Lincoln Historical Society

The Lincoln Historical Society was founded in 1961 with the mission to preserve the town’s rich history. In recent years education has become an additional focus for the Society. Much of the Society’s efforts are aimed at the development and presentation of educational programs for the public each year. The programs cover a range of historical topics, and often emphasize how the town has evolved from a rural, agricultural town to the unique community it is today In addition, the Society creates engaging exhibits on local history displayed at the Lincoln Library. The Society has also sought to convey local historical knowledge through the installation of commemorative plaques at various historically significant sites throughout the town.

Preservation continues to be a major focus of the Society. Many items of historical import that have been bequeathed by townspeople are displayed and stored in the Lincoln Historical Society Room at the Pierce House, as well as in the vault in the Public Library. Other preservation efforts have included professional restoration of significant publicly owned artifacts. The Society’s most important recent preservation effort has been to financially support the Lincoln Library in the project to professionally archive invaluable historical items in the library vault.

Over the decades the Society has expanded its mission to include the vigorous development of a collection of historical publications including: The Chamber-Russell-Codman House, A Rich Harvest, Inheritance, Lincoln Libraries, Heroes of the Battle Road, Voiceprints, and The Smiths of Sandy Pond Road. To commemorate the Town’s 250th anniversary in 2004, the Society has published an extensive photographic history of Lincoln, entitled Images, published by Arcadia Press. The Society has also embarked on the production of audiovisual publications to document town history. In addition to lending financial support to local filmmakers, the Society produced its own video, “Townies – The Living History Project,” capturing for future generations the vivid memories of 26 lifelong town residents born before 1940.

Finally, the Society is a regular participant in several traditional Town celebrations: The New Year’s Day Open House at the Pierce House; hosting the annual ceremonies commemorating the events of April 19 with the Lincoln Minutemen; the production of festive floats in the yearly 4th of July parade.

The many projects and events sponsored by the Lincoln Historical Society are funded by the sales of the Society’s publications and by generous contributions from its members.