In this course, you’ll meet the men and women who made Concord the birthplace of American independence and imagination. You’ll hear their stories, see the places where they made their mark, and see objects they used and documents they wrote. If you want to learn about these remarkable people, and the town that Thoreau called “most estimable place in all the world,” this course is right for you. If you’d like to share Concord’s stories with visitors as a licensed tour guide, this course will prepare you with a wealth of information as well as techniques for interpreting cultural history to provide an engaging visitor experience.

Topics will include:

How Musketaquid became Concord: The native community and the English colony (1700 and before)
The Colonists’ world, and the emerging conflict with England (1700-1774)
Revolution in our backyard (1775)
America finds its voice in Concord (1770s-1830s)
Radical ideas, radical acts: Transcendentalists, abolitionists, and Civil War (1840s-1860s)
Preserving the land and its stories (1860s-present)
Interpretation techniques
We will meet for seven Monday-evening classes on Zoom. Subject to public-health guidelines at the time of the course, there will be a site visit to Special Collections at the Concord Free Public Library, and one complimentary admission to historic sites and museums. Students applying for the Town Tour Guide license must pass an exam on Concord History prepare and present a sample tour. A primary text for the course is Historic Concord (included in fee). This will be supplemented with additional readings, archival material, audio-visuals, and more.