MA250

AudaTours Stoneham Audio Tour: Timeless Tales of Historic Pride and Heritage
2026-07-17 12:00 - 14:00, 2026-07-16 12:00 - 14:00, 2026-07-15 12:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | 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.

Brewing Massachusetts: How Beer Shaped the Bay State
2026-07-17 11:30 - 16:30 | Indian House Memorial, Old Main Street 107, Deerfield, MA, 01342, United States
We are proud to introduce our most ambitious exhibit ever, titled “Brewing Massachusetts: How Beer Shaped the Bay State,” made possible by a grant from Massachusetts 250 and the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism (MOTT). Through rare artifacts, photographs, and documents, this exhibit will tell the story of Massachusetts brewers from the Pilgrims to the present. This exhibit will be held in a rebuilt Revolutionary era tavern and tickets will be $5. Come see it starting May 30th at 107 Old Main Street in Deerfield at the Indian House Memorial.
No state has been more impacted by brewing than Massachusetts. But this story hasn’t been told in one place, until now. “Brewing Massachusetts” will be open during the 250th anniversary of 1776, a landmark nationwide event that will shine a spotlight on American history. We want to incorporate the entire state in our celebration of the History of Brewing, and what better way than to include all of Massachusetts.

Yarmouth in Revolution Exhibit : the Captain Bangs Hallet House Museum
2026-07-17 11:00 - 2026-11-21 14:00, 2026-07-16 11:00 - 2026-11-20 14:00 | 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.

Myth and Memory: Stories of the American Revolution
2026-07-17 11:00 - 2027-01-18 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.

Patriots of Color Exhibition
2026-07-17 10:00 - 18:00, 2026-07-16 10:00 - 18:00, 2026-07-15 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.

The Road to Revolution: Massachusetts and the Independence Movement
2026-07-17 10:00 - 17:00, 2026-07-16 10:00 - 17:00, 2026-07-15 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.

American Stories: Celebrating 250 Years of Independence
2026-07-17 09:30 - 2026-08-01 16:30, 2026-07-16 09:30 - 2026-07-31 16:30, 2026-07-15 09:30 - 2026-07-30 16:30 | Bonhams Skinner, Clarendon Street 236, Boston, Massachusetts, 02116, United States
In honor of this auspicious moment in American history, Bonhams Skinner will be showcasing highlights from their June 30th auction in their Boston Gallery. The works are available to the public for viewing Monday through Friday between May 26th and June 10th.

1776: Declaring Independence
2026-07-17 09:30 - 16:00, 2026-07-16 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 Aspirations of Ordinary People - Stories of the American Revolution from a local perspective
2026-07-17 08:00 - 14:00, 2026-07-16 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.

Special Exhibit: Mary Baker Eddy and Her Revolutionary Legacy
2026-07-17, 2026-07-16 | 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

Revolutionary Legacies | History Happy Hour
2026-07-16 18:30 - 20:00 | Concord Museum, 53 Cambridge Turnpike, Concord, MA, 01742, United States
Celebrate the Museum’s special exhibition, Revolutionary Legacies, with a special guided tour following a festive happy hour of wine, beer, and light refreshments in the Museum’s courtyard. Reflect on the nation’s founding principles, their continuous reinterpretation over the past 250 years, and consider what they mean today through textiles, ceramics, and relics from the 19th century.
Your ticket includes drinks outside in the courtyard before the tour, which begins at 7:15 pm.
$15 Members | $25 Non-Members

Popular Music & Veterans
2026-07-16 18:30 - 19:30 | Agawam Public Library, Cooper Street 750, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
The Agawam Public Library is pleased to welcome back Jon and Li Waterman for an evening of live music and military history. In their program, “Popular Music and Veterans”, Jon and Li Waterman supplement their well-received “Roots of American Popular Music” program with an exploration through songs of some of the experiences and sacrifices of veterans throughout American history. The program consists of songs, history, and an accompanying slideshow pertaining to some of the experiences of veterans of World War I, World War II, the Civil War and other conflicts alongside the history of popular music in America. The program is part of the series “Live Music Making History Live.”
About Sultana: Sultana is the acoustic duo of Jon and Li Waterman. Musician and songwriter Jon Waterman has been performing his original songs throughout his life. His music is influenced by intriguing characters and stories from history, the roots of the music he loves, and the diversity of the human experience. His song “Sultana” which tells the story of the Civil War steamboat disaster was selected to be featured at the Sultana museum in Marion, AR. Waterman has presented his programs “A Journey Through the Roots of American Popular Music” and “History and Legends through Song” in venues around the country, both in person and virtually. He has an M.A. in Popular Music History from Prescott College. Li is a classically trained guitarist and singer who formerly fronted the Rhode Island band Alien Tesh. She is also an artist and graduate of Museum School in Boston.
This program is sponsored by the Agawam Center Library Association.
Thurs. July 16 @ 6:30 pm at the Agawam Public Library, 750 Cooper Street, Agawam, MA. Please register online at the Agawam Public Library’s website: https://agawamlibrary.libcal.com/event/15527763

