***Note Date Change - now on Friday, December 12.

Join us for a virtual discussion of The Wide, Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, and the Fateful Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides.

Copies of the book will be available at the Bacon Free Library. 

For details on how to attend this virtual meeting via Zoom, please contact director@natickhistoricalsociety.org

The Zoom link to the discussion will be sent upon request. 

Sip, snack, and enjoy the Natick History Museum as you listen to holiday carols. Participate in our raffle and exclusive silent auction.

Join us for the Natick Historical Society's Carols by Candleight Benefit featuring musician and historian Diane Taraz. All are welcome to a complimentary beer/wine and nibbles while touring the museum beginning at 6pm. The show will begin at 7pm. You'll see our new Natick in the Revolutionary War exhibit and have a chance to enter our raffle and/or bid on two exclusive items from Natick's past: a rare Harwood Baseball and an 1889 Map of Natick in a Vintage Frame.

You'll be awed by Diane Taraz's voice as she performs your favorite Christmas Carols and shares the history behind them. We'll draw the winning raffle tickets partway through the evening and end the silent auction after Diane's performance.

We can't wait to see you there!

Buy your tickets here.

Charles Dickens has famously been called “The Man Who Invented Christmas.” Inspired by the writings of Washington Irving earlier in the 19th century, Dickens wrote five Christmas novellas between 1843 and 1848 and over a dozen short stories between 1852 and 1866. Each of these–including the perennial favorite A Christmas Carrol–helped to shape how the holiday season is celebrated in Britain and America. This program explores these wonderful flights of holiday fantasy and their lasting influence.

This program is offered in collaboration with the Bacon Free Library, the Groton Public Library, and the Natick Historical Society.

PLEASE REGISTER HERE FOR THE ZOOM LINK.

About the Speaker

Dr. Bill Thierfelder is a retired professor of arts and humanities, with a PhD in English literature, an MA in theology, and a BA in English with additional concentrations in music history and art. After teaching second grade for four years and high school seniors for six months as a replacement substitute, Bill spent the next 32 years teaching a variety of arts and humanities courses at several New York and Long Island universities and colleges, including St. John’s University, Hofstra University, and Dowling College.

Bill is currently docent emeritus at the American Museum of Natural History where he continues to give both Zoom and in-person presentations, work on special editing projects, and give tours. He also lectures regularly for libraries and educational organizations nationwide via Zoom. Bill’s classroom, library, and museum vocations have taught him that life is all about “making wings,” hence, the name of his website: Making Wings. Indeed, Bill’s philosophy–rooted in years of practical study and life experience–is simple: “The most important thing you can do is to make wings for yourself and fly to places that fulfill your potential, that allow you to develop your unique gifts, and that open you up to a world of possibilities.”

RECORDING NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program.

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 agents of their own change through education, self-advocacy, and efforts to revitalize their languages and traditional arts, as well as by working with archeologists, anthropologists, and scientists to recover and reveal more about their history and traditional knowledge.

This program is offered in collaboration with the Bacon Free Library, the Groton Public Library, and the Natick Historical Society.

PLEASE REGISTER HERE FOR THE ZOOM LINK.

About the Speaker

Anne Jennison is a traditional Native American storyteller and historian of European and Abenaki heritage.  While Anne’s storytelling skills have been polished by more than 30 years of experience sharing Indigenous lesson stories with audiences of all kinds, she also believes that her growth and development as a human being has been deeply influenced by internalizing the content of the Northeastern lesson stories that she tells.  With Master Degrees in both storytelling and history, Anne also brings a wealth of cultural and historical knowledge to enrich her retelling of timeless Northeast Woodlands Native American stories.  Anne is listed on the New Hampshire Traditional Artists Roster as a traditional Native American storyteller & craftsperson and now also has two presentation programs available through the Humanities To Go, a program offered by NH Humanities.

