June 2013
The Charles River
Exhibit at the Waltham Public Library
Waltham Public Library, 735 Main Street, Waltham, Mass.

Visit the Waltham Public Library and view the display about the Charles River and recreation in its waters and on its banks. Created from holdings of the Waltham Historical Society you can get a sense of the river's importance to both the industrial and the recreational life of this city. The exhibit will run through the month of June and can be viewed during Library hours. Monday through Thursday 9am-9pm, Friday and Saturday 9am-5pm, and Sunday 1pm-5pm.

Sunday, May 5, 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Colorful Waltham: A Neighborhood Walkabout
Lyman Estate, 185 Lyman Street, Waltham, Mass.

On this two-mile walking tour, learn about the history and architecture of the Lyman Stree neighborhood and get tips on adding curb appeal to your old house through historic paint color combinations. Lyman Street offers excellent examples of vernacular architecture from almost all periods of the nineteenth century. The adjacent area, an early center of settlement, contains many important historic sites, including two eighteenth-century houses. Waltham Historical Society Director Mort Isaacson provides the historical background on the houses while paint color expert Sally Zimmerman of Historic New England shares information on how to help a historic home look its very best with period color. Co-sponsored by the Waltham Historical Society and Historic New England.

$5 Historic New England and Waltham Historical Society members, $10 non-members

Registration is required. Please call 617-994-5959 for more information. Purchase tickets now

March 12, 2013
Everyday Life in Waltham 100 Years Ago
Marie Daly, Board Member, Waltham Historical Society

The lecture will highlight the founding of the Waltham Historical Society; how Walthamites lived, worked, played and dressed; and the major local political issues of the day. Topics covered will include celebration of Waltham's 175th anniversary, women's suffrage movement, the selection of the library site, the appointment of Waltham's first female department head, the ice shortage crisis, the shocking new Turkey Trot dance, police raids on liquor dealers, and the Metz championship car.

Marie Daly is a senior genealogist at New England Historic Genealogical Society, where she has worked for 25 years. Besides being on the board of the Waltham Historical Society, she is also on the board of the Waltham Land Trust and is the past president of the Irish Ancestral Research Association.

Marie has lived in Waltham for 62 years, and has spent the last year going through the Waltham and Boston Globe newspaper articles to gather information for this talk.

January 8, 2013
American Literature and American Industry
Mr. Rob Velella, Undependent literary historian and playwright
RTN Federal Credit Union, 600 Main Street (Rear), Waltham, Mass.

Please join us and enjoy Waltham native Rob Velella’s “American Literature and American Industry,” tracing the development of American literature as both a complement to and as a resistance to industrialization. With Waltham squarely in the center of things Mr. Velella will trace its connections to people like James Freeman Clarke, Walt Whitman, Hamlin Garland, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It will specifically focus on the 19th century.

Mr. Velella was recently featured on National Public Radio’s “Here and Now” for his expertise of literary history.” He was also featured in The Waltham News Tribune in 2008 when he published “Edgar Allan Poe: Bicentennial Desk Calendar.”

Rob Velella is an independent literary historian and playwright specializing in American literature of the 19th century. As a scholar, Velella has published articles and presented academic papers on figures as varied as Margaret Fuller, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Walt Whitman. Nicknamed the “Prometheus of American literary scholarship,” he has taken his research outside of academia by lecturing at various historical sites, libraries, and colleges from Pennsylvania to Maine. Recently, he served as guest curator for “Margaret Fuller: Woman of the Nineteenth Century” at Harvard’s Houghton Library and as research associate for “The Raven in the Frog Pond: Edgar Allan Poe and Boston” for the Boston Public Library.

In his ongoing efforts to bring the writers of yesterday back to the readers of today, he has dramatically brought to life several literary figures, including the young Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe. Velella also maintains the American Literary Blog (http://www.americanliteraryblog.blogspot.com/), an “almost-daily celebration of important (and not-so-important) dates in 19th-century American literary history.”

October 20, 2012
Grove Hill Civil War Cemetery Tour II
Led by Mr. Joseph Keefe, Director, Waltham Historical Society
Saturday, October 20, 2012, at 4:00 pm
Meeting at the former Bright Elementary School, Grove Street Entrance

After many requests from folks unable to attend last year’s event, The Waltham Historical Society will be conducting another Civil War Cemetery Tour of the Grove Hill Cemetery. With the gracious generosity and guidance of Society Director Mr. Joe Keefe, we’re again offering the opportunity!

