Join us for an enlightening presentation by Jim Berry, Ornithologist, as he unveils his updated edition of Charles Wendell Townsend's The Birds of Essex County. This comprehensive two-volume set catalogs a wide variety of bird species that visit our yards, woodlands, marshes, and coastlines, reflecting their natural history up to 2022. Jim enriches the work […]
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.
Scott Jewel, board member and teacher will talk about Ipswich’s rich history and at the heart of that story is education. From the earliest colonial days, learning has always been a cornerstone of this community. Today, we will explore how education in Ipswich has grown and transformed over the centuries, and we’ll take a look […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
Join Stephen Miles as we follow Arthur Wesley Dow’s journey from Ipswich, MA to the Ecole Julien in Paris, the artist community at Pont-Aven, Brittany, working as assistant to Fenellosa […]