MA250

Plymouth in the Revolution Lecture Series 2025
2025-04-02 19:00 - 20:00, 2025-04-09 19:00 - 20:00, 2025-04-30 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Plymouth Public Library, South Street 132, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 02360, United States
Two hundred years ago, on 19 April 1775, American history changed. Colonial forces faced the British army at Lexington & Concord … and won. Word spread rapidly, and two regiments of Plymouth “Minute Men,” led by Colonel Theophilus Cotton, rallied to the Patriot cause. For the next six years, Plymoutheans participated in America’s battle for independence.
Although not the site of any great battles, nor the home of any triumphant generals, Plymouth is filled with the stories of the lawmakers and lawyers whose rhetoric inspired the Patriot cause, of the men who risked their lives and livelihood in military service, and of the civilians who kept the home fires burning, as well as of the Americans who, valuing loyalty above all, continued to support the King. They illuminate the complex and fascinating history of Massachusetts’ earliest town, as it embraced the movement for American independence, and the lasting impact it made on the Town’s historical landscape.
April 2: Stephen O’Neill – Plymouth’s 1749 Courthouse: Revolution in the Courts
April 9: Peggy Baker – Benjamin Warren’s War: A Plymouthean in the Continental Army
April 30: Patrick Browne – “Patriotism in a High Degree Zealous”: Ephraim Spooner & the Home Front
May 7: Mark Schmidt – Choosing Sides: Loyalists in the American Revolution
May 14: Donna Curtin – Dr. James Thacher & Plymouth’s Revolutionary Generation

Reading Frederick Douglass Together at the Norton Public Library
2025-04-17 17:30 - 19:00 | Norton Public Library, East Main Street 68, Norton, Massachusetts, 02766, United States
Frederick Douglass – who was born into slavery in Maryland’s tobacco fields and liberated himself at the age of 20 – was a legendary Massachusetts resident. We’re celebrating the famous abolitionist and stirring orator who drew crowds of thousands of listeners worldwide. JOIN US as we take turns reading aloud his blistering 1852 speech to the Rochester Ladies Anti-Slavery Society: “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July.”
Still bearing the physical scars of bondage – Douglass’s existence and his first-person account of the daily cruelty and violence perpetrated by enslavers who were also Christian men and upstanding citizens made it impossible for many to continue to turn a blind eye to slavery’s horrors.
The Anti-Slavery Society at the Corinthian Hall invited him to give a feel-good speech about progress and Douglass instead delivered a uniquely American call to justice, entrusting them with the unsparing truth he spent his lifetime overcoming and studying slavery was an abomination and all people had a moral call to join in ending it.
Douglass’s clarity and bravery ring through the years, echoing in this speech, that begins with admitting he was never so nervous to give a speech as he was on that day – which is surprising as Douglass had already both named the plantation he was enslaved on and the man who enslaved him, even though these admissions further endangered his physical safety and hard-won freedom.
The life and works of Frederick Douglass continues to shape our understanding of America. Douglass forces us to reckon with the legacy of slavery and the promises of democracy. To quote Douglass: “We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the future.”
Presented by the Norton Cultural Council and Mass Humanities, join us at the Norton Public Library Thursday, April 17th at 5:30 PM to raise our voices and read this amazing piece of history. Questions, email nortonmacc@gmail.com or sign up to be a reader.

Bus to the Battle: Concord and Lexington
2025-04-19 04:00 - 10:00 | Hingham Heritage Museum, Main Street 34, Hingham, MA, 02043, United States
Join fellow history lovers for a pre-dawn journey to the 250th-anniversary reenactment of the “shot heard `round the world” – the battles of Concord & Lexington! Following the 6 a.m. reenactment (the actual time these events occurred in 1775), enjoy a hearty breakfast on historic Lexington Green. Options include a plated breakfast at the iconic Inn at Hastings or a classic pancake breakfast hosted by Troop 160. Reservations are required.

South Shore History Symposium 2025: Revolutionary Connections: The South Shore and the War for Independence
2025-04-26 09:00 - 14:00 | The Spire Center for the Performing Arts, Court Street 25 1/2, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 02360, United States
Revolutionary Connections: The South Shore and the War for Independence
Registration: 8:30 a.m.
Presentations: 9:20 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
The Spire Center for the Performing Arts, 25 ½ Court Street, Plymouth
Schedule:
8:30 a.m. Registration & Refreshments
9:15 a.m. Welcoming Remarks, Donna Curtin, Back Roads of the South Shore Chair and Executive Director of Pilgrim Hall Museum
9:20 a.m. Tea, Tories, and the Almost-Battle of Marshfield, Patrick Browne, Executive Director of Plymouth Antiquarian Society
10:00 a.m. The Revolutionary Life of Mary Cushing Lincoln, Michelle Coughlin, Author and Historian
10:40 a.m. A Comedy of Errors: Plymouth County Militia and the American Campaigns in Rhode Island, James Glinski, Author and Historian
11:20 a.m. Coffee Break
11:30 a.m. Mercy Otis Warren, the First Female Historian of the American Revolution, Nancy Rubin Stuart, President of the Mercy Otis Warren Society and Executive Director of the Cape Cod Writers Center.
12:10 p.m. South Shore Stories of Bailey’s 2nd Mass Regiment, Stephen O’Neill, Executive Director, Hanover Historical Society & Director, Dyer Memorial Library

Revolutionary Plymouth 250: “Liberty and Tea at the Spooner House”
2025-04-26 14:00 - 16:00 | Spooner House Museum, North Street 27, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 02360, United States
Step back in time to sample the same varieties of imported teas that the Sons of Liberty defiantly tossed into Boston Harbor, alongside an herbal “Liberty tea” favored by Patriots in protest. Explore a special exhibition featuring rarely displayed Revolutionary-era artifacts, and speak to costumed interpreters about the debates that divided Plymouth as residents grappled with the American boycott of British goods.

Abigail Adams Birthplace Open Hours
2025-04-27 13:00 - 15:00 | Abigail Adams Birthplace, Norton Street 180, Weymouth, Massachusetts, 02191, United States
Open hours at the Abigail Adams Birthplace begin for the season on Sunday, April and from 1 – 3 p.m.
Built in 1685, the Abigail Smith Adams (1744-1818) Birthplace was home to this exceptional woman for the first twenty years of her life. It has survived two relocations and now stands as a monument to her extraordinary life.
Please note: Visits are by guided tour only. Tours begin on the half hour, with the last tour starting at 2:30 p.m.
Cost: $10 adults/$5 children and members are free!
