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June 2023
The South Medford Experience: Mystic Trotting Park
Medford historian Dee Morris's summer history program for 2023 is "The South Medford Experience," where famous horse racing tracks became a community of homes. In the summer of 1866, two investors threw open the gates of Mystic Trotting Park to a crowd in love with harness racing. The South Medford race track, supplied with over 100 horses, fronted on Main Street at Tufts Square. By the 20th century, these acres evolved into streets filled with comfortable homes owned by Italian…
Find out more »July 2023
Reading Frederick Douglass Together
The Royall House and Slave Quarters is hosting its first-ever Reading Frederick Douglass Together program on the museum grounds. Community members are invited to gather on the lawn in front of the historic Slave Quarters building to read/listen to Douglass's "What, To The Slave, is the Fourth of July?" to honor the long history of Black activism, critique, and abolition. The program will begin with a libation ceremony to honor the people who were enslaved on the plantation. Scholar/activist David…
Find out more »Film: The Story of Sarah Bradlee Fulton
The Medford Public Library presents "The Story of Sarah Bradlee Fulton," a film written by and featuring Laura Duggan and produced at Medford Community Media. This one-woman performance tells the story of a Medford woman known as “The Mother of the Boston Tea Party.” Medford’s Fulton Street is named in her honor. Laura Duggan, a Medford actress and playwright, is the host of MCM’s TV show “Looking Back at Medford History.”
Find out more »Walking Tour: The South Medford Experience
Medford historian Dee Morris's summer walking tour for 2023 is "The South Medford Experience," where famous horse racing tracks became a community of homes. In the summer of 1866, two investors threw open the gates of Mystic Trotting Park to a crowd in love with harness racing. The South Medford race track, supplied with over 100 horses, fronted on Main Street at Tufts Square. By the 20th century, these acres evolved into streets filled with comfortable homes owned by Italian…
Find out more »Medford’s Compass Points: West Medford
Historian Dee Morris concludes her four-part series, "Medford's Compass Points," in which she discusses the city's four "cardinal point" neighborhoods. Today's focus will be on West Medford, known for beautiful homes and strong-minded people. Starting in the 17th century, the influential Brooks family created the signature estate in this lovely neighborhood. Norwood P. Hallowell (1839-1914), a leader in the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Regiments which recruited free men of color, settled his family here after the Civil War. Amelia Earhart…
Find out more »100 Years of Boston Comedy
The Medford Council on Aging welcomes veteran arts journalist Nick Zaino for a talk exploring Boston’s long history of comedy, from vaudeville to YouTube, highlighting some of the personalities that have defined laughter in America for 100 years. Fred Allen found inspiration at the Boston Public Library to start his vaudeville career. Bob and Ray started their radio run in Gloucester at WHDH. Many more began their careers here, all are part of the fabric of the Boston comedy lore.…
Find out more »August 2023
The ‘Me’ Decade: A 1970s Cultural Review
The Medford Council on Aging presents "The 'Me' Decade," a cultural review of the 1970s through music. This multimedia presentation features live acoustic music and audience singalongs, coupled with audio and video clips showing the best (and sometimes the worst) of the 1970s. There was no shortage of musicians willing to comment on the cultural happenings of the '70s. These included Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Chicago, Simon and Garfunkel, Yes, The Band, Bob Dylan and others. Supported in part by…
Find out more »September 2023
Walking Tour: The South Medford Experience
Medford historian Dee Morris hosts her final 2023 summer walking tour, "The South Medford Experience," where famous horse racing tracks became a community of homes. In the summer of 1866, two investors threw open the gates of Mystic Trotting Park to a crowd in love with harness racing. The South Medford race track, supplied with over 100 horses, fronted on Main Street at Tufts Square. By the 20th century, these acres evolved into streets filled with comfortable homes owned by…
Find out more »October 2023
Exhibit Opening: Tufts Presidents from Ballou to Kumar
As Tufts University prepares to inaugurate its 14th president, Sunil Kumar, the Tisch Library presents the exhibit, "The Charge and the Challenge: Tufts Presidents from Ballou to Kumar." Drawn from the collections of the Tufts Archival Research Center, it offers a glimpse of all the Tufts presidents and the highlights of their tenures. Following President Kumar's inauguration ceremony, archivists will be on hand to discuss exhibit highlights and present a selection of presidential artifacts from the Tufts Charter to Jumbo's…
Find out more »Civil War Photojournalism: Selections from the MHSM Collection
The Medford Historical Society & Museum welcomes Jay Stott for a talk on the organization's national treasure: its rare Civil War photo collection. Encounter the images as never before, and hone your history detective skills too. See selected images from the collection through the photographers’ eyes, as they intended them to be seen and experienced. The photos are a direct witness to the people, places and events of the American Civil War. Learn about the technical and physical challenges the…
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