Concord Festival of the Authors

September 15, 2022

October 2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the Concord Festival of Authors (CFA), a town-wide celebration of the written and spoken word. The CFA is managed by the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library and led by Curator Lara Wilson, founder of Be Well Be Here, who collaborates with local organizations to promote top-notch literary events. This year’s CFA will run October 13 – 30 and will feature over thirty online and in-person events. Barbara Gugluizza, CFPL Head of Reference, interviewed CFA Curator Lara Wilson about the 30th annual Concord Festival of Authors.

Revolutionary Books for Minutemen, Militia, and Loyalists

March 15, 2020

Jaimee Joroff

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Whether your loyalties lie with the King or the colonists, you can catch up with some of the best books on the subject this spring.

Harvard’s Year of Exile

Lexington and Concord. April 19, 1775. Where and when the Revolutionary War started is well known. Not so well known is the fact that Harvard played an important, if odd, role afterward in the early days of the Revolution, turning its campus over to the nascent American army. On May 1, 1775, undergraduates were dismissed and given an early summer vacation. Classes resumed on Oct. 5 in Concord, 20 miles away — the beginning of a wartime academic sojourn.

The Spring Issue is Here!

Patriots' Day is almost here, and this issue of Discover Concord brings you a list of events, the parade route, and much more to make your celebration special. Also in this issue is an in-depth look at the new PBS documentary "Henry David Thoreau," a fascinating piece on how the Concord Lyceum came to be, and a look at how Massachusetts civilians on the homefront managed the challenging months of January - May 1776. Freedom's Way National Heritage Area is launching an exciting program you won't want to miss called "Declaring Independence: Then & Now" in more than 20 towns across Massachusetts. With two special fold-out inserts, maps, lists of shops, and so much more, you'll want to get your copy early!

TriCon at 200: Faith in Action Since 1826

This year, the Trinitarian Congregational Church (TriCon) on Walden Street is celebrating its 200th anniversary. However, from the early days of Concord’s founding in 1635, there was only one meeting house, and that was First Church in the center of town. In 1778, Reverend Ezra Ripley assumed the pastorate, a position he would hold for 63 years. By 1825, First Parish, like many Congregational churches in Massachusetts, had changed, adopting a Unitarian theology. But not all parishioners were happy with “Dr. Ripley’s church” or his unorthodox preaching. In March 1826, nine dissenters, joined by seven townspeople, left First Parish to form their own “religious conference.”