2024 Programs

Nashobah Praying Indians: A Living People, A Living Landscape: May 5

On Sunday May 5, the Boxborough Historical Society conducted its annual “Hidden Treasures” event. Every May for the last 9 years, Freedom's Way, a consortium of 45 cities and towns that were involved in the events of 1775, has sponsored a "Hidden Treasures" event to highlight notable items and places in each municipality.

Boxborough (and Littleton) was originally the Praying Indian Village of Nashobah, a place of spirit and vision. Join Sagamore Strong Bear Medicine of the Nashobah Praying Indians and local historian Daniel V. Boudillion at the Boxborough Town Hall, 29 Middle Road, starting at 2:00 p.m. They will discuss the Nashobah people, their spirit, their journey of survival, the village, and the sacred landscape that is all around us.

Strong Bear Medicine is Sagamore of the Nashobah Praying Indians and the founder of the Friends of the Nashobah Praying Indians. He is a noted Native performer, dancer, singer, craftsman, and public speaker.  Daniel V. Boudillion is an avid historian and author with a wide knowledge of early Nashobah history and the locations associated with them, has given numerous talks and walks in the area on Nashobah history, and is a featured speaker. His work has been featured the NEARA Journal and Weird Massachusetts, and he has recently published "History of the Nashobah Praying Indians: Doings, Sufferings, Survival and Triumph".
 

Thursday May 23: Lucie Hager: Poet and Chronicler of Boxborough’s Early History  

Lucie Hager was a remarkable woman of the 19th Century.  Though she was largely self-taught, she was a successful school teacher, bookkeeper and a prolific writer of poetry.

Late in the nineteenth century Lucie wrote the Boxborough section in a comprehensive history of Middlesex County containing histories of every city and town in the county. At that time Boxborough with its 325 inhabitants was one of the smallest towns in the County . Encouraged by this work and by her friends, she wrote a separate history of Boxborough alone. That book was published in 1891 as “Boxborough: A New England Town and its People”. The book is a treasure trove of lore of the Town and of its notable families.

Come hear Alan Rohwer of the Boxborough Historical Commission discuss the life and labors of this pioneering woman in the meeting room of the Sargent Memorial Library at 427 Massachusetts Avenue (route 111) on Thursday May 23 at 7 p.m.  The event is free and registration is not required.

Here is the link to the presentation.