1776: Declaring Independence

Featuring manuscripts, artifacts, and rarely seen treasures, this exhibition captures a monumental moment in American history.  In 1776, people grappled with ideas of liberty, loyalty, and the role of government in society. Private letters, intimate diaries, and newspaper accounts reveal how the Declaration of Independence grew from draft to founding document. 1776: Declaring Independence spotlights handwritten copies of the Declaration by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson as well as multiple early printings, including a rare Dunlap broadside. On and off the page, we explore how it echoed across the commonwealth and around the world, reshaping the colonists’ chances of launching a new nation. How did the Declaration change Americans’ quest for liberty, then and now? We invite visitors to trace the Declaration’s complex legacy as a national beacon for celebration and protest. Check <a href="https://www.masshist.org/visit/hours-and-admission">here </a>for closures and more admission information.

Massachusetts Historical Society

My Dearest Friend: The Love, Lives & Legacy of Abigail & John Adams

This is an in-person event.&nbsp; Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/my-dearest-friend-09-10-26">here </a>to register. Learn what made John and Abigail Adams America’s original power couple. Enjoy refreshments as you move around the MHS in an entertaining evening of interactive presentations by Adams Papers editors and displays showcasing letters and artifacts from the Adams Presidential Library.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Hear excerpts from Abigail’s and John’s correspondence that explore the couple’s private moments and public partnership. Discover how the Adamses built and sustained their relationship and worked together to craft their legacy.&nbsp;

Gallery Talk - 1776: Declaring Independence

Attendance is free. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/gallery-talk-june-30-2026-pm">here </a>to register. Join MHS staff for a gallery tour of the exhibition 1776: Declaring Independence. Discover how Americans drafted a path to independence through a selection of rarely seen manuscripts, artifacts, and treasures from the MHS collection.&nbsp;

Gallery Talk - Independence Forever

Attendance is free. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/gallery-talk-july-3-2026-am">here </a>to register. Join Adams Papers staff for a gallery talk featuring the latest rotating installations from the Adams Presidential Library. Discover how members of the Adams family helped shape the “great anniversary festival,” from the founding on July 4, 1776, to John Adams’s death on the semicentennial, and to the legacy of independence shared by generations.

Attendance is free. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/gallery-talk-july-2-2026-pm">here </a>to register. Join Adams Papers staff for a gallery talk featuring the latest rotating installations from the Adams Presidential Library. Discover how members of the Adams family helped shape the “great anniversary festival,” from the founding on July 4, 1776, to John Adams’s death on the semicentennial, and to the legacy of independence shared by generations.

Attendance is free. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/gallery-talk-july-1-2026-pm">here </a>to register. Join Adams Papers staff for a gallery talk featuring the latest rotating installations from the Adams Presidential Library. Discover how members of the Adams family helped shape the “great anniversary festival,” from the founding on July 4, 1776, to John Adams’s death on the semicentennial, and to the legacy of independence shared by generations.

Attendance is free. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/gallery-talk-july-1-2026-am">here </a>to register. Join MHS staff for a gallery tour of the exhibition 1776: Declaring Independence. Discover how Americans drafted a path to independence through a selection of rarely seen manuscripts, artifacts, and treasures from the MHS collection.&nbsp;

Attendance is free. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/gallery-talk-june-30-2026-am">here </a>to register. Join Adams Papers staff for a gallery talk featuring the latest rotating installations from the Adams Presidential Library. Discover how members of the Adams family helped shape the “great anniversary festival,” from the founding on July 4, 1776, to John Adams’s death on the semicentennial, and to the legacy of independence shared by generations.

Attendance is free. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/gallery-talk-june-29-2026-pm">here </a>to register. Join Adams Papers staff for a gallery talk featuring the latest rotating installations from the Adams Presidential Library. Discover how members of the Adams family helped shape the “great anniversary festival,” from the founding on July 4, 1776, to John Adams’s death on the semicentennial, and to the legacy of independence shared by generations.

Attendance is free. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/gallery-talk-june-29-2026-am">here </a>to register. Join MHS staff for a gallery tour of the exhibition 1776: Declaring Independence. Discover how Americans drafted a path to independence through a selection of rarely seen manuscripts, artifacts, and treasures from the MHS collection.&nbsp;

Drafting Independence: Declaration to Constitution

This is a hybrid event. FREE for MHS Members. $10 per person fee (in person). No charge for virtual attendees or Card to Culture participants (EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare). The in-person reception starts at 5:00 and the program will begin 6:00 PM. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/drafting-independence">here </a>to register. America’s founding documents have echoed throughout global history and culture for more than two centuries. Why did revolutionaries like John Adams and his peers draw on the past as they drafted the Declaration and crafted the Constitution? What ideas shaped the United States’ working definition of liberty, and how did that translate to audiences abroad? Join us to explore how “we the people” imagined a new political vocabulary to interpret the American experiment, which we continue today.

Curious & Complex Connections: Environmental History & the War of Independence

This program was rescheduled from its original date of 20 October 2025. This is a hybrid event. FREE for MHS Members. $10 per person fee (in person). No charge for virtual attendees or Card to Culture participants (EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare). The in-person reception starts at 5:30 and the program will begin 6:00 PM. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/curious-and-complex-connections">here </a>to register. Many of us give only a moment’s thought about the environment when considering the War of Independence: the slope of Breed’s Hill, the ice-choked Delaware River, and diseases such as smallpox. But what might we gain by connecting biology, ecology, and geology to the thinking and actions of soldiers and civilians? Rebels and British soldiers acquired and used energy in the form of food, fuel, and work animals, which shaped people’s lives, the course of the war, and the direction of environmental change. Join us as David Hsiung, in conversation with Joyce Chaplin, discusses the intricate and often surprising ways in which the natural environment and the war changed each other.

