1776 and Beyond
Opened June 2026 – currently on exhibit
1776 AND BEYOND celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence by focusing on the Declaration of Independence in Medford in 1776 and then showing how its basic principles have reverberated from the 18th century to the present in important social justice movements. From abolition and woman suffrage in the 19th century, to labor unionism and Civil Rights in the 20th C, to No Kings! and LGBTQ today, Medford residents have continued to stand up for the Declaration’s core principle “that all men are created equal” and have an “unalienable” right to “liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” A flier about the exhibit can be found here and you can visit the exhibit in person through December 2026.
Migration: The Ongoing American Revolution
June 2025-May 2026
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, MIGRATION emphasized that migrants have always lived here, from the Indigenous people who migrated annually, to the Pilgrims who arrived in 1630, to the enslaved African people forced to come. It then celebrates the diverse heritages of migrants and immigrants who live here now, people from Ireland, China, Haiti, Brazil, Italy, eastern Europe, the Middle East, the African American US South, Latin America, India. Please see this digitized version of the exhibit celebrating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in 1775. This website version was designed by students at Medford Vocational High School under the supervision of their teacher, Lisa Miller, and in collaboration with the curators of the exhibit at MHSM.
Lydia Maria Child: Author and Abolitionist
Gathering up the Fragments
June 21, 2018-March 31, 2019
This exhibit offered much needed addition to the story of Lydia Maria Child in Medford beyond her “Over the River” poem. The exhibit articulated the story of how Child, a Medford-born daughter of a baker became one of the most important writers and activists in the 19th century. Born in Medford in 1802, Child’s family name of “Francis” can be found in many local historical documents and her grandparents are buried in the Salem Street burial ground. A low res version of the exhibit program can be found here.