History doesn’t hibernate. This winter, the Concord Visitor Center invites residents and visitors to step inside historic Wright Tavern for History Without Frostbite, a Lunch & Learn series exploring the people, places, and ideas that have shaped Concord.
Held from noon to 1:30 p.m., the programs offer a chance to enjoy local history while staying comfortably out of the cold. Topics range from Indigenous history and American Transcendentalism to architecture, Black heritage, and the women of Concord, with a round of Concord trivia for those ready to put their knowledge to the test.
The winter schedule includes:
- December 8, 2026 — Indigenous Concord: Explore the history and enduring presence of Indigenous people in Concord and the surrounding region.
- December 11, 2026 — Concord Trivia: Test your local knowledge with a lively lunchtime edition of Concord trivia.
- January 5, 2027 —American Transcendentalism: The story of Concord’s second revolution: the idealist writers and spiritual seekers around Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau who melded eastern and western spiritual ideas while questioning how we lived, worked, learned, and loved at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.
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- January 8, 2027 — Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution: A Photographic Journey Through the First Year of the American Revolution: Local photographer, Minute Man National Historical Park volunteer, and Town of Concord tour guide Bruce Magnuson traces the Revolution from the opening salvos at Lexington and Concord through the Evacuation of Boston. His photographs connect modern views of sites in Boston, Cambridge, Fort Ticonderoga, and Quebec City with the events, people, and decisions that shaped the war’s turbulent beginnings.
- February 2, 2027 — Black Heritage Trail: Explore Concord’s Black history through the people, places, and stories highlighted along the town’s Black Heritage Trail.
- February 5, 2027 — Concord Architecture: Discover what Concord’s buildings reveal about the town’s history.
- March 2, 2027 — Women of Concord: Long before the term “changemaker” existed, Concord’s women were rewriting the rules. This program highlights the women who led movements, challenged injustice, and helped create a distinctly American voice in literature, art, and reform. Through their stories–and the places where they lived and worked–participants will discover how women shaped Concord’s past and continue to inspire its present.
- March 5, 2027 — Indigenous Concord: Concord was named for the peaceful coming together of English colonists with the indigenous settlers of Musketaquid. Learn about who was living on Nashawtuc Hill in the early 17th century, and at what is now Orchard House in 1675. A look at the ever-changing narrative of the town’s founding, and the historic encounter of two cultures.
