Programs
Campus Tours at the Museums (May-Oct)
May 24th – October 18th, 2024
Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday
We also host historical walking tours year round. Click here for the current schedule of historical walking tours.
For special events, see below.
2017 Lecture Series
Martha Hall Kelly, “Lilac Girls”. 4 pm: TO BE HELD AT ST. BARNABAS CHURCH
Cultural Center 55 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth, MA, United StatesNew York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France. An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her […]
Melinda Ponder, “Katharine Lee Bates: From Sea to Shining Sea”
On August 12, the birthday of Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929), poet of “America the Beautiful,” biographer Melinda M. Ponder will talk about her new book, Katharine Lee Bates: From Sea to Shining Sea. It tells the story of this brilliant trail-blazing woman—poet, teacher, community builder, and patriot—who challenged Americans to make their country the best […]
Leigh Montville, “Sting Like a Bee: Muhammad Ali vs. the United States of America, 1966-1971
Cultural Center 55 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth, MA, United StatesWith the death of Muhammad Ali in June, 2016, the media and America in general have remembered a hero, a heavyweight champion, an Olympic gold medalist, an icon, and a man who represents the sheer greatness of America. New York Times bestselling author Leigh Montville goes deeper, with a fascinating chronicle of a story that has been […]
William M. Fowler, Jr, “Steam Titans”
Cultural Center 55 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth, MA, United StatesSteam Titans tells the story of a transatlantic fight between 1815 and the American Civil War to wrest control of the globe's most lucrative trade route. Two shipping magnates—Samuel Cunard and Edward Knight Collins—and two nations wielded the tools of technology, finance, and politics to compete for control of a commercial lifeline that spanned the […]
Michael McNaught: “Britain’s Calvary: The Battle of the Somme, 1916”
Cultural Center 55 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth, MA, United StatesThe Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, was one of the largest battles of the First World War. Fought between July 1 and November 1, 1916 near the Somme River in France, it was also one of the bloodiest military battles in history. On the first day alone, the British suffered […]
Glenn Frankel, “High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of An American Classic” (THIS PROGRAM CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER)
Cultural Center 55 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth, MA, United StatesIt's one of the most revered movies of Hollywood's golden era. Starring screen legend Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly in her first significant film role, High Noon was shot on a lean budget over just thirty-two days but achieved instant box-office and critical success. It won four Academy Awards in 1953, including a best actor […]
Debra Levy: The Process of Writing a Memoir (free lecture)
Cultural Center 55 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth, MA, United StatesNate Dondis and memoirist Debra Levy discuss Nate’s memoir A Very Rich Man and the process of writing a memoir. Longtime Falmouth resident Nate Dondis and his memoirist Debra Levy discuss the process of writing Nate’s life story, which resulted in a 150-page book for his family. In his book A Very Rich Man, Nate […]
Kevin Doyle, “Tales of the Old Stone Dock”
Cultural Center 55 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth, MA, United StatesAs Falmouth's Old Stone Dock--the early center of commerce in the town--commemorates its Bicentennial, Old Stone Dock Association President Kevin Doyle will be at the Historical Society to discuss past exploits from the region and how the dock was involved.