Additionally, Anne is the current Vice Chair of the NH Commission on Native American Affairs and is also a member of the the Indigenous NH Collaborative Collective, an Affiliate Faculty member for the University of New Hampshire Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) Minor, and a co-creator of the “People of the Dawnland” interpretive exhibit about the Abenaki/Wabanaki peoples at Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH.  Anne continues to act as a consultant for the museum’s ongoing Abenaki Heritage Initiative — a plan to develop and sustain exhibits and events at Strawbery Banke Museum that focus on the history and culture of the Abenaki, Indigenous peoples of New Hampshire and the Northeast, both past and present.

RECORDING NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program.

Indigenous visionaries, scientists and communities are rematriating the buffalo to the heart of the North American plains they once defined, signaling a turning point for Indigenous nations, the ecosystem, and our collective survival.

This film is brought to you in collaboration with the Bacon Free Library and the Natick Historical Society.

Please register on the BFL website to view the film. You will receive the link to screen the film on November 17th. The link will be good through December 1st.

Join us for a virtual discussion of The Name of War: King Philip’s War and the Origins of American Identity by Jill Lepore.

Copies of the book will be available at the Bacon Free Library. 

For details on how to attend this virtual meeting via Zoom, please contact director@natickhistoricalsociety.org

The Zoom link to the discussion will be sent upon request. 

Find your house. Discover old Natick. Bring your questions.

Join us for Community Map Day at the Natick History Museum. We'll have 40+ vintage maps of Natick from our collections on display for you to explore. Local map experts will be available to answer your questions, and we'll have map prints for sale, too. Enjoy light refreshments as you browse.

Please click here to register in advance.

We look forward to seeing you!

Join local historian Terri Evans for a stroll through the heart of South Natick. The tour highlights Natick’s early history as a “Praying Town” and the 19th-century residents who inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Oldtown Folks.

View of Quinobequin/Charles River in South Natick, postcard, 1908, Natick Historical Society Collections.

Tours last 60 minutes and are capped at 12 people. Tickets are $10 per person and children under 12 are free. Get your tickets on Eventbrite!

Please meet at the entrance to the Bacon Free Library/Natick History Museum, 58 Eliot Street.

If you are interested in booking a private walking tour of South Natick, click here.

Join Natick Historical Society Director, Niki Lefebvre, for a conversation about how 17th-century Natick looks from the perspective of 21st-century historians.

This program will take place at the Natick Historical Society on the lower level of the Bacon Free  Library. 

Please register in advance for this program - seating is limited. If you are unable to attend, please let us know so we may offer your seat to the next person on our list.

Click to reserve your spot on Eventbrite.

Walk Natick Center with local historian Terri Evans and learn how the railroad and the shoe industry transformed 19th-century Natick. Hear stories from the 1874 fire and discover how arts and culture inspire the “heart of Natick” today.

$10 per person. Children under 12 are free. Tours are capped at 12 people. Get your tickets on Eventbrite!

Join us for a virtual discussion of The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and the Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History by Karen Valby.

Copies of the book will be available at the Bacon Free Library. 

For details on how to attend this virtual meeting via Zoom, please contact director@natickhistoricalsociety.org

The Zoom link to the discussion will be sent upon request. 

This event is canceled due to the current lapse in appropriations from the federal government for the National Park Service.

**Please check out our event on 17th-century Natick Saturday, October 18 .

This year marks the 350th anniversary of King Philip’s War. The Natick Historical Society and the Bacon Free Library are hosting Shawn Quigley from the National Park Service who will speak about how Deer Island in Boston Harbor served as an internment camp for Native Americans during King Philip’s War. This program will explore the historic use of the Boston Harbor Islands, their role as an internment camp for Native Americans from Praying Towns, and stories of survival and reliance from those imprisoned on Deer Island. 

This program will take place at the Natick Historical Society on the lower level of the Bacon Free  Library. 

Please register in advance for this program, since seating is limited. If you are unable to attend, please let us know so we may offer your seat to the next person on our list.

Registration opens 3 weeks prior to the event. Click here to register.

*The Natick Historical Society and Bacon Free Library are working hard to fund a robust series of programs remembering King Philip’s War 350 years after it began. (The closure of the Institute of Museum and Library Services in March 2025 has impacted our plans.) Check back soon for more programs.

Walk Natick Center with local historian Terri Evans and learn how the railroad and the shoe industry transformed 19th-century Natick. Hear stories from the 1874 fire and discover how arts and culture inspire the “heart of Natick” today.

