Brown-bags are free and open to the public.

On May 7, 2019, fishweir construction will be completed by students from two classes at Boston's Josiah Quincy Public School. The 150-foot-long fishweir is made with wood collected from Franklin Park, with help from the Boston Park Department.  The public educational project helps raise awareness of the early history of the people who made their home in this area more than 200 generations before the arrival of European colonists. 

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The fishweir will remain on the Common through early June.

Both the women’s trade unionism and suffrage movements were led by proud, defiant women who were divided along class lines. It wouldn’t be until the early 20th century that suffragists and non-native working women would realize that to achieve their goals, they would need to unite.

Tours are rain or shine! Remember to wear comfortable shoes.

Learn about the plants and flowers that are native to New England as we enter spring.

Reservations required, limited availability.

The first director, Charles Sargent, prepared a 50-year report in 1922, before the end of his own 54-year tenure. But, what about the first 25 years?

We don't have a 25-year report, however, we do have photos and the engaging stories from that time. Join docent Emily Wheeler to hear those stories, as she takes you on a timeline through the walnut and oak collections, to the beeches, and back via Bussey Hill.

Register for the event

First Baptist has assembled a team and raised funds to undertake a first phase of preservation work on its 176-foot tall tower (restoring the roof and making related masonry repairs) as well as completing critical repairs to the sanctuary roof.

Archival material about the history and architecture of the church will be on display and the sanctuary will be open for informal tours. At 1:30 p.m., project team members will make a brief presentation about the restoration work planned to begin this summer.

Guests will enjoy delicious food, lively music, cultural experience, and the warm hospitality of the Polish-American community and its neighbors.

Standing proudly at the corners of Dartmouth Street and Commonwealth Avenue since 1871, and greatly expanded in 1882 for railroad and manufacturing heir Frederick L. Ames, this home represents the finest work of two prominent 19th-century Boston architectural firms, Peabody and Stearns and John Hubbard Sturgis.

For the first time in nearly 150 years, the mansion is being fully restored under the supervision of award-winning architectural firm, Hamady Architects. Murals by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant and a magnificent stained glass by John La Farge have been meticulously restored. The home has received additions reflecting its architectural patrimony, the reinstatement of its elegantly gated carriage entrance and a new parterre garden — testaments honoring Boston’s unique architectural history. Richly carved oak woodworks were replicated by a contemporary millwork shop in Virginia, celebrating the accessibility of, and dedication to, American craftsmanship.

In observance of Boston’s Preservation Month, you are invited to tour the Ames-Webster Mansion.

Tour begins at the Shattuck Visitor Center, 125 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115. Please register online:

In the vaunted annals of America’s founding, Boston has long been held up as an exemplary “city upon a hill” and the “cradle of liberty” for an independent United States. Wresting this iconic urban center from these misleading, tired clichés, "The City-State of Boston" highlights Boston’s overlooked past as an autonomous city-state, and in doing so, offers a pathbreaking and brilliant new history of early America.

Following Boston’s development over three centuries, Mark Peterson discusses how this self-governing Atlantic trading center began as a refuge from Britain’s Stuart monarchs and how — through its bargain with slavery and ratification of the Constitution — it would tragically lose integrity and autonomy as it became incorporated into the greater United States.

Peeling away the layers of myth surrounding a revered city, "The City-State of Boston" offers a startlingly fresh understanding of America’s history.