The Bedford Historical Society is proud to present a free lecture series as well as other events and activities throughout the year.
2026-2027 Programs
October Program:
“The Salem Witchcraft Trials: What Really Happened?”
Sunday, October 25, 2026
Doors open at 2 PM for a social period and refreshments
2:15 PM – Brief Society announcements followed by the Guest Speaker
Old Town Hall – Great Room (3rd floor)
The Historical Society’s October program will bring retired State Superior Court Justice Dennis Curran to Bedford to describe what he calls a “great trial that changed history”: the Salem witchcraft trials. Judge Curran will tell “what really happened.”
Justice Curran, who served as a MA trial judge for 15 years and presided over 450 civil and criminal trials, has received four statewide awards for judicial excellence. He has taught law at Tufts University, the Roger Williams School of Law, and in Brown University’s summer program.
He loves history. He was elected a Fellow of the MA Historical Society and appears each year as a guest speaker at History Camp – Boston.
January Program:
“An Appeal to Heaven: The relationships between Revolutionary War Leaders and the Black Patriots who Fought for a Freedom Not Yet Theirs”
Sunday, January 24, 2026
2 PM Zoom Presentation
How do you convey a complex story of America’s founding, honoring the brave men and women who fought for our independence, while also acknowledging that not everyone was secure in the blessings of liberty?
Former Lexington resident Jane Woolsey Gropp will describe both the journey that led her to commission the painting called An Appeal to Heaven and the interrelationships among those depicted in the painting and the Black patriots who fought for a freedom that was not yet theirs.
An Appeal to Heaven was commissioned by Gropp to honor those like General George Washington and Gropp’s ancestor, General John Glover, as well as to recognize the unknown Black patriots who fought and secured a freedom from the tyranny of British rule. Approximately 9,000 Black patriots either fought or supported the American Revolution, and without their help, would the outcome have been different? Gropp will share the stories behind the painting’s commissioning, the setting of the painting, its completion, and Washington’s progression from slaveholder to freeing his own slaves.
February Program:
“I have Scarcely a Mouthful of Bread for Myself or My Children – The Plight of Loyalists on the Eve of Independence”
Sunday, February 28, 2027
Doors open at 2 PM for a social period and refreshments
2:15 PM – Brief Society announcements followed by the Guest Speaker
Old Town Hall – Great Room (3rd floor)
Revolutionary War historian Alexander Cain will talk about the Loyalists who inhabited Massachusetts during the War for Independence.
Blending compelling storytelling with primary-source research, Cain’s programs are dynamic, research-driven lectures designed to captivate audiences while grounding them in the human realities of the American Revolution. He frequently lectures on historical issues and developments in the United States and has published several research articles relevant to New England militias and loyalists during the American Revolution. He has published two books, “We Stood Our Ground: Lexington in the First Year of the American Revolution” (2nd Edition) and “I See Nothing but the Horrors of a Civil War”.
Cain is also a frequent contributor to PBS, Concord Magazine and the Journal of the American Revolution. He produces a podcast called Historical Nerdery as well as a blog at www.historicalnerdery.com.
March Program:
“The Lost and Legendary Riders of April 19th, 1775”
Sunday, March 21, 2027
Doors open at 2 PM for a social period and refreshments
2:15 PM – Brief Society announcements followed by the Guest Speaker
Old Town Hall – Great Room (3rd floor)
While Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott are known for carrying the message that the British were amassing for a battle, J.L. Bell’s lecture focuses on the facts and fiction behind several other individuals who entered American folklore: Hezekiah Wyman – the so-called dreaded “White Horseman;” Israel Bissell – the post rider rumored to have carried news of the Battles of Lexington and Concord all the way to Philadelphia; and Abel Benson and Abigail Smith – two children who are historically credited with helping to raise the alarm in Middlesex County.
Bell’s talk may address Bedford’s connection to the story of the dispatch riders. Bell, who last spoke to the Society in 2018, is a writer who specializes in the history of the American Revolution in New England. He writes a blog at Boston1775.net, and updates the site daily with doses of history, analysis, and unabashed gossip about Revolutionary New England.
His 2016 book, “The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War”, is his analysis about the start of the War for Independence and will be available for sale after his talk.
April Program:
“Benjamin Franklin and the Invention of American Science”
Sunday, April 25, 2027
Doors open at 2 PM for a social period and refreshments
2:15 PM – Brief Society announcements followed by the Guest Speaker
Old Town Hall – Great Room (3rd floor)
Inventor and statesman Benjamin Franklin’s foundational role in shaping early American scientific inquiry is the topic of the Bedford Historical Society’s guest speaker on Sunday, April 25, 2027. Bridgewater State University History Professor Paul Rubinson will present “Benjamin Franklin and the Invention of American Science” and will describe how Franklin’s inventions established a unique legacy for science in the U.S.
Dr. Rubinson’s teachings specialize in U.S. history, the Cold War, and the intersection of science and society. His latest book, “American Scientists and Human Rights from the Early Republic to the Cold War”, is scheduled for release in March 2027.
May Program: “Rev. Samuel Stearns: The Battle for Bedford’s Religious Future”
Sunday, May 23, 2027
Doors open at 2 PM for a social period and refreshments
2:15 PM – Brief Society announcements followed by the Guest Speaker
Old Town Hall – Great Room (3rd floor)
This presentation is another in Sharon McDonald’s series of lectures about historical Bedford characters, and Rev. Stearns was a forceful and colorful personality. Basing her talk on details she is currently researching from a box of his sermons in his own writing, and other sources, McDonald will reveal engrossing stories about his character, quote from some of his pronouncements, and give an animated portrayal of this early Bedford minister during a time when there existed a strident, institutional division between those who believed in Trinitarianism and those who desired to follow Unitarianism.
A resident of Bedford for over 50 years, McDonald was appointed Town Historian in 2015 and has been active in this position ever since, giving talks to Bedford school children and to local and area organizations. She is President and a Director of the Bedford Historical Society Corporation and volunteers hundreds of hours researching and cataloguing artifacts in the Society’s collections.
She also was honored in 2024 by being selected as Bedford’s Citizen of the Year.
This program series is supported in part by a grant from the Bedford Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