$10 per person. Children under 12 are free. Tours are capped at 12 people. Get your tickets on Eventbrite!

Join local historian Terri Evans for a stroll through the heart of South Natick. The tour highlights Natick’s early history as a “Praying Town” and the 19th-century residents who inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Oldtown Folks.

Tours last 60 minutes and are capped at 12 people. Tickets are $10 per person and children under 12 are free. Get your tickets on Eventbrite!

Please meet at the entrance to the Bacon Free Library/Natick History Museum, 58 Eliot Street.

If you are interested in booking a private walking tour of South Natick, click here.

Join us for a virtual discussion of The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.

Copies of the book will be available at the Bacon Free Library. 

For details on how to attend this virtual meeting via Zoom, please contact director@natickhistoricalsociety.org

The Zoom link to the discussion will be sent upon request. 

Join us for a virtual discussion of Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt’s Ancient Temples from Destruction by Lynne Olsen.

Copies of the book will be available at the Bacon Free Library. 

Order your copy HERE.

For details on how to attend this virtual meeting via Zoom, please contact director@natickhistoricalsociety.org

The Zoom link to the discussion will be sent at a later date. 

Thanks to an outpouring of community support, we have more than thirty readers signed up. The reader sign-up is now closed. If you would like to be an alternate reader, please send an email to: director@natickhistoricalsociety.org

The Natick Historical Society and Natick is United will co-host a community reading of Frederick Douglass’ powerful 1852 speech, “What to a Slave is the 4th of July?” at 10:30 AM on Natick Common. Historian and Natick resident, Brenna Greer, will offer an introduction to the speech and facilitate dialogue afterwards.

The afternoon continues with Natick Center Cultural District’s Juneteenth event on Natick Common from 12:00 – 3:00 PM. There will be delicious food, fun activities, and musical performances by Drum Nomads and Squeezebox Stompers. All are welcome! More details coming soon.

ASL Interpreting Services will be available during the event.

NCCD invites BIPOC business owners and non-profits supporting these initiatives to create memorable cultural experiences and/or provide information to the community. Please email Heather Rockwood at executivedirector@natickcenter.org to inquire.

Join us for a virtual discussion of Countdown 1960: The Behind-the-Scenes of the 312 Days that Changed Politics Forever by Chris Wallace.

Copies of the book will be available at the Bacon Free Library. 

Order your copy HERE.

For details on how to attend this virtual meeting via Zoom, please contact director@natickhistoricalsociety.org

The Zoom link to the discussion will be sent at a later date. 

Join local historian Terri Evans for a stroll through the heart of South Natick. The tour highlights Natick’s early history as a “Praying Town” and the 19th-century residents who inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Oldtown Folks.

Tours last 60 minutes and are capped at 12 people. Please click HERE to purchase tickets. Tickets are $10 per person and children under 12 are free.

Please meet at the entrance to the Bacon Free Library/Natick History Museum, 58 Eliot Street.

If you are interested in booking a private walking tour of South Natick, click here.

Join us for History Happenings at the Natick Historical Society!

Bring a friend, sip historical mocktails, and learn a bit about Natick history. We'll gather, talk, and enjoy a "pop-up" Antiques Road Show from appraiser Ken Van Blarcom. Ken will dig into a couple of Natick's Revolutionary-era artifacts. Do you have an 18th-century artifact at home? Bring it along and gain a few insights from Ken.

This event is free. Get your tickets here.

See you there!

Walk Natick Center with local historian Terri Evans and learn how the railroad and the shoe industry transformed 19th-century Natick. Hear stories from the 1874 fire and discover how arts and culture inspire the “heart of Natick” today.

Please meet at the entrance to Natick's Town Hall at the corner of Park Street.

Tours last 60 minutes and are capped at 12 people. Tickets are $10 per person. Children under 12 are free. Purchase tickets here.

All are welcome to join local tour guide Vincent Vittoria for a walking tour of Natick's historic Walnut Hill neighborhood. Come learn about the people, historic mansions, and other stories that give Walnut Hill such a fascinating history.

