Explore Concord's rich history from the comfort of your home
Join AARP Massachusetts as we explore (virtually) Concord, Massachusetts, a town steeped in history and literary significance. This spring, we invite you to join us for a series of captivating online events that delve into the untold stories and profound legacies of this iconic American locale.
Patriots of Color in Revolutionary New England and Their Legacy of Fighting for Freedom
Tuesday, April 30 at 1pm
Enslaved people helped build Concord’s North Bridge, site of the Revolutionary War’s start and an enduring symbol of freedom. An estimated 5,500 African and Indigenous men fought for a country that enslaved them – what were they fighting for? Learn about Concord patriots of color like Caesar Robbins who gained his independence when the war ended, and his granddaughter Ellen Garrison, who continued the fight for freedom when she challenged our country’s 1866 Civil Rights Act by refusing to give up her seat in a segregated railway station and legally tested her case.
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Emerson, Thoreau and American Transcendentalism
Wednesday, May 15 at 1pm
Learn how the lives and ideas of writers Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau made Concord Massachusetts the epicenter of American Transcendentalist thought and action in the first half of the 19th century.
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Between Us Sisters
Wednesday, June 12 at 1pm
You may think you know well-loved author Louisa May Alcott, but do you know how close she was with her youngest sister May? Or that May was an artist on the brink of becoming well known when she died tragically young? Through letters and journal entries, learn about this sisterly relationship and how their progressive upbringing shaped them and impacted the world.
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Past Events
Meet some trailblazing women from the Concord who helped shape our country's history.. Some are well-known, like Louisa May Alcott. Others, like antislavery activist Ellen Garrison, are only now getting the recognition they deserve. I n this virtual presentation you'll meet many of them, and their stories may surprise you.
Watch the Presentation here:
