William Hickling Prescott Award with Stacy Schiff

This is an in-person 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 at 6:00. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/william-hickling-prescott-award-stacy-schiff" target="_blank">here </a>to register. In&nbsp;her most recent book, The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams, Pulitzer-Prize winning author Stacy Schiff brings her masterful storytelling skills to illuminating Adams’ transformation from aimless son of a well-off family to tireless, beguiling radical who mobilized the colonies. Schiff has also brought figures like Benjamin Franklin, Cleopatra, and the Witches of Salem to life in bestselling, widely acclaimed biographies.&nbsp; In recognition of her scholarship, Stacy will be presented with the William Hickling Prescott Award for Excellence in Historical Writing by the Massachusetts Society of The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America and the Massachusetts Historical Society. This award has been conferred biennially since 2014 by the Massachusetts Dames and recognizes literary accomplishments and contributions in the field of historical writing.

Massachusetts Historical Society

A Revolutionary Woman: Elizabeth Freeman & the Abolition of Slavery in the North

This is a virtual event. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/revolutionary-woman-elizabeth-freeman">here </a>to register. At the end of the American Revolution, Elizabeth Freeman was an enslaved widow and mother living in Massachusetts. Hearing the words of the new Mass. state constitution which declared liberty and equality for all, she sought the help of a young lawyer named Theodore Sedgwick, later Speaker of the House and one of America's leading Federalist politicians. The lawsuit that she and Sedgwick pursued would bring freedom to her and her daughter, as well as thousands of other enslaved people. Freeman left her enslaver to be employed by Sedgwick. After Sedgwick's wife, Pamela, became a chronic invalid, Freeman effectively became the foster mother to his seven children, enabling him to pursue a political career. Join us online as author Donna Tesiero details Elizabeth Freeman's life and the far-reaching influence of her battle for freedom.

Making the Presidency: John Adams & the Precedents That Forged the Republic

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 at 6:00. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/making-presidency-adams" target="_blank">here </a>to register. Join us for an evening with Lindsay M. Chervinsky, Executive Director of the George Washington Presidential Library and author of Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents that Forged the Republic, in conversation with Louisa Thomas, author of Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams. Following an introduction by MHS Editor in Chief of the Adams Papers Sara Martin, the historians will reflect on using MHS collections to inform their works on the Adamses. Making the Presidency is a captivating and authoritative account of John Adams’s presidency, exploring how Adams shaped the highest office and ensured the survival of the American republic. The quixotic and stubborn Adams would rely on his ideas about executive power, the Constitution, politics, and the state of the world to navigate the hurdles of the position. He defended the presidency from his own obstructionist cabinet, protected the nation from foreign attacks, and forged trust and dedication to election integrity…at the cost of his political future. In Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams, published in 2016, Louisa Thomas creates an intimate portrait of Louisa Catherine Adams and her extraordinary life. Using historical context along with letters, diaries, and autobiographical accounts written by Adams, Thomas captures the remarkable life of a woman with a thirst for knowledge, who suffered loss, endured a complicated marriage, lived through a pivotal historical moment, and found her voice.

Our Voices: AAPI History at the MHS

This is an in-person event. The in-person reception starts at 5:30 and the program begins at 6:00 PM.&nbsp; Please register to attend <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/AAPI-2024" target="_blank">here</a>. Join MHS Chief Historian, Peter Drummey, and Reading Room Supervisor, Rakashi Chand, for a look at some of the material in our collections that explores Asian American history.&nbsp;

A Civil Right: 20 Years of Marriage Equality in Massachusetts

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 at 6:00.&nbsp; Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/Twenty-Years-Marriage-Equality" target="_blank">here </a>to register. Twenty years ago, in May 2004, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling in&nbsp;Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health&nbsp;legalizing same-sex marriage in Massachusetts took effect. The ruling made Massachusetts the first state to legalize gay marriage.&nbsp;Former Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall will discuss the import of Goodridge,&nbsp;as well as the reaction to it.&nbsp;Professor Nancy Cott will explain the part that a historians’ amicus brief played in this case and others. In conversation with MHS President Catherine Allgor, our speakers will reflect upon this landmark case, and the role historians may play in legal cases.

