The Scrapbooks of Helen Thoreau
2019-09-12 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Middlebury College professor William Nash will discuss what can be learned about Helen Thoreau and Concord through the scrapbooks she kept chronicling events of the 1840’s – two of which are part of the Middlebury Library’s Special Collections.
A witty and engaging speaker, Will Nash is Professor of American Studies and English and American Literatures at Middlebury College. He received his B.A. from Centre College of Kentucky and his M. A. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has taught at Middlebury since 1995. The author of Charles Johnson’s Fiction and co-editor of Charles Johnson: The Novelist as Philosopher, he has also published scholarly articles and reviews in African American Review and Callaloo. His current research focuses on the interrelationship of space, race, and place in mid-twentieth-century Chicago. His scholarly and teaching interests include contemporary representations of urban African America; Nineteenth and Twentieth century African-American Literature; American Soul and Blues music.
$5 Member | $10 Non-Member. This program is supported in part by the Sally Lanagan Fund and grants from the Concord Cultural Council, the Lexington Council for the Arts, and the Lincoln Cultural Council – local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Register here.

The Cabinetmaker's Account
2019-09-19 19:00 - 20:00
Jay Robert Stiefel, historian of Colonial Philadelphia society and its material culture, will introduce the life and work of English emigrant joiner John Head (1688-1754). Head’s Philadelphia account book is the earliest and most complete to have survived from any cabinetmaker working in either Great Britain or British North America.
The culmination of nearly 20 years of research, Jay’s new volume serves as an essential reference work on 18th-century Philadelphia, its furniture and material culture, as well as an intimate and detailed social history of the interactions among that era’s most talented artisans and successful merchants. Commissioned by the American Philosophical Society and issued only a few months ago, the large-format, profusely-illustrated book is already one of APS’s best-sellers since it began publishing in 1771. It comes with a foreword by English furniture historian Adam Bowett, chair of the Chippendale Society, and an introduction by American historian Patrick Spero, APS director and librarian. Copies will be available for inscription.
An entertaining and witty speaker, Jay studied history at the University of Pennsylvania and Christ Church, Oxford. In February 2019, Oxford University designated Jay its “Alumni Author” of the month in North America.
Jay Stiefel will be in conversation with Gerald Ward, the Senior Consulting Curator and the Katharine Lane Weems Senior Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture Emeritus at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He has served as the assistant curator at the Yale University Art Gallery and as an editor at the Winterthur Museum. Ward is a past president of the Decorative Arts Society, a Fellow of The Pilgrim Society, a Proprietor of the Portsmouth Athenaeum, a member of the National Council of the Newport Historical Society, and has served as a member of the editorial boards of Winterthur Portfolio and American Furniture.
Free. Advanced registration required. This program is supported in part by the Sally Lanagan Fund and grants from the Concord Cultural Council, the Lexington Council for the Arts, and the Lincoln Cultural Council – local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Register here.

Along Battle Road Walking Tour
2019-09-21 11:00 - 12:30
Visitors will follow in Paul Revere’s footsteps as we retrace the journey he took on horseback the night of April 18, 1775 to warn colonists about the approach of the British regulars. First-person interpreters playing Concord residents who were eyewitnesses to the events of that fateful night and day will add a deeper level of engagement. 1 mile walk, mostly flat terrain, rain or shine.
$5 Member | $10 Non-Member.
Meet at the Hartwell Tavern Parking Lot at the Minute Man National Historical Park. Register here.

Film Screening of Nature: A Walking Play
2019-09-25 18:30 - 20:00
The Concord Museum and The Old Manse welcome you a screening of Nature: A Walking Play (TigerLion Arts), which tells the story of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau’s friendship. The film documents the unique outdoor play which captures the complex relationship between these two characters and nature itself. Following the screening, the audience will have the opportunity to speak with members of the cast and the film’s director.
Free Member | Free Non-Member with registration. In partnership with the Old Manse.

"Our Paradise at Concord": How Hawthorne Found Happiness
2019-10-03 19:00 - 20:00 | 53 Cambridge Tpke, Concord, 01742, United States
Nathaniel Hawthorne cherished his years at the Old Manse, where he and his wife Sophia lived from 1842 to 1845. How did the moody Salemite find happiness in Concord? Surveying Hawthorne’s private life and published fiction, historian John Frederick Bell will explain how Hawthorne’s adopted home shaped his worldview.
John Frederick Bell is an interdisciplinary historian at Assumption College specializing in race, religion, and social reform and the history of education. His current research examines the politics of racial pluralism within Civil War-era interracial colleges, asking why these social experiments failed to curb prejudice. His work has appeared in Education’s Histories, Journal of the Civil War Era, History of Education Quarterly, and (forthcoming) Journal of the Early Republic. His teaching interests include undergraduate writing and research methods, education studies, and historical and contemporary social issues.
$5 Member | $10 Non-Member. This program is supported in part by the Sally Lanagan Fund and grants from the Concord Cultural Council, the Lexington Council for the Arts, and the Lincoln Cultural Council – local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Advanced Registration Required.
Register Here:

