PURCHASE TICKETS

Ticket Options

1 Ticket $15.00 2 Tickets $30.00 3 Tickets $45.00

MIKE LOWE does a dead-on impersonation of former President John F. Kennedy. He will be debuting his performance of "The Missiles of October", a speech given by Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. This presentation will be a show-stopper - guaranteed.

GWENDOLYN QUEZAIRE PRESUTTI is a professional storyteller and reenactor. She is also a member of Solo Together. Her website Woven Tales is rich in content and displays her breadth of characters. Quezaire-Presutti is a dramatic performance storyteller who incorporates integrated learning fundamentals into her passion for education. After facing the challenges of almost thirty years in Social Welfare, Gwendolyn has combined her expertise for public speaking and diligence for obtaining historical research into an impeccable outlet of storytelling and dramatic performance. At the 2009 New England History Festival, she'll transform into abolitionist and Civil War hero Harriet Tubman. This will be a performance not to be missed.

JULIA DONAHUE is one of the most versatile historical reenactors in New England as she possesses an extensive array of character portraits. Julia created the "Education through our Living History Programs" and is a graduate of Emerson College. She holds a degree in Theater Education and received classical training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. After spending some time on Broadway, she returned to Boston to join the Freedom Trail Players and appeared as Abigail Adams. Word of Julia's unique form of education reached the State House, and in 2003 Governor Mitt Romney presented a Proclamation naming Julia as the Official Abigail Adams of the Commonwealth. Julia was also presented with a Citation for Excellence in Teaching from the Governor's Council. Her various characters include Elizabeth Foster Goose, the real "Mother Goose", soldier girl Deborah Samson, and Mercy Otis Warren - historian, poet and political satirist. At the 2009 New England History Festival she will be portraying Abigail Adams, First Lady of the American Revolution.

DIANE RAPAPORT's first book first book New England Court Records: A Research Guide for Genealogists and Historians (Quill Pen Press, 2006), won a 2007 Benjamin Franklin Award for History and Reference (and a finalist for Best New Voice in Nonfiction), and the connecticut Society of Genealogists' award for Best Genealogical Resource. Rapaport, a former trial lawyer, has made a new career as a historical consultant, award-winning author and popular speaker. She offers an unusual combination of expertise and experience—in law, history and genealogy — and she enjoys discovering and telling the stories of our past. Her lecture is culled from her latest book The Naked Quaker: True Crimes and Controversies from the Courts of Colonial New England.

JAMES HORRIGAN is an author, reporter, historical researcher and reenactor. He has written for several newspapers and magazines over the past two decades. His article in Commonwealth Magazine about the murder of a labor leader in 1907 was critically acclaimed. He has written two timely articles in Boston Globe magazine, one about the drowning of a man entitled "I Couldn't Get Him" and the other about modern day piracy entitled "Pirate Alley". His presentation will dispel the notion of a ghost at Fort Warren in Boston Harbor known as the "Lady in Black".

JOHN HORRIGAN, the event’s producer, is a New England folklorist and a prolific “ad hoc historian” who has lectured on historical fires, historical weather and historical astronomical events such as “The Great Hurricane of 1938”, "The Great Brant Rock Fire” and “The Star of Bethlehem”. His new lectures for the 2010 season will include "The Great Roxbury Fire" and "Booms, Bubbles, Busts, Depressions, Recessions and Panics: A History of American Financial Crisis". He is now branching out into historical music tragedies as well with anniversary presentations on "The 'Paul Is Dead' Hoax", "Glenn Miller's Missing" and "The Day The Music Died". At this year's New England History Festival, John will be presenting three brief "segue" vignettes on "CARRINGTON'S GREAT SOLAR FLARE" (a geomagnetic storm that knocked out all telegraph communication in 1859), "THE GREAT MARTHA'S VINEYARD WATERSPOUT" (a water tornado in Vineyard Sound in August of 1896) and "THE YEAR WITHOUT A SUMMER" (the abnormally cold year of 1816).

SPECIAL GUESTS:

GAIL HAMEL is a teacher who brings colonial living to life. Her portrayal of Abigail Whitney introduces participants to how the hearth and farm were utilized for survival in the 18th century. She'll tell you how food was preserved and stored and what may have been bartered for at the country store. She'll also describe the different lifestyles that her family experienced living in Boston during Colonial times. Check out her website Abigail By Gail.

DAVE DOWNS has performed 4,000 shows in over 100 New England towns. A former educator, he brings magic, music and medicine to a high level of entertainment. Dave’s Colonial Medical Show is a memorable program that you won’t find anywhere else. Always entertaining and enlightening, Downs acquaints his audience with extraordinary medical techniques practiced during recent centuries.

DAVID L. SMITH is the President of the Civil War Roundtable of Greater Boston & Editor of the newsletter "THE RECALL JOURNAL". Dave will be portraying Boston Evening Traveler reporter Clarence Barron who will report on some of the young men that he met on Civil War battlefields.


MARILYNNE ROACH, whose has authored several books, has penned what many consider to be the definitive work on the Salem Witch Trials entitled The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege, will be on hand for a book signing.

Author TOM MOOR is writing a novel entitled Passport To Freedom: Around the World Through the Secret Gates of History. "Three Corner" Tom Moor and Scott "The Big Minuteman" began their "Midnight Ride" podcast this past spring, focusing mainly on New England in the Colonial, Revolutionary, and Young Republic periods of American history, leading up to The Civil War. Along with original theme music and bumpers, they've had great guests ranging from Mike Lowe as The Historian JFK, to John Horrigan on Historical Weather, to Dr. Edwin Vierra on the formation of The Constitution, not to mention live coverage of their mascott, Paul Revere, on the reenactment of his historic ride in Lexington. Join them with a loud, "HUZZAH!" and a couple of cold Sam Adams beers as they create an engaging, round-table dialogue with their guests to make history both interesting and fun: THE MIDNIGHT RIDE PODCAST.


Admission is $15.00. There will be trivia, prizes, exhibits, concessions and souvenirs. Tickets can be obtained by logging on to www.historyfestival.org and using PAYPAL, or by emailing historicalweather@hotmail.com or by calling (339) 368-1971 or by sending a $16.00 check (includes $1.00 shipping fee) made out to: