The Kingman Tavern Museum is open 2-5pm Saturdays.  Tours are free and ongoing during this time.
​Donations welcome but not required.

Past Events

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Summer 2024 At the Old Parsonage: "Cummington was a hot bed for the abolition of slavery. While "come-outers" were threatened, harassed, and became victims of violence throughout the North, Cummington became a refuge of safety and like-mindedness. Though not everyone in town agreed, Cummington was an important place for lectures, conventions and picnics to support the cause of ending slavery.

A crossroads of two Underground Railroad lines, Cummington supported the freedom of slaves physically, politically and socially.
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Learn more about the people, places and actions of Cummington that helped end slavery.

Curator Carrie Streeter Cranston's speaking series October, 2024

1st - The "manifesto" of Anti-Slavery Anti Sectarian Religious Association of Cummington and surrounding towns
2nd - The role of churches and ministers in town
​3rd - The Underground Railroad in Cummington
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Hilltown History Trail
August 3, 2024 10:00AM to 4:00PM

Buckland, Shelburne Falls, Plainfield, Ashfield and Cummington museums will all be open for free.
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Saturday, May 25, 2024 -  2PM to 4PM
Judith Cowell Meredith will be reading from her book A Hilltown Girl's Storybook.....Growing up in Cummington, Massachusetts
at the Cummington Community House, 33 Main Street.


Screening of The Cummington Story, 20 min., with short lecture and discussion.

 In 1940, Cummington minister Reverend Carl Sangree organized a temporary haven in a home in Cummington for recently emigrated European refugees.  Between 1940 and 1944, a total of 44 refugees, many of whom were artists and intellectuals,  used their time at the hostel to refine and retool their skills to find permanent jobs and homes in the United States. In 1944, the United States Office of War Information filmed a fictional documentary of the refugee hostel in Cummington as part of a series of propaganda movies to be shown in recently liberated territories abroad in order to counteract enemy propaganda. Acclaimed American composer Aaron Copeland wrote the score for the film. Released In 1945, the film was translated into 20 languages and shown around the world. 

The film was narrated by Rev. Carl Sangree, the main character, Joseph, was played by a refugee, and many Cummington townspeople and some of the other refugees appeared in the film.  If you missed the screening, the film can be found on YouTube, or click here.

LECTURE by Ralmon Black
"Colonial Asheries in the Hilltowns"

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Ralmon Black examining a colonial potash kettle.

                           
 


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