Lydia Maria Child is still making news!
This fall, the Medford Historical Society & Museum will be featuring an original play entitled “Letters to Medford: A Play About the Future According to the Past” from Sept. 29-October 8, 2016 featuring Lydia Maria Child as a character. This original play is produced by Two Roads Performance Projects.
Letters to Medford is inspired by a “Letter to Future Medford 2055” that historian, Charles Brooks, wrote in his History of Medford in 1855. In his letter, he described his vision for Medford over the course of 200 years. History and the present collide in this production when Charles Brooks, Lydia Maria Child, and Lucy Osgood confront the archivist who wants to protect their history and meet Medford teens who remain anxious about what the future will mean for them.
The Medford Historical Society & Museum holds many of Child’s artifacts (pocket watch, bible, doll bed, quilts) as well as an original unpublished manuscript we call the “Flower Book” that includes original poetry, drawings and scrapbook pieces. It was a gift to Mary (Mrs George Luther) Stearns in 1855 from “Aunt Maria.” Mrs. Stearns donated it to MHS in 1900.
Another unique object housed at MHSM is the earliest portrait of Child painted by Francis Alexander. Unfortunately, the painting was destroyed when someone attempted to restore it in the 1950s. The story of this painting is featured in the play.
Tickets for the show are now on sale at www.tworoads.org
$15 for adults and $12 for seniors and students.
Location: Medford Historical Society & Museum, 10 Governors Avenue
lydia maria child society 