Telling the Untold Stories for Children: Biographies for Kids and Why They Matter

This is a hybrid&nbsp;event.&nbsp;The in-person reception will begin at 4:30 PM. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/telling-untold-stories-children-biographies-kids-and-why-they-matter" target="_blank">h</a><a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/reconstructing-artisan-labor-economy-post-emancipation-south-carolina" target="_blank">ere </a>to register. Biography can be a powerful vehicle for telling some of the untold and under-told stories of people’s lives. This may be especially true for children, who are forming their ideas about what matters, and who matters, in part through the books they read. The New England Biography Series is proud to convene a conversation with three well-known children’s writers who focus on biographies of underrepresented groups. Ray Anthony Shepard, whose award-winning books for teens include biographies of well-known and relatively unknown Black Americans; Heather Lang, whose biographies for young readers focus on amazing but mostly unfamiliar women; and Mia Wenjen, author of both two picture biographies for children and two biographical anthologies for middle schoolers that center the stories of Asian Pacific Americans, will discuss their work, what biographies for children can do, and why it’s important to be writing for children in these times when some communities struggle over control of school curricula, public library holdings, and controversies about whether there are books that should be banned.

Italian Influence on Boston's Culture, Economy & Politics

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 at 6:00. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/Italian-Influence" target="_blank">here </a>to register. Though late-19th century Italian immigrants to Boston faced discrimination and language barriers, they found opportunities; built churches, clubs, and support networks; and created flourishing cultural, economic, and political communities. Join civic leader Lawrence DiCara and historian James Pasto as they reflect on the impact of the Italian community on Boston. Drawing on history and memory, our speakers will consider the challenges and opportunities for immigrants in the past; reflect on the contributions Italians have made to the culture, politics, and economy of Boston; and debunk common myths.

Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner

This is a hybrid event. The in-person reception starts at 5:30 and the program will begin at 6:00.  Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/Chasing-Beauty">here </a>to register. A celebration of the publication of Chasing Beauty. Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Museum rose from Boston’s Fens at the turn of the 20th century. Its treasures encompassed not only masterwork paintings but tapestries, rare books, prints, porcelains, and fine furniture. Natalie Dykstra's new book, Chasing Beauty, illuminates the fascinating ways the eponymous museum and its holdings can be seen as a kind of memoir, dazzling and haunting, displayed per Isabella’s wishes in the exact placements she initially curated.  Born in 1840 to a privileged New York family, Isabella Stewart married Boston Brahmin Jack Gardner as she turned 20. She was misunderstood by Boston’s insular society and suffered the death of her only child, not yet two years old. But in time came friendships, awe-inspiring world travels, and a love of collecting beautiful things with a keen eye and competitive pace. All these were balm for loss. Join Natalie Dykstra in conversation with Catherine Allgor as they discuss Chasing Beauty—a tale of beauty and loss, grit, and American self-invention.  A book signing will follow.

NHD In - Person Feedback Session with Suffolk and Boston University

This feedback session will allow NHD students advancing to States the opportunity to receive live feedback, in real time from local college aged students studying History! Student volunteers from Boston and Suffolk University will gather at the MHS on Saturday, March 23, 2024, from 11 A.M. - 3 P.M. as “NHD Mentors” for an In-Person feedback session after the regional contests occur. NHD students will be asked to come prepared with 2-3 specific questions related to their project to ask the mentors. Bagels, Pastries, Coffee will be offered! Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/nhd-person-feedback-session-suffolk-and-boston-university">here </a>to register.

Wheatley in the 21st Century: A Reading & Book Launch

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 at 6:00.&nbsp; Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/Wheatley-21st-century" target="_blank">here </a>to register. Wheatley at 250: Black Women Poets Re-imagine the Verse of Phillis Wheatley Peters&nbsp;celebrates the 250th anniversary of&nbsp;Phillis Wheatley Peters’ historic and transformative&nbsp;Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral&nbsp;(1773). The new anthology gathers the voices of 20 Black female poets to reimagine the work of this iconic literary ancestor for a new generation. Join editors Danielle Legros Georges and Artress Bethany White, and contributors Florence Ladd and Janice Lowe, as they consider Phillis Wheatley Peters’ impact and share selections from their new book.

Necessary Trouble: A Conversation with Drew Faust

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 at 6:00. Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/Drew-Faust-Necessary-Trouble" target="_blank">here </a>to register. Drew Gilpin Faust, President Emerita of Harvard University, joins us for a special evening reflecting on her memoir,&nbsp;Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury.&nbsp;&nbsp;Professor Faust will discuss the formative experiences of her youth during the turbulence of the 1950s and 60s that shaped her as a civil rights activist, historian of the South, and first female president of Harvard University. In conversation with MHS President Catherine Allgor, the two will consider the lessons that history provides for today’s world.

