Join town historian, Gordon Harris, who will talk about the long history of tragic shipwrecks due to dangerous storms and limited navigation. There were over 3,000 shipwrecks off the Massachusetts coast. In the early 20th century coal schooners sailed up the river to town wharf, and sand schooners became stranded on the beaches, but Ipswich […]
Come investigate our new portrait exhibition, “Who’s Who?” at the Ipswich Museum. We’ll learn about some of the past citizens of our town and look at some of the elements of portraiture. Then, we’ll sketch our own portraits. Date: Thursday, February 19, 2026 Time: 10:30-12:00 PM Ages: 6-10 Cost: $25 Location: Appleton Room, Heard House
Join Ipswich Museum’s Dow Curator, Stephanie Gaskins, for an intimate look at the archives of artist Arthur Wesley Dow. Participants will have the rare opportunity to get close with Dow’s sketchbooks and drawings from the collection of the Ipswich Museum, as well as to explore and discuss his educational philosophy and methodology. Date: Saturday, February […]
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 […]
Joe Carlin, Food historian, will review the contributions of landscape architects Arthur and Sidney Shurcliff who designed in 1955 the original Whipple House Garden. In the 1960s Isadore Smith (pseudonym Ann Leighton), author of Early American Gardens, provided leadership to make the garden historically accurate with authentic medicinal and culinary herbs known to have been […]
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 […]
Join Ipswich Museum’s Dow Curator, Stephanie Gaskins, for a tour of some locations in town related to Dow’s career as one of Ipswich’s most prolific and celebrated painters of the 20th century. When: Sunday April 19, 2026 2-3PM Where: The tour will depart from the Ipswich Museum parking lot at 2PM and will last 45-60 […]
Join Crocker Snow Jr., journalist, author, as he takes you on a personal journey where he chronicles his life both nationally, internationally and locally. His focus has been on international affairs for public radio, TV and for the Boston Globe, World Times, The World Paper, was editor in chief of World Times and the World […]
Who knew that Ipswich was in the epicenter of the American Revolution? Join Scott Jewell on a walk around town and learn about what happened here 250 years ago. When: Sunday April 26, 2026 2-3PM Where: The tour will depart from the Ipswich Museum parking lot at 2PM and will last 45-60 minutes. Cost: $10 […]
We use these bridges every day, but hardly give them a second thought as significant pieces of history. Join Scott Jewell for a walk around the town and learn about the stories the bridges and dams can tell. When: Sunday May 3, 2026 2-3PM Where: The tour will depart from the Ipswich Museum parking lot […]
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 […]
Celebrate Mother’s Day with the stories of how women have shaped the town. From the wrongfully enslaved Jenny Slew to the visionaries of the Ipswich Female Seminary, Stephanie Gaskins will guide you through Ipswich’s past from a new perspective. Mothers are free with a paying family member! When: Sunday May 10, 2026 2-3PM Where: The […]