Natick Report

More than you really want to know about Natick, Mass.

Natick invited to Race Amity Zoom presentation

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Natick Race Amity

The Natick Historical Society and the Bacon Free Library will co-host a Zoom presentation of WGBH’s powerful documentary series American Stories: Race Amity and The Other Tradition on Tue., Feb. 2, 6:30pm – 8pm. This presentation will include a brief introduction to the film by Dr. William H. Smith (creator, executive producer, and writer of the series), a reading from the book Race Amity: A Primer on America’s Other Tradition, a viewing of the film Race Amity: America’s Other Tradition, a commentary by Dr. Smith, and a Q&A Session.

WHS Media Productions LLC created this documentary for the promotion of cross-racial and cross-cultural understanding.

This event is FREE and open to the public. Advanced registration is required to access the Zoom link. Please register using the link here, and allow 3-5 days for a confirmation email with the link from the Natick Historical Society.

Linden Square, Wellesley
London Harness, Natick Report

Natick Historical Society & Bacon Free Library upcoming events

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Everyone is welcome to join a virtual discussion of The Nightingale (2018) by Kristin Hannah on

The Nightingale

This program is co-sponsored with the Bacon Free Library. It is FREE and open to the public.

If you are interested in joining this virtual book discussion, email: director@natickhistoricalsociety.org.

About The Nightingale

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.

Save the date for Race Amity presentation

Natick Race Amity

The Natick Historical Society and the Bacon Free Library will co-host a Zoom presentation of WGBH’s powerful documentary series American Stories: Race Amity and The Other Tradition on Tue., Feb. 2, 6:30pm – 8pm. This presentation will include a brief introduction to the film by Dr. William H. Smith (creator, executive producer, and writer of the series), a reading from the book Race Amity: A Primer on America’s Other Tradition, a viewing of the film Race Amity: America’s Other Tradition, a commentary by Dr. Smith, and a Q&A Session.

WHS Media Productions LLC created this documentary for the promotion of cross-racial and cross-cultural understanding.

This event is FREE and open to the public. Advanced registration is required to access the Zoom link. Please register using the link here, and allow 3-5 days for a confirmation email with the link from the Natick Historical Society.

Page Waterman, Wellesley

Natick historic holidays event: Victorian Gossip Girl Tea

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Join the Natick Historical Society and Gossip Girl Annie Fields on Sun., Dec. 6th, 2pm, via Zoom, as she spills the beans on her famous literary friends this holiday season, including the “Father of Christmas,” Charles Dickens. Counting Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow amongst her closest friends, she witnessed a great deal of Victorian revelry at her waterside museum in Beacon Hill. Mrs. Fields wrote about her guests’ embarrassing moments in her novel Authors and Friends (1896) and shares them with you. This intimate teatime conversation is filled with laughter, disbelief, and even some blushing cheeks, when you hear the tantalizing tales of the Victorian Gossip Girl.

Holiday Tea, Natick

Please register here to gain access to the Zoom link.

This event is suitable for all ages, and is FREE and open to the public.

DATE: Sun., Dec. 6, 2020

TIME: 2pm – 3pm, followed by a Q & A

This program is jointly sponsored by the Bacon Free Library and the Natick Historical Society and is supported by a grant from the Natick Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

Natick Historical Society and Bacon Free Library to co-sponsor December book discussion

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Everyone is welcome to join a virtual discussion of The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore on Thur., Dec. 10, 11am – noon, co-sponsored by the Natick Historical Society and the Bacon Free Library

The Last Days of Night (2017) is  a page-turning historical thriller—based on actual events—about the nature of genius, the cost of ambition, and the battle to electrify America. In 1888, the miracle of electric light is in its infancy. Thomas Edison has won the race to the patent office and is suing his only remaining rival, George Westinghouse, for the unheard of sum of one billion dollars. To defend himself, Westinghouse makes a surprising choice in his attorney: He hires an untested twenty-six-year-old fresh out of Columbia Law School named Paul Cravath.

Bacon Free Library, Natick
Bacon Free Library, along with the Natick Historical Society will co-host a virtual book discussion.

The task facing Cravath is beyond daunting. Edison proves to be a formidable, wily, and dangerous opponent. Yet this young, unknown attorney shares with his famous opponent a compulsion to win at all costs. How will he do it? As he takes greater and greater risks, he’ll find that everyone in his path is playing their own game, and no one is quite who they seem.

If you are interested in joining this free and virtual book discussion, please email: director@natickhistoricalsociety.org.

EVENT: Discussion of The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore
DATE: Thur., Dec. 10
TIME: 11am – noon

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Natick Historical Society needs your pandemic perspective

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The Natick Historical Society knows rule number one about history, and that is: history is happening right now.

The 150-year old organization has just launched Natick Shares: COVID-19 Community Archive Project.

Natick Historical Society Museum
The Natick Historical Society is located in the basement of the Bacon Free Library, 58 Eliot St., Natick

Director Nikki Lefebvre says, “History is not only about what happened in the past; it is also the stories we live everyday. Right now we are all experiencing an unprecedented event that will be discussed and studied for decades, even centuries, to come. Let’s make sure that Natick’s story — your story — is remembered.”

The Society is calling on you to share your experiences today so that future scholars, historians, researchers, and Natick residents will have the opportunity to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the Natick community.

Sharing is caring

The Society’s goal is to collect and preserve a broad range of documents and images that capture how Natick residents are experiencing this defining moment. The “Share Your Story” form includes many questions to help you think about what to share, but we also encourage you to use your creativity. Whether it is something that you create or document — an image, story, or letter— we welcome your contributions.

What to share:

  • Personal or community engagement stories

  • Essays, poetry and other writings

  • Photographs

  • Diary or journal entries

  • Artwork

  • Blogs and social media posts (i.e. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.)

  • Memes

Who can share?

People of all ages who live, work, or are otherwise experiencing COVID-19 in Natick are encouraged to share. Parents/caregivers are encouraged to help share children’s experiences.