The Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library is open from 9 AM – 4 PM. Visit our Library & Archives and our exhibitions, including:

–Nothing Short of Independence: Selections from the Library & Archives, on view April 6 through October 16, 2026. On view in the Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives reading room are objects from the collection produced during the American Revolutionary War. These items can help us see both the smaller activities that sustained the war as well as the larger picture of how the war impacted combatants and ordinary people. From a 1776 sermon to material related to the Battle of Saratoga in 1777, to Cornwallis’s surrender at Yorktown in 1781, and the discharge of soldiers who helped fight the war, these items can help us connect to this past and to reflect on what this history means to us today.

–Mapping Change in North America: 1755-1834, on view September 15, 2025, through September 25, 2026. Between 1755 and 1834, American, British, French, and German cartographers created maps to record, establish, and legitimize land claims in North America. These maps illustrate large shifts in the territorial possessions of European nations, as well as in land inhabited by indigenous peoples. Taken together, these maps depict the drastic shifts in boundaries and territories brought about by national ambition and by decades of conflict that eventually led to the North America we recognize today.

–Protest & Promise: The American Revolution in Lexington (ongoing). After years of tension between Great Britain and its North American colonies, a skirmish on the town green in Lexington, Massachusetts broke long-held bonds and ignited the American Revolutionary War. In an unprecedented moment in 1775, ordinary people in Lexington made extraordinary choices. An entire community—women, men, black, white, young, old, enslaved, and free—helped spark a revolution. Two hundred and fifty years later, Americans continue to remember April 19, 1775, as a moment when everyday people shaped history. This exhibition explores the events of April 19, 1775, with images, objects, and an in-depth look at this watershed event and how it has been remembered.

–Looking Back, Moving Forward: Fifty Years of Collecting (ongoing). Motivated by patriotism and his belief that Americans should celebrate the country’s traditions, ideals, and great leaders, George A. Newbury suggested that the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, the organization Newbury led in his role of Sovereign Grand Commander, build an American history museum and library in Lexington, Massachusetts. The enthusiastic support of Scottish Rite Masons brought Newbury’s vision to life. For fifty years the museum and library has sought to fulfill Newbury’s vision “to tell a thrilling story—the story of America” through programs, publications, exhibitions, and collections. This exhibition explores how the museum and library’s collection has grown, changed, and helped tell this story over half a century.

DATE: Saturday, May 30

TIME: 9 AM – 4 PM

LOCATION: Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, 33 Marrett Road, Lexington, MA

This program is offered by the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library as part of the Hidden Treasures Festival of Nature, Culture & History, an annual month-long celebration showcasing events and activities hosted by local partners celebrating the unique places, objects, and stories of the Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area. Hidden Treasures programs are free and open to the public. Click to discover more Hidden Treasures!