April 12, 2025 • 13 mins
It was almost 250 years ago to the day when residents of Concord ended up playing a critical role in the American Revolution, as it was there, and in neighboring Lexington, where the first shots of the war were fired. The town has embraced that pivotal history throughout the centuries, including at the Concord Museum, where dozens of historical objects connected to the events of that Wednesday in 1775 are now on display. Museum Director Lisa Krassner joins Nichole on this week's show to talk about their plans for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution on April 19th and what they have to offer in this new exhibit.
This segment is the fifth interview in our series "Revolutionary Roots", where we take a closer look at the stories, people, events, and local ties that connect New England to the nation's upcoming 250th anniversary in 2026.
This segment is the fifth interview in our series "Revolutionary Roots", where we take a closer look at the stories, people, events, and local ties that connect New England to the nation's upcoming 250th anniversary in 2026.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England
Weekend where each and every week right here we come
together we talk about all the topics important to you
and the place where you live. It's great to have
you back with us this weekend. I'm Nicole Davis. It
was almost two hundred and fifty years ago to the
day when early on a Wednesday morning, residents of Conquered
played a critical role in the American Revolution. It was
(00:30):
there and in Lexington where the first shots of the
war against the British were fired. Throughout the centuries, Conquered
has embraced that history, and the Conquered Museum is one
of many sites where visitors can gain a deeper appreciation
for all that played out. For the celebration of Patriot's Day,
the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary coming up on April nineteenth,
the Conquered Museum is hosting a special community Day. There
(00:52):
are lots of events planned and food, which is of
course very important, but you can also check out dozens
of historical objects connected to that day in seventeen seventy five.
Let's find out more with Lisa Krassner. She is the
director of the Conquered Museum, and she is here on
the show to talk about it with us. Happier here, Lisa,
thank you for your time, and if people maybe aren't
(01:12):
familiar with the museum and your work, tell us a
bit about that to start, and then we'll talk about
the exhibits.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Sure, the Conquered Museum has been here and collecting for
nearly a century and a half, and we focus on
anything having to do with the history of Conquered and
there's so many different elements of history here. Conquered, as
you know, has kind of played an outsize role in
American history, and I said, a lot of influence politically
(01:40):
as well as culturally and literary as well. So we
have over two hundred objects of the Revolutionary War era.
So many of these are eyewitness objects from the Battle
at the North Bridge on April nineteen, seventeen seventy five,
as well as just other objects that you know, leading
(02:01):
up to that time period and soon after. So probably
our most iconic object in the collection is the Paul
Revere signal lantern that was used at the North Church
on the evening of April eighteenth and the you know,
sort of the famous one if by Land who if
by sea lantern. So there's only one lantern in existence
(02:22):
and the Conquered Museum has it. So so that's that's
one element. So we have a very very rich, important
collection of American revolutionary objects and just American history. But
then another way in which Conquered has really led the
nation is in literary history. So Ralph Waldo Emerson lived here,
(02:44):
so did Henry David th Roa, Louisa May Elcott. So
these have all been you know, important writers and thinkers
for the nation, the whole Transcendentalist movement having started here.
So we have so much, you know, so many objects
from their collection, especially Henry David the Row as well
as Ralph Waldo Emerson. So people definitely come out to
(03:07):
Conquer to sort of pay pay pilgrimage to the writers,
and they come to Walden Pond and Author's Ridge, and
so we hold many of the material objects that were
associated with their lives and we continue to collect as well.
(03:28):
So we continue to collect objects for the museum. We
have a very large indigenous collection as well that we
like to highlight and so very important to us. So
if people come to the museum, you know they're going
to see really transformed new galleries. The museums galleries were
redone in twenty twenty one, so everything is new and
(03:49):
fresh and exciting stories to tell, very interactive. We also
have a new education center that opened in twenty eighteen.
So I would just say if you come to you
definitely have to come to the museum to see all
of these you know, material objects and to sort of
ground yourself and what is the history of the region
and through.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
All the work you've done. I do want to touch
on this before we talk about this upcoming day that
you've got planned. Last year, you've got a pretty big award,
a major award, as they say, you received reaccreditation from
the American Alliance of Museums. Tell us about why that's
such a big deal and what that means to you.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yeah, so we did get our am reaccreditation last year.
