Royall House & Slave Quarters

10/10/2024

Today! We look forward to seeing you tonight at the Medford Public Library at 6pm!

We are thrilled to partner with the Medford Public Library to host Mike Curato to speak about his award winning book, Flamer.

When: Thursday, October 10th 2024 6-8pm; Medford Public Library, 111 High Street, Medford, Mass.

About the Book:
Set in 1995 at a Boy Scouts summer camp, Flamer, tells the story of Aiden, a 14 year old who is on a journey of figuring himself and his sexuality out. As he struggles to understand his first crush on a boy, he is also navigating changing schools and being bullied for being Filipino, effeminate, his weight, and not playing sports.

Semi-autobiographical, Curato’s courageous book was met with controversy, topping many banned book lists. Join us in an engaging and thoughtful discussion where we discuss the importance of telling q***r and BIPOC stories.

Joining Curato in conversation is Dr. Mary Amanda McNeil. Mary is a Mellon Assistant Professor in the Department of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora at Tufts University. Her research and teaching sit at the intersections of Black studies; Native American and Indigenous studies; Afro-Native studies; women, gender, and sexuality studies; social history; and geography. McNeil completed her PhD in American studies at Harvard University.

There will be light refreshments provided by Boukan’nen!

Register Here: https://medfordlibrary.org/event/author-visit-from-mike-curato/

10/09/2024

Get to know Mike Curato with this short interview for PEN America.

And be sure to join us and the Medford Public Library to hear Mike Curato speak about his award winning book, Flamer.

When: Thursday, October 10th 2024 6-8pm; Medford Public Library, 111 High Street, Medford, Mass.

Joining Curato in conversation is Dr. Mary Amanda McNeil. Mary is a Mellon Assistant Professor in the Department of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora at Tufts University.

We look forward to seeing everyone on Thursday!

Mike Curato's Flamer was one of the most banned books in the first half of the 2022-2023 school year. What he says gets lost in the drive to mislabel it as p...

10/03/2024

We are thrilled to partner with the Medford Public Library to host Mike Curato to speak about his award winning book, Flamer.

When: Thursday, October 10th 2024 6-8pm; Medford Public Library, 111 High Street, Medford, Mass.

About the Book:
Set in 1995 at a Boy Scouts summer camp, Flamer, tells the story of Aiden, a 14 year old who is on a journey of figuring himself and his sexuality out. As he struggles to understand his first crush on a boy, he is also navigating changing schools and being bullied for being Filipino, effeminate, his weight, and not playing sports.

Semi-autobiographical, Curato’s courageous book was met with controversy, topping many banned book lists. Join us in an engaging and thoughtful discussion where we discuss the importance of telling q***r and BIPOC stories.

Joining Curato in conversation is Dr. Mary Amanda McNeil. Mary is a Mellon Assistant Professor in the Department of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora at Tufts University. Her research and teaching sit at the intersections of Black studies; Native American and Indigenous studies; Afro-Native studies; women, gender, and sexuality studies; social history; and geography. McNeil completed her PhD in American studies at Harvard University.

There will be light refreshments provided by Boukan’nen!

Register Here: https://medfordlibrary.org/event/author-visit-from-mike-curato/

07/03/2024

Please join us for our second annual "Reading Frederick Douglass Together" program on the museum grounds in Medford on Thursday, July 4 from 11am-2pm. This in-person program is free and open to all.

We've received a generous grant for this program from Mass Humanities with funding made possible by the Mass Cultural Council.

We invite community members to gather on the lawn in front of the historic Slave Quarters building to read/listen to "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?," Douglass's fiery 1852 speech, to honor the long history of Black activism, critique, and abolition.

Scholar/activist David Harris will launch the reading, then invite community members to read sections of the speech. A drum circle with Akili Jamal Haynes will close out the program.

After the event, we invite community members to an open house inside the Royall House and the Slave Quarters. We will also have light refreshments: ice cream from Colleen's and Haitian patties from Boukan'nen!

This event is co-sponsored by the Mystic Valley Area NAACP, The Mystic Project, Justflix, and the West Medford Community Center.

