Part of the 2026 Summer Maritime Lecture Series!
Presented by Minot’s expert, Joe Lebherz.
Free and open to all!
Step into the evolving history of the American wedding through a special lecture, The American Wedding: A Revolution in Style and Tradition, presented by Marie Schlag, Textile Conservator and Manager of the Society’s Textile and Costume Collection.
This engaging presentation explores the wedding gown as a powerful lens for viewing American history. Tracing its evolution over time, the lecture examines how wedding attire reflects broader social, cultural, and political shifts, as well as changing ideas about identity, independence, and tradition. Topics include the structure of the marriage institution, past and present; cultural wedding customs; the influence of royal and celebrity weddings; and the evolving ways individuals have met their partners across generations. The lecture also highlights the emergence of American fashion designers between 1940 and 1970, whose work helped redefine bridal style by adapting contemporary fashion trends into wedding attire.
Following the lecture, guests are invited to view the Society’s current exhibition, The American Wedding: A Revolution in Style and Tradition, curated by Marie Schlag with assistance from Cathie McGowan, as an added opportunity to explore these themes through objects from the collection.
Part of the 2026 Summer Maritime Lecture Series!
Join us for an engaging presentation by attorney and novelist Jessie Manchester Lubitz as she shares her research on rumrunning along Cohasset's coast. Conducted while writing her debut novel, tentatively titled The Bootlegger's Apprentice (to be published April 6), her research uncovers the fascinating history of Prohibition-era smuggling on the South Shore. Discover Cohasset's favorite bootlegger drop sites and hear stories of the late-night exploits that unfolded along our coastline during the Prohibition era.
Jessie Manchester Lubitz holds a degree in History from Brown University and a law degree from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. Although she grew up on a dirt road in Vermont, she now calls Cohasset home.
Free and open to all!
Step into the evolving history of the American wedding through a special lecture, The American Wedding: A Revolution in Style and Tradition, presented by Marie Schlag, Textile Conservator and Manager of the Society’s Textile and Costume Collection.
This engaging presentation explores the wedding gown as a powerful lens for viewing American history. Tracing its evolution over time, the lecture examines how wedding attire reflects broader social, cultural, and political shifts, as well as changing ideas about identity, independence, and tradition. Topics include the structure of the marriage institution, past and present; cultural wedding customs; the influence of royal and celebrity weddings; and the evolving ways individuals have met their partners across generations. The lecture also highlights the emergence of American fashion designers between 1940 and 1970, whose work helped redefine bridal style by adapting contemporary fashion trends into wedding attire.
Following the lecture, guests are invited to view the Society’s current exhibition, The American Wedding: A Revolution in Style and Tradition, curated by Marie Schlag with assistance from Cathie McGowan, as an added opportunity to explore these themes through objects from the collection.
Our Summer 2026 Maritime Speaker Series kicks off with a free lecture by local historians Mick Dick and Aidan Long!
In 1849, 176 years ago, desperate emigrants sailed from Galway to Boston, only to be shipwrecked on America’s doorstep. Today, we remember the overwhelming human tragedy and Cohasset’s compassion for the strangers on our shore.
Learn of the tragic wreck of the brig St. John, how Cohasset helped the survivors, and of the hardships back home from which these immigrants escaped.
Step into the evolving history of the American wedding through a special lecture, The American Wedding: A Revolution in Style and Tradition, presented by Marie Schlag, Textile Conservator and Manager of the Society’s Textile and Costume Collection.
This engaging presentation explores the wedding gown as a powerful lens for viewing American history. Tracing its evolution over time, the lecture examines how wedding attire reflects broader social, cultural, and political shifts, as well as changing ideas about identity, independence, and tradition. Topics include the structure of the marriage institution, past and present; cultural wedding customs; the influence of royal and celebrity weddings; and the evolving ways individuals have met their partners across generations. The lecture also highlights the emergence of American fashion designers between 1940 and 1970, whose work helped redefine bridal style by adapting contemporary fashion trends into wedding attire.
Following the lecture, guests are invited to view the Society’s current exhibition, The American Wedding: A Revolution in Style and Tradition, curated by Marie Schlag with assistance from Cathie McGowan, as an added opportunity to explore these themes through objects from the collection.
Step into the evolving history of the American wedding through a special lecture, The American Wedding: A Revolution in Style and Tradition, presented by Marie Schlag, Textile Conservator and Manager of the Society’s Textile and Costume Collection.
This engaging presentation explores the wedding gown as a powerful lens for viewing American history. Tracing its evolution over time, the lecture examines how wedding attire reflects broader social, cultural, and political shifts, as well as changing ideas about identity, independence, and tradition. Topics include the structure of the marriage institution, past and present; cultural wedding customs; the influence of royal and celebrity weddings; and the evolving ways individuals have met their partners across generations. The lecture also highlights the emergence of American fashion designers between 1940 and 1970, whose work helped redefine bridal style by adapting contemporary fashion trends into wedding attire.
Following the lecture, guests are invited to view the Society’s current exhibition, The American Wedding: A Revolution in Style and Tradition, curated by Marie Schlag with assistance from Cathie McGowan, as an added opportunity to explore these themes through objects from the collection.
