MEDFORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY

MEDFORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY Home The mission of MHSM is to collect, preserve, and promote an inclusive understanding of Medford’s history, offering educational lectures and programs to the general public. Join us in building a shared sense of Medford’s history and rich diversity. January 25, 2026 MHSM is closed on Sunday Jan. 25 due to the storm. We are open 1:00-4:00 PM on usual Sundays, or by appoint., click here to contact us. You can still join the MHSM History Book Club beginning in January 2026 here. MHSM volunteers recently helped to to sort through paper, photos, yearbooks, and artifacts from the Lawrence Memorial Hospital (LMH) School of Nursing, which closed after 101 years in June 2025. Stay tuned for updates on the work of the Lawrence Memorial Hospital School of Nursing History Preservation Project. MHSM has become a member of NARM (North American Reciprocal Museum Association). Become an MHSM Member here! Check out Somerville Museum’s Interactive Map for the 250th celebration of the American Revolution. MHSM helped with the Medford sites. Have you seen our ongoing searchable Medford Street Names Project. If you have info or documents pertaining to Medford Street names, let us know via our contact page. Our Medford Municipal Records Collection is now digitized and continues to be updated by our awesome volunteer Will Tenney. Learn about our Historical Marker Program here. Use our Books and Resources page for your reference questions. You can also see all back issues of our newsletters can be found here. Learn more about volunteer opportunities here. UPCOMING: See all our Winter and Spring 2026 programs here. FEBRUARY Medford Businesses Through Time Speaker: Members of the Medford Chamber of Commerce Thursday, February 26 at 7:00 p.m., Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public Library, 111 High Street. (Register) –> New MHSM Historical Book Group 10 Governors Avenue This book group focusing on history readings will be launched in January with a goal of creating new opportunities to gather at the headquarters at MHSM. Learn about people and events that shaped the world we live in, and share stories (both historic and personal) at the local level. The inaugural book will be The Killer Angels, a novel by Michael Shaara that won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The book draws heavily from primary source materials to bring to life many key participants and events in a complicated American Civil War battle that occurred at a time when the fate of our nation hung in the balance as violence replaced discourse. Along with discussions that add depth to this captivating story, readers will have opportunities to hold and examine pieces of this history from the MHSM collections. Group members will read the book in four sections and meet weekly to discuss these at MHSM from 7PM to 9PM, on Thursdays, January 15, 22, 29 and February 5, 2026. The book is widely available in paperback, hardback, e-book and audiobook formats. Register here. Space is limited. Thanks to the Medford Arts Council for its continued support These programs are supported in part by a grant from the Medford Arts Council, a local commission that is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the City of Medford. The Power of Truth: Early Diversity in a Medford Neighborhood, February 2024 Murder at the Harvard Medical School, April 2023 Black Heritage Trail Virtual Tour, February 2022 Our Medford,” written by Medford teacher Michael Coates is for kids and anyone interested in an illustrated introduction to Medford History. The book began to be used in the Medford grade 3 classrooms in fall 2016. Click here to view the book online. Printed copies are available for $20 at MHSM. All proceeds benefit MHSM’s educational programs. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Medford Arts Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.