FRAMINGHAM, MA — The Framingham History Center (FHC) has completed a new project to increase the accessibility of collections relating to Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) stories from 1600-1800.
The FHC contracted Mary McNeil, a PhD Candidate at Harvard University, as a Scholar-in-Residence to create a finding aid of collections relating to Framingham’s People of Color from 1600-1800.
(more…)FRAMINGHAM, MA — The Framingham History Center, formerly the Framingham Historical Society and Museum is having an open house on Saturday May 2nd and Sunday, May 3rd, 2009. Below are details of the activities:
SATURDAY MAY 2nd —
YARD SALE: 9:00 am-1:00 pm in front of Edgell Memorial Library. We have a lot of fantastic (more…)
FRAMINGHAM, MA – The Framingham History Center (formerly the Framingham Historical Society and Museum) presents Storyteller Libby Franck in: Rebuilding Lives: Miriam Van Waters and the Framingham Women’s Reformatory.
During the 30’s & 40’s, the remarkable Dr. Van Waters developed a respected program of reform for the women sentenced to the Framingham Reformatory with mother/baby classes, a poetry club, theatre, music, nature study and preparation for parole. Her work was known by such luminaries as Eleanor Roosevelt who was photographed paying her respect at the Framingham Reformatory. After Dr. Van Waters was fired in 1949, her public hearings were front page news in every Boston paper for three months.
Come see Libby Franck dramatize this story on Sunday, November 23 at 3:00 p.m. at St. Andrews Episcopal Church Parish Hall, 3 Maple Street, Framingham. (Directions to St. Andrew’s Church are at www.standrewsframma.org)
Program and Refreshments free to members. Non-members $5.00 It always helps to know if you are coming so we can plan accordingly. Please RSVP to Annie Murphy at director@framinghamhistory.org. For more information on the program or joining the FHC visit www.framinghamhistory.org or call 508-872-3780
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FRAMINGHAM, MA — The Framingham Historical Society & Museum invites you to an evening of fun and entertainment at the Framingham Historical Society and Museum on Wednesday August 8th.
Come tour all three of your historic buildings on the Framingham Centre Common and learn about this treasure of a museum, our town’s rich history, and our efforts to save these buildings. See old friends and meet new ones at our wine and cheese reception.
(more…)FRAMINGHAM, MA – The hottest ticket in town is for the START Partnership’s Garden Party Gala at Garden in the Woods on Thursday night, September 14th from 5:30 – 9:00 p.m.
This fundraising party begins with hot and cold appetizers and complimentary beer and wine and a stroll through the Garden in the Woods to enjoy the “Rock On!” sculpture exhibit.
Attendees will enjoy the music of Pro Musica drifting through the woods as they stroll, nibble, and chat with many of the artists who created the sculptures on display.
Partygoers will be invited to build cairns (more…)
FRAMINGHAM, MA — Come explore Saxonville Village and learn how its streets were named with Cynthia Buscone on Sunday, Sept. 17th, from 3-5 p.m. at the Edgell Memorial Library, corner of Edgell Road and Oak St.
This talk is another in the “Street Smarts” series presented by the Framingham Historical Society and Museum.
Refreshments following the program. Some older street signs will be available for purchase at the FHSM museum shop in the Edgell Library.
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FRAMINGHAM, MA – The Framingham Historical Society and Museum is pleased to announce the 6th Annual Framingham House Tour will be held on Sunday, May 21 from 12pm – 5pm.
Framingham’s popular, self-guided tour will feature nine locations, ranging from historical to contemporary styles. Some of the properties are considered Framingham’s most fascinating examples of adaptive re-use. One such example is a site that was once a thriving tavern, then a bakery, and now serves as a family home. Modern day Framingham is also represented on the tour in a stunning country dwelling with an interesting twist – a preserved historic barn that serves as the neighborhood’s drive-through exit. Tour-goers will be further delighted by a splendid array of magnificent grounds and gardens.
The featured locales on this year’s tour portray Framingham from many different eras, yet the sites are inexorably linked: each one has a story to tell about our town, our forbearers, and ultimately, ourselves. Don’t miss out on the 2006 Framingham House Tour. A Day to Remember. Learn. Discover.
The 2006 Framingham House Tour is proudly sponsored by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Citizens Bank, The Summit Montessori School and Patterson & Gerry CPAs.
Tickets can be purchased at the Framingham Historical Society & Museum on Vernon Street, or through the website www.framinghamhistory.org. Tickets are $20 through May 14, 2006. Thereafter (including the day of the event), tickets are $25.
Beginning April 1, 2006, tickets will also be available for purchase at Citizens Bank at 35 Edgell Road in Framingham.
For more information, contact Karen LaChance at (508)371-4051 or Susan Silver at ssilvercomcast.net
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FRAMINGHAM, MA – On Wednesday evening, January 11, the Framingham Historical Society & Museum (FHSM) and the Framingham Improvement Association (FIA) made history when members unanimously voted to merge the two organizations.
The intent is to combine operations and resources to enhance the ability to create a restored, historic campus around Framingham Centre Common.
Both organizations are involved with town-owned historic buildings. Currently the FHSM occupies and leases the Old Academy Building on Vernon St. facing the Centre Common and the Edgell Memorial Library Building on Oak St., also facing the Common. The FIA leases the Village Hall, the stately building with pillars on the south side of the Centre Common.
The Old Academy once housed an esteemed school, where General George H. Gordon, who served with honor in the Mexican-American War and trained Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, who commanded the 54th Massachusetts Black Regiment of “Glory” fame, was a student. Now the building houses three centuries of Framingham’s history, from Native American artifacts to Civil War items through Christa McAuliffe memorabilia.
The Edgell Memorial Library was built of local materials as the town’s first public library and a living memorial to the Framingham men who served in the Civil War. It now showcased FHSM exhibits and gift shop.
The Village Hall was built in 1834 to serve as Framingham’s Town Hall. When the town outgrew it, it fell into disrepair, until the Framingham Improvement Association was formed around the Turn of the last Century and raised funds to renovate it and add the lovely portico facing the Common. Periodically it has fallen onto hard times and citizens have rallied to restore it. It has seen historic debates and events through the years and is currently rented out for weddings, anniversaries, and other celebrations.
As the Town-Owned Building Task Force recommended that the town entrust the buildings to the FHSM and FIA via long-term leases, the two organizations decided to join forces to come from a position of strength when negotiating with the town and with applying for funding via grants and donations.
Prior to the vote, discussion touched on concerns about the current condition of the buildings, how much the town would put into the buildings before the organizations would take them on, how much utilities would be for the three buildings, how the upkeep would be funded, how to increase revenue from rentals of the Village Hall and Edgell Library, and engaging the membership and the public in supporting the buildings, whether by private donations and by encouraging town meeting to vote funding towards long overdue repairs.
Members of the public interested in the preservation of the buildings are urged to join the FHSM and encourage town meeting to vote funding towards the immediate pressing repairs to the buildings before the FHSM can shoulder the responsibility for them. Donations are needed and welcome, as well as help with securing grant dollars.
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