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Upcoming Events
Douglass Day 2026
All are welcome for this national transcribe-a-thon and history event to celebrate Douglass Day 2026!
Date/Time: 13 February 2026, 12-3 pm
Location: Simon W. Robinson Masonic Lodge, 3 Bedford St, Lexington
Parking: On street and behind First Parish Church, 7 Harrington Rd (1 block away)
Cost: Free! (donations welcome)
We will join thousands of people across the country collaborating to make Black history primary research materials more widely available and to celebrate Frederick Douglass’ chosen birthday: Valentine’s Day. This year, the transcriptions will focus on the Colored Conventions Project from the University of Delaware. These state and national conventions, held from the 1830s through Reconstruction, allowed Black abolitionists and leaders to work toward advancing the legal and civil rights of Black Americans in the 19th century and provided opportunities for leaders like Douglass to rise to prominence.
Throughout the afternoon we will take part in transcription activities (a tutorial is included), hear presentations from local historians, and enjoy cake to celebrate Frederick Douglass’ birthday.
Whether you can attend for an hour or all afternoon, we hope you will join us for this fun and educational event for students, educators, and history enthusiasts.
Participants are encouraged to bring laptops if they have one.
Sponsors: Lexington Lyceum Advocates, Lexington History Museums, LexSeeHer, Association of Black Citizens of Lexington
Questions? Events@lexlyceum.org
Resources: Transcription Guidance
Past Events
Our bodies, whose rules? Government and Individuals’ roles in personal and public health
A Lyceum Conversation brought to you by the Lexington Lyceum and The Lexington Observer
Date/Time: 21 October 2025, 7-8:45 pm
Location: Lexington Community Center, 39 Marrett Rd, Lexington
Cost: $5, suggested donation
This interactive conversation will explore the changing roles of government and individuals in healthcare: Who decides on who needs vaccinations and when? When, if ever, should the government respond to a public health situation by imposing lockdowns or masking? Who should pay for healthcare?
Moderator & Panelists
David Fairman, Moderator
Senior Mediator, Consensus Building Institute
Dr. Barbara Spivak
Internist, Past President, Massachusetts Medical Society
Monica Galizzi, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Dr. Jillian Tung
Lexington Board of Health
Angel of the House: Unorthodox Victorian Approaches to Life and Love
View Recording (YouTube)
Date/Time: 17 July 2025 at 10am
Location: Follen Church Community Hall
Cost: Free, donations welcome
Presented by: Amelia Settembre
The stereotypical conception of a Victorian family may come to mind with a mother, confined to the private sphere, a breadwinner father, and children who are raised either going to school or doing tasks around the house. However, many did not fall into this family categorization. Women like Julia Robbins pursued her own career as an artist and carpet designer and married late. Asylums sometimes took disabled, mentally ill, or LGBTQ+ individuals if their families were not willing to care for them or support them. Hannah Maria Robbins, Julia’s older sister who was deaf, remained her entire life with her family. Lot Robbins, the uncle of Julia, was committed to the asylum for the mentally ill that became McLean Hospital.
What made the lives of Julia, Lot, and Hannah Maria different from the lives of their peers? More importantly: how was their unorthodoxy representative of greater social attitudes at the time? Join us on July 17 to explore these questions and learn more about the family that built the Ellen Stone Building.
Days of Danger and Triumph for the Robbins / Stone Family
Date/Time: 19 June 2025 at 10am
Location: Follen Church Community Hall
Learn about the Stone Building’s Robbins and Stone families and the threats to anti-slavery folks in the 1830s and their struggles to be heard in the 1840s.
How did anti-slavery advocates like the Robbins/ Stone family work on behalf of women’s rights and the abolition of slavery in the 1850s and what dramatic moments did they witness?
The Robbins family story and their close friendship with Follen Church’s minister Charles Follen and his wife Eliza Follen were intertwined in these dangerous years when mobs attacked abolitionists for speaking out against a profitable institution.
Later on the Robbins family struggled to find the right way to fight slavery as open conflict broke out in the 1850s when their hero, and Lexington native, Rev. Theodore Parker (shown) joined forces with Boston’s black community to thwart the slave catchers who came to Boston.
Immigrant Rights &
Community Safety
Date: Wed June 25th
Time: 7pm to 9pm
Location: Temple Isaiah Social Hall, 55 Lincoln St, Lexington
Please attend the Conversation on Immigrant Rights and Community Safety, to take place on June 25th, 7-9pm, in the Temple Isaiah Social Hall. This conversation, sponsored by The Immigration Working Group of the Lexington Human Rights Committee and Lexington Lyceum Advocates, is intended to be a place where we will share published/official resources regarding immigrant rights and to hear community concerns. Professional mediator David Fairman, moderator for the evening’s conversation, will work to ensure a safe space for this community discussion.
