Medford Historical Society & Museum

The mission of MHSM is to collect, preserve, and promote an inclusive understanding of Medford’s history, offering educational lectures and programs to the general public. Join us in building a shared sense of Medford’s history and rich diversity.

December 22, 2024

We are open 1:00-4:00 PM every Sunday. Consider making a year end donation before Dec. 31!you can donate directly here.
Check out our ongoing searchable Medford Street Names Project. If you have documents pertaining to Medford Street names, let us know via our contact page.
Our Medford Municipal Records Collection is now available and digitized and continues to be updated by our awesome volunteer Will Tenney.
House Histories and Fascinating Finds: View a video of the lecture on house histories here. Download a copy of the accompanying handout in PDF format here.
Learn about our Historical Marker Program here.
Check out our Books and Resources page? Many reference questions can be answered by our ever-growing digitized resources. All back issues of our newsletters can be found here.
Learn more about volunteer opportunities here.
Become an MHSM Member here!

UPCOMING:

Thursday, January 30, 2025
“Gandhi’s American Friend: The Untold Story of Richard Gregg”
Speaker: John Wooding, Emeritus Professor, Political Science, University of Massachusetts, Lowell

Richard Gregg was Gandhi’s confidant and friend for more than twenty years. He was American activist and writer whose social philosophy and ideas would influence Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and many other pacifists and activists throughout the twentieth century. He was the son of a congregationalist minister who was born and lived in Medford. Gregg was educated at Harvard University he worked as a labor lawyer and arbitrator in Boston and Chicago before moving to India to work and study with Gandhi. He returned there many times. This is his story.
Sign up here.

See all our Spring 2025 programs here.

Thanks to the Medford Arts Council for its continued support

These programs are supported in part by a grant from the Medford Arts Council, a local commission that is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the City of Medford.

The Power of Truth: Early Diversity in a Medford Neighborhood, February 2024
Murder at the Harvard Medical School, April 2023
Black Heritage Trail Virtual Tour, February 2022

our_medford

Our Medford,” written by Medford teacher Michael Coates is for kids and anyone interested in an illustrated introduction to Medford History.

The book began to be used in the Medford grade 3 classrooms in fall 2016.

Click here to view the book online. Printed copies are available for $20 at MHSM. All proceeds benefit MHSM’s educational programs.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Medford Arts Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.