Although it may sound like a repeat performance, please be assured we are planning to visit different sites than last year. With over 100 men who served during the Civil War buried in the cemetery, we cannot cover them all in a single tour.

Tickets are $15.00 per person for Society Members and $25.00 for Non-Members. To reserve your tickets, checks made payable to the Waltham Historical Society may be sent to:

The Waltham Historical Society, 190 Moody Street, Waltham, MA 02452

Orders received in time will have tickets mailed to you. Late orders can be picked up the morning of the tour. If space allows tickets will be available the day of the tour. Please reserve your place on the tour as soon as possible.

If you have questions you can call 617-448-6706 or Email Waltham.historical.society@gmail.com

September 11, 2012
Civil War Massachusetts
Stephen Kenney, Director, Commonwealth Museum
Tuesday, September 11, 2012, 7:00 pm
RTN Federal Credit Union, 600 Main Street (Rear), Waltham, Mass.

Massachusetts contributed over sixty regiments to the Union cause. Why did people fight? What were their most powerful experiences? Drawing on the files of the “Great War Governor” John Albion Andrew, this lecture explores the record of three unique units: the elite Harvard regiment, the Irish 28th regiment, and the African-American 54th.

Stephen Kenney has been Director of the Commonwealth Museum since 1992. He received a Ph.D. from Boston University and has been an administrator or faculty member at several area colleges including service as Interim President of Quincy College.

May 8, 2012
Architectural Styles in Waltham’s History: From the Seventeenth Century to the Present
National Preservation Month Series
Tuesday, May 8, 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Lyman Estate, 185 Lyman Street, Waltham, Mass.

$0 Historic New England and Waltham Historical Society members, $10 nonmembers

Join us as Jack Cox, history teacher at Waltham High School, member of the Board of Directors of the Waltham Historical Society, and current member and past Chair of the Waltham Historical Commission, examines the range of architectural styles found in Waltham over the past three hundred years. Learn the various building styles used as homes moved from providing shelter from the elements to statements of status and beauty.
Examine details of homes still in existence in our community, and explore some of the transformations made to them as consecutive owners added onto, renovated, or re-purposed dwellings originally constructed in a different era. Learn the meanings of architectural terms such as dentils, entablatures, friezes, and pilasters, and where you can see local examples. Part one of a four-part series celebrating National Preservation Month this May. Co-sponsored with the Waltham Historical Society.
Registration is required. Special pricing is available for tickets to attend the entire series. Please call 617-994-5959 for more information. Purchase tickets now.

March 31, 2012
Cleaning Party at Bright School
The cleaning party on March 31 was a success! We're very close to having the school ready for opening. Room 201 is almost complete, and the exhibits can now be set up and made ready for guests. Thanks go to Mort Isaacson, David L. Smith, Angie and Tom Emberley, Mary Selig, Ron Guertin, and Sue and Joe Keefe! We're still looking for the meaning of baiting when it comes to a livery establishment!

March 13, 2012
The Edmund L. Sanderson lecture by Mr. Thomas McIntyre will focus on the impact of the Civil War on the American Watch Company business. We will hear about the consequences of the depression of 1861 due to the start of the war between the states and the recovery of the watch business in the following years. One focus of the evening’s story will be Royal E. Robbins’ Treasurer Reports and the incorporation of the Nashua Watch Company as another. We will learn of the impact of the Springfield Armory and soldier recruitment on the labor market and it’s contribution to the failure of the Nashua Watch Co. Also discussed will be the production of the soldier’s watch and its impact on Waltham’s fortunes. Tom McIntyre is owner of the McIntyre Watch Co. and its sister company the American Watch Co. He has been engaged in collecting fine antique pocket watches for over 20 years. The American Watch Co. is named after the company that did the most to advance the machine production of truly fine watches and later became the Waltham Watch Company. Doors to this lecture open at 6:30. The lecture will begin promptly at 7:00 pm and will be held at the RTN Federal Credit Union, 600 Main Street, (rear) in Waltham.

New Link to Mass. Memories Road Show images
The Mass. Memories Road Show images have been placed on-line and are available for viewing.

