Special Event:  1945 Watertown Sun Newspaper Volume Auction

Faire on the Square 2015

Saturday, September 26, 2015
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saltonstall Park
149 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472

Does the year 1945 hold special significance for you?  Maybe you were born that year or a relative got married or ran for office.  During Faire on the Square 2015, the Historical Society of Watertown will be holding a silent auction of a bound volume of all of the Watertown Sun's issues from 1945.  Peruse stories about what was going on at Town Hall, the High School and the Library, find out what buildings were built or razed and see what stores had on sale.  Read about Watertown veterans that served during WWII.  All of this and more can be found in the pages of the 1945 Watertown Sun.

Bidding will start at $20.  Please stop by the HSW table to sample the stories included in this historic volume.

September Public Program

A Tour of the Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA)

Wednesday, September 9, 2015
6:30 PM
Armenian Library and Museum of America
65 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472

You are invited to attend a tour of the Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA), which was created to locate, collect, preserve and present the culture, history, art and contributions of the Armenian people during the past 3,000 years.  The Library holds a vast collection of titles, including rare books and historical and literary publications.  The Museum has amassed an expansive treasure trove of inscribed Armenian rugs and textiles, ceramics, metalware, Urartian objects, medieval illuminations, ancient and medieval Armenian coins, and various other creations by the Armenian people.

This program is free and open to the public.
For more information, call Peggy Anderson at 617-924-1563.

Special Event:  Ringing of the Bells

Boston Charter Day

Monday, September 7, 2015
4:30 PM
Church of the Good Shepherd
Redeemer Fellowship Church
Watertown, MA 02472

About Boston Charter Day:  Each year, the Partnership of the Historic Bostons commemorates the naming of Boston, Dorchester and Watertown that occurred on September 7, 1630, by holding a series of events to educate the public about life in the early days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  The theme of this year's program is Food and Drink in 17th Century Boston.

Boston Charter Day events begin on September 7 with the ringing of the bells at Watertown's Church of the Good Shepherd and Redeemer Fellowship Church, among others.  Most events are free, but registration may be required.

The Historical Society of Watertown is a member of the Partnership of the Historic Bostons and is grateful to all of the participants celebrating this event.

Declaration of Independence and Treaty of Watertown Commemoration

Saturday, July 18, 2015
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Edmund Fowle House
28 Marshall Street
Watertown, MA 02472

This annual event marks the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence to the citizens of our new nation in Watertown on July 18, 1776.  The signing of the first treaty negotiated by our 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.

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.  Visitors will also be able to view two ongoing exhibits: Watertown and the Civil War and A Mi'Kmaw Woman's Award Winning Legacy.

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

This event is partially funded by a Watertown Community Foundation Block Party Grant.

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

Annual Members Meeting with Election of Board Members, Volunteer Recognition Awards and May Public Program

A Look at Ourselves:  The Armenian Genocide and Cultural Preservation
A presentation by Ruth Thomasian, founder and CEO of Project SAVE Armenian Photograph Archives

Tuesday, May 26, 2015
6:30 PM Annual Members Meeting
6:45 PM Volunteer Recognition Awards
7:00 PM May Public Program
The Apartments at Coolidge School Auditorium
319 Arlington Street
Watertown, MA 02472

The Historical Society is pleased to acknowledge the important work of its volunteers in a public ceremony

The volunteer recognition will be followed by a presentation by Ruth Thomasian, who will discuss the challenges of preserving heritage and history when the lifeblood of a culture has been destroyed by genocide.  Ruth, a second-generation Armenian American, will document her unique method of putting the broken puzzle of history back together by collecting and documenting Armenian family photographs.  She will share her journey from ignorance about Armenian culture to becoming an expert in Armenian social history.  With her innumerable connections to people's stories, her focus will be on photos with Watertown connections that tell of lives lived in the homeland, as well as in diaspora.

Ruth will begin with photographs about her own family's roots in Watertown, then move on to photographs from other Watertown Armenian families, sharing stories she has heard at their dining room and kitchen tables.  Their stories reveal so much about human psychology and resiliency and, in many ways, so much about our own lives and how we perceive ourselves--truly A LOOK AT OURSELVES.

This meeting and program are free and open to the public.
For more information, call Joyce at 781-899-7239.

Special Event:  Inaugural Exhibits Opening Reception

Watertown and the Civil War
A Mi'Kmaw Woman's Award Winning Legacy

Saturday, March 7, 2015
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Edmund Fowle House
28 Marshall Street
Watertown, MA 02472

On display in the Fowle House's North Parlor will be Watertown and the Civil War, an exhibit featuring a newly-acquired collection, donated by one of our long-time members, Florence Jones, of transcriptions and reproductions of Civil War letters written by her great-uncle Thomas Folsom Norris, who joined the Union Army as a 15-year-old drummer boy in 1862.  Visitors can also read newspaper interviews from 1911 with Civil War veterans living in Watertown at the time and view information on other people and sites connected to Watertown and the Civil War.

The South Parlor will host A Mi'Kmaw Woman's Award Winning Legacy, an exhibit featuring the arts and crafts of Madeline (Joe) Knockwood, a Native American artisan from the Mi'Kmaq Nation on loan from Terrie Drew (great-granddaughter) and her family of Nova Scotia, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.  Items on display will include Mrs. Knockwood's formal regalia, some of her award-winning wooden roses, the hand-made tools of her trade, historical artifacts, photos and information about Mi'Kmaq culture and traditions.

Light refreshments will be served.

See our Exhibits page for a list of additional dates when these exhibits will be available for viewing.

The purchase of materials used to display these exhibits was made possible by a generous grant from the Watertown Community Foundation.

These exhibits are free and open to the public.
For more information, call Joyce at 781-899-7239.

March Public Program

The Restoration of Watertown's Civil War Soldiers' Monument
A presentation by Jon Spector of the Historical Society's Soldiers' Monument Restoration Committee; and David LaRocca, sculptor for the monument restoration

Wednesday, March 4, 2015
7:00 PM
Watertown Savings Bank Meeting Room
Watertown Free Public Library
123 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472

The Civil War Soldiers' Monument that stands in Saltonstall Park was erected in 1889.  Over the years, the statue was damaged:  the soldier's nose, hand, cap brim and rifle end were broken off.  The monument sat in disrepair for decades.  The plaza where the monument is located had become dark and gloomy with overgrown trees blocking out the sunlight.  Weeds grew among the scruffy bushes.

In 2012, Jon Spector began a campaign through the Historical Society if Watertown to raise funds to get the monument restored and to revitalize the plaza.  Daedalus, Inc., of Watertown was chosen to restore the monument and David LaRocca was the sculptor chosen to do the restoration work.  The restored monument was rededicated in November, 2013.

During this program, Jon and David will show old photos of the monument, as well as some before and after photos.  They will also discuss the fundraising process.

This program is free and open to the public.
For more information, call Joyce at 781-899-7239.