Boston Flora

Tag: Gibson House Museum

  • Saturday, September 16, 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm – By the Seaside: A Literary Walking Tour of Nahant

    Poets and writers have long been inspired by the beauty of the Nahant coastline. Join The Gibson House Museum on September 16 as we celebrate Nahant’s literary past with a special walking tour led by Ken Turino of Historic New England and Chris Mathias, past president of the Nahant Historical Society and coauthor of Nahant Revisited. The tour will stop at scenic places associated with such literary luminaries as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sylvia Plath–and, of course, summer resident Charlie Gibson. Excerpts from their work will be highlighted.

    Expect a leisurely stroll lasting approximately 2½ hours. Be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes! 

    Directions will be sent with confirmation. Register HERE.

  • Tuesday, April 11, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm – À la Belle Époque

    The Friends of the Gibson House Museum invite you to “À la Belle Époque,” a fun and festive party with a French theme. The evening includes drinks, a light supper, a raffle, and French music performed by singer Angela Rossi, pianist Lefteris Kordis, and accordionist Sonny Barbato. The event takes place April 11 from 6 – 9 at the St. Botolph Club, 199 Commonwealth Avenue.

    Join us in honoring the French Library, our Back Bay neighbor, for its many years of providing high-quality French-language instruction and cultural programs that inspire our community. We recognize, too, the library’s dedication to preserving Boston’s architectural history with a recent renovation of its 1867 brownstone headquarters that sensitively balances future needs with a respect for the building’s original charm and character. 

    All proceeds will support the preservation and operation of the Gibson House Museum. Festive attire, French flair optional!

    Tickets are $150 and may be purchased by clicking HERE, or by sending a check with the names of your guests to the Gibson House Museum, 137 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02116. 

    Dancer Loïe Fuller (1862–1928) performs Danse serpentine in 1902

  • Laurie Thomas Receives Mary Natale Citizenship Award

    Thomas High (below) presented the Mary Natale Citizenship Award to Laurie Thomas for her long standing work including the promotion of our urban green space in the Back Bay. She is a leader of the Garden Club of the Back Bay, where she coordinated two inventories of the front yard and alley trees. Laurie was central in the creation of the Club’s Back Bay Trees website (Backbaytrees.org) which educates our residents on the importance of preserving our green canopy.  Laurie is also a leader on the Gibson House Board of Directors, where she co-chairs the Museum Committee and is also  is a key member of NABB’s Architecture Committee, where she combines her environmental and preservation knowledge, with plain old good sense to evaluate the many proposals the Committee considers every month. Her many contributions have made the Back Bay a better place for us all. Laurie is also one of the Garden Club’s premier wreath decorators, which is no small feat – an artist, a conservationist, and wonderful person.

  • Thursday, May 5, 6:00 pm – Gibson House Museum Benefit – Save the Date

    The Board of Directors of the Gibson House Museum is pleased to announce that the Gibson House Museum will hold its Twenty-Fifth Annual Benefit on Thursday, May 5, at Boston’s St. Botolph Club.  This year Tom and Nancy High, creators of Backbayhouses.org,  an invaluable genealogy of Back Bay’s homes, will be honored for their tireless dedication to local architectural and family history. Tom and Nancy are great friends and supporters of The Garden Club of the Back Bay as well, and we encourage you to attend. More information about the Benefit, sponsorship opportunities, and ticket purchases coming soon!

    Learn more at www.thegibsonhouse.org, or email info@thegibsonhouse.org.

  • Friday, December 3, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Tenth Annual Repeal Day Celebration, Online

    Join Etiquetteer Robert B. Dimmick for the Tenth Annual Celebration of the Repeal of Prohibition to benefit the Gibson House Museum. The coronavirus is not keeping us from celebrating! This year’s virtual Repeal Day will include some special aspects:


    For the past ten years, Etiquetteer Robert B. Dimmick has led a celebration each December celebrating one of the more obscure aspects of the Gibson family’s residence at 137 Beacon Street: museum founder Charlie Gibson’s use of the third-floor bathroom for the production of Prohibition-era gin.

    While the pandemic prevents us from hosting an in-person party, the party is still going on! Just as in 2020, please join us via Zoom, on Friday, December 3, for Prohibition-era merriment, including a cocktail-mixing demonstration, Prohibition trivia, and an exclusive video tour of the Gibson House Red Study—a space too small to visit during a typical Repeal celebration. The evening will include an informal panel discussion hosted by Etiquetteer on the evolution of cocktail culture in the twenty-first century with some beloved friends of Repeal: our own Kirsten “Miss Kitty” Amann, co-author of Drinking Like Ladies and Jeremy Cooper, co-author with Andrew Klausner of their three-volume series, Cocktail Hour Meets….

