Founder Day: Museum Open
The museum at the David Ruggles Center for History and Education will be open Saturday April 8 In honor of the founding of the Northampton Association for Education And Industry and the David Ruggles Center. Come see exhibits about some of the amazing abolitionists who lived in Florence in the 1840s and 1850s who worked [...]
Founders’ Day Walking Tour: Commemorating the DRC’s 15th Anniversary
David Ruggles Center 225 Nonotuck St., Florence, MA, United StatesPlease join Steve Strimer on a public walking tour on April 8, 2023, commemorating the 15th anniversary of the founding of the David Ruggles Center for History and Education. On April 8 we also honor the 141st anniversary of the founding of the Northampton Association of Education and Industry (NAEI). The NAEI, founded in what [...]
David Ruggles Center 2023 Founders Day Symposium: “Lydia Maria Child in Florence and a Tribute to John H. Bracey, Jr.” Cohosted by Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity.
Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity 130 Pine St, Florence, MA, United StatesOur guest speaker is Prof. Lydia Moland, the author of an acclaimed new biography of Lydia Maria Child, a key figure in the national movement to abolish slavery who spent critical years living in Florence. Her talk will be preceded by a tribute to John H. Bracey, Jr.: author, activist, scholar and professor in the [...]
David Ruggles Center Museum Open Hours: Sundays, 12-4, June-October.
The David Ruggles Center for History and Education will be open for visitors Sundays 12-4 from June 4- September 25, with the exception of June 25 when the museum will be closed. Current exhibit include: "David Ruggles: At the Vanguard of Liberty"; “'The Spirit Calls Me There': Sojourner Truth in Florence, 1844-1857"; "Lydia Maria Child"; [...]
Juneteenth Program: “David Ruggles, Organizer: Meeting of the 1844 “Colored Citizens of Northampton,” & the 1850 Meeting to resist the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850,” by Steve Strimer. Followed by a Walking Tour.
David Ruggles Center 225 Nonotuck St., Florence, MA, United StatesIn honor of Juneteenth, the DRC is proud to present a new slideshow developed and presented by Steve Strimer: "David Ruggles, Organizer: Meeting of the 1844 "Colored Citizens of Northampton," & the 1850 Meeting to resist the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850." The presentation will be held at the Ruggles Center and will be [...]
Florence Utopian Bike Tour, August 5th, 9:00 AM. Register today!
Friends of Northampton Trails (FNT) and the David Ruggles Center are partnering again to lead the third Florence Utopian Bike Tour. This year the bike tour will begin at the new Florence history mural on the Florence Paint and Decorating Center. The tour will reference Florence’s rich history related to the Northampton Association of Education [...]
Educators Picnic and Open House
Join us for our Annual Educators Picnic and Open House at the David Ruggles Center on Sunday, August 20, from 12:00-4:00. Drop in, meet fellow educators, tour the museum and learn what we offer visiting school groups. Food and drink will be provided. Kim Gerould, a retired Northampton public schools educator who now volunteers at [...]
Halloween Anti-slavery History Tour at Historic Park Street Cemetery, Florence
Park Street Cemetery Park Street, Florence, MA, United StatesSteve Strimer will lead a history tour of the gravesites of leading antislavery activists and advocates including: formerly enslaved Black citizens, Northampton Association for Education and Industry founders (1842–1846), and Black and White Underground Railroad assistants and others. We'll then go find a few of their houses in the "Neighborhood Community" nearby. For more information, [...]
Museum Open: In Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
David Ruggles Center 225 Nonotuck St., Florence, MA, United StatesThe David Ruggles Center for History and Education will be open Monday, January 15, 8-4, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Visitors can learn about local, nationally significant Black Americans who while living in 1840s and 50s Florence (Northampton) fought against the institution of slavery and racial injustice. This history highlights not only [...]
Basil Dorsey Day Walking Tour
David Ruggles Center 225 Nonotuck St., Florence, MA, United StatesPlease join us in celebrating the life of Basil Dorsey, a freedom seeker from Maryland who began his escape from enslavement in 1836, ultimately settling in Florence, Massachusetts in 1844. DRC Guides Kim Gerould and Kevin McQuillan will start with a short introduction in the museum, and then walk, looking at sites connected to [...]