Ipswich Museum

Bag Lunch Series: Objects from the Museum Collection
2024-05-06 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Ipswich Museum, 54 South Main Street, Ipswich, MA, 01938, United States
Join curator, Katherine Chaison, in this show and tell lecture where she shares with the audience special items from the museum’s collection that are not generally on view. This is a popular talk with members.
Members: Free | Non-members: $5

Bag Lunch Series: Into Each Life: A Musical Masterpiece
2024-06-03 12:00 - 13:00 | Ipswich Museum, 54 South Main Street, Ipswich, MA, 01938, United States
David Grimes, composer, will talk about the creation of this important piece of work which chronicles the first 21 years of his life and the impact it had on his creative and personal development. David earned his Masters of Music at the University of Toronto and co-founded the Canadian Electronic Ensemble. His composition Increscents won the CBC National Radio Competition for young composers.
Members: Free | Non-members: $5

Bag Lunch Series: The Story of Bees
2024-09-09 12:00 - 13:00 | Ipswich Museum, 54 South Main Street, Ipswich, MA, 01938, United States
Eve and Sam Hamlin share details and their experiences as beekeepers along the marsh in Ipswich. They will give quick history of beekeeping over the years and talk about some of the challenges that all beekeepers face in today’s changing climate.
Members: Free | Non-members: $5

Bag Lunch Series: Indigenous Heritage of the East Coast and the Migration of Indigenous People
2024-10-07 12:00 - 13:00 | Ipswich Museum, 54 South Main Street, Ipswich, MA, 01938, United States
Etay, Denise Cooper, Brian Young and other tribal members discuss their rich and honored heritage. The American Antiquarian Society, built on Nipmuc homelands is a repository for early Algonquian-language monographs, manuscript collections and early town records containing vital and unique information about Nipmuc and Indigenous peoples of the New England region.
Members: Free | Non-members: $5

Bag Lunch Series: Historic and Ecological Significance of the Butterfly Meadow
2024-11-04 12:00 - 13:00 | Ipswich Museum, 54 South Main Street, Ipswich, MA, 01938, United States
Mike DeRosa of DeRosa & Assoc. will discuss the Butterfly Meadow. 18th and 19th century maps for Ipswich reveal the property, located across from the Heard House, remained a rare surviving example of open space along the river as the village developed its densely settled contemporary appearance. Today, the property represents a small ecological habitat. Its proximity to the Great Marsh increases its potential to attract migrating birds and butterfly populations. Mike DeRosa will talk about the meadow’s significance and diversity of soils, plant cover and invasives. DeRosa Environmental Consulting are helping with management of the meadow.
Members: Free | Non-members: $5

Objects of Interest
2026-01-05 12:00 - 13:00
Join curator, Katherine Chaison as she selects items and objects from our vast collection to share with our members. It is always fun to see rare items that are not in public view.

Ipswich Lace
2026-02-02 12:00 - 13:00
Come hear Susan Landry, textile specialist as she talks about the history of Ipswich Lace and show objects from our collection used to make the lace. Included in this talk will be lace patterns, pricklings, and Ipswich lace samples made over the years. There will be some modern lace making tools on view as well as a short demonstration.

The Early Voyages of Augustine Heard
2026-03-02 12:00 - 13:00
Join Robert Gray, Heard descendant as he talks about his recent research on his family.
During the late 1830s Augustine Heard of Ipswich composed a list of his early voyages during 1805-1830, from ship “Eliza” to Leghorn from Eben Francis through barque “Lintin to Canton with Bennet Forbes. This talk provides an illustrated embellishment of Heard’s list and the ships, people, and places involved—including the most famous of the voyages popularized in books by Robert Bennet Forbes, Thomas Franklin Waters, and Samuel Eliot Morison. Several contradictions and inconsistencies among the stories are resolved and reconciled with historical documents.

Women in Ipswich History
2026-04-06 12:00 - 13:00
Gordon Harris, town historian will share stories of women in Ipswich from the first settlement to the present century. Learn about Ann Dudley Bradstreet, the first published poet, Emma Jane Mitchell Safford, a descendant of Massasoit; Jenny Slew, the first enslaved person to successfully sue for freedom, Eunice Caldwell, who returned to her hometown in 1844 to run the Ipswich Female Seminary and many others.

Eating Well, Living Well: Cook and Be Free
2026-05-04 12:00 - 13:00
Join Chef Sarah Naugler for ideas on how to eliminate kitchen nightmares and make cooking fun.
She is a graduate of the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts and spent ten years working with prestigious Chefs of Boston and the North Shore. She eventually left that lifestyle and ventured into private cooking. Here her love of culinary arts began. She has instructed students of all ages on how to master the art of cooking with the goal of her students being able to turn the knowledge they gained into daily living. She will be covering subjects such as affordability, menu planning and development around different lifestyles and about kids and how to get them curious, excited and thinking about their next meal.

Loom Demonstration
2026-06-01 12:00 - 13:00
Come listen to a talk and demonstration on weaving. Diane Howe, weaver will explain techniques and tools used in this process. There will be a small pop-up exhibit downstairs in the Whipple House to see items made in that time period. This talk and demonstration will be held on the second floor of the Whipple House.

Remembering September 11th
2026-09-07 12:00 - 13:00
Join Stephanie Gaskins, Dow Curator as she takes us down memory lane to encourage a conversation on where you were on that very sad day and what memories do you recall of that time period. This is an interactive discussion.

Gems from the Archives
2026-10-05 12:00 - 13:00
Heidi Horner, archivist at the Ipswich Public Library, will introduce us to special items from the Ipswich Public Library’s archival collections focused on local history. Heidi studied archives management and library science at Simmons University, and got her start in archives at the Cape Ann Museum and the Harvard University Archives. She has lived in Gloucester for 16 years and loves to research Virginia Lee Burton, the Folly Cove Designers, and other local creative people and collectives.
