Wednesday, October 8, 2025, 7:00pm,Shelburne-Buckland Community Center, Janice Hanson, “Frances Perkins: A Woman’s Work”
Friday, October 10, 2025, 7 to 9 pm, Shepherd Barn Dance, Shepherd Barn, 66 Bridge Street, Northampton, Mass. We are pleased to honor the great American tradition of dancing in barns by hosting a contra dance in the Shepherd Barn. Steve Howland will call circle, square, and contra dances. The band will feature long-time valley contra dance musicians: Becky Hollingsworth on piano; Joe Blumenthal on bass; and Rebecca Weiss and Rose Jackson on fiddle. All dances will be taught. No partner is necessary. All ages and experience levels welcome! If the weather is good, additional registrations will be accepted on the night of the event for outdoor dancing. Limited to 40. Pre-registration is required. Sliding Scale Admission: $15-35. Learn More.
Sunday, October 12, 2025, 2:00-5:00pm,Wilder Homestead, Buckland on Rt 112/116, Colonial Day Sampler, Free admission. There will be Morris dancers, cider pressing, open hearth cooking, oxen, chair caning, spinning, quilting, cross stitching, weaving, live music of the 1700’s, and much more! View the restoration of the 1780 English Barn. Free Admission.
Wednesday, October 15, 2025, Community Room, Greenfield Public Library, 6:00 pm, Annual Meeting of the Historical Society of Greenfield, 6:30 Speaker: Neal Abraham.
Thursday, October 16, 2025, 9:15am-2:15pm, PIONEER VALLEY HISTORY NETWORK Fall Gathering, Black Birch Vineyard, 108 Straits Rd, North Hatfield, MA, RSVP by October 10.
October 18-19, 2025, 10am-5 pm, Working Weavers Studio Trail is in Shelburne Falls, Conway & Florence.
Wednesday, October 22, 2025, 7:00pm on Zoom, Historic Northampton, New England Barns: An Introduction to Their History and Carpentry, A Presentation by Jack A. Sobon, Architect & Master Timber Framer. In this illustrated Zoom talk, Jack Sobon–timber framer, forensic architect, author, and founder of the Timber Framers Guild of North America–will show the development of New England’s barns from the early small-sized self-sufficient farmstead “English” barns to the larger New England or “Yankee” barns common on more expansive farms of the 19th century. Jack will describe how the design and layout of these buildings was transformed as farming changed. Along the way, you will learn about square pegs in round holes, riving, scribing, juggling, raising, shaving horses, beef rolls, dove holes, and gin poles. This hour-long presentation will be followed by a Q & A. Register for the Zoom link.
Sliding Scale Admission: $5-15. Learn More
Saturday, October 25, 2025, 2:00-3:00pm. Barn Forensics: Examining Clues on the History of the Shepherd Barn with Jack Sobon. Join timber framer, architect, and barn historian Jack Sobon for a special one-hour “tour” of the Shepherd barn. Jack will point out the clues that reveal the structure’s previous “lives” and uses. As a special bonus, Jack will give a show-and-tell of some barn tools and artifacts from his collection. Limited to 30. Pre-registration is required. Sliding Scale Admission: $10-25. Learn More
Saturday, October 25, 2025, 10am-?, Brooks Room, Wilbraham Public Library, 25 Crane Park Drive. Association for Gravestone Studies: Western New England Chapter Meeting, The morning session will feature presentations by John Hanson, Keegan Day and Jason Ur and there may also be a show-and-tell session during which attendees can do brief, informal presentations. John Hanson, author of an article about epitaphs in the current issue of Markers, will offer a review of what he plans to present during a talk in Southwick, MA on October 29th. Keegan Day will report on Stephen Spalding, a little-known slate carver who made gravestones in Killingly, CT, during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Spalding signed several examples of his work, for example, the one for Booz [actually, Boas] Stearns, pictured below, on a rubbing by Sue Kelly and Anne Williams – see their article, “ ‘And the Men Who Made Them’: The Signed Gravestones of New England” in Markers, Vol. II (1983) 1-103. Jason Ur, who previously reported on his studies of the spatial distribution of gravestones in several old burying grounds in the Boston area, using a drone and computer technology, will report on his more recent work in the Boston area. There are a few places to get lunch nearby. After lunch we plan to visit the Adams Cemetery in Wilbraham and one or more other local cemeteries. Wilbraham was the home of at least four resident gravestone carvers ca. 1760 to 1860.
