Grandma's Attic Holiday Sale
2025-12-06 10:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Ipswich Museum, 54 South Main Street, Ipswich, MA, 01938, United States

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.

The History of Ipswich Education
2026-01-21 19:30
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 ahead at where it might be headed in the future. I invite you to join me on this journey through the evolution of education in Ipswich.

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.

Ships and Shipwrecks of Ipswich Bay
2026-02-18 19:30 - 21:00
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 was a favorite destination for Bostonians, who left their cars at the wharf for pleasure cruises to Little Neck, Grape Island, and Plum Island.

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.

Stop and Smell the Thyme at the Whipple House 17th Century Housewife's Garden
2026-03-18 19:30 - 21:00
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 grown and used in the area. Joe will show how 17th Century women preserved their medicinal solutions for all types of ills in manuscript cookbooks.

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.

Swamp Yankee Adventures Chronicle of a Journalist in Low Orbit Around the World
2026-04-22 19:30 - 21:00
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 Paper and as director of the Murrow Center of public Diplomacy at the Fletcher School. He has been engaged as a citizen of the world concerned with world issues all of his life time.

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.

Eido Period Block Prints, Snapshots and a Mysterious Table
2026-05-20 19:30 - 21:00
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 at the MFA Boston and subsequent tour of Japan in 1903 with findings represented in the collection of the Ipswich Museum.

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.

After the Party
2026-06-17 19:30 - 21:00
Ipswich’s Bob Waite, Professor, Seneca Polytechnic College and author brings his wit to the topic of politics, drawn on his experience serving as Press Secretary to Senator Ed Brooke (R-MA), Senator Bob Dole (R-KS), as a member of the Reagan Administration, and including his long-time bipartisan friendship with Democrats George McGovern and Michael J. Harrington.

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.

Meet Abigail Adams, America's First Second Lady
2026-09-23 19:30 - 21:00
Since 2003, Sheryl Faye, actor has been presenting Historical Women to inspire adults and children about history. Her one man show will leave you spell-bound and inspired. Her performances are entertaining and educational, and they help the members of the audience to truly understand the profound positive impact these women have made in history. She has been here doing her presentations a number of times.

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.

Play Readings by Boston Reads
2026-10-21 19:30 - 21:00
These readings of four or five ten minute plays will be performed by award winning professional actors M. Lynda Robinson and Richard McElvain. Lynda has been working on Boston theatre stage for the last thirty five years. She has founded three theatres, The Court, The West End and the Blackburne Performing Arts Theatre. She is an accomplished, published and produced playwright and has mentored young playwrights for seven years through the MA Young Playwrights Program. Richard McElvain is an actor and director and has appeared in film and television, as well as on stage throughout the area for the past twenty years. His directing credits include many of the classics as well as appearing in several episodes of Spence for Hire.