Concord Collects
2019-10-11 - 2020-01-12
Concord Collects featured twenty remarkable works of art from four Concord private collections being displayed together for the first time. These collections have been formed thoughtfully over decades by an equally remarkable group of collectors whose broad-ranging interests come into sharp focus with each selection made.

As a complement to this exhibition in the Wallace Kane Gallery, an adjacent gallery–the Gross Family Gallery–showcased some of the most outstanding clocks, furniture, needlework, silver, and other items that the Concord Museum has collected in the recent past, including in many instances the finest known examples of each of those media.

Concord Collects was the first exhibition presented in the Museum following the construction of the Anna and Neil Rasmussen Education Center and renovations to the Gund and Little buildings.

GRAND OPENING: A New Concord Museum Experience!
2019-10-11 10:00 - 16:00 | 53 Cambridge Tpke, Concord, 01742, United States
Opening Weekend: Friday October 11 to 14, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Come see the newly renovated first phase of the Concord Museum! Visit the new Gateway to Concord, including the new Museum Shop! Explore the introductory gallery Concord: At the Center of Revolution; encounter the People of Musketaquid, and in the Concord Collects exhibition discover twenty remarkable works of art from four Concord private collections. Grand Opening festivities with crafts, entertainment, and talks throughout the weekend. Free with Museum admission.

The New Museum Experience
2019-10-11 10:00 - 16:00 | 53 Cambridge Tpke, Concord, 01742, United States
Join us to see the first phase of the New Concord Museum Experience, a once-in-a-generation opportunity to re-envision the Museum’s galleries to reveal how the ideas and actions of the people in Concord shaped America, influenced the world, and continue to affect and inspire us today. Ribbon cutting Ceremony begins at 10:00 am!

Visit the Gateway to Concord, including a vibrant media presentation
Explore the dramatic introductory gallery, Concord: At the Center of Revolution
Experience the People of Musketaquid gallery
Engage with artifacts in the History Learning Center

Close Looking with a Bactrian Camel
2019-10-12 | 53 Cambridge Tpke, Concord, 01742, United States
11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Join Public Programs Coordinator, Allison Shilling, in 15-minute gallery conversations on the extraordinary Tang and Song ceramics on view in Concord Collects. Participants will discuss the technical mastery of light-colored earthenware clay and glazes, as well as how the object reflects a colorful view of life and trade along the Silk Road during the high Tang dynasty (618 – 906).
Included with Museum admission. No advanced registration. The limited group will be accommodated at a first-come-first-served basis.

Concord Playdates: Sculptures Alive!
2019-10-12
Look closely at the form and colors of the beautiful sculptures in Concord Collects. Then make your own sculpture and add color and design to bring it to life!
Included with Museum admission. Drop in anytime between 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Concord Playdates: Sculptures Alive!
2019-10-13
Look closely at the form and colors of the beautiful sculptures in Concord Collects. Then make your own sculpture and add color and design to bring it to life!
Free with admission. Drop in anytime 10:00 am to 4:00 pm!

Spotlight on Childe Hassam
2019-10-13 11:00 - 14:30 | 53 Cambridge Tpke, Concord, 01742, United States
11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Join Director of Education, Suzi Fonda, in 15-minute gallery conversations on the work of Boston-born American Impressionist Childe Hassam. Using the masterwork on view in Concord Collects, participants will discuss Hassam’s work.
Included with Museum admission. No advanced registration. The limited group will be accommodated at a first-come-first-served basis.

Indigenous People's Day
2019-10-14 09:00 - 16:00
The celebratory Grand Opening weekend culminates with Free Admission to the Museum on Indigenous People’s Day. Visitors are invited to experience the new People of Musketaquid gallery and learn about Concord’s rich Native history. This free community day is generously supported by Middlesex Savings Bank.

