The Mill Girls of New England are an iconic feature of early American industry. More than being a symbol of industrialization, they were the first industrial workforce in the U.S. These working women contributed to the growth of the American industrial economy, challenged the idea that women couldn’t be “breadwinners” and were actively involved in early workers rights movements and trade unions.

Tour length: 45 minute

It is a FREE TOUR which will explore a limited section of our exhibits.

Should you wish to stay and tour the remainder of the Museum, we ask that you please pay our regular admission

2nd SHIFT Concert: Ward Hayden & Greg Hall

Tickets $25

Two-fifths of the multi-award-winning band, Ward Hayden and the Outliers prove that it's not the numbers that count, but the music.

Ward Hayden has fronted his band The Outliers for nearly a decade (and longer before that as Girls, Guns, and Glory). Greg Hall has been a part of that outfit for over half of that. Here the two present a leaner, simpler arrangement that still spares not a thing in the quest for soulful, heartfelt country. Especially when their voices join together, the duo proves that it's not the numbers that count, but the music.

You can hear for yourself on their Bandcamp release, "Restless", or, better yet, come see in person March 12th

Mill talk: Chelsea Clock Company: 146 Years of Boston Clockmaking

presented by Patrick Mont, Curatorial Fellow at the Willard House & Clock Museum

This event has SOLD OUT

The clockmaking tradition carried out by Chelsea Clock Company traces it’s roots back to the founding of the Harvard Clock Company in 1880 by Joseph Eastman. This talk will trace the evolution of the Boston style marine clock from it’s humble beginnings as a gauge clock through to the modern day manufacturing of these storied clocks.

Chelsea survives today as the last American clock company still in operation and one of a few manufacturing mechanical clock movements in world today.

With many important ties to Waltham, this talk is sure to appeal to the interest of local clock & watch enthusiasts alike.

Speaker Bio:
Patrick Mont is an avid student of the Boston school of clockmaking. He is a Chelsea factory-trained clockmaker where he served as Director of Repair & Restoration. Presently, he is a Curatorial Fellow at the Willard House & Clock Museum in Grafton, Mass, where is he studies Massachusetts horology in the earlier era of hand-crafted clocks. He serves on the board of the American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute, is President of the Massachusetts Watchmakers-Clockmakers Association and was a recipient of the David Gow Memorial Scholarship for Clockmaking.

The Mill Girls of New England are an iconic feature of early American industry. More than being a symbol of industrialization, they were the first industrial workforce in the U.S. These working women contributed to the growth of the American industrial economy, challenged the idea that women couldn’t be “breadwinners” and were actively involved in early workers rights movements and trade unions.

Tour length: 45 minute

It is a FREE TOUR which will explore a limited section of our exhibits.

Should you wish to stay and tour the remainder of the Museum, we ask that you please pay our regular admission

Industry and Innovation Tour: Manufacturing the Modern World A Gallery Tour

Explore the history of American ingenuity with this new tour, a guided experience that provides an overview of the museum’s collection, highlighting transformative advancements in manufacturing, precision engineering, and industrial technology. 

Visitors will learn about include the revolutionary textile machines of the early factory system, the world-class craftsmanship of Waltham watchmaking, and tools and inventions that shaped the modern age.

Mill Talk: How To Fuel an Industrial Revolution-Coal and the Energy Economy of Boston, 1820-1970

presented by Thomas Speight

FREE to the public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED

This talk will discuss the use of coal as a fuel for industry, utilities and domestic life in metropolitan Boston between roughly 1820 and 1970, including the core years of the Industrial Revolutions. During this period, coal accounted for the majority of Boston’s energy supply, and provided energy to Boston’s homes, factories, foundries, power plants, shipyards and other operations. Coal also fed the city’s multiple gasworks, which provided street lighting and domestic and industrial fuel, and supplied power to both the water and sewage pumping stations.

This heavy reliance on coal also created significant quality of life issues for Boston residents, and resulted in one of the nation’s first smoke abatement laws (Chapter 651 of the Acts of 1910).

Speaker Bio

Thomas Speight has twenty years’ experience in the environmental field as a consultant and regulator, including approximately fifteen years with a primary focus on assessment and remediation of contaminated sites. He is a Massachusetts Licensed Site Professional and a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager, and a member of the Society for Industrial Archaeology. He is a coauthor of Manufactured Gas Plant Remediation: A Case Study (CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2018), with Allen W. Hatheway.