Step into the evolving history of the American wedding through a special lecture, The American Wedding: A Revolution in Style and Tradition, presented by Marie Schlag, Textile Conservator and Manager of the Society’s Textile and Costume Collection.
This engaging presentation explores the wedding gown as a powerful lens for viewing American history. Tracing its evolution over time, the lecture examines how wedding attire reflects broader social, cultural, and political shifts, as well as changing ideas about identity, independence, and tradition. Topics include the structure of the marriage institution, past and present; cultural wedding customs; the influence of royal and celebrity weddings; and the evolving ways individuals have met their partners across generations. The lecture also highlights the emergence of American fashion designers between 1940 and 1970, whose work helped redefine bridal style by adapting contemporary fashion trends into wedding attire.
Following the lecture, guests are invited to view the Society’s current exhibition, The American Wedding: A Revolution in Style and Tradition, curated by Marie Schlag with assistance from Cathie McGowan, as an added opportunity to explore these themes through objects from the collection.
As America approaches its 250th birthday, we’re turning back to the people who helped shape it, right here in Cohasset.
This free, special lecture series, honoring the semi-quincentennial of the American Revolution, features five talks that explore Cohasset and its residents during this pivotal moment in history.
📜 Revolutionary War Patriots of Hingham and Cohasset
📆 Sunday, March 8, 1:00 PM
📍 Beechwood Meetinghouse and Museum
🎤 Ellen Stine Miller, local historian & author
Hingham historian Walter Bouvé estimated that Hingham contributed 600 to 750 soldiers to the Revolutionary War effort. Ellen Miller and Susan Wetzel took on the task of identifying those individuals, resulting in a book with over 850 names and sketches. Since Cohasset was part of Hingham until 1770, many of those listed came from Hingham's “second precinct.” This talk summarizes their work, including its challenges, evolving goals, sources, efforts at inclusion, and data analysis. It will also include an update based on new records and research that expanded our list considerably and challenged assumptions about town Loyalists.
Ellen is the volunteer manager of The Old Ordinary, a historic house museum owned by the Hingham Historical Society. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, teaches genealogy at the Weymouth Senior Center, and conducts historical research for the Hingham Historical Society. She co-authored the book, "Revolutionary War Patriots of Hingham," with Susan Wetzel and has recently published an addendum to that work.
Free event!
The fourth and final installment of our 2025 Summer Maritime Speaker Series, featuring a talk on scuba diving off the coast of the South Shore by Tom Mulloy, a master scuba diver. Tom has completed over 6,000 dives on historic shipwrecks along the eastern seaboard, from Canada to the Caribbean. A frequent explorer of the area surrounding Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse, Tom will discuss his dives and showcase some artifacts from local underwater shipwrecks and the ocean floor near the lighthouse.
In partnership with Cohasset Maritime Institute.
Free event!
The third installment of our 2025 Summer Speaker Series, featuring a talk on the construction of the Second Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse following the catastrophic 1851 destruction of the First Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse, by local historian Joe Lebhertz.
Joe Lebherz has dedicated the last twenty years to preserving and restoring lighthouses. He served as a curator at the Maine Lighthouse Museum and was a founding member of the American Lighthouse Foundation. His notable works include building a replica of the Second Minot’s Ledge Light Watch Room, complete with the beacon’s original rotating mechanism, Fresnel lens, and a 640-lb bronze fog bell, located on Government Island. Additionally, he crafted a 5-foot scale model of the first Minot’s Ledge Light using brass fittings to investigate its collapse 16 months after construction.
Free event!
The second installment of our 2025 Summer Speaker Series, featuring a talk on historic maritime disasters off the coast of Cohasset by local historians Mike Dick and Debbie Shadd.
In partnership with Cohasset Conservation Trust.
Free Event!
In this first installment of our Summer 2025 Speaker Series, David Robinson, Director & Chief Archeologist of the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archeological Resources (BUAR), will discuss the challenging, yet essential work of the BUAR to discover and protect Massachusetts’ underwater cultural heritage. These historic sites include submerged wharves, aircraft, places of importance to local Native American tribes, and over 3,500 shipwrecks off the coast of Massachusetts, including the 1849 wreck of the Irish immigrant ship the brig St. John in Cohasset.
Event in partnership with the Cohasset Center for Student Coastal Research.
Part of the Summer 2023 Maritime Lecture Series!
Historian and author Catherine Shannon will present a talk on the tragic wreck of the Brig St. John, carrying over 100 Irish immigrants, which ran aground on the shores off the coast of Cohasset during a storm in 1849.
Catherine B. Shannon is Professor Emerita of History at Westfield State University, where she taught Irish, British, and European history. She also taught Irish history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her publications include studies of the roles of British politicians Arthur J. Balfour and Lord Randolph Churchill in Anglo-Irish affairs between 1878 to 1923. She has documented the role of women in the Northern Irish conflict and peace process in numerous articles and book chapters. Her recent publications focus on the relief that Boston’s Irish and non-Irish citizens provided to Ireland during the Great Irish Famine of the 1840s and subsequent food emergencies in the later nineteenth century.