Jenna Blum in conversation with Louisa May Alcott
2019-10-15 19:00 - 20:30
Kick-off the 27th Annual Concord Festival of Authors with New York Times bestselling novelist Jenna Blum in conversation with one of America’s most prolific writers, Louisa May Alcott. The fiercely independent author of Little Women is portrayed by Director of Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House Jan Turnquist. Reception to follow.
Jenna Blum is a New York Times and internationally best-selling author of the novels Those Who Save Us (Harcourt 2002) , The Stormchasers (Dutton, 2010) and The Lost Family (Harper Collins, 2018. She earned her M.A. in Creative Writing from Boston University, where she taught Creative Writing and journalism and was the fiction editor for AGNI Literary Magazine. In addition to being a novelist, Jenna is also a professional public speaker, traveling nationally and internationally to speak at universities, libraries, events, and book clubs. Among many achievements, she is one of Oprah’s Top 30 Women Writers and is currently working on her fourth novel.
Jan Turnquist is the executive director of the Louisa May Alcott Orchard House. Jan is an educator, actress, and historian, holding teaching certification and degrees in English and Comparative Literature from the University of Wisconsin. She has been featured in various television roles on PBS, the Fox Network, and several BBC productions.
Books will be available for purchase and signing by the author in partnership with the Concord Bookshop.
$5 Member | $10 Non-Member. This program is supported in part by the Sally Lanagan Fund and grants from the Concord Cultural Council, the Lexington Council for the Arts, and the Lincoln Cultural Council – local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Register here.

Canton in Concord: Early American Engagement in China
2019-10-23 19:00 - 20:00
Curator Karina H. Corrigan will speak about the thriving and cosmopolitan Chinese port city of Guangzhou. Known to foreign merchants as Canton, Guangzhou was the only port in China open to foreign trade for over 100 years. Imported luxury goods such as tea, silk, porcelain and lacquer from Guangzhou had a profound impact on people’s lives in Massachusetts during the early 19th century. Even the camp bed Thoreau slept on at Walden had its origins in China.
Karina H. Corrigan is The H.A. Crosby Forbes Curator of Asian Export at the Peabody Essex Museum. She received her B.A. in Art History and Medieval Renaissance Studies from Wellesley College, an MS in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA from the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture. Corrigan has lectured and published extensively on many aspects of Asian export art and has organized eight exhibitions regarding the subject at the PEM.
$5 Member | $10 Non-Member
Advanced Registration Required. Register here:

SOLD OUT! Sleepy Hollow-een Tour
2019-10-27 15:30 - 17:00
SOLD OUT! Thank you for your interest in our programs. We hope you can join us for more upcoming events!
Join us for this special Halloween event! Take a tour through historic Sleepy Hollow Cemetery with a Concord Museum guide. Learn about the lives and deaths of past Concordians through stories passed down through the generations.
$5 Member | $10 Non-Member. Ticket includes same-day admission to the Concord Museum.
Advanced Registration Required. Register here:

SOLD OUT! Join the waitlist: 7th Annual Sally Lanagan Lecture
2019-10-30 19:00 - 20:00
The Will of the People: The Revolutionary Birth of America
SOLD OUT! Please join the waitlist by completing the form at the bottom of the page. We will inform you if any space becomes available for the lecture. Thank you.
A prize-winning historian provides the missing piece in the story of America’s founding, introducing us to the ordinary men and women who turned a faltering rebellion against colonial rule into an unexpectedly potent and enduring revolution.
Over eight years of war, ordinary Americans accomplished something extraordinary. Far from the actions of the Continental Congress and the Continental Army, they took responsibility for the course of the revolution. by taking up the reins of power but also setting its limits, they ensured America’s success. Without their participation, there would have been no victory over Great Britain, no independence. The colonial rebellion would have ended like so many others – in failure.
T. H. Breen is the John Kluge Professor of American Law and Governance at the Library of Congress and Founding Director of the Chabraja Center for Historical Studies at Northwestern University. A former Guggenheim Fellow, he has taught American history at Oxford, Cambridge, and Yale universities and is the James Marsh Professor-at-Large at the University of Vermont. He is the author of many books, including George Washington’s Journey, winner of the History Prize of the Society of the Cincinnati and finalist for the George Washington’s Book Prize; and Marketplace of Revolution, winner of the Society of Colonial Wars Book Award. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Book and Times Literary Supplement.
FREE. Advanced registration required. The Lanagan Lecture is an annual lecture named for Sally Lanagan, a beloved volunteer who was deeply involved with the Museum and had a passion for American art, the decorative arts, and historic preservation.

