When the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Bob Dylan in 2016, a debate raged. Some celebrated, while many others questioned the choice.  How could the world’s most prestigious book prize be awarded to a famously cantankerous singer-songwriter who wouldn’t even deign to attend the medal ceremony? In Why Bob Dylan Matters, Harvard Professor Richard F. Thomas answers this question with magisterial erudition. A world expert on Classical poetry, Thomas was initially ridiculed by his colleagues for teaching a…

How Jeff Bezos and John Henry are Remaking Newspapers for the 21st Century Over the course of a generation, the story of the daily newspaper has been an unchecked slide from record profitability and readership to plummeting profits, increasing irrelevance, and inevitable obsolescence. The forces killing major dailies, alternative weeklies, and small-town shoppers are well understood—or seem obvious in hindsight, at least—and the catalog of publications that have gone under reads like a who’s who of American journalism. During the…

A history of Falmouth as told through a century of Portuguese migration: Strawberries and Portuguese civic, religious and economic associations. A special and FREE event, open to all! This talk provides a history of Falmouth from the point of view of the Portuguese settlers who began coming to the town in the decades before 1900. In a period of just a few decades, the numbers of Portuguese in the town swelled to make them not only the single largest ethnic…

A Tour Through the Deadly Streets of Organized Crime Organized criminals have played a major role in Greater Boston's history, lurking just around the corner or inside the inconspicuous building. "Gangland Boston" reveals the hidden history of these places, showing how the Italian Mafia and Irish gangs rose to power, how the Winter Hill Gang ascended to prominence, and how James "Whitey" Bulger become the most feared crime boss throughout the region. From South Boston to the North End, Chinatown,…

The Museums on the Green is proud to be a participant in the Cape Cod Museum Trail’s Festival of Museums on April 28th 2018! This event will be held at the Hyannis Youth Center, 141 Basset Lane, Hyannis, MA, from 10 am to 4 pm The Festival of Museums is just that – a FREE one-day celebration of Cape Cod’s museums and galleries with events throughout the day. Museums and galleries from all around Cape Cod are offering a fun packed day…

From the authors of the bestselling The Finest Hours, the riveting, deeply human story of President John F. Kennedy and two U-2 pilots, Rudy Anderson and Chuck Maultsby, who risked their lives to save America during the Cuban Missile Crisis. During an infamous thirteen-day stretch of October 1962, America faced the prospect of imminent nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Two things saved humanity: the strategic wisdom of John F. Kennedy, and the U-2 aerial spy program. Above and Beyond…

When you think of serial killers throughout history, the names that come to mind are ones like Jack the Ripper, John Wayne Gacy, and Ted Bundy. But what about Tillie Klimek, Moulay Hassan, Kate Bender? The narrative we’re comfortable with is the one where women are the victims of violent crime, not the perpetrators. In fact, serial killers are thought to be so universally, overwhelmingly male that in 1998, FBI profiler Roy Hazelwood infamously declared in a homicide conference, “There…

The Battle of Lexington and Concord challenges the prevailing narrative of the American War of Independence. It was, author George Daughan argues, based as much in economic concerns as political ones. When Massachusetts militiamen turned out in overwhelming numbers to fight the British, they believed they were fighting for their farms and livelihoods, as well as for liberty. Benjamin Franklin was not surprised by this widespread belief. In the years prior to the Revolution, Franklin had toured Great Britain and…

PURITANS AND GUN CONTROL Done in conjunction with the Falmouth No Place For Hate alliance and the Falmouth Gun Buyback Program How did guns fit into the culture which the earliest European settlers brought with them to New England, when Massachusetts was the “wild west” frontier on the continent of North America? Is there anything in 17th century firearms regulations which can inform the present controversies about guns, violence, and freedom? In “Puritans and Gun Control,” David M. Powers explores…

“Into the Lion’s Mouth: the True Story of Dusko Popov: World War II Spy, Patriot and the Real Life Inspiration for James Bond” James Bond has nothing on British double agent Dusko Popov.  As an operative for the Abwehr, SD, MI5, MI6, and FBI during World War II, Popov seduced countless women―including agents on both sides―spoke five languages, and was a crack shot, all while maintaining his cover as a Yugoslav diplomat... On a cool August evening in 1941, a Serbian…