So only about three percent of museums in the nation
receive accreditation. So every ten years we go through a
very rigorous process where we have to submit all sorts
of you know, statements and reports about the museum. It's
(04:48):
very very kind of an elaborate approval process, and then
we have peer reviewers come from other museums to spend
two days with us and be in discussion and interview
everybody and meet their board, meet with all the staff,
and go through all of our materials and talk about
them and ask questions. It's an opportunity for us to
really show that we are exhibiting best practices for museums
(05:11):
and that the work we're doing is rigorous and impactful.
And it was, you know, it was an exciting moment
for us to get our reaccreditation and they we kind
of sailed through with a very very positive report, which
was great.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Well, congratulations, and so the big thing that we're talking
about here, obviously Lexington and Conquered are going to be
jam packed here at the weekend of the nineteenth for
obvious reasons. It's the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary at
the start of the American Revolution. So you at the
museum are getting involved in the festivities. You've got a
special community day. Tell us what it was like trying
(05:49):
to put all this together. You've got so many resources
in the town of Conquered. What was it like kind
of pulling this all together and scheduling it out.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Oh, it's been really exciting and we're so thrilled welcoming
people to the museum. On April nineteenth, we will be
hosting a free community day and it is an opportunity
for us to sort of mark the two hundred and
fiftieth anniversary of the start of the American Revolution. We
will have freed mission all day from nine to five,
(06:18):
and it's going to come with a lot of special
programming as well. So we will have the bel Rica
Colonial Minutemen here all day from ten to five, and
they'll be doing a very family friendly encampment, sort of
a living history moment, and they will be drilling with
their muskets and cooking over an open fire pit, demonstrating
(06:40):
colonial crafts like leatherwork and brewmaking and casting musketballs and
things like that. The museum will be open all day,
so it'll be an opportunity to see our Revolutionary War
collection take a picture with the lantern, but also to
see our new exhibition called Who's Revolution, which opened about
a week in half ago and it's on view through
(07:01):
September first, and it really sort of tells the story
of what was it like to live through a revolution,
what was it like to live in you know, sort
of Massachusetts in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War,
and we do that by centering the voices and the
stories of women and children, indigenous people as well as
(07:22):
freedom and enslaves blacks that we're here and conquered and
in the region. So it's kind of telling a story
in addition to sort of what we do in our
able nineteenth cally, which really tell us kind of the
story of the battle and you know, everything that led
up to that. But this isn't an opportunity for us
to kind of, you know, tell I think a little
bit more of an inclusive story that we're excited to
(07:42):
share with the public. We'll also have activities throughout the day,
dropping activities for crafts. We'll be working with Barefoot Books
on their new publication Rise Up, and so have craft
activities in our new education center all day, and then
at five o'clock we will close up the galleries and
(08:05):
then at six o'clock we will be hosting Doris Kerns
Goodwin and conversation with Rosie Rios, who's the head of
America to fifty and they will be talking about the
American Revolution and its legacy. And Doris Kurns Goodwin spent
much of her life here in Conquered and we're so
excited to welcome her back. The forum is sold out,
(08:25):
but we will be live streaming it as well as
recording it, so people will still have the opportunity to
you know, listen to their message, listen to their story.
We'll then have a after that, starting at around seven
point thirty, we'll have an outdoor concert and the town
Conquered to fifty will be doing a drone show that evening. Yeah,
(08:49):
so there's a drone show. There's gonna be a ton
of activities in Conquered. There's the parade all morning, and
there'll be a block party all through all Conquered the
whole day. There'll be food trucks and I mean the museum,
we're gonna have food trucks, an ice cream truck. We're
even having a wine and beer truck. But there'll be
food trucks all over town. And it's just going to
(09:09):
be a great day of commemoration and celebration.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Yeah, and getting there is going to be you can't
just get in the car and drive out route to
this time. You've really got a plan ahead. The t
I know is doing extra service. How would you suggest
people get to Conquered to take in this awesome day.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Yeah, I would definitely encourage people to take the train.
So they're putting on extra trains throughout the day, so
definitely try to take Try to take the train if
you can. There are designated parking spot, parking garages, parking
lots throughout Conquered where from there you will pick up
shuttle and the shuttles will take you into town. So
(09:49):
the museum is one of the stops for the shuttle
and the shuttles also go to Lexington as well as
to Arlington and so downtown Conquered will be pedestrian friendly.
