Past Events

This pop-up display uses documents and artifacts through the ages to consider the ways Abigail viewed her own legacy and how and why we continue to Remember Abigail today.

This is the final of four rotating exhibits on display at the Massachusetts Historical Society as part of #RememberAbigail. Life & Legacy will be on display from September 27, 2019, through January 10, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Institution: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215

Fee: Free

This pop-up display uses documents and artifacts through the ages to consider the ways Abigail viewed her own legacy and how and why we continue to Remember Abigail today.

This is the final of four rotating exhibits on display at the Massachusetts Historical Society as part of #RememberAbigail. Life & Legacy will be on display from September 27, 2019, through January 10, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Institution: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215

Fee: Free

Follow the words and history of four generations of Adamses. John, Abigail, and their descendants were prolific writers. The trove of documents they left behind intimately describe their lives, public service, and Boston from the eve of the Revolution to the turn of the twentieth century.

$15 (general admission) / $5 (BBF members)

More information and purchase tickets at Boston By Foot.

A special program supporting the History and Visitors Program at United First Parish Church and honoring the 275th birthday of First Lady Abigail Adams.

The History and Visitors Program at United First Parish Church, Church of the Presidents is proud to announce this special evening of historical programming to support the History and Visitors Program and to honor the 275th birthday anniversary of Abigail Adams. Doors open for the event at 6 pm.

At 7 pm Professor Kerima Lewis will present her talk entitled “Abigail Adams and the World of Slavery.” Although it is well known that John and Abigail Adams did not personally own slaves, what is not well known is that slavery touched the life of Abigail Adams in several ways. This talk takes a close look at Abigail’s familial connections to Atlantic world slavery to increase understanding of the institution, introduce the enslaved persons with whom Abigail interacted and to trace the transatlantic journey which brought captive West Africans to New England by way of the West Indies. Professor Lewis teaches at Emerson and Quincy Colleges. She holds a doctorate in history, a law degree and a master’s degree in social work and has been a Massachusetts Historical Society Fellow.

Other components of the evening’s program include the opportunity for participants to contribute their thoughts and reflections to a larger exhibit of her words in the church’s crypt corridor and to lay a flower on the First Lady’s tomb. A reception will follow Professor Lewis’ presentation with beer and wine provided by Craig’s Café.

Admission to the event will be by donation and all donations support the History and Visitors Program at United First Parish Church. Tickets may be purchased online at Eventbrite or at the door that evening. The suggested starting donation is $10. The first 100 donations of $10 will receive an official Abigail commemorative stamp and envelope from its first day of issue on June 14, 1985. All donations above $10 will also receive a Purfections chocolate of their choice (milk or dark chocolate) with an image of Abigail Adams.

Location: United First Parish Church, 1306 Hancock St, Quincy, MA 02169

For questions and more information contact Director Bob Damon via email: visitorsprogram@ufpc.org or phone: 617-773-1290 ext. 5.

Cost: Suggested donation of $10

Help celebrate the 275th birthday of Abigail Adams, one of the founders of the United States, the first Second Lady and the second First Lady of the country, who was born on November 22, 1744 in Weymouth and died October 28, 1818 right here in Quincy.

In addition to birthday cake, we will enjoy a concert of music Abigail likely enjoyed, performed by Sylvia Berry and Dale Munschy on restored period instruments. They will also share some interesting and educational thoughts about the music and instruments.

Location: Thomas Crane Public Library, 40 Washington Street, Quincy, MA 02169

Sponsored by the Friends of the Thomas Crane Public Library.

Participants will follow in Abigail's footsteps on a park trolley to the Abigail Smith Adams Birthplace in Weymouth, the John Quincy Adams Birthplace in Quincy, and finally to the United First Parish Church, Church of the Presidents in Quincy. They will be served tea and explore the homes where Abigail was born, was married, and where she raised her children during the American Revolution. They will be welcomed by Abigail Adams herself and hear stories of her life before ending the tour with a visit to Abigail's tomb in the Adams Crypt.

The tour begins at the Visitors Center at Adams National Historical Park, 1250 Hancock Street in downtown Quincy, MA. Validated parking is available in the Presidents Place Galleria Parking Garage accessed via Saville Avenue. From there participants will board a park trolley as they head off to follow in Abigail’s footsteps, from the cradle to the grave.

This half-day, three-site, guided historic program will be offered TWICE ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 3RD ONLY. Space is limited to 24 participants on each tour. You must have reservations/tickets through Event Brite in order to participate in the tour.

For more information and to register:

Morning Tour Ticket

The morning tour begins at 9 AM and ends at 12 PM. Please arrive at the Adams National Park Visitors Center at 1250 Hancock Street in Quincy NO LATER THAN 8:45 AM to ensure your participation in the tour. Space is limited to 24 participants on the tour. You must have reservations/tickets through Event Brite in order to participate in the tour.

