What Makes History? New Stories from the Collection

The things we keep matter for the stories we tell. What objects do we choose to preserve, and who is able to collect them? Why were they once valued, and how can we continue to see them in new ways?

This special exhibition explores what it means to make history through object collecting, preservation, and storytelling. Visitors will see a variety of collections from the Museum’s holdings, offering the rare opportunity to look closely at several kinds of a particular item. By displaying these eclectic collections together, What Makes History encourages visitors to think about how and why these objects were saved so that we might view them decades and even centuries later.

Highlights include a sampling of the Museum’s vast collection of fans from around the world, beautifully painted fireplace bellows produced by free Black workers in Acton, MA, in the 19th century, as well as chairs, textiles, card cases, and timepieces. Many of these objects have never before been on view.

We invite you to come look closely at these remarkable items, join us as we ask new questions, and consider how we can continue to expand what makes history together.

Supported by WBUR.

Bellow Tops, Davis Bellows Factory, mid-1840s, Acton, Ma. Concord Museum Collection, Gift of Lawrence Sorli; 2022.1.