The Racial Justice Advocates (RJA) of the First Parish Church invites everyone to two James Baldwin Summer events: a Zoom screening of “I Am Not Your Negro” on Thursday, Sept. 9 from 7–9 p.m. and a discussion of Baldwin’s first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, on Thursday, Sept. 16 from 7–9 p.m. The Oscar-nominated film, based on Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript Remember This House, explores the history of racism in the United States through Baldwin’s recollections of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as his personal observations of American history. The novel, based on Baldwin’s experiences as a teenaged preacher in a small revivalist church, describes two days and a long night in the life of the Grimes family.
The Zoom link can be found on the First Parish in Lincoln’s RJA web page.
Actor Kevin Radaker will play Winston Churchill on Friday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. The History at Play series event encounters Churchill on March 15, 1946. His thoughts turn to the dark days early in the war, when England was embattled against Hitler’s Nazi forces. Churchill recalls the unconquerable will of the British people as well as his friendship with President Roosevelt. Radaker is a former professor of English at Anderson University who has offered his portrayals of Churchill and Henry David Thoreau all over the country. The program is free but registration is required and is limited to 40. Sponsored by The Friends of the Lincoln Public Library.
Naturalist John Calabria will lead monthly “Noticing Walks” starting on Tuesday, Sept. 14 from 1–2:30 p.m. starting at the back of the commuter lot near Donelan’s (other walks are on October 5, November 2, and December 7). Click here for more information and registration. Sponsored by the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust and the Council on Aging and Human Services.
The Racial Justice Advocates (RJA) of the First Parish Church invites everyone to two James Baldwin Summer events: a Zoom screening of “I Am Not Your Negro” on Thursday, Sept. 9 from 7–9 p.m. and a discussion of Baldwin’s first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, on Thursday, Sept. 16 from 7–9 p.m. The Oscar-nominated film, based on Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript Remember This House, explores the history of racism in the United States through Baldwin’s recollections of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as his personal observations of American history. The novel, based on Baldwin’s experiences as a teenaged preacher in a small revivalist church, describes two days and a long night in the life of the Grimes family.
The Zoom link can be found on the First Parish in Lincoln’s RJA web page.
The Conservation Department will start its Tuesday fall trail walks from 9:30–11:30 a.m. (rain or shine) on Tuesday, Sept. 21 at Mount Misery. Other destinations: Drumlin Farm to Weston Woods (September 28), Flint’s Pond East (October 12), Codman East Woods and Hemlock Grove (October 19), and Browning Fields, Pigeon Hill, and Chapman Pasture (October 26). Click here for details on meeting locations. Registration is required to keep group size under 15 and to contact walkers in case of cancellation due to weather or public health concerns. Click here to register (select the tab at the bottom for the date you’re interested in). You may also RSVP by calling the Conservation Dept. at 781-259-2612 or emailing conservation@lincolntown.org.
On Thursday, Sept. 23 from 7–9 p.m., the RJA presents a screening of Professor Jill Lepore’s video talk about King Philip’s War in Massachusetts. The Zoom link can be found on the First Parish in Lincoln’s Racial Justice Advocates web page
“Determined to Know Beans: A Historical and Biological Exploration of Thoreau’s Beanfield,” an interpretive walk to Thoreau’s beanfield with historian Richard Smith and biologist Dr. Amity Wilczek, will take place on Saturday, Sept. 25 from 11–12:30 p.m. at the Walden Pond State Reservation. The presentation will focus on how the beanfield looked during Thoreau’s time and how it has changed. Discussion will include the plants that Thoreau would and would not be familiar with, including invasives. Click here to register.
The First Parish Racial Justice Advocates will screen “Traces of the Trade: a Story from the Deep North” via Zoom on Thursday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. the film i about a Rhode Island family that follows the route of the triangle slave trade through Ghana, Cuba, and Rhode Island and see a family reacting to the past and the present. Click here for details and the Zoom link.
The Conservation Department will start its Tuesday fall trail walks from 9:30–11:30 a.m. (rain or shine) on Tuesday, Sept. 21 at Mount Misery. Other destinations: Drumlin Farm to Weston Woods (September 28), Flint’s Pond East (October 12), Codman East Woods and Hemlock Grove (October 19), and Browning Fields, Pigeon Hill, and Chapman Pasture (October 26). Click here for details on meeting locations. Registration is required to keep group size under 15 and to contact walkers in case of cancellation due to weather or public health concerns. Click here to register (select the tab at the bottom for the date you’re interested in). You may also RSVP by calling the Conservation Dept. at 781-259-2612 or emailing conservation@lincolntown.org.
Naturalist John Calabria will lead monthly “Noticing Walks” starting on Tuesday, Sept. 14 from 1–2:30 p.m. starting at the back of the commuter lot near Donelan’s (other walks are on October 5, November 2, and December 7). Click here for more information and registration. Sponsored by the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust and the Council on Aging and Human Services.
The Conservation Department will start its Tuesday fall trail walks from 9:30–11:30 a.m. (rain or shine) on Tuesday, Sept. 21 at Mount Misery. Other destinations: Drumlin Farm to Weston Woods (September 28), Flint’s Pond East (October 12), Codman East Woods and Hemlock Grove (October 19), and Browning Fields, Pigeon Hill, and Chapman Pasture (October 26). Click here for details on meeting locations. Registration is required to keep group size under 15 and to contact walkers in case of cancellation due to weather or public health concerns. Click here to register (select the tab at the bottom for the date you’re interested in). You may also RSVP by calling the Conservation Dept. at 781-259-2612 or emailing conservation@lincolntown.org.
