Spring/Summer Newsletter

Posted on March 29, 2020 by Curator

We had planned to send out our Spring/Summer Newsletter a couple weeks ago but due to the shutdown of non essential businesses regarding COVID-19, we have decided to upload the Newsletter here, instead of mailing it out to our membership. If you are not a member please consider joining, as one of the membership perks is our newsletter, along with free admission to the Museum, and all of our special events. Click here to join!

Spring & Summer 2020 NewsletterDownload

Please note that since we are unsure of the length of time that Massachusetts will be on advisory, we are still planning on going forward with all planned events until further notice. Please follow us on Facebook as well to keep up to date on all of our upcoming events, and any changes the the schedule.

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Revolutionary War Event: Spring Tactical at the Nurse Homestead

Posted on February 18, 2020 by Curator

The Danvers Alarm List Company and His Majesty’s 10th Regiment of foot are working  together to host a “Spring tactical at the Rebecca Nurse Homestead” on May 16th. This day long event will have three tactical demonstrations put on by reenacting organizations from all over New England. There will be colonial life demonstrations in the house, performance by the 4-H Fife & Drum Core, and a couple lectures. Alex Cain, owner the “Historical Nerdery” Facebook page/blog and “Untapped History Tours” will be doing a lecture called “Heads of Families and Men of Substance: the Rise of the Minute Men in the Merrimack Valley, Essex County Massachusetts” and the second lecture will be by Russ Davis, and will focus on he role of Pioneers in the British Army, and what soldiers were required to carry.

This event will be open to the public, May 16th from 10:00am-4:00pm

Admission:
Adults: $9.00
Seniors: $7.00
Children (6-16) $6.00

Schedule:
10:00–Site Opens
10:30-11:15–1st Tactical Demonstration
11:30-12:00–Lecture by Alex Cain
12:15-1:00–2nd Tactical Demonstration
1:00-1:30–Lecture by Russ Davis
1:30-2:15–Nooning
2:30-3:00–Performance by 4H Fife and Drum
3:00-3:45–3rd Tactical Demonstration
4:00–Site Closes

Between 1:30-2:15 no activities are planned while the reenactors take a lunch break “Nooning”. Feel free to wander through the house, or talk to the reenactors around the site during this time.

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Giving Tuesday!

Posted on November 30, 2019 by Curator

This #GivingTuesday we are raising money for Danvers Alarm List Company Inc the owners and operators of the Rebecca Nurse Homestead. Your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate $5 or $500. Every little bit helps. And on GivingTuesday Dec 3, Facebook will match a total of $7 million in donations first come, first served. Thank you for your support!

The Rebecca Nurse Homestead is a private non-profit house museum owned by the Danvers Alarm List Coy. It is an entirely volunteer group of 18th century living history reenactors that portray the militia, minute and alarm companies of Danvers and surrounding communities, as they existed in the 1774-1775 timeframe. The Alarm List Coy. presents its impression to the public through demonstrations, exhibitions, parades, living history encampments and battle reenactments.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO OUR GIVING TUESDAY CAMPAIGN


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End of Season

Posted on November 18, 2019 by Curator

Just a reminder for our visitors, our last days that we will be open this season will be November 23rd & 24th from 10:00am-3:00pm

We would like to extend a big THANK YOU to the many people who helped support the Nurse Homestead in so many ways over the course of this year! As we prepare the property for the upcoming winter weather we please ask potential visitors and locals to keep a few things in mind…

For the safety of you as a visitor, and and the safeguard of our historic property, we do not allow visitation of any part of the property while we are closed for the season (this includes locals who have previously used the property as a walking trail or shortcut to Collins Street or the Rail Trail), and ask that you be respectful of this. We will be unable to honor any visitor requests from December-February and will welcome special visitor requests again starting in March (weather permitting and upon volunteer availability). Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding, of the limited resources of our volunteer run site.

Check back with us in the Spring for all of our exciting 2020 EVENTS!

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Closed October 18th

Posted on October 17, 2019 by Curator

Due to lack of electricity, and some damage from the recent storm we will be closed tomorrow while we try to clean up downed trees and branches that have fallen all around the property. We apologize for any inconvenience and hope to reopen on Saturday October 19th. Please check back on our Facebook or here for more information.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Posted on September 8, 2019 by Curator

September 21st, 22nd, 28th, & 29th—Revolutionary Theatre Company presents Macbeth

Paranoia. Power. Witchcraft. The Rebecca Nurse Homestead is proud to partner with The Revolutionary Theatre Company to present Shakespeare’s classic tragedy Macbeth on the Meeting House Stage. Believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607,  we are using Shakespeare’s original text to explore themes from the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria that happened  almost one hundred years later. A cast of sixteen actors present the tale in our reproduction of the Salem Village Meeting House. Please also join us before the show September 21st for “Scotland to Salem” a round table discussion with Danvers Alarm List Company president Kathryn Rutkowski, Rebecca Nurse House Caretaker Candice Dawes, and Macbeth director Thera Driscoll for further discussion on the Witchcraft Trials, Shakespeare, and our unique venue.