The nail-biting climax of one of the greatest political battles in American history: the ratification of the constitutional amendment that granted women the right to vote. Nashville, August 1920. Thirty-five states have ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, twelve have rejected or refused to vote, and one last state is needed. It all comes down to Tennessee, the moment of truth for the suffragists, after a seven-decade crusade. The opposing forces include politicians with careers at stake, liquor companies, railroad magnates, and…

Amid the ashes of Nazi Germany’s defeat, Marianne von Lingenfels returns to the once-grand castle of her husband’s ancestors, an imposing stone fortress now fallen into ruin following years of war. The widow of a resister murdered in the failed July 20, 1944, plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Marianne plans to uphold the promise she made to her husband’s brave conspirators: to find and protect their wives, her fellow resistance widows. First Marianne rescues six-year-old Martin, the son of her…

The New York Times bestselling author of Dark Invasion and The Last Goodnight once again illuminates the lives of little-known individuals who played a significant role in America’s history as he chronicles the incredible true story of a critical, recently declassified counterintelligence mission and two remarkable agents whose story has been called "the greatest secret of the Cold War." In 1946, genius linguist and codebreaker Meredith Gardner discovered that the KGB was running an extensive network of strategically placed spies…

The Soldier, the singer and the spymaster who defied the Japanese during World War II On January 2, 1942, Japanese troops marched into Manila unopposed by U.S. forces. Manila was a strategic port, a romantic American outpost and a jewel of a city. Tokyo saw its conquest of the Philippines as the key in its plan to control all of Asia, including Australia. Thousands of soldiers surrendered and were sent on the notorious eighty-mile Bataan Death March. But thousands of…

Dr. Twyman-Ghoshal will discuss some of her research on maritime piracy in our globalized world. The talk will explore what maritime piracy is, the nature and trends of contemporary maritime piracy around the world, and an exploration of some of the root causes of Somali piracy. The conversation will delve into the relationship between the ocean environment (specifically illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing) and maritime piracy.   Anamika Twyman-Ghoshal holds a Ph.D. in Criminology and Justice Policy from Northeastern…

A Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist examines the life and times of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, arguing she left behind the Kennedy family’s most profound political legacy. This lecture will be held at Falmouth Academy While Joe Kennedy was grooming his sons for the White House and the Senate, his Stanford-educated daughter Eunice was tapping her father’s fortune and her brothers’ political power to engineer one of the great civil rights movements of our time on behalf of millions of children and adults…

This talk is designed to introduce the audience to the subject of the US whale fishery from the 17th to the early 20th century through a survey of the different facets of the industry. Mr. Martin discusses historical development,  the purpose of the fishery and  its economic importance, risks associated with whaling, the most important species hunted,  the products of whaling, the whale ships, the crew and life on ship-board,  the hunt, capture and processing of whales, the leisure arts…

From the birth of our nation to the recent crushing defeat of the first female presidential candidate, this book highlights women's impact on United States politics and government. It documents the fight for women's right to vote, drawing on historic research, biographies of leaders, and such original sources as photos, line art, charts, graphs, documents, posters, ads, and buttons. It presents this often-forgotten struggle in an accessible, conversational, relevant manner for a wide audience. Here are the groundbreaking convention records,…

The exile of Pope Pius IX and the birth of modern Europe by Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Kertzer Days after the assassination of his prime minister in the middle of Rome in November 1848, Pope Pius IX found himself a virtual prisoner in his own palace. The wave of revolution that had swept through Europe now seemed poised to put an end to the popes’ thousand-year reign over the Papal States, if not indeed to the papacy itself. Disguising himself…

In the follow-up to his New York Times bestseller Rescue Road, acclaimed journalist Peter Zheutlin offers a heartwarming and often humorous new look into the world of rescue dogs. Sharing lessons from his own experiences adopting Labs with large personalities as well as stories and advice from dozens of families and rescue advocates, Zheutlin reveals the surprising and inspiring life lessons rescue dogs can teach us, such as: - How to “walk a mile in a dog’s paws” to get a brand-new perspective…

Absentee owners. Single-minded concern for the bottom line. Friction between workers and management. Hostile takeovers at the hands of avaricious and unaccountable multinational interests. The story of America’s industrial decline is all too familiar—and yet, somehow, still hard to fathom. Jamie Sayen spent years interviewing residents of Groveton, New Hampshire, about the century-long saga of their company town. The community’s paper mill had been its economic engine since the early 1900s. Purchased and revived by local ownership in the postwar…