They are not going to have cars coming through Conquered
for you know, there'll be so many crowds and for
safety issues. We really encourage people to you know, to
take the shuttles, take the trains, and if you live locally,
(10:11):
consider taking riding your bike. We will have tons of
bike racks all over Conquered for people who want to
come on bike as well, so over.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
At the museum. Obviously, this is a big moment for
Conquered for Metro West in general as we hit this
two hundred and fiftieth anniversary. How do you feel about
being at the helm of the Conquered Museum, which has
the largest collection of these special objects from this day.
It's clearly a very important place to be as we
celebrate this. What does it mean to you to be
(10:42):
kind of leading this charge for the museum?
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Well, I really truly think that Massachusetts gets to lead
the nation in the story of the revolution and independence
and Conquered as well as Lexington get to sort of
lead it first. And I think what's so exciting for
us is that we're able to tell the story of
the brave people who fought for independence, you know, two
hundred and fifty years ago, and we kind of get
(11:06):
to tell it before any other state in the nation.
So for us, you know, we feel really honored to
be able to tell that story. And we'll be doing
it over the next eighteen months. We have three exhibitions
going on for the next sort of eighteen months or so,
doing deep dives into different aspects of the revolution. We
(11:29):
have a we have a conference, a national conference we're
hosting this Thursday Friday. We're excited about and we'll continue
to have wonderful speakers like we're having dors Curns, Goodwin
in conversation with Rosie Rios. We have, you know, a
tremendous speaker series. We have a talk here every week
or two, and we'll continue to do that, you know,
through you know, sort of summerfall of twenty twenty six.
(11:51):
So the day for you know, this day of April
nineteenth is so very important to Conquered, but we will
continue to tell these stories and to you know, share
our research and our knowledge and our collections with people
throughout this sort of revolutionary period that goes through twenty
twenty six.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Okay, well, how can people find out more about the museum,
get tickets, find out about these exhibits you've got going on?
Anything they want to know?
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Sure, they can definitely go to a Conquered Museum dot org.
So our website, Conquered Museum dot org has a ton
of information. We also encourage people for parking and so
forth to go to the Conquered Massachusetts doc of website
as well to get a little more information about transportation
and so forth. But our website links to it as well,
(12:40):
and you know, I think it's an opportunity to also
maybe plan a little bit of your visit in advance.
Our you know, highlights of our collection are available online.
There's a link to everything we're doing for the two
fiftieth available online. There's more about our current exhibition online,
and you know, we're just excited to welcome everybody. The
(13:01):
Conquered Museum was rated the number one best small town
Museum by USA Today just last month, so we won
that award for twenty twenty five, and we really hope
that we can be a place of convening for the
community in this coming year.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Well, I look forward to that. Lisa, thank you for
your time and I hope it's a great event for
you all over at the museum.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Thank you so very much, and I really appreciate you
making the time and having me on the show today.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join me again
next week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole
Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England
Weekend where each and every week right here we come
together we talk about all the topics important to you
and the place where you live. It's great to have
you back with us this weekend. I'm Nicole Davis. It
was almost two hundred and fifty years ago to the
day when early on a Wednesday morning, residents of Conquered
played a critical role in the American Revolution. It was
(00:30):
there and in Lexington where the first shots of the
war against the British were fired. Throughout the centuries, Conquered
has embraced that history, and the Conquered Museum is one
of many sites where visitors can gain a deeper appreciation
for all that played out. For the celebration of Patriot's Day,
the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary coming up on April nineteenth,
the Conquered Museum is hosting a special community Day. There
(00:52):
are lots of events planned and food, which is of
course very important, but you can also check out dozens
of historical objects connected to that day in seventeen seventy five.
Let's find out more with Lisa Krassner. She is the
director of the Conquered Museum, and she is here on
the show to talk about it with us. Happier here, Lisa,
thank you for your time, and if people maybe aren't
(01:12):
familiar with the museum and your work, tell us a
bit about that to start, and then we'll talk about
the exhibits.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Sure, the Conquered Museum has been here and collecting for
nearly a century and a half, and we focus on
anything having to do with the history of Conquered and
there's so many different elements of history here. Conquered, as
you know, has kind of played an outsize role in
American history, and I said, a lot of influence politically
(01:40):
as well as culturally and literary as well. So we
have over two hundred objects of the Revolutionary War era.