Untold Stories: Why They Marched with Susan Ware and Ellen Fitzpatrick
2019-11-07 19:00 - 20:00
For far too long, the history of how American women won the right to vote has been told as the tale of a few iconic leaders, all white and native-born. Join us for a conversation with Susan Ware, Honorary Women’s Suffrage Historian at Radcliffe’s Schlesinger Library, and historian Ellen Fitzpatrick as they uncover a much broader and more diverse story of the many women who worked tirelessly in communities across the nation, out of the spotlight, protesting, petitioning, and insisting on their right to full citizenship.
A pioneer in the field of women’s history and a leading feminist biographer, Susan Ware is the author and editor of numerous books on twentieth-century U.S. history. Educated at Wellesley College and Harvard University, she has taught at New York University and Harvard, where she served as editor of the biographical dictionary Notable American Women: Completing the Twentieth Century (2004). Since 2012, she has served as the general editor of the American National Biography, published by Oxford University Press under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies. The Library of America published Ware’s latest anthology on women’s suffrage in May 2019.
Co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Concord-Carlisle.
$5 Member | $10 Non-Member.
Books available for purchase and signing in partnership with the Concord Bookshop. Register below:

Spotlight on Copley
2019-11-09
Join Concord Museum Curator, David Wood, in a 15-minute gallery conversation on the work of John Singleton Copley. Using the masterwork on view in Concord Collects, participants will discuss Copley’s bravura brushstrokes and the context of his work in Revolutionary Boston.
No advanced registration. The limited group will be accommodated on a first-come-first-served basis. Included with Museum admission.
11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Image: Copley, John Singleton. Joseph Royall Loring. About 1774. Oil on canvas. Collection of Anna and Neil Rasmussen.

Silhouette Portrait Taking
2019-11-09 11:00 - 2019-11-10 15:00
Silhouette artist Jean Comerford cuts delightful heirloom-quality portraits that make a wonderful gift.

Children six months and up and adults of all ages are welcome. Appointments are available from 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday; sittings are ten minutes. $37/profile; $15 additional copies; frames and mats available for sale on the day of sitting.
Reserve a seating here or Call 978-369-9763 ext. 216.

Of Arms and Artists: The American Revolution through Painters’ Eyes
2019-11-21 18:00 - 19:00
Boston was the artistic capital of eighteen-century America. Join Dr. Paul Staiti, Mount Holyoke College Alumnae Foundation Professor, for a forum that sets the city’s key artists against the backdrop of revolutionary events. In particular, look at the achievements of John Singleton Copley, known as the colonies’ supreme artist.
Dr. Paul Staiti is the Alumnae Foundation Professor of Fine Arts at Mount Holyoke College. He is the author of books and essays on John Singleton Copley, Gilbert Stuart, Samuel F.B. Morse, William Michael Harnett, and Winslow Homer. Dr. Staiti teaches courses on American art and architecture, as well as American cinema, and has lectured at the Louvre, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He has received senior fellowships from the National Endowment of the Humanities three times.
$5 Member | $10 Non-Members
Advanced Registration Required. Register here.
This program is generously supported by Middlesex Savings Bank.

Image: Painter unknown. Commander William Boerum. About 1837. Oil on canvas. Collection of Anna and Neil Rasmussen.

The Fête
2019-12-06 18:30 - 20:30 | 53 Cambridge Tpke, Concord, 01742, United States
Enjoy an elegant and festive winter wonderland evening at the newly renovated Concord Museum with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres to celebrate the 24th annual display of Family Trees: A Celebration of Children’s Literature. This year’s Fête is organized by the Concord Museum’s Guild of Volunteers Co-Chairs Michelle McArdle and Gail Hire and helps support the Museum’s educational initiatives.
The Concord Museum welcomes over 14,000 students annually to participate in its unique hands-on history education programs. The object-based school programs taught by Museum Educators are designed to expand upon the typical classroom learning and bring students an experience that they can continue to reflect on long after they leave the Museum. Benefit events such as the Annual Fete help the Museum to expand its reach and continue the incredible education programs that it is so well known for.
Advanced ticket purchase requested. Please purchase tickets below.

9th Annual Holiday House Tour
2019-12-07 11:00 - 16:00
The Museum is thrilled to host the 9th Annual Holiday House Tour on Saturday, December 7, 2019. Celebrate the Holiday Season with a tour of seven of Concord’s most beautiful private homes, professionally and personally decorated in the holiday spirit by local interior designers! We hope to see you on the Tour!
Enjoy a unique holiday shopping experience with Pop-Up Shops in the Concord Museum’s Franklin Lyceum beginning at 9:00 a.m. on the day of the Tour with Copp Family Farm, Belle on Heels, Contessa Fine Imports & Altantic Driftwood Designs.
Earlybird pricing now through December 5: Members $40; Non-Members $50
December 6 and Day-of ticket pricing: Members $45; Non-Members $55
Please visit the Concord Museum’s Rasmussen Education Center today, December 7, to purchase tickets.
Thank you to our generous sponsors!