Fred Morin & John Galluzzo, “A History of Massachusetts Aviation”
Cultural Center 55 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth, MA, United StatesExplore the Bay State’s Aviation History Shortly after the Wright brothers took to the air, aviation fever gripped Massachusetts. The biggest names in the industry, including Wilbur Wright, Glenn Curtiss, and Claude Graham-White, among others, flew in for the first major air shows, further exciting the people of the Bay State about the potential of […]
Casey Sherman, “The Ice Bucket Challenge” (to be held at First Congregational Church, 68 Main Street, Falmouth)
Cultural Center 55 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth, MA, United StatesWhile everyone knows of the Ice Bucket Challenge, the viral craze that swept the nation in summer 2014, too few know the truly inspirational story behind it. Pete Frates was a man at war with his own body. A man whose love for others was unshakable. A man who refused to fight alone, and in […]
William J. Mann, “The War of the Roosevelts: The Ruthless Rise of America’s Greatest Political Family”
Cultural Center 55 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth, MA, United StatesThe award-winning author presents a provocative, thoroughly modern revisionist biographical history of one of America’s greatest and most influential families—the Roosevelts—exposing heretofore unknown family secrets and detailing complex family rivalries with his signature cinematic flair. Drawing on previously hidden historical documents and interviews with the long-silent "illegitimate" branch of the family, William J. Mann paints […]
Noah Isenberg, “We’ll Always Have Casablanca: The Life, Legend and Afterlife of America’s Most Beloved Movie”
Cultural Center 55 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth, MA, United StatesCasablanca was first released in 1942, just two weeks after the city of Casablanca itself surrendered to American troops led by General Patton. Featuring a pitch-perfect screenplay, a classic soundtrack, and unforgettable performances by Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and a deep supporting cast, Casablanca was hailed in the New York Times as “a picture that makes the spine […]
Tom Schachtman, “How the French Saved America”
Cultural Center 55 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth, MA, United StatesAmericans today have a love/hate relationship with France, but in How the French Saved America Tom Shachtman shows that without France, there might not be a United States of America. To the rebelling colonies, French assistance made the difference between looming defeat and eventual triumph. Even before the Declaration of Independence was issued, King Louis […]
William Taubman, “Gorbachev: His Life and Times” (To be held at Falmouth Academy)
The definitive biography of the transformational world leader by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Khrushchev. When Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985, the USSR. was one of the world’s two superpowers. By 1989, his liberal policies of perestroika and glasnost had permanently transformed Soviet Communism, and had made enemies of […]
Sean McMeekin, “The Russian Revolution: A New History”
Cultural Center 55 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth, MA, United StatesAcclaimed historian Sean McMeekin traces the events which ended Romanov rule, ushered the Bolsheviks into power, and introduced Communism to the world. Between 1917 and 1922, Russia underwent a complete and irreversible transformation. Taking advantage of the collapse of the Tsarist regime in the middle of World War I, the Bolsheviks staged a hostile takeover […]
James McGrath Morris, “The Ambulance Drivers: Hemingway, Dos Passos, and a Friendship Made & Lost in War”
Cultural Center 55 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth, MA, United StatesAfter meeting for the first time on the front lines of World War I, two aspiring writers forge an intense twenty-year friendship and write some of America's greatest novels, giving voice to a "lost generation" shaken by war. Eager to find his way in life and words, John Dos Passos first witnessed the horror of […]
Leonid Kondratiuk, “Massachusetts Goes to War: The 26th Yankee Division in World War One”
Cultural Center 55 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth, MA, United StatesThe 26th “Yankee” Division, composed of units from the National Guards of the New England states, was the first full US Army division to arrive in France in 1917. Approximately, 15,000 Massachusetts men served in the 26th making it the largest unit the state sent to the war. Virtually, every town had men serving in […]
Joseph Williams, “The Sunken Gold: A Story of World War One, Espionage, and the Greatest Treasure Salvage in History”
Cultural Center 55 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth, MA, United States"The Sunken Gold" is the story of how a British ship, HMS Laurentic, laden with forty-four tons of Allied gold bound for the United States, was sunk off the coast of Ireland by Germany and the epic struggle by divers from the British Navy to recover the treasure. The book also describes the underwater spywork […]
Special Performance: Anne Barrett as Victoria Yule
Cultural Center 55 Palmer Avenue, Falmouth, MA, United StatesTravel back in time to Christmas 1895 with Victoria Yule as your hostess. Victoria Yule will welcome you into her parlor, complete with an antique chair, table and props, and share her plans for the upcoming Christmas festivities. Learn the history of many Christmas traditions from stories passed down to her from “Grandmama and Grandpapa”. […]
