A Newburyport parade from the late 1800s. Collection of the Museum of Old Newbury.

Come hear Jane Nylander, noted historian and president emerita of Historic New England, speak about the parade tradition in New England, featuring rare photos from Newbury and Newburyport. Her book, The Best Ever! Parades in New England, 1788-1940, explores this tradition as enacted in the small cities and towns of New England. Meticulously documented and lavishly illustrated with nearly 300 photographs, The Best Ever! offers never-before-seen pictures of actual parades, including floats and banners that have mostly disappeared and ranging from the Federal Ship carried in the 1788 Ratification parade at New Haven, Connecticut, to 1940 when the parade tradition largely halted at the onset of WWII.

Free for all thanks to generous support from Mass Humanities