Professor Shannon has served as president of the Charitable Irish Society of Boston and the Eire Society of Boston. She has been the recipient of various awards and honors, including an honorary doctorate of sacred letters from St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto, the Gold Medal of the Eire Society, and the Trailblazer Award from the South Shore Irish Heritage Trail.
**Due to unforeseen circumstances, this event will be changing. Contact us for further details.**
Part of the Summer 2023 Maritime Lecture Series!
Local historian Arthur Milmore will discuss the loss of the steamer ship Portland, a palatial side-wheel which left Boston in November of 1898 for Portland, Maine, and never arrived. It was caught in 100 MPH winds, and all 192 passengers, along with the crew of 65, perished. The wreck would not be found for 91 years and over 30 miles from where it was thought to have sunk.
Included in the four-lecture series package.
Part of the Summer 2023 Maritime Lecture Series!
Join us for a talk by local historian Joe Lebherz on the short life of the First Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse and how on a harrowing night in April 1851, the new lighthouse was struck by a major storm that caused severe damage throughout the Boston area. The following morning, Cohasset residents rose to discover that all that remained of the lighthouse (and its keepers) was a few bent pilings on the rock.
Included in the four-lecture series package.
Part of the Summer 2023 Maritime Lecture Series!
During the 19th century, over forty sea captains' wives from the small community of Duxbury, Massachusetts, traveled aboard ships with their husbands, often with their children in tow. Join Historian Carolyn Ravenscroft as she shares her research and some of the fascinating, and sometimes harrowing, stories of these adventurous women.
Carolyn Ravenscroft received her BA in History from Northeastern University and both her Masters in History and in Library Science from Simmons University. She has been the Historian and Archivist at the Duxbury Rural & Historical Society for fourteen years. During that time, she has researched the town's vibrant history, from its colonial days to the present.
Included in the four-lecture series package.
Join us at the Beechwood Meetinghouse and Museum on Saturday, March 11th at 3:00 PM for a talk on "Lincoln's New England Connections" by local historian, Tom Turner. Dr. Turner will discuss the deep and lasting connections Abraham Lincoln had to New England, including local ties to Hingham and Cohasset.
Thomas R. Turner received his BA, MA, and Ph.D. from Boston University. He taught for 39 years in the History Department at Bridgewater State University, retiring in 2010, and continued teaching part-time until the spring of 2019. He is the author of 5 books and numerous articles about Lincoln, focusing particularly on Lincoln’s assassination. His book, Beware the People Weeping: Public Opinion and the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, was the first book about the assassination written by an academic historian.
Learn about fashion history from 1800-1970 through examples from Cohasset Historical Society’s incredible Historic Costume and Textile Collection. Some notable Cohasset families included are the Towers, Barron-Bancrofts, and Lows.
Fabrics, workmanship, and style will come into play as the Society’s Textile Collection Manager and textile conservator, Marie Schlag, shares insights into the economic, political, and cultural effects of history on fashion.
Talk followed by light refreshments.
Seating is limited!
BY POPULAR DEMAND: SECOND PRESENTATION ADDED!
Learn about fashion history from 1800-1970 through examples from Cohasset Historical Society’s incredible Historic Costume and Textile Collection. Some notable Cohasset families included are the Towers, Barron-Bancrofts, and Lows.
Fabrics, workmanship, and style will come into play as the Society’s Textile Collection Manager and textile conservator, Marie Schlag, shares insights into the economic, political, and cultural effects of history on fashion.
Talk followed by light refreshments.
Seating is limited!
Join us for a presentation by Cohasset Historical Society Research Assistant Brendan Hart, on the history of Surfmen, The Humane Society, and nautical lifesaving in Cohasset. These individuals and their organizations were precursors to our modern Coast Guard. We will discuss their bravery, innovation, and commitment and the long-lasting impact that they had.
The event is free to all, but please register in advance.
Join us for a presentation from local historian Bob Jackman on the history of Beechwood Church, a core institution of the Beechwood community. This program will examine the architecture and explore the congregation and ministers of the historic church. Part of the Beechwood Heritage Series.
Join us for a presentation from local historian Bob Jackman on the history of Brown’s General Store. Originally established by the Pratts prior to the Civil War, and later purchased and expanded by the Browns, the store remained a center of the Beechwood and West End communities until 1980. Part of the Beechwood Heritage Series.
Join the Cohasset Historical Society for a cemetery walking tour with local historian, Bob Jackman. Visit the gravestones of prominent Beechwood residents and learn more about their lives and contributions to the community.
Enter off of Doane Street and park on the loop. The tour will meet at the top of the loop. Please wear appropriate shoes for walking on rough terrain.
Local historian Bob Jackman will present a lecture on the displacement of Beechwood residents during the creation of the Naval Ammunition Depot Annex in 1941. He will discuss the early residents, farms, and businesses that thrived in what is today part of Wampatuck State Park and examine the protests, armed confrontations, and delayed payments that resulted from the displacement.