Please note: If you can’t make it on the fourth, our friends at the West Medford Community Center will also be holding a reading on Saturday, July 6 at 2pm. In addition to the reading, there will be music and poetry.

06/29/2024

Come to the Royall House & Slave Quarters next Thursday, July 4th from 11am-2pm for the “Reading Frederick Douglass Together” program at the museum. The event is free, and all are welcome for the community reading of the 1852 speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” as well as a drum circle, open house, and light refreshments.

If you can’t make it on the fourth, the West Medford Community Center will also be holding a reading on Saturday, July 6 at 2pm! In addition to the reading, there will be music and poetry.

06/21/2024

Please join us for our second annual "Reading Frederick Douglass Together" program on the museum grounds in Medford on Thursday, July 4 from11am-2pm.

This in-person program is free and open to all.

We've received a generous grant for this program from Mass Humanities with funding made possible by the Mass Cultural Council.

We invite community members to gather on the lawn in front of the historic Slave Quarters building to read/listen to "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?," Douglass's fiery 1852 speech, to honor the long history of Black activism, critique, and abolition.

Scholar/activist David Harris will launch the reading, then invite community members to read sections of the speech. A drum circle with Akili Jamal Haynes will close out the program.

After the event, we invite community members to an open house inside the Royall House and the Slave Quarters. Light refreshments will be provided.

06/13/2024

We're grateful to the Mass Cultural Council, MassDevelopment, and the Commonwealth for this grant, and also to Preserve Medford for generous support from our museum's home community.

Special thanks to Governor Maura Healey for her ongoing capital investment in arts and culture.

These funds will enable us to replace the Royall mansion's aging asphalt roof with period-appropriate cedar shingles, to better share the long history of slavery in colonial Massachusetts.

88 Cultural Organizations Receive Grants for Facility Projects; Awards Celebrated at the Children’s Museum in Easton

04/26/2024

This is an in-person event on Wednesday, May 1st at 6pm at the Museum of African American History - Boston and Nantucket in Boston.

Museums serve as trusted spaces of memory and education. They are also critical to discussions around the history and legacy of slavery and racial injustice and how we might imagine a more just world.

Join us for a conversation with Kyera Singleton, Director of the Royall House and Slave Quarters, and Christian Walkes, Director of Education at the Museum of African American History hosted at the African Meeting House in Boston. We will explore the intersection of collective memory and museums, delving into the profound role and responsibility of being stewards of historic sites. Register here https://loom.ly/jFr8lQ0 Royall House & Slave Quarters Museum of African American History - Boston and Nantucket

04/24/2024

Please join us tonight.

A lecture and conversation on slavery, its legacies, and medicine

04/19/2024

Please join us at the museum on Wednesday, April 24th, from 6:30-8pm, for a lecture and conversation on slavery, its legacies, and the medical humanities. Our keynote speaker -- Dr. Jim Downs, author of "Maladies of Empire: How Colonialism, Slavery, and War Transformed Medicine" -- will be joined in conversation by Tufts scholars Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha, Dr. Kerri Greenidge, and Dr. Kendra Field.

Admission is free; registration is required.

A lecture and conversation on slavery, its legacies, and medicine

04/11/2024

Please join us tomorrow evening to support these talented student artists.

Last summer, artist Stephen Hamilton collaborated with our museum to offer Reclaiming Our Hands, a 7-week program to teach African textile arts to Black students from throughout greater Boston. Students learned sewing, weaving, and appliqué embroidery. Using the black walnut trees on the museum's land, they learned how to work with natural dyes to create beautiful tie-and-dye tapestries. And from Kyera Singleton, our executive director, they learned the relationships of these traditional textile art forms with histories of slavery in the Americas.

Join us in celebrating the work of ten student artists who participated in this program. This event is co-sponsored by Harvard's Hutchins Center for African & African American Research and the History Design Studio at the Hutchins Center.

The opening will take place on Friday, April 12, from 6-8pm in the Rudenstine Gallery, Hutchins Center, 102 Mount Auburn Street, Floor 3R, Cambridge, Mass. The gallery is open to the public Tuesdays-Fridays, 10am-4pm.