March Public Program

Penelope Winslow
A slideshow lecture by Michelle Marchetti Coughlin

Wednesday, March 4, 2020
7:00 PM
Watertown Savings Bank Meeting Room
Watertown Free Public Library
123 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472

Penelope Pelham Winslow, a member of the English gentry who was married to Plymouth Colony Governor Josiah Winslow, was one of the most powerful women in Plymouth Colony's history.  Like most of her female contemporaries, however, she has largely been forgotten.  Though she authored or is mentioned in few surviving documents, she left behind a trove of physical evidence-from surviving home possessions to archaeological artifacts-that provide great insight into her experiences.  They also offer a portal into the world of Plymouth Colony's women.  In her new book, Penelope Winslow, Plymouth Colony First Lady: Re-Imagining a Life, Michelle Marchetti Coughlin discovers that blending historical records with material culture provides the keys to re-imagining Winslow's world in all its rich complexity.

Michelle Marchetti Coughlin is an independent scholar and the author of One Colonial Woman's World: The Life and Writings of Mehetabel Chandler Coit, which received an honorable mention for the Western Association of Women Historians 2014 Kanner Prize.  Ms. Coughlin has been a Massachusetts Humanities Scholar-in-Residence and a historical consultant, and was recently a guest curator of Pilgrim Hall Museum's pathFOUNDERS: Women of Plymouth exhibit.  She currently serves on the board of the Abigail Adams Birthplace, is a Museum Administrator of Boston's Gibson House Museum and maintains a web site.

This program is free and open to the public.
For more information, contact Joyce at 781-899-7239 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

November Public Program

A Special Tour of Perkins School

Sunday, November 10, 2019
10:00 AM
Perkins School for the Blind
175 North Beacon Street
Watertown, MA 02472

Perkins School for the Blind has been an iconic part of Watertown since its move to the city from Boston in 1912.  Founded in 1829 as the first such school in the U.S., Perkins continues to prepare its students to reach their full potential at the Watertown campus, as well as extend its innovative outreach across the globe.  Join the Historical Society of Watertown for a guided tour of the school led by Perkins's Director of Volunteer Services and Tours, Kevin Hartigan.  Attendees will get a taste of the school's history, architecture and mission.

This tour can accommodate a maximum of 20 people and spaces must be reserved in advance by contacting Joyce at 781-899-7239 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  This event will take place rain or shine and last roughly 90 minutes.

This program is free and open to the public.
For more information, contact Joyce at 781-899-7239 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

September Public Program

Going Places: Charles Brigham's Architecture of Travel
A slideshow lecture by David J. Russo

Wednesday, September 11, 2019
7:00 PM
Watertown Savings Bank Meeting Room
Watertown Free Public Library
123 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472

Charles Brigham designed a vast array of buildings, from churches, public buildings, county seats, banks, commercial buildings, city townhouses and seashore cottages to cemetery monuments, storage structures, carriage houses and barns.  They ranged from the mundane to the lavish.  Join the HSW for an adventure through Brigham's designs of train stations and other related structures.  For more information on Charles Brigham's designs, visit David J. Russo's web site.

Mr. Russo is a member of the Board of the Watertown Historical Commission and serves as a volunteer for the Historical Society of Watertown.

This program is free and open to the public.
For more information, contact Joyce at 781-899-7239 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Treaty Day: a Commemoration of the Declaration of Independence and Treaty of Watertown

Saturday, July 20, 2019
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Watertown Senior Center
31 Marshall Street
Watertown, MA 02472

Please note:  Due to very high expected temperatures, the venue for this event has been changed to the air-conditioned Watertown Senior Center, located across the street from the Edmund Fowle House. 

This annual event marks the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence to the citizens of Watertown on July 18, 1776.  The signing of the first treaty negotiated by the new nation with a foreign power, namely the St. John's (aka Maliseet) and Mi'kmaq Tribes of Nova Scotia, at the Edmund Fowle House on July 19, 1776, will also be celebrated. Special presentations by invited guests will shed light on the continued importance of the Treaty of Watertown.

The Nugumij (Grandmother) Drum from the United Native American Cultural Center in Devens, MA, will be present and drummers and singers will perform several songs to mark the occasion.  Center members and guests, dressed in their native regalia, and colonial reenactors will be present to share their stories.

The Edmund Fowle House will be open for free tours.

A basket for donations of non-perishable food items to the Watertown Food Pantry will be available.

This event is partially funded by the Watertown Community Foundation.

This program is free and open to the public.
For more information, call Audrey Jones Childs at 617-926-2577.