Revolutionary Narratives: From Broadsides to Hollywood

This is a hybrid event. FREE for MHS Members. $10 per person fee (in person). No charge for virtual attendees or Card to Culture participants (EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare). The in-person reception starts at 5:30 and the program will begin 6:00 PM. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/revolutionary-narratives-fiori">here </a>to register. The American Revolution has been contested since its very beginning. During the Revolution, contemporaries looking to understand what independence meant had to shift through disinformation and journalism rife with as many opinions as today. In the war's aftermath, narratives of the Revolution went through continuous reinterpretations in response to political and social changes. From the Civil War to the Cold War and newsrooms to Hollywood, Americans looked to the Revolutionary era to debate and define what it meant to be an American, with often divisive results. Now, during the 250th anniversary of the Revolution, Jordan Taylor and Michael Hattem will examine commentary in Revolutionary-era newspapers and broadsides, consider how understanding of American independence has changed over time, and reflect on how the public sees the nation’s founding today.

Gallery Talk: 1776: Declaring Independence

Attendance is free. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/gallery-talk-may-8-2026">here </a>to register. Join a member of the Adams Papers staff for a gallery talk on the exhibition 1776: Declaring Independence. Visitors are invited to explore the rest of the exhibition and ask questions.&nbsp;

Gallery Talk: From Yorktown to the Hotel d’York

Attendance is free. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/gallery-talk-may-1-2026">here </a>to register. Join Sara Georgini, Series Editor, Papers of John Adams, for a gallery talk on the exhibition From Yorktown to the Hotel d’York: Winning Peace. Visitors are invited to explore the rest of the exhibition and ask questions.&nbsp;

S22: conversations

Wondering what to do in Boston? Places to eat? Free activities? Good for a group? Date night spot? Girls night out? The best things to do? Ask Joyraft!

Best places to go in Boston? Things to do? Places to eat?

Questions & answers about things to do in Boston

Recs 💬

Community recs 💬

S4: top picks

The most fun, cool and unique things to do in Boston. Can’t miss events, shows and experiences. Concerts, restaurants, bars, free things in Boston and beyond.

The most fun and cool events happening around Boston

Hot and new things to do in Boston

Hot & new

Hot & new 🔥

S11: happening this weekend

What to do in Boston this weekend? From festivals, concerts, performances, free events, screenings and more, Joyraft has the best things to do in Boston.

25+ things to do in Boston/Cambridge/Somerville this weekend

Things to do in Boston this weekend

This wknd

This weekend for you

S21: roundups

Our top picks: outdoor dining, free events, spring festivals, best bars, upcoming concerts, museum parties - the latest in and around Boston.  Slug: joyraft-top-picks-best-things-to-do-boston-ma

Top picks of the best things to do in and around Boston

Joyraft picks: Boston’s best things to do

Roundups ⭐️

Curated by Joyraft ⭐️

S28: calendar experiences

This week in Boston

This week in Boston 📆

This week 📆

S20: c+d experiences

Discover new, unique events and experiences happening in and around Boston. Perfect for date night, good for a group or with a friend. Be the first to know.

The newest events happening in and around Boston

The newest events on Joyraft

Just added

Just added to Joyraft

S16: editor picks

The most unique and can’t miss things coming up in Boston / Cambridge / Somerville and beyond. Festivals, food, drinks, fairs, concerts, art and free activities.

Unique and Can’t Miss Things to Do in Boston

Can’t-miss things to do in Boston 🚨

Can't-miss things to do 🚨

S2 (A): top experiences

The most popular things to do on Joyraft. Concerts, restaurants, bars, events, parties, openings, kid friendly, date ideas, free things in Boston and beyond.

Top 20 things to do in Boston

Top 20: Joyraft’s most popular

Top 20

Top 20 on Joyraft

S3 (A): trending experiences

Discover can’t miss events and things to do in Boston. The most fun, unique and cool events coming to the Boston area this spring and summer.

The hottest events happening in Boston

Trending events on Joyraft

Trending 📈

S19: interest based

Kid-friendly events in Boston

S18: interest based

Where to eat and drink in Boston? Joyraft has Boston’s newest bars, restaurants and specials. Drinks and pre fixe dinner menus. Cambridge & Somerville too.

Where

jbelknap1791

Experiences

1776: Declaring Independence

My Dearest Friend: The Love, Lives & Legacy of Abigail & John Adams

Gallery Talk - 1776: Declaring Independence

Gallery Talk - Independence Forever

Gallery Talk - Independence Forever

Gallery Talk - Independence Forever

Gallery Talk - 1776: Declaring Independence

Gallery Talk - Independence Forever

Gallery Talk - Independence Forever

Gallery Talk - 1776: Declaring Independence

Drafting Independence: Declaration to Constitution

Curious & Complex Connections: Environmental History & the War of Independence

Revolutionary Narratives: From Broadsides to Hollywood

Gallery Talk: 1776: Declaring Independence

Gallery Talk: From Yorktown to the Hotel d’York