So many of these are eyewitness objects from the Battle
at the North Bridge on April nineteen, seventeen seventy five,
as well as just other objects that you know, leading
(02:01):
up to that time period and soon after. So probably
our most iconic object in the collection is the Paul
Revere signal lantern that was used at the North Church
on the evening of April eighteenth and the you know,
sort of the famous one if by Land who if
by sea lantern. So there's only one lantern in existence
(02:22):
and the Conquered Museum has it. So so that's that's
one element. So we have a very very rich, important
collection of American revolutionary objects and just American history. But
then another way in which Conquered has really led the
nation is in literary history. So Ralph Waldo Emerson lived here,
(02:44):
so did Henry David th Roa, Louisa May Elcott. So
these have all been you know, important writers and thinkers
for the nation, the whole Transcendentalist movement having started here.
So we have so much, you know, so many objects
from their collection, especially Henry David the Row as well
as Ralph Waldo Emerson. So people definitely come out to
(03:07):
Conquer to sort of pay pay pilgrimage to the writers,
and they come to Walden Pond and Author's Ridge, and
so we hold many of the material objects that were
associated with their lives and we continue to collect as well.
(03:28):
So we continue to collect objects for the museum. We
have a very large indigenous collection as well that we
like to highlight and so very important to us. So
if people come to the museum, you know they're going
to see really transformed new galleries. The museums galleries were
redone in twenty twenty one, so everything is new and
(03:49):
fresh and exciting stories to tell, very interactive. We also
have a new education center that opened in twenty eighteen.
So I would just say if you come to you
definitely have to come to the museum to see all
of these you know, material objects and to sort of
ground yourself and what is the history of the region
and through.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
All the work you've done. I do want to touch
on this before we talk about this upcoming day that
you've got planned. Last year, you've got a pretty big award,
a major award, as they say, you received reaccreditation from
the American Alliance of Museums. Tell us about why that's
such a big deal and what that means to you.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yeah, so we did get our am reaccreditation last year.
So only about three percent of museums in the nation
receive accreditation. So every ten years we go through a
very rigorous process where we have to submit all sorts
of you know, statements and reports about the museum. It's
(04:48):
very very kind of an elaborate approval process, and then
we have peer reviewers come from other museums to spend
two days with us and be in discussion and interview
everybody and meet their board, meet with all the staff,
and go through all of our materials and talk about
them and ask questions. It's an opportunity for us to
really show that we are exhibiting best practices for museums
(05:11):
and that the work we're doing is rigorous and impactful.
And it was, you know, it was an exciting moment
for us to get our reaccreditation and they we kind
of sailed through with a very very positive report, which
was great.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Well, congratulations, and so the big thing that we're talking
about here, obviously Lexington and Conquered are going to be
jam packed here at the weekend of the nineteenth for
obvious reasons. It's the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary at
the start of the American Revolution. So you at the
museum are getting involved in the festivities. You've got a
special community day. Tell us what it was like trying
(05:49):
to put all this together. You've got so many resources
in the town of Conquered. What was it like kind
of pulling this all together and scheduling it out.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Oh, it's been really exciting and we're so thrilled welcoming
people to the museum. On April nineteenth, we will be
hosting a free community day and it is an opportunity
for us to sort of mark the two hundred and
fiftieth anniversary of the start of the American Revolution. We
will have freed mission all day from nine to five,
(06:18):
and it's going to come with a lot of special
programming as well. So we will have the bel Rica
Colonial Minutemen here all day from ten to five, and
they'll be doing a very family friendly encampment, sort of
a living history moment, and they will be drilling with
their muskets and cooking over an open fire pit, demonstrating
(06:40):
colonial crafts like leatherwork and brewmaking and casting musketballs and
things like that. The museum will be open all day,
so it'll be an opportunity to see our Revolutionary War
collection take a picture with the lantern, but also to
see our new exhibition called Who's Revolution, which opened about
a week in half ago and it's on view through
(07:01):
September first, and it really sort of tells the story
of what was it like to live through a revolution,
what was it like to live in you know, sort
of Massachusetts in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War,
and we do that by centering the voices and the
stories of women and children, indigenous people as well as
(07:22):
freedom and enslaves blacks that we're here and conquered and
in the region. So it's kind of telling a story
in addition to sort of what we do in our
able nineteenth cally, which really tell us kind of the
story of the battle and you know, everything that led
up to that. But this isn't an opportunity for us
to kind of, you know, tell I think a little
bit more of an inclusive story that we're excited to
(07:42):
share with the public. We'll also have activities throughout the day,
dropping activities for crafts. We'll be working with Barefoot Books
on their new publication Rise Up, and so have craft
activities in our new education center all day, and then
at five o'clock we will close up the galleries and
(08:05):
then at six o'clock we will be hosting Doris Kerns
Goodwin and conversation with Rosie Rios, who's the head of
America to fifty and they will be talking about the
American Revolution and its legacy. And Doris Kurns Goodwin spent
much of her life here in Conquered and we're so
excited to welcome her back. The forum is sold out,
(08:25):
but we will be live streaming it as well as
recording it, so people will still have the opportunity to
you know, listen to their message, listen to their story.