Author James L. Nelson discusses his book "George Washington's Secret Navy"
2026-07-16 18:30 - 19:30 | Topsfield Town Library, 1 South Common St, Topsfield, MA, 01983, United States
As part of the Topsfield Library’s Rev 250 programming marking 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and with tall ships visiting Boston for Sail Boston 2026 , we are excited to host author James L. Nelson to discuss his book George Washington’s Secret Navy.
ABOUT THE BOOK: In 1775, General George Washington secretly armed a handful of small ships and sent them to sea against the world’s mightiest navy. This is the story of how America’s first commander-in-chief–whose previous military experience had been entirely on land–nursed the fledgling American Revolution through a season of stalemate by sending troops to sea. Mining previously overlooked sources, James L. Nelson’s swiftly moving narrative shows that George Washington deliberately withheld knowledge of his tiny navy from the Continental Congress for more than two critical months, and that he did so precisely because he knew Congress would not approve.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: James L. Nelson was born and raised in Lewiston, Maine and graduated from UCLA with a degree in motion picture/television production. Finding that despite being in Southern California, it was a damp, drizzly November in his soul, Jim took the cure Melville recommended and decided to sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. For six years he worked on board traditional sailing ships, but on turning thirty he realizing it would be easier to write about sailing rather than actually doing it. His career as a writer began in 1994 and he has since written more than twenty-five works of maritime fiction and history. He is the winner or the American Library Association/William Young Boyd Award and the Naval Order’s Samuel Eliot Morison Award. Nelson has lectured all over the country and appeared on the Discovery Channel, History Channel, National Geographic and BookTV. He currently lives, writes and sails in Harpswell, Maine, with his former shipmate, now wife Lisa and two of their four children.

Cape Cod and Islands in the Revolution
2026-07-16 16:00 - 17:30 | Falmouth Museums on the Green, Palmer Avenue 55, Falmouth, MA, 02540, United States
Cape Cod and Islands in the Revolution –A new illustrated book about the events of the Revolutionary War on Cape Cod and the Islands provides an overview of key events for our region between 1761 and 1783, eventually leading to national Independence. An overview of highlights from the book will be presented as part of the observances of the 250th Anniversary of the United States—with an opportunity to purchase the book.
July 16th, 4pm
Tickets: $10 Museums on the Green members, $20 non-member, or donation-based ticket
David S. Martin, Ph.D. bio:
David S. Martin, Ph.D., is Professor/Dean Emeritus from Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, the world’s only university for deaf students. Previously a teacher, school administrator, and curriculum developer, he holds a B.A. from Yale, an Ed.M. from Harvard, the Certificate of Advanced Study from Harvard, and a Ph.D. from Boston College.
In retirement, he is President of the Marstons Mills (Cape Cod) Historical Society, Treasurer of the Yale Club of Cape Cod, and active in the leadership of the Cape Cod Genealogical Society. He teaches part-time in the Master’s Program in Critical and Creative Thinking at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. He and his wife Susan reside in Marstons Mills.

Sail Boston Fireworks
2026-07-15 20:30 - 22:00 | Fan Pier, Boston Harbor, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Fireworks will illuminate Boston Harbor and the Tall Ships below twice during Sail Boston. The fireworks will launch from a barge located off of Boston’s Fan Pier.

My Dearest Friend: A Play About John and Abigail Adams
2026-07-15 19:30 - 21:30 | 51 Walden Performing Arts Center, Walden Street 51, Concord, MA, 01742, United States
Free Admission!
Time Travel Theatrical Presents My Dearest Friend: A Play About John and Abigail Adams written by Peter Manos
Based on actual letters between President John Adams and his wife Abigail
Produced/Directed by Laura J. Bilodeau
Featuring:
Katie Broach and Jim Hunt
Carla Perrotta and Peter Cavicchio
Produced by Special Arrangement with the Dramatic Publishing Company of Woodstock, Illinois

Vineyard Preservation Trust: A Revolution Worn: Clothing that Marked Cultural Change in America
2026-07-15 16:00 - 17:30 | The Carnegie Heritage Center, North Water Street 58, Edgartown, Massachusetts, 02539, United States
Join us at the Carnegie Heritage Center, Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard, for A Revolution Worn. From revolutionary-era liberty caps to modern protest fashion, this illustrated talk with live models explores how clothing and etiquette have expressed cultural change across 250 years of American history. Presented by protocol expert Sharon-Frances “Shances” Moore, the program reveals how what we wear reflects evolving social values.