Shows will be at 5pm on Sept. 21st & Sept. 28th & 4pm on Sept. 22nd & Sept 29th. Tickets will be available on Eventbrite and at the door.

September 28th & 29th—Trails & Sails Weekend in partnership with Essex Heritage  For more information visit TrailsAndSails.org

  •  September 28th 10:00am-4:00pm—Atlatl Days The technique of using an atlatl or spear throwing stick is an ancient global technology. Join the Eugene Winter Chapter of Mass Archaeological Society, as they   teach you the finer points of hunting a wooly mammoth or wooly rhinoceros in the ancient world! Fun and    educational for all ages. Learn about tools that Native Americans in Danvers made and used.
  • September 28th & 29th 10:00am-3:00pm—Digging for History Become an archaeologist for the day! The Homestead was at the center of a summer archaeology program, run by the University of Southern Maine and Phillips Andover Academy, teaching students of all ages how to become archaeologists. Now it’s your turn! What will you uncover? On Saturday September 28th as a special addition there will be a demonstration on drone mapping and 3D modeling.
  • TRAILS & SAILS events are alaways FREE but to enter the Rebecca Nurse House and other buildings will still apply.

October 19th 3:00pm—Skeletons in the Closet: The Memorialization of George Jacobs Sr. & Rebecca Nurse after the 1692 Witch Trials

Dan Gagnon (Danvers Alarm List Company Board Member and Rebecca Nurse Homestead Tour Guide) will present on his research into how victims of the Salem Village Witch-Hunt were memorialized in the centuries following 1692. He will trace the story of how the Nurse Family and the Danvers community constructed the first memorial to anyone ever executed for witchcraft in the United States, while across town the descendants of Jacobs did not even erect a headstone over his grave. Admission for this lecture is $5 & Tickets will be available at the door 

November 16th 10:00am-4:00pm—Annual Historic Holidays Event 

 This year’s theme and programming is TBD but check out our Facebook and Website for more details.

 

 

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August 29th

Posted on August 29, 2019 by Curator

Due to a family medical emergency, we will not be open for tours today, August 29th. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for understanding.

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July 20th Weather Advisory

Posted on July 19, 2019 by Curator

Museum will be closed Saturday July 20  

The National weather service has announced an excessive heat warning through Sunday July 21st. Where the Nurse Homestead buildings are period correct to the 1600’s and have no Air Conditioning, we have decided it would be unsafe to conduct tours of the buildings and grounds. We apologize for the late notice, we hoped the weather would break and would be able to open as scheduled. Please follow check for potential closure on Sunday July 21.

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Into the Countryside: Preparations for War

Posted on March 31, 2019 by Curator

A Revolutionary War Reenactment weekend at the Rebecca Nurse Homestead!

The time is sometime in the summer of 1774 to early 1775. The Port of Boston has been closed in retribution for the Boston Tea Party. The countryside is rising up and the courts in Worcester County have been closed.

 

There is talk of raising minute companies alongside of the regular militia, and “warlike stores” are being gathered, stored, the moved and stored again. Patriotic citizens are doing their part by casting musket balls, rolling cartridges for muskets and cannon, making shirts and
stockings, tents, knapsacks, and cartridge pouches.

Meanwhile, alarmed by the rising of the “country people” General Gage is gathering intelligence from local loyal subjects, and sending patrols of Regulars into the countryside for “exercise”, and to try to locate and seize military stores. Cannon and powder were taken from Charlestown and Cambridge, and there was a patrol that was turned back by local militia at Salem, and there are rumors of a raid not far from John Adams; home in Braintree – could Danvers be next?

This event will be open for public viewing
May 18th 10:00am-3:00pm 
May 19th 10:00am-3:00pm
(Please check back here or on Facebook for updated schedule of events)

PLEASE NOTE: The regular guided tours of the Nurse Homestead will not be available this weekend, instead we will have reenactors in the house interpreting colonial life. 

Admission:
Adults: $8.00
Seniors: $6.00
Children (6-16) $5.00

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8th Annual “Gala Day”

Posted on March 27, 2019 by Curator

1919 Lawn Party and Open House: 8th Annual “Gala Day”

 

 

 

 

 

Visit us this summer as we host the 8th annual”Gala Day”. The very first “Gala Day & Garden Party Bazaar” was held at The Nurse Homestead in 1912 right after becoming a Museum, and they continued to be held annually through the 1920’s! It was a way to welcome the community to explore the historic house, to learn about local history, and just enjoy the beautiful grounds on a summer day.

This year we are taking you back to the year 1919 to experience what the original Gala Days were like, complete with the original entrance fee of only 25¢ !

You will be able to explore the home of Rebecca Nurse, listen to popular music from the 1900’s, try your hand at playing period-style lawn games, and talk with reenactors dressed in Edwardian fashion. We will also be serving our famous Strawberry Shortcakes we used to serve at our Strawberry Festival years ago, as well as other snacks and refreshments. (Check back here or on Facebook for more updates to our activities schedule)

Rain Date for this event will be June 16th

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