We'll then have a after that, starting at around seven
point thirty, we'll have an outdoor concert and the town
Conquered to fifty will be doing a drone show that evening. Yeah,
(08:49):
so there's a drone show. There's gonna be a ton
of activities in Conquered. There's the parade all morning, and
there'll be a block party all through all Conquered the
whole day. There'll be food trucks and I mean the museum,
we're gonna have food trucks, an ice cream truck. We're
even having a wine and beer truck. But there'll be
food trucks all over town. And it's just going to
(09:09):
be a great day of commemoration and celebration.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Yeah, and getting there is going to be you can't
just get in the car and drive out route to
this time. You've really got a plan ahead. The t
I know is doing extra service. How would you suggest
people get to Conquered to take in this awesome day.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Yeah, I would definitely encourage people to take the train.
So they're putting on extra trains throughout the day, so
definitely try to take Try to take the train if
you can. There are designated parking spot, parking garages, parking
lots throughout Conquered where from there you will pick up
shuttle and the shuttles will take you into town. So
(09:49):
the museum is one of the stops for the shuttle
and the shuttles also go to Lexington as well as
to Arlington and so downtown Conquered will be pedestrian friendly.
They are not going to have cars coming through Conquered
for you know, there'll be so many crowds and for
safety issues. We really encourage people to you know, to
take the shuttles, take the trains, and if you live locally,
(10:11):
consider taking riding your bike. We will have tons of
bike racks all over Conquered for people who want to
come on bike as well, so over.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
At the museum. Obviously, this is a big moment for
Conquered for Metro West in general as we hit this
two hundred and fiftieth anniversary. How do you feel about
being at the helm of the Conquered Museum, which has
the largest collection of these special objects from this day.
It's clearly a very important place to be as we
celebrate this. What does it mean to you to be
(10:42):
kind of leading this charge for the museum?
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Well, I really truly think that Massachusetts gets to lead
the nation in the story of the revolution and independence
and Conquered as well as Lexington get to sort of
lead it first. And I think what's so exciting for
us is that we're able to tell the story of
the brave people who fought for independence, you know, two
hundred and fifty years ago, and we kind of get
(11:06):
to tell it before any other state in the nation.
So for us, you know, we feel really honored to
be able to tell that story. And we'll be doing
it over the next eighteen months. We have three exhibitions
going on for the next sort of eighteen months or so,
doing deep dives into different aspects of the revolution. We
(11:29):
have a we have a conference, a national conference we're
hosting this Thursday Friday. We're excited about and we'll continue
to have wonderful speakers like we're having dors Curns, Goodwin
in conversation with Rosie Rios. We have, you know, a
tremendous speaker series. We have a talk here every week
or two, and we'll continue to do that, you know,
through you know, sort of summerfall of twenty twenty six.
(11:51):
So the day for you know, this day of April
nineteenth is so very important to Conquered, but we will
continue to tell these stories and to you know, share
our research and our knowledge and our collections with people
throughout this sort of revolutionary period that goes through twenty
twenty six.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Okay, well, how can people find out more about the museum,
get tickets, find out about these exhibits you've got going on?
Anything they want to know?
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Sure, they can definitely go to a Conquered Museum dot org.
So our website, Conquered Museum dot org has a ton
of information. We also encourage people for parking and so
forth to go to the Conquered Massachusetts doc of website
as well to get a little more information about transportation
and so forth. But our website links to it as well,
(12:40):
and you know, I think it's an opportunity to also
maybe plan a little bit of your visit in advance.
Our you know, highlights of our collection are available online.
There's a link to everything we're doing for the two
fiftieth available online. There's more about our current exhibition online,
and you know, we're just excited to welcome everybody. The
(13:01):
Conquered Museum was rated the number one best small town
Museum by USA Today just last month, so we won
that award for twenty twenty five, and we really hope
that we can be a place of convening for the
community in this coming year.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Well, I look forward to that. Lisa, thank you for
your time and I hope it's a great event for
you all over at the museum.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Thank you so very much, and I really appreciate you
making the time and having me on the show today.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join me again
next week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole
Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
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