Walsh Rose Walking Tour
2025-07-01 10:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Woods Hole Historical Museum Courtyard, 579 Woods Hole Rd, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
Woods Hole’s beautiful Walsh Roses are bursting into bloom throughout the village. We invite you to join expert Gretchen Ward Warren for a walking tour to view these internationally renowned roses in full flower and to learn about how they were hybridized and cultivated right here in Woods Hole in the early 1900s!
Starting location is the Woods Hole Historical Museum Courtyard and the tour will continue on foot around the village.

Woods Hole Cooks Something Up: Summer’s Beginnings & Endings with Chef Katie
2025-07-07 17:30 - 19:30 | Highfield Hall, 56 Highfield Dr., Falmouth, MA, 02540, United States
Discover the flavors of Woods Hole in Highfield Hall’s kitchen! Join Chef Katie Rickard for an unforgettable cooking experience as she hosts the local culinary stars featured in the beloved cookbook, “Woods Hole Cooks Something Up.”
This class will feature four favorites: Savory Stuffies (stuffed quahogs) with Will Moore; Tomato Basil Melts with Wendy Blomberg; First Day of Summer Shortcake with Pat Tucker; and Apricot Galette with Alexandra Fields Collin.
Elevate your cooking skills while savoring the true tastes of local traditions. You’ll master exclusive dishes featured in the cookbook and hear the heartwarming stories behind them. Cookbooks will be available for purchase before and after the class so you can bring home your own copy and dive deeper into the culinary traditions of Woods Hole.
Register online today or call 508-495-1878 ext. 2.
Event costs $75 for Highfield Hall and WHHM members and $85 for non-members.

Renowned Recorder Artists to Perform Concert in Woods Hole
2025-07-19 16:00 - 17:00 | Woods Hole Church of the Messiah, 22 Church Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
Join us for a performance of “Recorder Duos, from Medieval through Modern Times” featuring the internationally-renowned Tibia Recorder Duo, artists Letitia Berlin and Frances Blaker.
The program will include J. S. Bach’s “Aria and Variation #7 from Goldberg Variations,” the Sephardic song “La Rosa Enflorece,” original compositions by Ms. Blaker and other compositions.
The concert – a highlight of the museum’s summer-long celebration of Woods Hole women artists – will be held at Church of the Messiah, 22 Church Street, Woods Hole. Admission is complimentary thanks to the generosity of the family of Marcella Garber Polisar Katz and George Maxim Katz.
A reception will follow the concert in the courtyard of the nearby museum.
More about the Tibia Recorder Duo can be found at tibiaduo.com.

Woods Hole Cooks Something Up - Memories and Stories
2025-07-23 19:00 - 20:00 | Woods Hole Public Library, 581 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA, 02543
Charlotte Emans Moore, editor of Woods Hole Cooks Something Up for the 21st Century, will present a lively conversation about the museum’s award-winning cookbooks, with stories from the archives about beloved community members and favorite recipes.
Location: Woods Hole Public Library Community Room

Woods Hole Cooks Something Up: Fish, Fish, & More Fish! with Chef Katie
2025-08-04 17:30 - 19:30, 2025-08-05 12:00 - 14:00 | Highfield Hall, 56 Highfield Dr., Falmouth, MA, 02540, United States
A big thank you to Chef Katie Rickard and her team at Highfield Hall & Gardens for hosting the Woods Hole Historical Museum’s program celebrating our new cookbook Woods Hole Cooks Something Up!
Highfield Hall and the WHHM will again team up for Fish, Fish and More Fish! when Grace Dodier, Dan Isenberg and Olwen Huxley present their amazing recipes for Gravlox, Portuguese Fisherman’s Stew and Salt-Encrusted Striper or Bluefish.
Register online here or call 508-495-1878 ext. 2.

Museum Annual Meeting and Salley Mavor Talk
2025-08-07 17:00 - 19:00 | Church of the Messiah Parish and Community Center, 16 Church St, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
REGISTRATION CLOSED!
Members are invited to vote on the museum’s 2025-26 fiscal year budget and slate of Steering Committee members.
Following the business meeting, Woods Hole artist Salley Mavor will present a talk on “Enchanting Threads and Woods Hole Roots” about her career creating magical embroidered worlds. She will also share a bit about her family’s 100-year-old history in Woods Hole. This talk reflects the museum’s 2025 focus on women artists of Woods Hole.
Salley’s presentation will cover a wide range of artistic endeavors, from children’s book illustration to stop-motion animation, demonstrating that there are no limits to what can be expressed with a needle and thread. More information can be found at https://weefolkstudio.com/
The meeting will be held at the Church of the Messiah Parish and Community Center, which is next door to the main Church of the Messiah building. The address is 16 Church St., Woods Hole.
Members and the general public are invited to attend, and registration is required.
All attendees are invited to join us for refreshments.

