Events Calendar

The Vermont Historical Society will be closed in observance of Veteran's Day on Wednesday, November 11th, 2026.

A virtual lunchtime conversation with Trish Alley about her recently published memoir, "Defining Grace: Showing Up with the Gift of Divine Mischief."

The Leahy Library at the Vermont History Center will open late on Tuesday, November 24th, at 10:00 AM.

Offered the second WEDNESDAY of each month, September 2026 through February 2027, 1:00 to 3:00 pm.  All programs will take place at the Vermont History Museum, 109 State Street, Montpelier. Recommended…

The Leahy Library at the Vermont History Center will open late on Tuesday, December 22nd, at 10:00 AM.

The Leahy Library will be closed for our annual spring cleaning from Tuesday, December 29, 2026, through Friday, January 29, 2027.

Offered the second WEDNESDAY of each month, September 2026 through February 2027, 1:00 to 3:00 pm.  All programs will take place at the Vermont History Museum, 109 State Street, Montpelier. Recommended…

Join author Robert A. Mello at the New Haven Town Offices for a talk about his new book, When The Trees Came Back

Offered the second WEDNESDAY of each month, September 2026 through February 2027, 1:00 to 3:00 pm.  All programs will take place at the Vermont History Museum, 109 State Street, Montpelier. Recommended…

What would a museum reflecting your life look like? What would the experience be? In this illustrated presentation Frankie Vagnone, author of the Anarchist Guide to Historic House Museums and founder of Twisted Preservation will build a conceptual framework that may help us all strategically re-frame our historic sites. HSM will also host a brief Annual Meeting prior to the talk.

Annual meeting and viewing of the exhibit featuring the work of three Townshend photographers: Robert George (1987), Karl Decker (2010), and David Barnum (2026). Light refreshments.

Featured presentation: Intersections Mapping Program: An Interactive Historical Atlas of Burlington's People, Places, and Communities. Presented by Lost Mural Project directors Aaron Goldberg and Bob Duncan, this project details the changing urban landscape of the working-class immigrant families and other residents of the Queen City who lived in the North End from 1850-1950.

Doug Anderson brings the fascinating story of Joseph Addison to the town that bears his name Joseph Addison lived in London over 300 years ago. And though he never set foot in North America, he played a vital role in the American Revolution.  Addison was also a playwright, and it was his hit play, Cato , that had a profound effect on the American Revolution. The title character is the Roman general who stood up to Caesar and tyranny, so it's maybe no surprise that it was the most popular play in the colonies. The play spoke directly to resistance, to be willing to lay down your life for freedom. Cato was George Washington's favorite play.  Jefferson and Adams quoted from it in their letters.  When Nathan Hale said, “I regret that I have only one life to give for my country,” he was quoting Joseph Addison. That's our Joe, the Addison of Addison County. The Addison of the Town of Addison.

A 250th birthday event presented by Jack Penca. Our Founding Fathers had 27 grievances with Great Britain which led us into a war for Independence. To ensure that the newly created country did not perpetuate the same abuses of power that brought about the Revolutionary War, our Constitution and Bill of Rights were created. Those documents are still relevant in our current interesting times and prove that "what is past is prologue." Come with questions and see how early compromises still have the power to keep our leaders and our civic discourse democratic and accountable.

Presented by Izzy Provoncha.

A talk from Middlebury Muslim Chaplin and Interfaith Advisor, Zahra Moeini Meybodi. Her talk is based on primary research undertaken on travels to three different sacred sites in Iran in 2023. Sponsored by the Henry Sheldon Museum.

Talk by Jim Douglas. Part of the Castleton U. S. History series of talks in honor of the 250th.

Special guests will include Tillie Walden, author of Charity and Sylvia The fifth annual festival will feature panel discussions, workshops, and exhibiting cartoonists creating non-fiction and autobiographical work, with special events and workshops held throughout the entire weekend.

Vermont is home to the third highest number of covered bridges in the United States, after Pennsylvania and Ohio. If you look at the number per square mile, Vermont ranks number one. There are five of them right here in Bennington County – three in Bennington alone! These bridges are part of Vermont's identity, captured in paintings, the subject of ghost stories, and part of many of our daily commutes. In this presentation, local researchers will share what they know about our county's beautiful and historic covered bridges.

The Ethan Allen Homestead Museum presents our Free Monthly Lecture: "The American Revolution and the Fate of the World" by Dr. Richard Bell, professor of history at the University of Maryland. This is a remote-only program. This program is free to attend. Registration is required and is limited. Register on Zoom here: ( https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/SykwBj4_TAa6i-fdvx80SQ?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAcGRvZgFicmlkETFSVVJ1Q1lkVWxUMjJHZzROc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHmNDoJU-RvruSd1CIEtKARjxGkpWVrT9Wbl6IuddCR5KvkIP48iprvthobyW_aem_LNDrPA6vdxVFOc9J0ldZ_w ) This event will be recorded by CCTV and later available on our YouTube channel (@EthanAllenHomestead). ABOUT THIS MONTH'S LECTURE: When we think of the American Revolution, we picture 13 colonies squaring off against the British Crown in a spirited bid for independence. But this version of the story is only half the truth—and perhaps not even the most interesting half. In this riveting program, historian and author Richard Bell invites us to rediscover the Revolution as a world war that unleashed chaos, opportunity, and transformation across six continents—from the sugar fields of the Caribbean to the court of the King of Mysore, from refugee camps on the Canadian frontier to political uprisings in Sierra Leone and Peru—and traces the far-flung reverberations of the war through the lives of the people it displaced, empowered, or destroyed. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Richard Bell is Professor of History at the University of Maryland and author of the book Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and their Astonishing Odyssey Home which was a finalist for the George Washington Prize and the Harriet Tubman Prize. He has held major research fellowships at Yale, Cambridge, and the Library of Congress and is the recipient of the National Endowment of the Humanities Public Scholar award and the Andrew Carnegie Fellowship. His new book, The American Revolution and the Fate of the World, was published by Penguin in November 2025. He maintains a list of upcoming events at Richard-Bell.com. ( https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FRichard-Bell.com%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAcGRvZgFicmlkETFSVVJ1Q1lkVWxUMjJHZzROc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHrJKJBY6MF13VzJCM1Hr33Js4LdP3ZmNuguTT6xHzsFvj4HBmmsbjLv4VPI-_aem_LlbOa0qn5sxoLP6IKscKqg&h=AUDiYrFl3AH87ZffwP1hcmdMtnPISGNkaavI0bMB4Tu2GL38xx-XDXHJEz_Bm6mA_-aTbHS--xkArnp8xZoP3JCGGE8nVplyHWZvnj5m8m5jcD41BarP5tzCTCg4TLbfShUnfduVjQEX&__tn__=q&c[0]=AUAgaWYmYUvAW1xotQc7maB5rv3WNhLoQRUE69MZsV6lMho6t3S8Qc9sIPkr2yJjNlUyyO1G-W2mm8zZQtj3tSR6Dc-m57T5dbxdgPDfoPRPMmBgMFDQdnfWg_JSAnBpBcLDXq_MLf5H0nCY2d4J-0h9aQObDYZYXY4 ) THANK YOU: This lecture is supported in part by M&T Bank, NorthCountry Community Credit Union, & Northfield Savings Bank.