Historic Deerfield

10/06/2026

A season like no other on Deerfield's Old Main Street. 🍂

This fall, we continue to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Revolution with three exhibitions, which opened together for the first time, alongside historic house tours, open-hearth cooking demonstrations, and family programming all along the mile-long street.

None of this is possible without you. Annual Fund support sustains the preservation of our historic houses, the scholarship behind each exhibition, and the everyday experiences of visitors up and down The Street.

Give today, and help carry this landmark season forward — https://www.historic-deerfield.org/donate/

10/02/2026

10/02/2026

CALL FOR PAPERS! “Stories in Bricks, Beams, Paint, & Plaster: Reading Buildings as Evidence” – 2027 Building Archaeology Symposium

Submissions are due by December 18, 2026.

The 2027 Building Archaeology Symposium at Historic Deerfield (taking place on April 3, 2027) will mark the return of our annual Architectural Preservation Symposium series. Inspired by our work at the Stebbins House, this event will bring together architectural historians, preservationists, conservators, students, archaeologists, architects, cultural resource management firms, site managers, historic homeowners, historic tradespeople, and material culture scholars to talk about building archaeology projects and what we can learn from them.

Speakers who are selected to present will be provided lodging in the Champney House on Friday night, lunch on Saturday, and a modest honorarium to help offset time and travel. Proposals should be sent to Michael Emmons at [email protected] and should include a 250–500-word abstract (including paper title) and a resume/CV (or brief bio). Sample photos or images are optional. Submissions are due by December 18, 2026, and applicants will be notified by Friday, January 8. Program and registration information will be posted in mid-January 2027.

See more details here: https://www.historic-deerfield.org/call-for-papers-stories-in-bricks-beams-paint-plaster-reading-buildings-as-evidence-2027-building-archaeology-symposium/

09/29/2026

Historic Deerfield welcomes Wulfstan Scouller, a doctoral student in History at Yale University, for a three week Memorial Libraries Research Fellowship. He is researching mercantile activities, government policies, and social networks for his dissertation “Enterprizing War: How Merchants Shaped King Philip’s War.” Wulf will be looking at account books and probate inventories in the library and studying material culture in early New England.

Image 1: Wulfstan Scouller
Image 2: Late 17th century English delftware plate with local ownership
Image 3: Partial estate inventory of Deerfield's John Sheldon, 1713

09/28/2026

Historic Deerfield's commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence continues October 3 with a chance to meet members of the 26th Continental Regiment.

Reenactors from the The 10th Massachusetts Regiment portray this group of Grenadiers in meticulously researched, hand-recreated uniforms. Their coats are reddish London Brown wool faced in pale buff, with pewter buttons bearing the number 26. Their woolen caps are embroidered with "GW" and "REGIMENT XXVI," as on the surviving cap in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

Unlike the British Army, where each infantry regiment had a grenadier company, the Continental Army had almost no grenadiers, apart from one or two units and a couple of pre-Revolution militia companies.

The group will set up a small encampment on the Stebbins House lawn, with demonstrations of military drills and marching. Don't miss it!

October 3, 10-4
Stebbins Lawn
Included with general admission to Historic Deerfield

09/28/2026

This National Family Day, we're thinking about the families whose stories live on through Historic Deerfield's collections and architecture and the families making their own plans for the future. Our partner, FreeWill, makes it free and easy to create or update your will in about 20 minutes—and if you'd like, you can include a gift to the places your family cares about, including Historic Deerfield.

Start here: https://tinyurl.com/historicdeerfield

09/25/2026

Meet one of our store's great makers!

Sherri Gray is the owner and maker behind Made by Gray. She focuses her artistic strength and love of fabric into one-of-a-kind pieces, with most of her products made from reclaimed fabrics sourced from a local fabric store. She finds joy in giving things a second chance, whether that's a piece of clothing, a button, or scrap fabric left over from someone else's quilt. When she's not behind the sewing machine, she enjoys spending time with her family, eating ice cream, and working at her favorite fabric shop!

Visit in person or search "by Gray" on the store website to browse her work.

09/22/2026

During the Revolutionary War, images were more than illustrations. They were powerful tools used to shape public opinion, tell stories, and influence how people understood the events unfolding around them. Learn more about this at the Picturing the Revolution exhibition in the Flynt Center, and then visit the Discovery Center to create your own paper obelisk to take home and help build a map of Deerfield! All ages welcome.

Picturing the Revolution
At the Flynt Center of Early New England Life
9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays – Sundays, and Monday Holidays

Cartoons and Caricatures—Pictures as Protest and Praise
At the Historic Deerfield Discovery Center
12–4:30 p.m. September 26, 27; October 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18

09/21/2026

Historic Deerfield is hiring! Open positions include Marketing and Communications Coordinator, roles at the Deerfield Inn and Champney's Restaurant, and more! Check out our employment page for all job listings.

Historic Deerfield, Inc., is a museum of American history and art in the charming village of Deerfield in western Massachusetts.

09/14/2026

Historic Deerfield welcomes Kristan Hanson, an independent scholar, for a two-week Memorial Libraries Research Fellowship, here this week and returning in early October. She is studying how the artist James Wells Champney (1843-1903), who split his time between Deerfield and New York City in the later decades of the 19th century, portrayed women and botanicals to reinforce themes of colonial New England identity. Kristan will be looking at Champney’s paintings (two seen here) and sketches in our collections and other contextual information.