The tour will meet downtown by Moran Park (right beside the Eastern Bank on South Ave by the T tracks, with the World War II memorial). It will last about 90 minutes.

This tour is capped at 20 people. Tickets are $10 per person and children under 12 are free. Please purchase tickets in advance HERE.

Caesar and John Ferrit: Meet Two of Natick's Black Patriots

Did you know that two of Natick’s residents who fired on British soldiers along the Battle Road in Lexington were of African and Indigenous Caribbean heritage?

Join Sean D. Osborne, public historian and producer of the Black Patriots of Lexington YouTube series and Dr. Zine Magubane, PhD, Boston College historical sociology professor, discuss Caesar & John Ferrit.

This event is free and open to all, but please register HERE in advance.

It is sponsored the Natick Historical Society with support from the Association of Black Citizens of Lexington and Tricons 2 Red Tails.

*Please note that this event will be held in Sherrill Hall at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Natick Center.

Join us for a virtual discussion of The Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in WWII by Vicki Croke.

Copies of the book will be available at the Bacon Free Library. 

Order your copy HERE.

For details on how to attend this virtual meeting via Zoom, please contact director@natickhistoricalsociety.org

The Zoom link to the discussion will be sent at a later date. 

Join local historian Terri Evans for a stroll through the heart of South Natick. The tour highlights Natick’s early history as a “Praying Town” and the 19th-century residents who inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Oldtown Folks.

Tours last 60 minutes and are capped at 12 people. Please click HERE to purchase tickets. Tickets are $10 per person and children under 12 are free.

Please meet at the entrance to the Bacon Free Library/Natick History Museum, 58 Eliot Street.

If you are interested in booking a private walking tour of South Natick, click here.

Walk Natick Center with local historian Terri Evans and learn how the railroad and the shoe industry transformed 19th-century Natick. Hear stories from the 1874 fire and discover how arts and culture inspire the “heart of Natick” today.

Please meet at the entrance to Natick's Town Hall at the corner of Park Street.

Tours last 60 minutes and are capped at 12 people. Tickets are $10 per person. Children under 12 are free. Purchase tickets here.

Join us to explore the Natick Historical Society’s new exhibit, Natick in a Time of Revolution, featuring artifacts and documents from Natick during the American Revolution. Enjoy revolutionary songs for all ages, performed by historian and musician, Diane Taraz. The exhibit and songs will be in the Morse Room at the Morse Institute Library.

Register for this FREE event here.

This event is part of a collaborative series titled The American Revolution in Our Hometowns, presented in partnership with the Framingham History Center, Holliston Historical Commission, Needham History Center & Museum, Sherborn Historical Society, and Wellesley Historical Society.

For a complete list of local events on the American Revolution, click here.

This event has been made possible by support from the Natick Cultural Council, which receives funds through the Mass Cultural Council. Collaboration with our partner, the Morse Institute Library, has helped make the exhibit Natick in a Time of Revolution possible.

Thank you!

Join us for a Museum Open House on Saturday, April 12, from 2 to 4 p.m. We'll display some of our finest revolutionary-era collections, including documents and artifacts.

Some of these collections will be displayed at the Morse Institute Library beginning Sunday, April 27. Be sure to check out that exhibit opening and celebration here. Before we install that display, you'll have a chance to see these collections up close. Bring your questions!

Please register here in advance.

Join us for a virtual discussion of The Cause: The American Revolution and its Discontents by Joseph J. Ellis.

Copies of the book will be available at the Bacon Free Library. 

Order your copy HERE.

For details on how to attend this virtual meeting via Zoom, please contact director@natickhistoricalsociety.org

The Zoom link to the discussion will be sent at a later date. 

Join local historian Terri Evans for a stroll through the heart of South Natick. The tour highlights Natick’s early history as a “Praying Town” and the 19th-century residents who inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Oldtown Folks.

Tours last 60 minutes and are capped at 12 people. Please click HERE to purchase tickets. Tickets are $10 per person and children under 12 are free.

Please meet at the entrance to the Bacon Free Library/Natick History Museum, 58 Eliot Street.

If you are interested in booking a private walking tour of South Natick, click here.