Sunday, October 26, 2025, Fellowship Hall, 17 Little Mohawk Rd., Shelburne, MA, 1:00 pm, Annual Meeting of the Shelburne Historical Society. Presentation by Dr. Robert Miller on the history of medicine in Shelburne Falls.
Saturday, December 6, 2025, 5-9pm, Shelburne Buckland Community Center A Colrain Christmas Potluck and Auction (Live and Silent).
Sunday, September 28, 2025, 11:00am-2:00pm, Outside Whately Town Hall, Fall Festival.
Sunday, September 28, 2025, Rowe Historical Society, Sweet Sawing with Violet Walker, Stunning harmonies on a carpenter’s saw.
Sunday, September 28, 2025, 1:00-4:00pm, Buckland Historical Society, Upper Street museum and Wilder Homestead both open.
September 19-21, 2025, Shelburne-Buckland Community Center, Friday, 5-8 p.m.; Saturday, Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., “Colrain and the Hill Towns on Canvas VII” with 80 paintings of local scenes by noted and local artists, and antique maps and art for sale at this benefit exhibition. This is our largest art show yet. Join us for this celebration of local art!
Wednesday, September 17, 2025, 6:00 pm, Community Room, Greenfield Public Library, Jillian Gochinski, “Tea Houses in the Connecticut River Valley”
Wednesday, September 10, 2025, 5:00 to 7:00pm, Amherst History Center, 45 Boltwood Walk, Amherst, MA., Amherst Then & Now: A Pictorial Retrospective of 125 Years of Memory Keeping. The curator of the exhibition, Elizabeth Cardarapoli, will be on hand and give a brief gallery talk starting at 6:00. The exhibition is a collaboration between the Amherst Historical Society and students at Amherst Regional High School. With a few exceptions, the “now” images were taken by students in Elena Betke-Brunswick’s spring 2025 digital photography classes. Using 125 years as the parameters, Cardarapoli pulled archive images of people, places, and daily life in the date range of circa 1895-1905. These historic “then” photographers were given to the students who allowed their creative interpretation to capture the “now.” The resulting images are poignant, artistic, and surprising but are Amherst through the lens of the young people who call it home.
Thursday, September 11, 2025, Colrain Historical Society, 8 Main Road, Colrain, MA, Sheep Fiber, Cloth and the Mills of Colrain, 7:30 p.m. following the meeting at 7. Cynthia Herbert and Nina Reyes trace this important strand of Colrain history, including Merino sheep farming, weavers, and, of course, our mills.
Friday, September 12, 2025, 12:00 in Room 101 at the Bangs Community Center, 70 Boltwood Walk, Amherst. The Amherst Historical Society’s lunchtime lecture series will kick off its Fall 2025 season with a talk by Christie Higginbottom who will give a presentation on Native Plants in the Early Nineteenth Century Garden. See amhersthistory.org for more information and a schedule of upcoming lectures. The lectures are free and open to the public. Bag lunches are welcome.
Sunday, August 24, 2025, 1:00-4:00pm, Buckland Historical Society, Upper Street museum and Wilder Homestead both open.
Sunday, August 10, 2025, 1:00-4:00pm, Buckland Historical Society, Upper Street museum and Wilder Homestead both open.
Sunday, August 10, 2025, 1:00pm, Shelburne Historical Society, Susanna Minton Graham, “Ghosts in the Attic: A Shelburne Falls Legacy in Letters.” Four generations of the Merrill family worked as stonemasons in Shelburne Falls, designing and building numerous structures in Franklin County, including the foundation of Arms Academy, the fire tower on Mt. Massamet, and many area bridges. This presentation is based on over 2000 Merrill family letters and other research.
Saturday, August 9, 2025, 1:00pm in person and via Zoom, Catamount Hill Association, Shelburne-Buckland Community Center, 53 Main Street, Shelburne Falls, MA 01370. Erica Wheeler
Interpretive Trainer | Visitor Experience Specialist | Creative Mentor | Singer-Songwriter. For the 150th reunion of the Catamount Hill Association, Erica will offer a keynote experience—a journey of song, story, and conversation—designed to evoke memories of the past and present, to be shared across generations. Her program will help deepen a sense of place for all who love Catamount Hill—whether through ancestral roots or a personal connection to the land today. Through her signature blend of storytelling, interpretation, and emotional resonance, Erica helps communities bridge past and present—honoring shared heritage and inspiring a renewed sense of belonging, continuity, and stewardship. This celebratory experience is both a tribute to the legacy of Catamount Hill and an invitation to carry its story forward.