2nd SHIFT Concert: Winterpills

Tickets $25

Season Tickets available
Save $25 on all five shows

winterpills.com

Formed in the fog of the timeline around the fall of the Twin Towers, the death of Elliott Smith, the peak influence of Pitchfork and the dawn of the iPod, the members of Winterpills met and began making music in the old-fashioned winter of 2003 in the shambolic Northampton, MA music scene. They gleefully stumbled upon their sound: Flora Reed and Philip Price’s harmonies and “heartrending” songwriting (so says No Depression), Dennis Crommett’s tender shoegaze guitar, Dave Hower’s unclassifiable drumming, and later on Max Germer’s moonlit bass feel. "Winterpills gradually builds elegant arrangements... While the gathered instruments offer some solace, the songs stay haunted,“ wrote Jon Pareles in the New York Times.

Winterpills opening our 2026 Spring Season will be a musical blessing of the best kind.

The Mill Girls of New England are an iconic feature of early American industry. More than being a symbol of industrialization, they were the first industrial workforce in the U.S. These working women contributed to the growth of the American industrial economy, challenged the idea that women couldn’t be “breadwinners” and were actively involved in early workers rights movements and trade unions.

Tour length: 45 minute

It is a FREE TOUR which will explore a limited section of our exhibits.

Should you wish to stay and tour the remainder of the Museum, we ask that you please pay our regular admission

The Mill Girls of New England are an iconic feature of early American industry. More than being a symbol of industrialization, they were the first industrial workforce in the U.S. These working women contributed to the growth of the American industrial economy, challenged the idea that women couldn’t be “breadwinners” and were actively involved in early workers rights movements and trade unions.

Tour length: 45 minute

It is a FREE TOUR which will explore a limited section of our exhibits.

Should you wish to stay and tour the remainder of the Museum, we ask that you please pay our regular admission

The Mill Girls of New England are an iconic feature of early American industry. More than being a symbol of industrialization, they were the first industrial workforce in the U.S. These working women contributed to the growth of the American industrial economy, challenged the idea that women couldn’t be “breadwinners” and were actively involved in early workers rights movements and trade unions.

Tour length: 45 minute

It is a FREE TOUR which will explore a limited section of our exhibits.

Should you wish to stay and tour the remainder of the Museum, we ask that you please pay our regular admission

Tips and donations are encouraged, but not required.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! We are looking for more people to volunteer to help repair goods, help with administration, or help direct people where to go. I will send an initial email to volunteers later this week.

FAQ: https://www.walthamrc.org/faq
Volunteer sign up: https://www.walthamrc.org/volunteer
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/walthamrc

Industry and Innovation Tour: Manufacturing the Modern World A Gallery Tour

Explore the history of American ingenuity with this new tour, a guided experience that provides an overview of the museum’s collection, highlighting transformative advancements in manufacturing, precision engineering, and industrial technology. 

Visitors will learn about include the revolutionary textile machines of the early factory system, the world-class craftsmanship of Waltham watchmaking, and tools and inventions that shaped the modern age.

Collaboratory Public Workshop: Laser Engraving

FREE to the public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED

All workshops start at 1:00 pm and last around 90 minutes. These are all Level 1 workshops, so you do NOT need any prior experience with the topic.

Ever wonder how they get images and text on keychains, jewelry, and other objects? This workshop introduces participants to using the laser cutters and laser engravers at the Charles River Collaboratory.  Under the guidance of experienced youth leaders, attendees learn safety protocols, laser settings (power and speed), and basic design techniques to create engraving projects.  You will learn to use the dual-fiber and blue laser in the Collaboratory.  Future sessions will show you how to create your own designs and use the more powerful cutting lasers.

This session should last around 90 minutes

Mill Talk: Forging History: The Creation of Saugus Iron Works NHS

presented by Gretchen Pineo

FREE to the public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED

The Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site, located in Saugus, Massachusetts, is a mid-twentieth century reconstruction of a seventeenth-century ironworks. Built by private investors in the public interest, the site is at turns an outdoor museum teaching the public about the origins of the iron and steel industries and an object lesson in the ingenuity of the early settlers of Massachusetts as a way of conveying American beliefs about the pioneer spirit and independence onto a new generation. This talk explores the history of the site, beginning with its establishment in the mid-seventeenth century, through its stewardship by the National Park Service in the late twentieth century.