Oyster Talk and Tasting
2025-08-21 17:00 - 19:00 | Woods Hole Historical Museum, 579 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA, 02543
Join us for this annual summer fundraiser – an annual sellout! The first part of the evening will be a talk by local oyster growers Pete Chase, Eric Matzen and Mary Murphy of Falmouth Shellfish Cooperative. The cooperative sells its oysters through Coonamessett Farm.
After the talk, which will include a demonstration of oyster shucking, guests will proceed to the tasting tables to sample the oysters. Wine and beer will be available, as well as light snacks and specialty sauces.
The event costs $55 for museum members and $65 for non-members.
Location: Museum/Library Courtyard
Register

Good Neighbor Day Block Party
2025-09-27 16:00 - 17:00 | Woods Hole Historical Museum Courtyard, 579 Woods Hole Rd, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
The Woods Hole Public Library and the Woods Hole Historical Museum invite all members of the community to a Good Neighbor Day Block Party!
This joyful gathering marks the second annual celebration of Massachusetts Good Neighbor Day, a statewide initiative dedicated to strengthening connections, spreading kindness, and building a deeper sense of belonging across the Commonwealth. And what better way to celebrate here in Woods Hole than by coming together in the Library/Museum courtyard for a lively, heartwarming afternoon with friends and neighbors?
Expect good cheer, great company, and the spirit of community at its best. We’ll have music, games, and a warm welcome for all ages. Guests are encouraged to bring friends, family members, neighbors, and a snack to share if you can!
Let’s toast the end of a busy summer season and celebrate what makes Woods Hole special: each other. We can’t wait to see you there!

WHHM Holiday Conversation: “The Wondrous Mrs. Claus”
2025-11-28 19:00 - 20:00 | Woods Hole Public Library, 581 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA, 02543
Get into the holiday spirit with a Woods Hole Historical Museum Conversation by author Pamela McColl about her new book, “Wondrous Mrs. Claus.”
The wife of Santa made her literary debut in 1849. Sleuthing through books, journal articles and poems, McColl discovered Mrs. Claus played a role in larger discussions about women’s roles in 19th century—even used by advocates for and against women’s suffrage. McColl’s talk will include a poem by Falmouth’s own Katharine Lee Bates, featured in the book.
Holiday refreshments will be served.

WHHM Conversation: Joseph Story Fay, Thomas Simms, and a Nation on the Brink
2026-02-12 12:00 - 13:00 | Woods Hole Public Library, 581 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA, 02543
Join the Woods Hole Historical Museum for a conversation with scholar Brandon McGrath-Neely entitled “Joseph Story Fay, Thomas Simms, and a Nation on the Brink” on Thursday, February 12 at noon at the Woods Hole Public Library.
In his work, McGrath-Neely examines the “inverted lives” of Joseph Story Fay, a prominent landowner and “the first summer resident” of Woods Hole, and Thomas Simms, a man who escaped slavery, both of whom utilized geographic mobility to enhance their circumstances. Fay relocated from Boston to Savannah to capitalize on opportunities in the cotton trade and improve his financial standing. Conversely, Sims escaped enslavement in Savannah and stowed away on a Boston-bound vessel.
Both men’s endeavors collided with the crisis between North and South epitomized by the Compromise of 1850, particularly the Fugitive Slave Act. This compelled Simms’s return to slavery and complicated Fay’s business relationships in Savannah due to escalating distrust in a nation increasingly divided by region.
Their intersecting narratives reveal how individual ambition was constrained by the machinations of the slave economy within a nation teetering on the brink of civil war.

WHHM Conversation: Discovering Woods Hole: Exploring the Museum’s Collection Online
2026-03-12 12:00 - 13:00 | Woods Hole Public Library, 581 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA, 02543
Join our Archivist Colleen Hurter and our Executive Director Mark Long as they demonstrate how to search for materials in our archive, using the Pacific Guano Company as an example.
We will ask for audience questions about search topics, so bring your own Woods Hole history questions to the session!

Maritime Yard Sale
2026-04-25 10:00 - 14:00 | Woods Hole Historical Museum, 579 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA, 02543
Join us for a maritime yard sale to benefit the Woods Hole Historical Museum and Community Boat Shop!
What’s in your garage? Do you have too many boats or other marine-related items collecting dust?

The Museum is ACCEPTING ITEMS NOW for this fundraiser. Drop your donations off any Saturday between 10 am and 2 pm through April 18 at the Boat Shop (back right side of the campus).

Examples of acceptable items include but are not limited to:
Boats and trailers 15 ft or less, engines that run, boat models, nautical antiques and art, rigging, hardware, oars, paddles, anchors, and fishing tackle.
* Nothing broken unless it’s bronze or copper.
* NO project boats, paints, solvents, or expired safety equipment or electronics.

Email whhmboatshop@gmail.com with any questions about donations or picking up large/multiple items.

We had lots of happy buyers last year, loading up on deals galore. Join us this year to have fun discovering your treasures while enjoying complimentary refreshments!

Please share and help us spread the word among our friends and neighbors.

UPDATED: Woods Hole Trad Stroll 2026
2026-05-02 12:00 - 17:30 | Old Woods Hole Fire Station, 72 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
The Trad Stroll is a beloved, free community event held this year on Saturday, May 2 from noon to 5:30 PM, followed by the Woods Hole Contra Dance from 7:30 to 10 PM with the Woods Hole Folk Orchestra. The dance is $10 for adults and $5 for teens.
Because of the rain forecast, the band The Familiars will no longer perform on our Museum grounds and will instead perform in the Old Woods Hole Firehouse from 4PM to 5PM.

WHHM Conversation: Unruly Stories of a Boy and His Trains on the Woods Hole Branch
2026-05-14 12:00 - 13:00 | Woods Hole Public Library, 581 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA, 02543
Join us for a talk with Stephen Ellis as he shares stories of riding the trains to Woods Hole as a child.
The conversation is free to attend and will be held downstairs at the Woods Hole Public Library. Entry is through the downstairs side entrance.

Museum Members' Opening Party
2026-06-12 17:00 - 19:00 | Woods Hole Historical Museum Courtyard, 579 Woods Hole Rd, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
Welcome the summer season with food and drink in the Museum courtyard! Members will have a preview of our summer 2026 exhibit “ReTERN to Sea: A History of Collecting Boats in Woods Hole.”
