The Bacon Free Library is partnering with the Ashland Public Library to bring you this conversation with Native American historian Kathleen DuVal. Listen in to learn more about the history of local Indigenous Peoples as well as for insight into their resilience and battle for self-sovereignty. Professor, historian, and author Kathleen DuVal will discuss her […]
Join the Bacon Free Library and the Natick Historical Society to hear Diane Taraz perform traditional Victorian Christmas carols this holiday season. Many of our holiday traditions and Christmas music were revived or created during the Victorian era in the mid-1800s. Diane will present these beloved carols and fascinating stories about their origins as she […]
We are looking forward to chatting with author and historical sleuth, Philippa Langley, about her book The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case and her discovery of the grave of King Richard III in 2012. Join us as she discusses her research methods, her team, her findings, and how solving this cold […]
Based on Jeremy’s book, Boston Light: Three Centuries of History, this virtual talk focuses on Boston Light Station, the site of the first lighthouse on the North American continent. Jeremy will trace its history through three centuries of tragedy, rescues, and colorful human interest stories of keepers and their families. This program is presented by […]
James Cameron’s Titanic told the invented story of the Heart of the Ocean–a fictional blue diamond necklace lost tragically in the ship’s famous sinking. But what about the real treasures that were lost when the Titanic sank? For over a century, the world has been intrigued by the story of the Titanic. When tragedy struck on April […]
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 […]
Listen in as historian Jeffrey S. Boutwell discusses his new biography, Boutwell: Radical Republican and Champion of Democracy. George S. Boutwell is the most consequential American political figure you’ve probably never heard of. For seven decades, George Boutwell sought to “redeem America’s promise” through racial equality, economic equity, and the humane use of American power abroad. […]
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 […]
