Framingham History Center Earns 2024 Mass History Commendation

News release from Framingham History Center.

FRAMINGHAM, MA — The Framingham History Center (FHC) has been honored with the prestigious 2024 Mass History Commendation award by Mass Humanities. The award was presented to the Framingham History Center by Katherine Stevens, Mass Humanities Director of Grants and Programs, in front of a crowd of 200 during the Massachusetts History Alliance conference in Devens, MA, on Monday, June 3, 2024.

This commendation reflects the recent work of the Framingham History Center as part of the FHC’s Community Engagement Plan, adopted in 2022, to assert its “commitment to serving diverse populations that call Framingham home, and to ensure that all the people of Framingham remain at the center of our future operations.” At the center of that plan was the value of co-creation and a recognition that Framingham is a multi-lingual, multicultural community, and that therefore the work of the Framingham History Center would also be multi-vocal.

The Framingham History Center achieved a critical step in the Community Engagement Plan with the opening of their newest exhibition, “Framingham’s Collective Journeys: Stories of Immigration 1960-Present” in January 2024. This is the Framingham History Center’s first multilingual onsite exhibition in its 136-year history. “Framingham’s Collective Journeys” is a history and art installation that is shaped by museum visitors as they add their own stories to the museum’s walls by way of drawings, word magnets, and personal writings. Mass Humanities awarded the Framingham History Center an “Expand Massachusetts Stories” grant in 2022 to launch the exhibition.

“This commendation is a recognition of the power of stories. At the heart of our work is the belief that history is alive and evolving, shaped by every individual who calls Framingham home,” says Anna Tucker, Framingham History Center Executive Director. Tucker received the commendation from Stevens during the awards ceremony. “We are grateful to Mass Humanities for their support and recognition of this unfolding journey, and we are excited to see these stories continue to grow.”

This award marks the second major recognition for the Framingham History Center this spring. FHC Executive Director Anna Tucker and “Framingham’s Collective Journeys” co-curator Patrick St. Pierre were recently named the 2024 Contributors of the Year by the Framingham Cultural Council for their work on the “Framingham’s Collective Journeys” exhibition.

The “Framingham’s Collective Journeys” is currently on view at the Framingham History Center Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at 3 Oak Street, Framingham, MA 01701. Admission is $5 for adults; children under 13 are free. For more information about the exhibition and the Framingham History Center, please visit framinghamhistory.org