January 19, 2012
The National Archives Program "They Came from Ireland"

January 10, 2012
Rev. Rosemarie Smurzynski will speak on the life and legacy of The Rev. Phebe Ann Coffin Hanaford. Hanaford, born on Nantucket Island in 1829, was ordained to the Universalist ministry in 1868 in Hingham Massachusetts. One year later Rev. Hanaford came to the Waltham Universalist Church where she served as their minister. Rev. Hanford was much loved in Waltham. This lecture will be held at 7:00 pm at the RTN Federal Credit Union, 600 Main Street in Waltham, MA, and is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 6:30.

November 15, 2011
Mr. Joe Keefe on Nathaniel P. Banks and the actions at Port Hudson. This lecture will be held at 7:00 pm at the RTN Federal Credit Union, 600 Main Street in Waltham, MA, and is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 6:30.

October 13, 2011
Civil War Cemetery Tour—The Waltham Historical Society will be conducting a tour of one of Waltham's earliest burying grounds visiting gravesites of Civil War Veterans. In what is hoped to be the first of the Civil War Cemetery tours, we will stop at the sites of such noted Civil War veterans as Nathaniel P. Banks. The veterans' stories will be told, as well as the Regiments in which they served and the actions they saw. Watch for more details as the date draws closer or call 617-448-6706 for more information.

September 13, 2011
Listen as David Smith, President of the Civil War Round Table of New England presents: MANY BUILDERS, MANY BUILDING BLOCKS. He will speak about The American Anti-Slavery Society with William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglas, Charles Fox Hovey, Harriet Tubman and many others. He will also detail the Women’s Suffrage Movement to give women not only the right to vote, but equality in all matters of our Society. This lecture will be held at 7:00 pm at the RTN Federal Credit Union, 600 Main Street in Waltham, MA, and is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 6:30.

July 12, 2011
Join us as Dr. Robert Martello, Associate Professor of the History of Science and Technology at Olin College discusses Paul Revere’s contributions beyond the well-known events of April 18-19, 1775. Dr. Martello’s research emphasizes the intersection of Revere's patriotic activities (the Midnight Ride, among others) and his career trajectory. Revere had a major role in America's political and industrial revolutions, and his story is America's story as well, with implications about the transition from crafts to industry, the role of the government in early manufacturing endeavors, and social mobility and entrepreneurship. This lecture will be held at 7:00 pm at the RTN Federal Credit Union, 600 Main Street in Waltham, MA, and is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 6:30.

May 10, 2011
Life and Times of Francis Cabot Lowell—Join us for Chaim (Mike) Rosenberg’s story of the life and times of one of Waltham’s most significant men. Follow Francis Cabot Lowell from his birth and early schooling to his days as one of the most prominent persons in the Country. This lecture will explain the background history of the times, the major players in mercantile New England, and the important undertakings of America’s first Industrialist. This lecture will be held at 7:00 pm at the RTN Federal Credit Union, 600 Main Street in Waltham, MA, and is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 6:30. The lecture will follow a brief meeting of the Waltham Historical Society Membership.

March 8, 2011
The Shaking Tent — The Waltham Historical Society presents Alex Green, owner of Back Pages Books in Waltham, reviving Ralph Waldo Emerson's first two sermons. These sermons, first delivered in Waltham, reveal Emerson's deep personal and philosophical ties to the first industrial town in North America. This lecture will be held at 7:00 pm at the RTN Federal Credit Union, 600 Main Street in Waltham, MA, and is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 6:30. The lecture will follow a brief meeting of the Waltham Historical Society Membership.

January 11, 2011
Edmund L. Sanderson Lecture Series. The January lecture will feature Dr. John McCauley speaking on Waltham's Medal of Honor Recipient George Maynard. The lecture begins at 7:00 pm at the RTN Federal Credit Union, 600 Main Street, Waltham. Call 617-448-6706 or email waltham.historical.society@gmail.com for more information.

December 9, 2010
Lyman Estate Lecture and Tour — Join the Waltham Historical Society for a tour of "The Vale." The event begins at 7:00 pm at The Lyman Estate, Beaver Street in Waltham. Ticket prices are $15.00 per person for Historical Society Members, $25.00 per person for non-members. Call 617-448-6706 or email waltham.historical.society@gmail.com for more information.

October 23, 2010
Grove Hill Cemetery Tour — Join Waltham Historian Mr. Jack Cox for a guided tour of the oldest portion of the Grove Hill Cemetery. Learn about those who are buried in this historic location, and about the stonecutters responsible for the elegant artwork carved into each stone. Meet at 10:00 am on October 23rd, inside the Main Street gates. The requested donation is $5.00 per person. Please wear comfortable walking shoes as the ground is uneven in many places.