Sunday, August 3, 2025, Colrain Historical Society, 8 Main Road, Colrain, MA, Ice Cream Social, A thank you to our volunteers, and a surprise 100th birthday celebration of one of our liveliest members, with cake and music, behind the Museum. And it’s free.
Saturday, August 2, 2025, Hilltown History Trail, 10:00am-4:00pm. Hilltown historical societies in Hawley, Buckland, Cummington, Heath, Rowe, and Shelburne Falls will open their museum doors to the public on the same day for a free day of exploring. Download the Flyer.
Sunday, July 27, 2025, 1:00-4:00pm, Buckland Historical Society, Upper Street museum and Wilder Homestead both open.
Wednesday, July 23, 2025, 7:00-8:30pm, Shelburne Historical Society, Shelburne Falls Military Band and free Ice Cream Social.
Sunday, July 13, 2025, Rowe Historical Society, 10:00 am, Annual Member Meeting.
Sunday, July 13, 2025, 2:00-6:00 pm, Pelham Lake Park, Rowe’s Summer Social with Rowe Historical Society’s What’s This? Quiz.
Saturday, July 19, 2025, 12:00 to 3:00 pm, Historical Society of Greenfield, 43 Church Street, Greenfield, Annual Ice Cream Social Historical Society of Greenfield, 43 Church Street. Please come and join friends and neighbors for free ice cream under the tents and music by the Falltown String Band. The Society’s museum, which features several exhibits, including a new one of paintings by artists with a connection to Greenfield, will be open.
Saturday, July 19, 2025, 10:00am-3:00pm. Buckland Historical Society, Summer Day on the Buckland Common, Upper Street museum open.
Sunday, June 29, 2025, 1:00 – 4:00. Buckland Historical Society’s Open Houses. The Buckland Historical Society Museum – a former circa 1865 school house which now houses three floors of artifacts and town records. 20 Upper St., Buckland Center, MA. The Wilder Homestead – a furnished 1795 saltbox with five fireplaces, a restored 1780 English barn, and a Shoemaker Shop
129, Rt. 112, Buckland, MA
Friday, June 27, 2025,7:00 pm, Buckland Public Hall, 15 Upper St., Buckland Center, MA, Buckland Historical Society’s Annual Meeting, Program & Pie Social. “The History of Trains & Trolleys in Buckland” by Sam Bartlett, accompanied by slides. The Program is followed by our customary selection of delectable homemade pies, coffee, & cider. Admission: Members-$10.00, Non-Members-$12.00, Family-$20.00
Wednesday, June 18, 2025, 6:00 pm, Community Room, Greenfield Public Library Elyse Moore, “Jolly Good Times in the Kitchen: 1875 Manuscript Cookbook of Mary P. Wells Smith”
Saturday, June 28, 2025, Shelburne Historical Society, 33 Severance Street, Shelburne Falls, MA, Arms Academy Alumni Reunion. Parade starts at 10:00 am.
Wednesday, May 21, 2025 7 PM Shelburne Historical Society museum, 7 PM. Shelburne Grange will tour the museum and have a short program presented by Prudy Wholey about the history of Ira Arms and the Academy. Refreshments will be served. Any questions, call 413-522-5211.
Friday, May 23, 2025, 7-9 PM at Fellowship Hall Shelburne Center (17 Little Mohawk Road), Shelburne Agricultural Commission will present a slide show prepared by John and Carolyn Wheeler of Wheelview Farm. These will be photos of farms and farm life in Shelburne from the early 1900’s onward. Light refreshments will follow. Any questions, contact Carolyn Wheeler 413-525-2900.
April 24, 2025, The Whately Historical Society, Stephen Mikesell, The Historic Bridges of Franklin County” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC1D5EKWnPE
Thursday, May 8, 2025, 7 p.m., Conway Historical Society, 50 Main Street, Conway, MA., Philip Kantor, ELY’S INSURRECTION OF 1782 AS VIEWED BY JOSEPH HAWLEY, NORTHAMPTON’S FORGOTTEN
“FOUNDING FATHER”
Thursday, May 8, 2025, Colrain Historical Society, 8 Main Road, Colrain, MA, 7-7:15 p.m., meeting. 7:15 p.m. walking, 1/4-mile with Jonathan LaGreze and Judith Roberts, highlighting indigenous people’s history, Cary Cider Mill, covered bridge, Baptist Church, and schoolhouse.
Franklin County History Events 