Framingham History Center
The Framingham History Center was established in 1888 as the Framingham Natural History and Historical Society. Our mission is: To foster a sense of excitment in learning about Framingham's rich history; to create strong connections to the community and encourage pride of place now and for generations to come by collecting, preserving and sharing the story and cultural materail that illustrate this history.
Our Work
The town of Framingham is best known for its busy thoroughfares, and densely populated downtown. This image overshadows a history that is as rich as the history of its neighboring towns, where heritage is a major portion of its economic and cultural base. Framingham's history has taken a back seat to over 60 years of enormous changes that have impacted the town's sense of community. It is time to showcase Framingham's heritage and reap the rewards that benefit other neighboring towns. We do this by providing a rich offering of public events, lectures, exhibitions, celebrations, and tours, we inspire and educate the public, provide community gatherings, and share historical research resources with all. What We Do
Our Collections
The Framingham History Center's collection of over 12,000 items includes artifacts, photographs, documents and a research library. It focuses on what makes Framingham unique, and on roles that Framingham people have played in regional, national and global events. Our Collections
Our Historic Buildings
While there are many historic spaces in Framingham, the Centre Common is the focal point for the town's past. Three of the town's most historic buildings - The Village Hall (1834), the Edgell Memorial Library (1872), and the Old Academy (1837) – surround this quintessential New England Town Common. These town-owned buildings are overseen by the Framingham History Center. Not only do they house artifacts spanning four centuries of the town's history, they are symbols of Framingham's continued commitment to educational excellence, civic engagement, and community pride. Our Historic Buildings
Our Staff
The FHC is currently led by an Executive Director, Curator and Operations Manager. Part time staff includes a Membership Coordinator, Museum Assistant, and Village Hall Rental Coordinator. Volunteers who work for us at least one day a week include: Town Historian, Research Assistant, Research Librarian and several Collections Assistants.
Executive Director
Annie Murphy
Phone: 508-626-9091
Email: director@framinghamhistory.org
Curator
Dana Dauterman Ricciardi
Phone: 508-872-3780, ext. 2
Email: curator@framinghamhistory.org
Volunteer Research Librarian & Town Historian
Fred Wallace
Phone: 508-872-3780
Email: research@framinghamhistory.org
Volunteer Research Librarian
Kevin Swope
Phone: 508-872-3780
Email: research@framinghamhistory.org
Interact with Us
Follow Us Online
Come Visit the Museum
16 Vernon Street, Framingham, MA 01703
Directions & Hours
Framingham History Events
Parking: Because of Center common construction, please park in the Village Hall lot (2 Oak St.) or behind the Jonathan Maynard Building (14 Vernon St.)
Framingham Remembers...The Civil War
Location: Edgell Memorial Building/ 3 Oak Street
Hours: Open Wednesdays-Saturdays 1:00pm-4:00pm
Admission: Free for FHC Members, $5 for Non-Members
"Be Swift My Soul" A Salon with Julia Ward Howe
Date – Sunday, February 12, 2012
Time – 1:30 – 3:00
Location – Heineman Ecumenical Center, Framingham State College
Join Libby Frank as she portrays Julia Ward Howe - a woman who produced perhaps the most stirring and recognizable lines of music in U.S. history. Julia was transformed from a wealthy New York belle to a Boston writer and abolitionist in the decades leading up to the Civil War. As the wife of reformer Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, Director of the Perkins Institute for the Blind - she entertained and visited with poets, politicians, reformers, writers and exceptional women.
Libby will present Julia as the host of a salon that might have included H.W. Longfellow, Edgar Alan Poe, Florence Nightingale, Margaret Fuller, Charles Sumner and Charles Dickens among others. These acquaintances along with her travels abroad, her love of language and music all gave birth to the compelling verses of the Battle Hymn of the Republic which were first sung in Framingham at the Plymouth Church nearly 150 years ago – February 22, 1862. Music of the era will be performed. Refreshments served following the performance at the Alumni House, 42 Adams Rd., Framingham
Memory and Meaning Series
Making History/Making Place: New England's Search for a Useable Past
Location: Edgell Memorial Library/ 3 Oak Street
Date: Sunday, January 22, 2012
Time: 2:00-3:30 p.m.
Admission: $5 FHC Members and students /$10 for Non-Members
Presented by: Bill Hosley, President Terra Firma Associates - cultural resource consultant, planner, teacher, writer and photographer
This program connects us with artists and antiquarians who used collections, monuments, story-telling and the built environment to preserve, protect, and promote the New England places they loved.
Click here to for more information and to puchase tickets online
Click here for more information and to puchase tickets online.
Civil War Living History Encampment
Location: Starts at the Old Academy Building, 16 Vernon St.
Date: May 4-6, 2012
Location:Framingham’s Centre Common
Union and Confederate soldiers will set up camp, perform artillery demonstrations, drills and medical scenarios. There will be a Saturday Night contra dance at the Village Hall also located on the Common, as well as activities related to the Civil War exhibition Framingham Remembers…The Civil War at the Edgell Memorial Library. This Library, which is the town’s civil war memorial, will be rededicated during the weekend activities and three local authors will be signing recently published books on Framingham’s Civil War history.
More Events »
Framingham History Blog
- Read the latest about Framingham History Center news and events at our new blog.
Blog Entries »
Help Honor Our Local Heritage
We are a non-profit organization that depends largely on memberships and donations to perform our mission of preserving and sharing Framingham's unique history and culture.
Please join us or
"You have no idea how grateful I am to you. You have made a difference in my life…now I have some information on my family that I feel is correct to go by. I wouldn't have been able to get the information without you.
When I first started my family tree I did not even know (my grandfather's parents' name) so I just hit that wall and could not find out any more on them but as I see now I was going down some of the wrong paths. This information should open up a couple of paths for me. I do thank you from the bottom of my heart."
Margaret Cousins, Santa Barbara, CA