Speaker Bio:

Gretchen Pineo is a Senior Architectural Historian at the Public Archaeology Laboratory in Pawtucket, RI and an adjunct instructor at the Boston Architectural College. She received her M.A. in Preservation Studies from Boston University and holds a professional certificate in Museum Studies from Tufts University. She joined PAL in 2014 after interning with the National Park Service (NPS) Northeast Region History Program, where she was introduced to Saugus Iron Works NHS and became intrigued by its history. Ms. Pineo works throughout New England and the mid-Atlantic for a variety of government and private clients, documenting disparate resources including state and national parks, historic towns and villages, and military installations. She has also developed public interpretive displays in Massachusetts and Rhode Island covering disparate topics including industrial village development and Cold War-era scientific and military research.

Links:

https://www.palinc.com/

Collaboratory Public Workshop: How to Work With AI

FREE to the public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED

All workshops start at 1:00 pm and last around 90 minutes. These are all Level 1 workshops, so you do NOT need any prior experience with the topic.

Ever wonder what all the hype is about with AI? This workshop will be led by Charles River Collaboratory instructors with youth leaders as co-instructors.  This workshop will focus on the basics of AI, and you will learn to train a “machine learning” model for object recognition to understand how AI models are trained by using Google’s “Teachable Machine.”  During this workshop, you will be introduced to what an AI prompt is, provided with examples, and try some of your own prompts.  

This session should last around 90-120 minutes

MassDestruction Resurgence V: Robot Combat!

Sparks will fly, bots will die, and a new champion of MassDestruction will be crowned!

NOTE: This is a family friendly spectator event suitable for all ages, but there will be loud noises and crowds.

If you’re new to robot fighting and want to learn how to get involved, please message MassDestruction’s friendly Facebook page and we can get you pointed in the right direction!

Rules: 

• NERC Ruleset plus some additional rules that will be on the buildersdb page

Mill Talk: The Unlikely Story of Roomba: Birthing the World’s Favorite Robot

presented by Joe Jones, inventor of the Roomba
author of DANCING WITH ROOMBA Cracking the Robot Riddle and Building an Icon

Free to the Public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED

Inventions are born amid passion and pathos. And every product has a story, but one of the most improbable is the tale of Roomba. For 40+ years major corporations and basement tinkerers alike struggled to solve the seemingly simple problem of building a robotic floor cleaner. Nothing worked. Finally, in 2002 a quirky team from an unknown company cracked the riddle and delivered Roomba. A million memes followed.

The talk recounts Roomba’s decade-long journey from a 1989 maker event at MIT to living rooms around the world.

Speaker Bio:
Born and raised in a tiny, rural Ozarks community, Joe Jones nurtured an early passion for science and technology.  Encouraged by a thoughtful high school teacher, he attended MIT and spent his undergraduate days preparing for a career in experimental physics.  But no compelling physics niche presented itself so, he embarked on a solo trip around the world.  Returning a year later, he gained a position on the research staff at the MIT AI Lab.  There he discovered his true calling: robots. 

Inspired by a new paradigm in robot programming developed at the Lab, he built Rug Warrior—Roomba’s earliest direct ancestor—for a maker event.  Upon leaving the AI Lab, Joe joined fledgling iRobot as the company’s first full time hire.  Several years later, he and a colleague proposed Roomba.  A tight-knit team formed to developed the robot and in three years they accomplished the goal that had eluded all others for a half-century.

Joe subsequently founded two companies: Harvest Automation, a maker of an agricultural robot, and Tertill Corporation, builders of a solar-powered robot that weeds home gardens.  The holder of 80+ US patents, Dancing with Roomba is Joe’s fourth book.

Collaboratory Public Workshop: Embroidery

FREE to the public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED

All workshops start at 1:00 pm and last around 90 minutes. These are all Level 1 workshops, so you do NOT need any prior experience with the topic.

Ever wonder how to embroider your initials onto cloth?  In this youth-led workshop, participants explore the intersection of textile art and modern technology using the Collaboratory’s embroidery machines.  In this workshop, you will learn how to use an embroidery machine and be introduced to open-source embroidery software such as Inkscape (and, if there is time, Inkstitch).  These software tools let you design your own embroidery patterns.  This workshop is expected to last 90 minutes but may run up to 2 hours.  Our goal for this workshop is for everyone to leave with something embroidered (your initials).

This session should last around 90-120 minutes

SIP IT, FLIP IT, SNIP IT Family Friendly Fun!

