Things to See & Do

Joint the Concord Free Public Library Corporation for the annual Joel Myerson Lecture: "Stepping Out of Time: Thoreau, Lopez, and the Question of Transcendentalism Today," presented by Prof. Laura Dassow Walls. "Is this who we are?" It's the question of the day, but generations ago the Transcendentalists asked it as well, as they confronted an America founded on the promise of freedom but mired in the economics of slavery. Their legacy to us is paradoxical: they offer a vision transcending worldly affairs, even as they demand we attend to the burning world.

Stop by Concord Art and shop our Yart Sale on Saturday, October 11th (10am – 4pm). You’ll find fine art at a bargain, plus all sorts of decorative objects. There will be trinkets, and treasures galore! All proceeds from the event will support our mission: To promote and advance the visual arts and artists, and to enrich and sustain our cultural community. No tickets required!

Join local author Ruth Madison to celebrate her newest novel, Waiting to Break. This deeply emotional contemporary romance explores themes of community, grief, family expectations, the dignity of choice, and what it means to be truly seen. Ruth will read from her novel, answer audience questions, and sign books. Copies of the book will be available for purchase.  Click on the link for more information about the book.

Join historian Zara Anishanslin and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston curator Erica Hirshler for a conversation about Dr. Anishanslin new book, The Painter’s Fire, which tells the gripping story of three revolutionary artists – Robert Edge Pine, Prince Demah, and Patience Wright – who used their creative talents to challenge the British monarchy and advance the cause of liberty. 

A few years ago, historian Elizabeth Herbin-Triant uncovered a long-hidden family secret: her family tree included one of Providence’s most prolific slave traders, Cyprian Sterry. Her research into Sterry’s life—marked by great wealth, a role at Brown University, and eventual ruin—led her to explore both her white and African American lineage. In Family Tree: A Reckoning, Herbin-Triant examines how families forget painful histories and asks: What do we gain—as individuals and as a nation—from confronting the full truth of our past?

Join Linda Coombs (Aquinnah Wampanoag) as she discusses her ground-breaking Young Adult book, Colonization and the Wampanoag Story, part of the Race to the Truth Series published by Penguin Random House that seeks to correct some of the long-standing myths about American history. The book has attracted many readers for its compelling story of a young girl's life in a Wampanoag family and community long before any contact with Europeans. This is juxtaposed in the following chapters with documented accounts of European exploration, settlement, the institution of colonization, as well as its many impacts, which carry through to the present day. 

Join filmmaker Raouf Zaki on September 27 for a screening of his film Dream, in celebration of Blindness Awareness Month. Frank, an autistic man, loses his parents to COVID-19. He visits a petting zoo where he meets Daisy, a blind woman with dreams of sailing solo. Immersing himself in the world of the blind, Frank experiences how they rely on their other senses through activities such as fencing, and begins to face his own fears. 

Professor Kate Culkin will discuss her new book,   Emerson’s Daughters - Ellen Tucker Emerson, Edith Emerson Forbes, and Their Family Legacy. She will focus on the critical role the manuscript holdings of the Concord Free Public Library's William Munroe Special Collections played in her ability to write the book. Emerson’s Daughters is a biography of a sisterhood, the first full-length study of Ellen and Edith’s lives.

ARE YOU PREPARED? Come celebrate National Preparedness Month on Monday, September 22, 2025, at 1:00 PM, the first day of Climate Preparedness Week.

Artisans Way welcomes Treestump Woodcrafts for their much-anticipated annual trunk show.  A family of craftspeople from Arizona, they use wood and stone to create furniture, bowls, trays, sushi and bread boards, and kitchen utensils. Their work is made primarily of mesquite, filling the meandering cracks and knots in the wood with natural turquoise or hand-gathered river rocks to produce sublime one-of-a-kind pieces.  All in-stock Treestump Woodwork will be 15% off during the show. Sept 20 - 21