Afternoon Tour Ticket

The afternoon tour begins at 12:30 PM and ends at 3:30 PM. Please arrive at the Adams National Park Visitors Center at 1250 Hancock Street in Quincy NO LATER THAN 12:15 PM to ensure your participation in the tour. Space is limited to 24 participants on the tour. You must have reservations/tickets through Event Brite in order to participate in the tour.

Institutions: The Abigail Adams Birthplace, Adams National Historical Park, and United First Parish Church, Church of the Presidents

Fee: $10.00

Join us at the Thomas Crane Public Library as members of the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail bring to life some of the most important and influential women in Abigail Adams’s life, including her mother, Elizabeth Quincy Smith, her elder sister, Mary Smith Cranch, her daughter, Abigail Adams Smith, her daughter-in-law Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, and her friend Mercy Otis Warren. The women will pay tribute to Abigail and express what it meant to them to have her as a daughter, mother, sister, and friend.

Institution: Boston Women’s Heritage Trail, Thomas Crane Public Library

Location: Thomas Crane Public Library, 40 Washington St., Quincy, MA 02169

Join an Adams Papers editor for an in-depth look at the fourth and final Remember Abigail display.

Institution: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215

Fee: Free

Please join us for open hours. Visits are by guided tour only between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m., with tours given on the hour and half hour. The 2019 tour season at the Birthplace will highlight selections from Abigail Adams's letters. Last tour at 3:30 p.m.

$5 adults, $1 children

Institution: Abigail Adams Historical Society

Location: 180 Norton St., N. Weymouth, Mass.

Join us as Dr. Sara Georgini talks about her book Household Gods: The Religious Lives of the Adams Family, leading into a discussion of how thinkers like Mary Baker Eddy and the Adamses engaged with the pressing questions of religious relevance in a modernizing world.

Dr. Georgini will also give a pre-talk in our Mapparium® on the global and spiritual travels of the Adamses.

6:00 p.m. Doors open for refreshments

6:15 p.m. Pre-talk with Dr. Georgini in the Mapparium (free registration required)

7:00 p.m. Author Talk: Household Gods: The Religious Lives of the Adams Family

Location: The Mary Baker Eddy Library, 200 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA 02115

Dr. Sara Georgini earned her Ph.D. in American history at Boston University. She is Series Editor for The Papers of John Adams, part of the Adams Papers Editorial Project at the Massachusetts Historical Society. Her book Household Gods: The Religious Lives of the Adams Family is a history of faith and doubt in one American family. It charts the cosmopolitan Christianity that the Adamses developed while acting as transnational agents of American politics and culture.

If you have further questions, please contact Russel Fogg at foggr@mbelibrary.org.

This pop-up display uses documents and artifacts through the ages to consider the ways Abigail viewed her own legacy and how and why we continue to Remember Abigail today.

This is the final of four rotating exhibits on display at the Massachusetts Historical Society as part of #RememberAbigail. Life & Legacy will be on display from September 27, 2019, through January 10, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Institution: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215

Fee: Free

Never “an uninterested Spectator” when it came to the American political landscape, Abigail Adams leveraged a wide network of correspondents to discuss her vision of the emerging nation.

This is the third of four rotating exhibits on display at the Massachusetts Historical Society in 2019. Independence & Ideals will be on display from July 1 through September 21 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Institution: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215

Fee: Free

Join an Adams Papers editor for an in-depth look at the display.

Institution: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215

Fee: Free

Please join us for open hours and a cider-pressing demonstration. An important seasonal activity in colonial times, cider pressing produced one of the most popular beverages consumed by people of all ages through the early nineteenth century.

Visits are by guided tour only between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m., with tours given on the hour and half hour. The 2019 tour season will highlight selections from Abigail Adams's letters. Last tour at 3:30 p.m.

$5 adults, $1 children

Institution: Abigail Adams Historical Society

Location: 180 Norton St., N. Weymouth, Mass.

Please join us for open hours. Visits are by guided tour only between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m., with tours given on the hour and half hour. The 2019 tour season at the Birthplace will highlight selections from Abigail Adams's letters. Last tour at 3:30 p.m.

$5 adults, $1 children

Institution: Abigail Adams Historical Society

Location: 180 Norton St., N. Weymouth, Mass.

Join an Adams Papers editor for an in-depth look at the display.

Institution: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215

Fee: Free

Please join us for open hours. Visits are by guided tour only between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m., with tours given on the hour and half hour. The 2019 tour season at the Birthplace will highlight selections from Abigail Adams's letters. Last tour at 3:30 p.m.

$5 adults, $1 children

Institution: Abigail Adams Historical Society

Location: 180 Norton St., N. Weymouth, Mass.

Follow the words and history of four generations of Adamses. John, Abigail, and their descendants were prolific writers. The trove of documents they left behind intimately describe their lives, public service, and Boston from the eve of the Revolution to the turn of the twentieth century.

$15 (general admission) / $5 (BBF members)

More information and purchase tickets at Boston By Foot.