Enjoy a crisp evening by the fire as Doria Hughes tells stories about the fall, nature and animals on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 6:30 p.m. at Farrington Nature Linc. Tickets for “Tales & Treats: Slightly Scary Stories and S’mores” are $10 each or $30 for a family of four. Feel free to bring blankets and/or chairs to sit around the fire. We also recommend wearing or bringing layers as it will get colder once the sun goes down.
Every journey begins with a single step, or in Anders Morley’s case, the shush of cross-country skis. Morley will discuss his book, This Land of Snow: A Journey Across the North in Winter, on Monday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. The book offers insightful glimpses into life at the edge of the great northern wilderness, the history of cold-weather exploration and Nordic skiing, the right-to-roam movement, winter ecology, and more. Sponsored by the Friends of the Lincoln Public Library For Zoom invitation please, email lrothenberg@minlib.net.
The Lincoln Library Film Society will screen “Mike Wallace Is Here” on Thursday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. in the Tarbell Room. The documentary offers an unflinching look at the legendary reporter, who interrogated the 20th century’s biggest figures in over 50 years on air, and his aggressive reporting style and showmanship that redefined what America came to expect from broadcasters. Unearthing decades of never-before-seen footage from the 60 Minutes vault, the film explores what drove and plagued Wallace, whose storied career was entwined with the evolution of journalism itself.
Henry David Thoreau’s writing is filled with sense observations and perceptions of the natural world and philosophical perceptions of society. How can the natural world awaken our powers of observation? How can our social lives? Art forms? Why is close observation of all important? During this Lyceum, joined by scholars and artists in various mediums, we will discuss the connection between perception, the natural world, art, and society. Presented by the Walden Woods Society. Click here for more information and registration.
Ray Anthony Shepard — educator, writer and First Parish in Lincoln member — will speak via Zoom on “How Do We Talk About Race in a Time of Critical Race Theory Pushback?” on Thursday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. Following his talk, he’ll participate in a wide-ranging discussion of his work as historian and interpreter of African-American experiences in his award-winning 2017 Now or Never! 54th Massachusetts Infantry’s War to End Slavery and his 2021 poetic retelling for young readers of the story of a woman enslaved by the Washington family in Runaway: The Daring Escape of Ona Judge. “I write for readers who understand the universal need for fairness” and “to tell a fuller story of our country’s history,” Ray explains on his web page.
The session will also provide room for reflection on themes related to Ray’s work, as they appear in the film Harriet and in books included in our suggested-reading syllabus: Erica Armstrong Dunbar’s Never Caught: The Washington’s’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave Ona Judge; biographies of Harriet Tubman by Kate Clifford Larson and others; William Still’s The Underground Railroad Records; and fictional recreations of the experience of fugitives from bondage by Colson Whitehead and Ta-Nehisi Coates.
To get the link to this Zoom meeting, go to fplincoln.org/calendar and click on October 21 and Ray’s talk. Hosted by FPL’s Racial Justice Journey Steering Committee.
Last spring, we began to explore Lincoln’s past as a town that included enslaved people with a talk by Elise Lemire (co-sponsored by the Lincoln Historical Society and the Bemis Free Lecture Series) on “Slavery in Lincoln, Massachusetts: Reckoning with Our Past, Planning for a More Honest and Inclusive Future” (click here to watch video). We’ll dig deeper on Thursday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. with a talk on “Entangled Lives, Black and White: Lincoln and Its African American Residents in the 18th Century” by LHS board member Donald Hafner, a retired vice provost and professor of political science at Boston College. Click here for the Zoom link (meeting ID: 936 3276 0035, passcode: 177417).
The event is co-sponsored by the First Parish in Lincoln’s Racial Justice Journey, which began this fall with a focus on national, local, and church history and the ways in which that history has involved us in questions of race. The aim is to offer access to a variety of sources of information and perspectives that will let participants reconsider these questions together, in preparation for the next stages of the journey, focused on issues (winter) and action (spring). Every Thursday evening at 7 p.m. this fall, there will be Zoom meetings with talks, documentaries, book discussions, or movies. Field trips are also offered as part of the program. Everyone is invited. To learn more, contact Mary Helen Lorenz at mhelen808385@gmail.com.
The Conservation Department will start its Tuesday fall trail walks from 9:30–11:30 a.m. (rain or shine) on Tuesday, Sept. 21 at Mount Misery. Other destinations: Drumlin Farm to Weston Woods (September 28), Flint’s Pond East (October 12), Codman East Woods and Hemlock Grove (October 19), and Browning Fields, Pigeon Hill, and Chapman Pasture (October 26). Click here for details on meeting locations. Registration is required to keep group size under 15 and to contact walkers in case of cancellation due to weather or public health concerns. Click here to register (select the tab at the bottom for the date you’re interested in). You may also RSVP by calling the Conservation Dept. at 781-259-2612 or emailing conservation@lincolntown.org.
Naturalist John Calabria will lead monthly “Noticing Walks” starting on Tuesday, Sept. 14 from 1–2:30 p.m. starting at the back of the commuter lot near Donelan’s (other walks are on October 5, November 2, and December 7). Click here for more information and registration. Sponsored by the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust and the Council on Aging and Human Services.
A panel discussion with all five 2021 Agatha Award nominees for best first novel
Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.
Meet the country’s best new mystery writers in this all-star panel discussion featuring all five nominees for this year’s Agatha Award for Best First Novel: Esme Addison (A Spell For Trouble), Tina deBellegarde (Winter Witness), Mary Keliikoa (Derailed), Erica Ruth Neubauer (Murder at the Mena House), and Laura Jensen Walker (Murder Most Sweet). Award-winning author Catriona McPherson will serve as moderator. Click here to register.