History

Stop by the Bacon Free Library to view a selection of Natick Historical Society’s maps of Natick, on display May 21st to June 30th.  These fascinating reproductions show the streets, properties, and bodies of water of Natick, while some also display sketches of trees & buildings, and in one case, the handwritten names of property […]

Often located near poorhouses, asylums, and prisons, contagious disease hospitals reveal how fear of contagion intersected with social reform, nativism, and evolving ideas about poverty and public responsibility.  Historian and author Dr. Katherine M. (Anderson) Benson, MFA, EdD, will take us on a virtual exploration of the complex history of contagious disease hospitals in Massachusetts […]

This year marks the 350th anniversary of King Philip’s War.   This 14-month rebellion, which was led by the Wampanoag chief Metacom (later known as King Philip), was the Native Americans’ last-ditch effort to resist English authority and stop English settlement on their lands (history.com). Soon after the war began, colonists set up an internment camp […]

Since 1929, Flying Santa has visited the men, women, and families of the Coast Guard who keep watch over our coastal waters at USCG stations and lighthouses.  The pioneering Maine pilot Bill Wincapaw inaugurated this program and, along with his son Bill, flew for two decades.  They recruited Edward Rowe Snow, the popular New England […]

If you enjoy reading and talking about history, check out the history book club hosted by the Bacon Free Library and the Natick Historical Society.   Each discussion, led by the director of the Natick Historical Society, is held over Zoom, so you can join from the comfort of your home.   Copies of each book (regular […]

The “People of the Dawnland” (Abenaki/Wabanaki) of New Hampshire and the Northeast are the first Indigenous peoples in North America to have had contact with Europeans.  In this presentation, Anne Jennison examines how European colonization of North America impacted generations of Abenaki/Wabanaki people and highlights the ways in which the Abenaki/Wabanaki peoples have acted as […]