Dear Winchester Historical Society Members and Friends,
To quote Martin Luther King Jr, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
As the Board of Directors for the Winchester Historical Society, we pledge to support racial equality. We will not be silent.
Our commitment to diversity, inclusion and racial equality is not new. In the last couple of years, we have presented a broad range of topics highlighting the history of Blacks, Asians, Indigenous People, and the Suffragette Movement. These programs have been a result of both independent as well as joint efforts with organizations across our town such as the Network of Social Justice, the League of Women Voters, Winchester Archives and the Friends of Winchester Public Library. Since our founding in 1884, the Society has collected the papers, photographs, and artifacts that document the history of Winchester, from stone tools of the Massachusett tribe to historic textiles. We work with the Archival Center to collect photographs and papers through community programs like the Winchester Mass Memories Road Show and the Winchester during COVID project. With these programs and our collections, we seek to inform, educate and encourage meaningful interactions while preserving a historic collection of our community.
Today, more than ever, we need to learn about our history through a diverse lens. Discussions on racial equity are not always comfortable. We cannot change our past but we can use it to be better allies, to shift from allies to anti-racists, and to become a better community. As William Wordsworth so eloquently wrote – “Let us learn from the past to profit by the present and from the present, to live better in the future.” – for everyone.
We commit to our continued emphasis on diverse programming both independently and in conjunction with partners across our community.
We also commit to dialogue with you – our members. Attendees of our programs are always ready with insightful questions. As we adjust to a COVID-safe online format, we need to find new ways to enable our continued conversations. Join us in this important ever evolving dialogue and help us build a better future for our children and beyond.
Together we can make a difference.
Winchester Historical Society Board of Directors
