GRAND EXHIBITION OPENINGS

"Road to Revolution" exhibition. Funded in part by the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism, in partnership with Museum of Old Newbury, Newburyport Public Library, and Central Congregational Church.

What better time than Winter Solstice to grab a flashlight and join us for a walk through historic Oak Hill Cemetery on the longest night of the year?

To add to the intimacy and atmosphere of darkness, many epitaphs are easiest to read by flashlight. Join noted author and historian Ghlee Woodworth, a 12th generation Newburyport native, and Museum of Old Newbury executive director Bethany Groff Dorau for a nighttime stroll through the historic 1842 Oak Hill Cemetery, final resting place of shipwrecked sailors, sea captains and merchants, architects and photographers, writers and poets, silversmiths and newspaper editors, and adventurers who travelled to the California gold rush. We will visit several Ebenezers, though none of them Scrooges, and toast the longest night with hot cider, cider donuts, and good cheer.

$10 Members - $20 General Admission

Solstice in the Cemetery: Night Walk Through Oak Hill!

Date: Friday Dec 20, 2024

Time: 6:30 pm

Location: Oak Hill Cemetery

What better time than Winter Solstice to grab a flashlight and join us for a walk through historic Oak Hill Cemetery on the longest night of the year?

To add to the intimacy and atmosphere of darkness, many epitaphs are easiest to read by flashlight. Join noted author and historian Ghlee Woodworth, a 12th generation Newburyport native, and Museum of Old Newbury executive director Bethany Groff Dorau for a nighttime stroll through the historic 1842 Oak Hill Cemetery, final resting place of shipwrecked sailors, sea captains and merchants, architects and photographers, writers and poets, silversmiths and newspaper editors, and adventurers who travelled to the California gold rush. We will visit several Ebenezers, though none of them Scrooges, and toast the longest night with hot cider, cider donuts, and good cheer.

Get your ticket for the legendary Museum of Old Newbury Members' Holiday Party! Check your membership status (call us and we'll gladly check for you), and come back to sign up on November 10!

Join your fellow members of the Museum of Old Newbury for a special evening in the 1808 Cushing House. Stroll through the glittering, decorated rooms of this grand home at twilight.

Then, grab a hot cider or an Ipswich Ale and head out to the decorated courtyard to enjoy a view of the c.1810 Carriage House.

The Portermen, Newburyport's own sea shanty and traditional music singers, and a fabulous hot jazz band will perform in the lecture hall, the courtyard, and the c.1810 Carriage House.

Enjoy festive drinks, appetizers, desserts, and good cheer as we celebrate the history of our beautiful community.

Admission is free for members of the Museum of Old Newbury. Registration is required and space is limited.

Images courtesy of Bob Watts

Author Kellie Carter Jackson presents 5th Annual William Lloyd Garrison Lecture

NEWBURYPORT – Author and Wellesley College Professor Kellie Carter Jackson will speak on the topic "We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance" in the 5th Annual William Lloyd Garrison Lecture on Sunday, Dec. 8, at Old South Church.

Jackson’s lecture, which is the focus of her new book of the same name, is free and open to the public. It will begin at 3 p.m. at the church, located at 29 Federal St.

The annual Garrison Lecture celebrates the work of crusading newspaper editor William Lloyd Garrison and Black abolitionists from Newburyport. Garrison was born in Newburyport in 1805 and went on to be founder and publisher of “The Liberator” anti-slavery newspaper.

Jackson is the Michael and Denise ’68 Associate Professor in the Department of Africana Studies and the Chair of Africana Studies at Wellesley College. Her essays have been featured in many publications including The New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, and the Boston Globe. She also has been featured in a host interviews or documentaries for Netflix, Apple TV, MSNBC, PBS, Good Morning America, CBS Mornings, and CNN. Besides her book “We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance”, Jackson is author of “Force and Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence (America in the Nineteenth Century).” She is also the host and EP of “You Get a Podcast!” and co-host of the podcast “This Day in Esoteric Political History.”

After the lecture Professor Jackson will be signing books, and Jabberwocky BookShop will have books on hand for sale.

As part of the celebration of Garrison’s legacy, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5, the Black History Initiative and the City of Newburyport will dedicate the new interpretive sign Fighting for Double Victory: Newburyport’s Black Soldiers and Sailors in Brown Square.

The Cousins family and other descendants of veterans featured on the panel will be in attendance for remarks by elected officials, former Essex County Sheriff Frank Cousins and William (Billy) Cousins. The dedication will be held near the sign’s location near the veterans plaza on the Green Street side of Brown Square in Newburyport. In addition, Mayor Sean Reardon is expected to proclaim the week of Dec. 4-10 as Human Rights and Anti-Oppression Education Week and the Newburyport Public Library will provide a recommended reading list of books available for adults and children relating to Garrison, the abolitionist movement and racial justice. The Annual William Lloyd Garrison lecture is organized by the independent volunteer Friends of William Lloyd Garrison with help from the Museum of Old Newbury, Old South Presbyterian Church, the Newburyport Black History Initiative, the Newburyport Human Rights Commission, and the PEG Center for Art and Activism.

This lecture series receives support from Mass Humanities, the Mass Cultural Council, the Newburyport Cultural Council, Newburyport Bank, Newburyport Preservation Trust, and the Newburyport Trust Fund Commission

For more online: www.wlgarrison.com.

