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Civil War Living History Encampment 
May 4-6, 2012
Framingham’s Centre Common
Camp setup: Friday, 4:00pm - 9:00pm
Feaured events begin: Friday, 7:00pm
Encampment open:
Saturday, 9:00am - 9:00pm
Sunday, 9:00am - 4:00pm
A host of activities will take place in the historic buildings surrounding the common throughout the weekend. Meet President Lincoln, Julia Ward Howe, Framingham hero General George H. Gordon and other figures of the time. See full schedule >>
Admission
 The Centre Common Encampment, including food vendors, sutlers, artillery demonstrations and more, is free and open to the public.
For exhibitions and programs in historic buildings around the Common, an Admission Button is required. Buttons are available on site, and the cost is $5/person; maximum $20/family. Activities will be held rain or shine. |
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Featured Events |
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Friday, 7:00 pm: Bill Wellington’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin
 Admission button required
Storyteller and folk musician Bill Wellington presents “Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the Book that Destroyed Slavery in America” at the Edgell Menorial Library.
Come and take another look at Harriet Beecher Stowe’s famous novel about the life and death of a slave in America through the lense of historical songs and multimedia show inspired by the book. Suggested ages 10+.
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| Saturday, 11:00 am - 2:00 pm: Authors' Book Signings
Admission button required
Local authors will sign their books on the history of Framingham at the Edgell Memorial Library:
- My Dear Esty, by Pat Lavin
- The Saxonville Mills: Three Centuries of Industry in Framingham, by Kevin A. Swope
- Framingham’s Civil War Hero: The Life of General George H. Gordon, by Frederic A. Wallace
- Andrew Sharpshooters: A Civil War History and Roster, by Alden C. Ellis, Jr.
More information >>
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Saturday, 12:30 pm: Wash and Wax the Soldier Statue and Scouts' Ice Cream Social
Free! Lawn of Edgell Library, 3 Oak Street
Be a conservator’s assistant! Help our conservator clean the Civil War soldier statue as part of its regular maintenance. You may get a bit wet! Scrub, brush, rinse… then cool down and refresh at the Scouts' ice cream social!
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Saturday, 2:00 pm: Preserving the Edgell Memorial - Why This Place Matters
Free! Lawn of Edgell Library, 3 Oak Street
Cultural advocate, playwright and songwriter Dan Hunter of HunterHiggs, Boston will deliver the keynote address on the importance of preserving Framingham’s Civil War memorial. A short wreath-laying ceremony will follow at the Civil War soldier in front of the library.
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Saturday, 4:00 pm: Life of a Soldier -- Tour of Camp
Free! Framingham Centre Common
Take a guided tour of the entire camp and learn the details of a Civil War soldier’s day. Is this how Civil War soldiers truly lived while fighting in the war between the states? What did they do to relax? How did they prepare their meals?
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Sunday, 12:30 pm: Endurance: a History of the Mills at Saxonville by Kevin Swope
Admission button required
Early in the nineteenth century, the sleepy little village of Saxonville became one of the first centers of textile manufacture in the country; a classic ‘New England mill village.’ Kevin Swope has thoroughly researched the mill history and delivers a delightful program on this very important piece of Framingham’s past at the Edgell Memorial Library.
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Sunday, 2:00 pm: Ladies Auxiliary Tea, Village Hall
Join us in remembering and honoring the ladies from three Framingham Auxiliary Committees and their contributions to their soldiers on the battlefront. Come to this gala tea to see fashions of the era as you are served tea by hostesses from the 1860s. Learn about the critical role these women played and hear about the Grand Boston Sanitary Fairs from Mrs. Julia Ward Howe. Poems and stories of the era, and rousing Civil War melodies with The Proper Ladies, will entertain and inspire. Tickets are $20.
Sorry, the Ladies Auxiliary Tea is sold out!
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Ongoing: Framingham Remembers...Civil War Exhibit
Edgell Memorial Building, 3 Oak Street
Admission button required
The history of the Civil War and Framingham is a collection of intriguing individual stories of national significance as well as the collective story of a town that contributed more than its share. Framingham entered the war from the start with a united front and supported its servicemen with wholehearted zeal. This exhibition, housed in the Edgell Memorial Library, attempts to answer why such a small New England town erected such a magnificent memorial building six years after the war. It presents poignant letters to and from its boys on the front lines illustrating tremendous pride in their hometown, and in turn, the town’s pride in their service.
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