How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History Between the world wars, no sport was more popular, or more dangerous, than airplane racing. Thousands of fans flocked to multi‑day events, and cities vied with one another to host them. The pilots themselves were hailed as dashing heroes who cheerfully stared death in the face. Well, the men were hailed. Female pilots were more often ridiculed than praised for what the press portrayed as silly efforts to horn…

HISTORIC RE-ENACTOR portrays AMELIA EARHART Historic re-enactor, Jessa Piaia, will present a one-person interpretation of pioneer aviatrix Amelia Earhart entitled “Meet Amelia Earhart (1897-1937): First Lady of the Air”. The program is set in 1936, when Earhart was a popular speaker on the national circuit and preparing for take-off for the around-the-world flight in 1937.  Inspired at an early age by the suffragist movement, Earhart identified with the generation of “the new woman” who had won the right to vote…

THIS PROGRAM WILL BE HELD AT THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF FALMOUTH Join us for a Buccaneer Duo--Eric Jay Dolin and Marie Kesten Zahn! Eric Jay Dolin, author of "Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America's Most Notorious Pirates" Set against the backdrop of the Age of Exploration, Black Flags, Blue Waters reveals the dramatic and surprising history of American piracy’s “Golden Age”―spanning the late 1600s through the early 1700s―when lawless pirates plied the coastal waters of North…

The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975. Millions of Vietnamese on both sides of the conflict were killed. Nearly 60,000 Americans were among those who died. You have all seen or heard about the war in the recent Ken Burns series: "The Vietnam War." But what happened after the country of South Vietnam no longer ceased to exist? What happened to the former South Vietnamese military officers and men, to their families and to their country? The newly-released book…

Since 2001 the Patriots have played in eight Super Bowl championships and won five, a run of excellence unparalleled in all of professional sports. In a league designed to ensure that no one franchise can dominate over time, New England won for over a decade and a half. A dynasty that began with an improbable run to a championship in 2001 has rebuilt, rebooted, and retooled several times over, winning most recently in 2017. But in those years, no other…

The morning of November 25th, 1856, Mary Chipman Lawrence set sail aboard the whaling ship Addison bound for the Pacific on a voyage that would last three and a half years.  In this performance, Mary will bring forth from her meticulously kept journal, the joys and tribulations of life at sea with her husband, Captain Samuel Lawrence, and their daughter Minnie. The sights and sounds of foreign ports and their inhabitants, the sailors' sea shanties, the surprisingly robust social life…

Little has been known of one of the most important figures in early American history, Dr. Joseph Warren, an architect of the colonial rebellion, and a man who might have led the country as Washington or Jefferson did had he not been martyred at Bunker Hill in 1775. Warren was involved in almost every major insurrectionary act in the Boston area for a decade, from the Stamp Act protests to the Boston Massacre to the Boston Tea Party, and his…

Why did the once‑ardent hero of the American Revolution become its most scandalous general?​ In the spring of 1792, President George Washington chose “Mad” Anthony Wayne to defend America from a potentially devastating threat. Native forces had decimated the standing army and Washington needed a champion to open the country stretching from the Ohio River westward to the headwaters of the Mississippi for settlement. A spendthrift, womanizer, and heavy drinker who had just been ejected from Congress for voter fraud,…

Pamela Parmal, the curator of Textile and Fashion Arts at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston will be here to discuss quilts and coverlets from colonial times to the present day.  

The definitive narrative history of the New England Patriots. The definitive, lively, and robust history of the New England Patriots, from Billy Sullivan to Bill Belichick and everything in between The New England Patriots have become a dynasty, though it didn’t begin that way. Love ’em, hate ’em, the Pats have captured this country’s attention like no other franchise. From two award-winning authors, this is the first complete story of a legendary team and its five championship trophies. In the…

The thrilling behind-the-scenes account of how the most sensational scandal in NFL history culminated in the greatest comeback in sports history, featuring dozens of exclusive interviews with Patriots players--including Tom Brady himself. In January 2015, rumors circulated that the New England Patriots--a team long suspected of abiding by the "if you ain't cheating you ain't trying" philosophy--had used under-inflated footballs in their playoff victory against the Indianapolis Colts. As evidence began to build, however, a full on NFL investigation was…