 First Family: George Washington's Heirs & the Making of America

This is a virtual program.Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/first-family-george-washingtons-heirs-making-america">here </a>to register. While it's widely known in America that George and Martha Washington never had children of their own, few are aware that they raised numerous children together. In First Family, we see Washington as a father figure, and also meet the children he helped to raise. The children of Martha Washington's son by her first marriage—Eliza, Patty, Nelly and Wash Custis—were born into life in the public eye. Raised in the country's first "first family," they remained well-known not only as Washington's family, but also as keepers of his legacy throughout their lives. First Family brings new focus and attention to this neglected aspect of George Washington's life and legacy. As the country grapples with concerns about political dynasties and the public role of presidential families, the saga of Washington's family offers a human story of historical precedent.

Online

 A History of Boston

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 at 6:00.  Please visit <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/history-boston">here </a>to register. Boston was the home of the Great Puritan Migration, the American Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the first civil rights movement, the abolition movement, and the women’s rights movement. But the city that gave us the first use of ether as anesthesia, the telephone, technicolor film, and the mutual fund was also the hub of the anti-immigration movement, the divisive busing era, and decades of self-inflicted decay. Join Daniel Dain as he acts as your tour guide from the arrival of First Peoples up to the election of Boston’s first woman and person of color as mayor. Dain’s work explores the policies and practices that took Boston from its highest heights to its lowest lows and back again, and examines the central role that density, diversity, and good urban design play in the success of cities like Boston.

 A Constitutional Culture: New England & the Struggle Against Arbitrary Rule in the Restoration Empire

This is a virtual event. Please register <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/constitutional-culture-new-england-struggle-against-arbitrary-rule-restoration-empire">here</a>. In A Constitutional Culture, Adrian Chastain Weimer uncovers the story of how, more than 100 years before the American Revolution, colonists pledged their lives and livelihoods to the defense of local political institutions against arbitrary rule. With Charles II’s return to the English throne in 1660, the Puritan-led colonies faced enormous pressure to conform to the crown’s priorities. Those resisting the crown included not just freemen (voters) but also people often seen as excluded or marginalized such as non-freemen, indentured servants, and women. Together these people crafted a potent regional constitutional culture in defiance of Charles II that was characterized by a skepticism of metropolitan ambition, a defense of civil and religious liberties, and a conviction that self-government was divinely sanctioned. Weimer shows how the dissenters expressed this constitutional culture through fast days, debates, committee work, and petitions. Equipped with a ready vocabulary for criticizing arbitrary rule, with a providentially informed capacity for risk-taking, and with a set of intellectual frameworks for divided sovereignty, the constitutional culture that New Englanders forged would not easily succumb to an imperial authority intent on consolidating its power.

Wars Civil & Great: The American Experience in the Civil War & World War I

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 at 6:00. Please register <a href="https://www.masshist.org/events/wars-civil-great-american-experience-civil-war-world-war-i">here </a>to attend. Although the Civil War and World War I were fought only 50 years apart, the perceived time between these two cataclysmic events seems far longer in popular American memory. Wars Civil and Great breaks down these barriers of time and memory and shows how close and how similar these two conflicts really were in the American experience. President Wilson looked to Lincoln during the Great War for guidance on national leadership at wartime; General John J. Pershing remembered the Civil War of his childhood and sought to learn lessons from Grant and McClellan; and the doughboys on European battlefields held firm to the culture of honor and duty that had inspired their forefathers to take up arms. Wars Civil and Great questions what legacy the Civil War left, how the World War I generation interpreted the lessons of the Civil War, and how both wars contributed to the modernization of the United States.

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

Best of 💫

Curated by Joyraft ⭐️

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 to Joyraft

S28: calendar experiences

This week in Boston

This week in Boston 📆

This week 📆

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 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 📈

S17: interest based

Your guide to everything free in and around Boston. From events, to fairs, to festivals, to outdoors. Joyraft has all the free events happening near you.

100+ free things to do in Boston and beyond

Free things to do in Boston

Free things to do

S19: interest based

Discover kid-friendly fun in Boston, Massachusetts, and surrounding areas! Enjoy hands-on exhibits at the Boston Children’s Museum, explore the New England Aquarium, and visit the Franklin Park Zoo. Find parks, playgrounds, and seasonal events perfect for families across Massachusetts.

Top 20 kid-friendly things to do in Boston, MA

Kid-friendly things to do in Boston

Kid-friendly events

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.