    All proceeds from this event will benefit the preservation of the Gibson House Museum, the only historic house museum in Boston’s Back Bay. $60. Register by November 25 for the Zoom program HERE

  • Tuesday, September 21 – Gibson House Annual Benefit

    We are very happy to announce that the Gibson House Museum will hold its Annual Benefit—IN PERSON!—on Tuesday, September 21, 2021 at Boston’s St. Botolph Club. The honoree will be the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, which has worked tirelessly for over 65 years to preserve Back Bay’s architectural beauty and residential character. We had hoped to honor the association at last year’s canceled Benefit, and look forward to doing so this year.

    The Benefit is our major fundraising event, and this year we will celebrate with a “Roaring Twenties” theme. The party will feature drinks, food, trivia, and music and dancing from the 1920s. We’ll also offer fun ’20s-themed raffle items for you to take a chance on.

    Information regarding Benefit sponsorships has been mailed, and invitations will be sent later this summer. Sponsorship opportunities and tickets may also be purchased here.

  • Friday, December 6, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Eighth Annual Repeal Day Celebration

    Prepare to enjoy an evening of Prohibition-era gaiety at the Gibson House’s Eighth Annual Repeal Day Celebration on Friday, December 6 from 6:30 – 8:30. The Gibson House is located at 137 Beacon Street in Back Bay. The party will feature the debut of the Lady Playfair Cocktail, concocted by “Miss Kitty” Amann of the Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails behind the bar. Sumptuous hors d’oeuvre will be served in the dining room. Sponsored by Ryan & Wood Distilleries Knockabout Gin.

    Pre-registration is required through info@thegibsonhouse.org , https://www.eventbrite.com/e/repeal-day-celebration-at-the-gibson-house-museum-tickets-78651483705 or call 617-267-6338. $75 per ticket, period attire encouraged. but not required.

     

  • Wednesday, April 11, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Twenty Second Annual Gibson House Museum Benefit

    An elegant (and fun!) affair, the Gibson House Museum’s annual benefit is a major fundraising opportunity for the museum. All proceeds support the museum’s mission of preserving and sharing this unique time capsule of Boston life. This year they will honor Jean Carroon, a principal with award-winning Boston design firm Goody Clancy, for her career as a preservation architect and her role in the stewardship of more than a dozen National Historic Landmarks, including Trinity Church, Old South Church, Church of the Covenant, Arlington Street Church, and the Ayer Mansion. The evening will take place April 11 beginning at 6 pm at The Chilton Club, 152 Commonwealth Avenue. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit http://www.thegibsonhouse.org/2018-benefit.html

  • Monday, June 12, 6:00 pm – A Description of the New York Central Park

    Monday, June 12, 6:00 pm – A Description of the New York Central Park

    A Description of the New York Central Park by Clarence C. Cook, issued in 1869, is recognized as the most important book about the park to appear during its early years. This work has been republished with a new Introduction by Maureen Meister that reveals the roles of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in the creation of the book, which served in part to champion their vision for a major public park–a park that would become a model for the nation. For more information, see https://nyupress.org/books/9781479877461/

    Maureen will speak at The Gibson House Museum on Monday, June 12, with a reception at 6 and talk beginning at 6:30. $10 for Gibson House members, $12 for nonmembers. Please pre-register at info@thegibsonhouse.org or 617-267-6338.

    Maureen Meister is an art historian who has taught for many years at Boston-area universities including Tufts, Lesley, and Northeastern. She is the author of Arts and Crafts Architecture: History and Heritage in New England and Architecture and the Arts and Crafts Movement in Boston: Harvard’s H. Langford Warren and is the editor of H. H. Richardson: The Architect, His Peers, and Their Era.

  • Tuesday, November 15, 6:00 pm – Making History/Making Place: Celebrating Local Learning and Discovery

    William Hosley, principal of Terra Firma Northeast, has been a curator, museum director, public speaker, project manager, writer, photographer, and cultural resource entrepreneur. With more than thirty years’ experience in museums and historic preservation, his affiliations have included Historic Deerfield, the Winterthur Museum, the Wadsworth Atheneum, and, most recently, Connecticut Landmarks and the New Haven Museum, where he served as executive director. Author of five books and many articles, his work has appeared in dozens of magazines and newspapers. His Tuesday, November 15 talk at the Gibson House Museum, 137 Beacon Street, will center on the role of small museums–such as the Gibson House–as “civic miracles” that serve as educators, preservationists, and stewards of “local stuff and stories.” A reception begins at 6 pm, and program begins at 6:30. $10 for Gibson House members, $15 for nonmembers. For more information and to make reservations call 617-267-6338.