ACM Donuts LLC, Dunkin’ | The Pesce Family Bert Rosengarten Antiques Cambridge Savings Bank Colonial Inn
Nashoba Brook Bakery Platt Builders, Inc. Russell’s Garden Center Seasons Four W by Worth | Wendy McNally
Special thanks to our Media Sponsors:

Voices from Around the World: Family Trees Program
2019-12-14 11:00 - 12:00
Join us as Bindy Fleischman and Nancy Traversy discuss books that open children’s hearts, minds, and provide authentic perspectives and voices from around the world. Included with Museum admission. Members visit free
Bindy Fleischman has been an active member of the U.S. Board on Books for Young People since 2002, serving on multiple committees now representing Massachusetts as our state Ambassador. She is a children’s librarian and museum educator, and is currently a member of the English Language Arts team at the German International School of Boston.
Nancy Traversy is the Co-founder of Barefoot Books, a children’s book publishing company celebrating diversity and imagination. Nancy has always been an avid explorer of world cultures, moving from Toronto to London in 1985 where she worked for many years in the London design industry before starting Barefoot Books from her home in North London with Tessa Strickland. In 2001, Nancy crossed the Atlantic to Concord, MA where she could be closer to her North American business. For Nancy, living Barefoot is creating beautiful, magical and authentic stories and art and bringing these to a grassroots, global community of people who care about how our next generation of children is raised.

Monument Maker: Family Trees Program
2019-12-15 11:00 - 12:00
Know what you love. Make what you love. Join author Linda Sweeney and illustrator Shawn Fields in a program about the life and artwork of Concord-sculptor Daniel Chester French. In the new award-winning book, Monument Maker, a young Daniel Chester French finds a passion and talent for making sculptures. This love only grows over the years and culminates in his largest artistic endeavor – The Lincoln Memorial.
This family-oriented talk will include discussions with the audience, close-looking activities, and at the end of the program, participants will sculpt their own masterpiece of what they love to bring home. Appropriate for all ages.

Linda Sweeney is a writer and educator who began writing this book while living in Daniel Chester French’s former studio in Concord, Massachusetts. Her picture books for children include Where the Wind Blows and she is also the author of The Systems Thinking Playbook and other books to help people of all ages see and understand complex systems.
Shawn Fields is an artist best known for his narrative oil paintings. He lives with his wife, three children, and their dog Yogi in a small rural town in western Massachusetts. In the winter they love to hang around the woodstove after walking in the snow. In the summer their favorite thing to do is to get hot and sweaty working and playing, then jump in the river that runs past their house.
Monument Maker will be available for purchase and signing by the author and illustrator in partnership with the Concord Bookshop.
With Museum Admission. No advanced registration required.

Authors and Illustrators Day
2019-12-15 13:00 - 15:00
Meet some of the biggest names in children’s literature whose books are featured in Family Trees: A Celebration of Children’s Literature. Explore the decorated forest of trees throughout the Museum, and visit with authors and illustrators as they sign your books. Free with Family Trees admission; Members free.

Participating authors and illustrators include:
Pamela Zagarenski, 2019 Family Trees Honorary Chair
Peter Reynolds
Jane Yolen
Josh Funk
Melissa Stewart
Sarah S. Brannen
Scott Magoon
Priscilla Alpaugh
Susan Edward Richmond
Anika Aldamuy Denise
Linda Booth Sweeney
Shawn Fields
Judy Schachner
Julia Sarcone-Roach
Cindy Reynolds
Giselle Potter
Aaron Becker
Ellen Mayer

The schedule is subject to change without notice.

Little Women Family Tree
2019-12-20 - 2019-12-23
Concord is celebrating Little Women Week now through December 23, 2019 in anticipation of the new movie! Be sure to drop by the Museum to see the special Little Women tree inspired by Louisa May Alcott’s world-renowned novel.
The Little Women tree is part of the Museum’s 24th Annual Family Trees: A Celebration of Children’s Literature which includes 39 trees and wreaths inspired by classic and contemporary children’s books. Family Trees is ongoing through January 5, 2020.

December 24
2019-12-24
The Concord Museum is closed today. We wish you a very Happy Holiday!

December 25
2019-12-25 08:00 - 17:00

Family Trees: A Celebration of Children's Literature
2019-12-26 08:00 - 2020-01-05 17:00
Family Trees: A Celebration of Children’s Literature featuring 39 trees and wreaths inspired by contemporary and classic children’s books continues now through January 5, 2020.