Join us for a full day Conference on Newburyport and the China Trade, 1844-2024: Commerce, Diplomacy, and the Arts in the Years of the Dragon.

Newburyport is forever linked with China through diplomacy and trade.

In 1843, Caleb Cushing of Newburyport resigned from the U.S. Congress to become America’s first commissioner to China. He arrived in China with four American warships, laden with gifts including revolvers, a telescope, and an encyclopedia, and used both threats and flattery to achieve his ends. The subsequent 1844 Treaty of Wanghia, named for the village where it was signed, was the first treaty between the U.S. and China. It was one more way in which Newburyport and the China Trade were inextricably linked.

Join foreign policy experts, award-winning authors, master craftsmen, art specialists, and more as we explore the links between Newburyport and the China Trade, then and now. Presenters will include Eric Jay Dolin, author of When America Met China, and Dane Morrison, author of True Yankees: The South Seas & the Discovery of American Identity, along with art, shipbuilding, and modern China experts to evaluate the impact of the China Trade on various aspects of our community, our nation, and the world.

Sessions include:

• When America First Met China: An Exotic History of Tea, Drugs, and Money in the Age of Sail

• Newburyport's Caleb Cushing, The Treaty of Wanghia, and the birth of Sino-American Diplomacy

• Postcards from the Pearl River: Chinese Export Painting and Decorative Arts in the 18th and 19th Centuries

• Vessels of the China Trade — Types and Technology

• Panel: Modern China: Education, Foreign Policy and Lasting Legacies of the China Trade

Optional, limited-space "field trips" (registration required, conference attendees only):

• Napier Ship Model Studio Tour - Visit the studio/workshop of Rob Napier, a ship model professional engaged in building and repairing models for individuals and institutions. Rob’s original models are created on a broad groundwork of documentation found in the historical, photographic, and artistic records. His work has won awards at national and regional competitions, and he has judged numerous ship modeling events. 3:45-4:45, $10/person (conference attendees only).

• Private Tour of the Phillips Library and Hawkes Collection Center - Join Jennifer Hornsby (Reference and Access Services Librarian) and Dana Gee (Technical Services Librarian) for a tour of the Peabody Essex Museum's Phillips Library and its home facility, the James B. and Mary Lou Hawkes Collection Center. This 120,000-square-foot facility provides state-of-the-art preservation, protection, and care of PEM’s extensive collection of art and culture–including the Phillips Library's reading room, digitization lab, and stacks. Come take a look behind-the-scenes! 3:30-4:30, free (conference attendees only).

• Newburyport Relics of the China Trade: Behind-the-scenes at the Custom House Maritime Museum - Join curator Kevin MacDonald for a special tour of the rich collection of art, artifacts, and documents that speak to Newburyport's engagement in the China Trade. This year, the CHMM celebrates it's 50th year. When it opened in 1975, the Museum of Old Newbury loaned, and then gifted, over a thousand items which were foundational in the CHMM's ability to tell the maritime story of Newburyport. The majority of these artifacts are on display and many pertain to the China Trade. A new exhibit presents and interpretes these objects, souvenirs of a time past when clipper ships raced across the oceans. 3:45-4:45, $10/person (conference attendees only).

This full-day event includes lunch and is hosted by The Governor's Academy.

Tickets are $45 for Museum of Old Newbury Members; $60 for non-members

Please visit https://www.newburyhistory.org/membership or call 978-462-2681 today for more information or to become a member!

What better time than twilight in October to grab a flashlight and join us for a walk through the historic Oak Hill Cemetery. To add to the intimacy and atmosphere of darkness, many epitaphs are easiest to read by flashlight.

Join noted author and historian Ghlee Woodworth, a 12th generation Newburyport native, for a nighttime stroll through the historic 1842 Oak Hill Cemetery, final resting place of shipwrecked sailors, sea captains and merchants, architects and photographers, writers and poets, silversmiths and newspaper editors, and adventurers who travelled to the California gold rush.

Tickets are $10 for Museum of Old Newbury Members; $20 for non-members

What better time than twilight in October to grab a flashlight and join us for a walk through the historic Highland Cemetery. To add to the intimacy and atmosphere of darkness, many epitaphs are easiest to read by flashlight.

Join noted author and historian Ghlee Woodworth, a 12th generation Newburyport native for a nighttime stroll through the historic 1800 Highland Cemetery. From the graves of Newburyport’s Black residents to daring Revolutionary War privateers, accomplished artists, brave Civil War nurses, and ordinary Newburyporters, learn about people whose lives were recorded in stone.

Tickets are $10 for Museum of Old Newbury Members; $20 for non-members

What better time than twilight in October to grab a flashlight and join us for a walk through the historic Old Hill Burying Ground. To add to the intimacy and atmosphere of darkness, many epitaphs are easiest to read by flashlight.

Wander through Newburyport’s historic 1729 Old Hill Burying Ground with noted author and historian Ghlee Woodworth, a 12th generation Newburyport native. Meet Revolutionary War heroes, captains and merchants of Old Newbury, and even a “cool, cool cat” in a stroll around this hilly graveyard. Old Hill boasts some of the most ornate early tombstone decoration in New England. From recently rediscovered graves of Black Newburyporters to the mausoleums of Newburyport’s merchant families, Old Hill Burying Ground looks down on the city from its perch above Bartlet Mall.

Tickets are $10 for Museum of Old Newbury Members; $20 for non-members