Framingham History Programs & Events

Civil War Exhibit

Framingham History In the News

Metrowest Daily News — 08/05/2011
Historian pens biography of Civil War general from Framingham
FRAMINGHAM —Just like 150 years ago, George H. Gordon has left his beloved mother in Framingham to answer the call of duty and lead Massachusetts volunteers through several of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War.
Marching through the pages of Town Historian Fred A. Wallace's new biography "Framingham's Civil War Hero," Gordon emerges as a complex, sometimes enigmatic figure who triumphed over humble origins to achieve the rank of major general and serve with distinction. Read more...

  • Metrowest Daily News — 05/19/2011
    Framingham Remembers the Civil War with Exhibit
    FRAMINGHAM —When Abraham Lincoln pledged after Gettysburg "these dead shall not have died in vain," he might have been thinking of citizen-soldiers like Theodore Russell of Framingham.
    The 18-year-old farmer enlisted in the 45th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment in September 1862, died nine months later from wounds received in White Hall, N.C., and was carried home for burial in Edgell Grove Cemetery.
    Keeping Lincoln's promise, the Framingham History Center is hosting "Framingham Remembers...The Civil War" to honor the memory of town residents like Russell who served on the battlefield and homefront 150 years ago. Read more...

  • Framingham Patch — 04/13/2011
    Scouts Honor Town's Fallen Civil War Soliders
    FRAMINGHAM —Yesterday was the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. It was at 4:30 a.m. on April 12 in 1861 that the Confederacy attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. To commemorate the event, Boy Scout Pack 12 leader Rick Connaughton organized a small encampment with soliders from both the Union and the Confederacy. In conjunction with the Framingham History Center, he arranged a memorial to honor the 52 Framingham residents who died during the Civil War.
    Metrowest Daily News
  • — 04/12/2011
    Historian tells story of Framingham soldier
    FRAMINGHAM —For historian Fred Wallace, old Civil War soldiers like Maj. Gen. George H. Gordon shouldn't just fade away.

    First, put them on Facebook. Then write a biography of a native son who rose from humble origins to lead Bay State troops through the bloody cornfields of Antietam to earn a reputation for courage and integrity that followed him home.

  • Framingham Patch — 03/28/2011
    History Is Often What We Choose To Remember
    FRAMINGHAM —

    While a picture may be worth a thousand words, it can also be used to sway the hearts and minds of a nation.
    It is in how we remember and interpret those images that give us a sense of place and self. Yet we must remember how those historical flashbacks can, and often are, manipulated for various political persuasions.

    Metrowest Daily News — 03/27/2011
    The other side of the water cup
    Featured runner: Michelle McElroy, Framingham
    Next in a series of profiles on local runners in this year's Marathon

  • Metrowest Daily News — 03/14/2011
    Civil War monument a stepping stone for Framingham history
    FRAMINGHAM —On his first visit to the Framingham History Center, Brian Clew saw 27 names inscribed on a marble marker memorializing soldiers from town who died in the Civil War.
    He was among a dozen guests Thursday evening at the history center's Past Forward get-together who surrounded the marker from 1872 bearing the names of Heman F. Cheney, Daniel W. Parmenter, Hector Ingraham and their fallen brethren.
  • Framingham History Center — 03/10/2011
    Framingham’s Civil War General George H. Gordon is posting on facebook now!
    Framingham’s Civil War General George H. Gordon is posting on facebook now as we lead up to hostilities on April 12th (150 years ago.) Like him now and join the dialogue. 
  • Metrowest Daily News — 02/14/2011
    One 'Killer' read: Library marks Civil War anniversary
    FRAMINGHAM —If you're a Civil War buff, you'll love what the town library has drummed up to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the attack on Fort Sumter.
    And if you're not, the upcoming townwide "One Book" initiative in March and April just may turn you into one.
    To mark the sesquicentennial of the Civil War's first shots on April 12, 1861, the library is encouraging residents to read Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize-winning historical fictional novel, "The Killer Angels."
  • Metrowest Daily News — 09/26/2010
    Framingham woman gives live lesson of suffrage movement
    FRAMINGHAM — While it may have been the 21st century outside St. Andrews Episcopal Church Sunday, those inside were taken back to a Framingham smack dab in the middle of the 1910s, courtesy of Josephine Collins. Framingham storyteller Libby Franck donned her "Votes for Women" sash and took audience members back 100 years to 1909, when Framingham's Collins attended her first open-air suffrage meeting at Irving Square.
  • Metrowest Daily News — 08/26/2010
    Framingham teen enjoys horticulture and Civil War history
    FRAMINGHAM — Sam Gilvarg spent this summer pursuing his two seemingly unrelated interests in the Civil War and horticulture at Garden in the Woods.
    The senior-to-be at Framingham High School finished Tuesday his second summer in the Saxonville botanical garden, working as an intern in the Horticultural and Educational departments. Last summer, he volunteered at the garden.

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The Framingham History Center is a gathering place for those who care about Framingham's past, present and future. We provide connections with local history that enrich our lives and our community. We share the town's remarkable heritage by collecting and preserving our stories, our historic buildings, and over 12,000 artifacts in our collections. These collections help us understand our place in the community, state, and nation. We are eager to share this with you. Join Us

 

Framingham's Civil War Hero: The Life of General George H. Gordon
The perfect read for Civil War enthusiasts, historians, or anyone with Framingham roots. Click here to purchase a signed copy of Framingham’s Civil War Hero, the Life of General George H. Gordon or visit our gift shop at the Edgell Memorial Library to buy the book in person.

Image to the left: Framingham’s Town Historian, Fred Wallace, hands West Point cadet, Jenna Vercollone, a copy of his book on Framingham’s Civil War General, George Gordon to take back to the library at the General’s alma mater

   


Framingham's Historic Buildings

Central to our work and to the life of Framingham is the preservation of three irreplaceable buildings constructed in the 1800s on the Town Centre Common. The Old Academy, an unusual Greek Revival temple, the Village Hall, at the epicenter of the Common and still an important meeting house, and the Edgell Memorial Library, a grand Victorian Gothic structure in urgent need of repair.

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Edgell Library

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Framingham History Fun Fact

Framingham's Connection to the Salem Witch Trials

Did you know that Thomas Danforth provided part of his land to a victim of the notorious Salem Witch Trials? In 1692, a council was established to look into the accusations of witchcraft in Salem. As Deputy Governor of Massachusetts Bay, Thomas Danforth presided over these early proceedings. After leaving office in 1693, Danforth worked behind the scenes to bring an end to the witch hysteria. Sarah Clayes, one of the accused, mysteriously escaped from prison and ended up, with her husband and children, living on Thomas Danforth's land in an area that came to be known as "Salem End."

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