lorén Spears will discuss the experiences of the Narragansett people, unfreedom, sovereignty and Indigenous service in the 1st Rhode Island Regiment. Christine DeLucia will reflect on how Indigenous communities in Revolutionary-era New England lived, labored, resisted, and organized.

ArtsThursdays: Revolutionary Teas
2026-02-26 17:00 - 20:00 | Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Divinity Avenue 11, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Free In-Person Special Event
ArtsThursdays: Revolutionary Teas
Thursday, February 26, 5:00–9:00 pm RSVPs encouraged
Enter at Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
Join us for a free, fun evening at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology—perfect for a date night, a friends’ outing, or meeting new people.
This special edition of ArtsThursdays explores the revolutionary era in the United States through one of its defining symbols and flashpoints: tea.
From 6:00 to 7:00 pm, tea historian Bruce Richardson will present the illustrated talk, “Five Teas that Launched a Revolution.” The presentation will trace the history of five Chinese teas that were tossed into Boston Harbor in 1773—teas that came from the very same East India Company warehouses that supplied the tea caddies of fashionable homes in London and Bath.
While the world knows how Britain’s love of tea has inspired countless “tea things,” Richardson will remind us that residents of colonial Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and Charleston shared a similar passion for fine furniture, silver, and porcelain devoted to their own tea rituals. Their daily cup became a ceremony—a gathering that helped spark a party, a revolution, and the birth of a nation. All this commotion over a simple cup of tea!
During the evening, visitors can:
Sample historic teas enjoyed in 1773 Boston.
Purchase copies of A Social History of Tea (Benjamin Press, 2013) by Bruce Richardson and participate in a book signing.
Enter a free raffle to win museum gifts and membership.
Explore the Peabody Museum galleries from 5:00 to 9:00 pm, including Resetting the Table, an exhibition about food, power, status, and cultural identity.
Free and open to the public. Let us know you are coming! RSVPs are encouraged, but walk-in visitors are always welcome. Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage 4:30–9:30 pm.
Presented by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology and the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture.
ArtsThursdays is a university-wide initiative supported by Harvard University Committee on the Arts.
This event is presented to mark the 250th Anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence.