Program included with admission

Join us in celebrating the winter season. Start with a complimentary cup of hot chocolate in this family drop-in workshop. Explore Optical Illusions with a simple Flip Book, and learn about the wonder of Snow as we Origami fold and cut our own intricate Snowflake designs.  

Industry and Innovation Tour:
From Bale to Bolt

Come see an evolution of a historic textile mill

Curious about the old mill complex by the river? Discover the history and architecture of the world’s first modern factory, the 1813 Boston Manufacturing Company, which lies right in your own backyard!

Take a walk by the river in the fresh air. Then have a delicious lunch at one of Waltham’s local eateries.  

It all starts at the Charles River Museum.

Where:
Tours begin overlooking the river beneath the Charles River Museum smokestack. Follow signs from Landry Park off of Moody Street or the footbridge behind Embassy parking. We meet outside our Visitor Entrance.

Directions and Parking Info HERE 

We look forward to seeing you there!

The optimal size for this tour is up to 20 persons.
Groups are welcome to contact the museum to arrange a private tour.         

Collaboratory Public Workshop: Basics of 3D Printing

FREE to the public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED

All workshops start at 1:00 pm and last around 90 minutes. These are all Level 1 workshops, so you do NOT need any prior experience with the topic.

Ever wonder what 3D printing is and how a 3D printer works? Led by the Charles River Collaboratory youth leaders, this session demystifies “additive manufacturing” by giving participants direct access to the Collaboratory’s 3D printer bank.  You will learn how to search for files, what “slicer” software is and how to use it, and understand the basic settings of a slicer to print a file.   You will also learn about the type of materials that are used in 3D printers and how to transfer your file from a computer to a 3D printer. 

This session should last around 90 minutes

The Mill Girls of New England are an iconic feature of early American industry. More than being a symbol of industrialization, they were the first industrial workforce in the U.S. These working women contributed to the growth of the American industrial economy, challenged the idea that women couldn’t be “breadwinners” and were actively involved in early workers rights movements and trade unions.

Tour length: 45 minute

It is a FREE TOUR which will explore a limited section of our exhibits.

Should you wish to stay and tour the remainder of the Museum, we ask that you please pay our regular admission

Industry and Innovation Tour: Manufacturing the Modern World A Gallery Tour

Explore the history of American ingenuity with this new tour, a guided experience that provides an overview of the museum’s collection, highlighting transformative advancements in manufacturing, precision engineering, and industrial technology. 

Visitors will learn about include the revolutionary textile machines of the early factory system, the world-class craftsmanship of Waltham watchmaking, and tools and inventions that shaped the modern age.

Mill Talk: Dirt and Disorder: The Origins of Contamination Control in Industry

presented by Dan Holbrook

Free to the Public
REGISTRATION REQUIRED

This talk will outline the origins of the need for contamination control in industry and of some of the basic elements of modern contamination control. As technologies and medicine became more complex and precision in both material inputs and production processes more crucial, dirts of various sorts had to be controlled. Over the course of the later 19th and throughout the 20th centuries, precision manufacturing, food processing, gases, medicine, glass, and materials for both tube-based and solid state electronics found that cleanliness and purity allowed order to be established, and with order, control.

Speaker Bio: Dan Holbrook is Professor Emeritus of History at Marshall University, Huntington, WV. He holds a BA in American Studies from Brandeis University and MA and PhD in History from Carnegie Mellon University. His scholarly work has revolved around the generation and dissemination of knowledge in the early years of the American semiconductor industry and on the history of contamination control.

Links:

https://marshall.academia.edu/DanHolbrook

The Mill Girls of New England are an iconic feature of early American industry. More than being a symbol of industrialization, they were the first industrial workforce in the U.S. These working women contributed to the growth of the American industrial economy, challenged the idea that women couldn’t be “breadwinners” and were actively involved in early workers rights movements and trade unions.

Tour length: 45 minute

It is a FREE TOUR which will explore a limited section of our exhibits.

Should you wish to stay and tour the remainder of the Museum, we ask that you please pay our regular admission

Industry and Innovation Tour: Manufacturing the Modern World A Gallery Tour

Explore the history of American ingenuity with this new tour, a guided experience that provides an overview of the museum’s collection, highlighting transformative advancements in manufacturing, precision engineering, and industrial technology. 

Visitors will learn about include the revolutionary textile machines of the early factory system, the world-class craftsmanship of Waltham watchmaking, and tools and inventions that shaped the modern age.

The Mill Girls of New England are an iconic feature of early American industry. More than being a symbol of industrialization, they were the first industrial workforce in the U.S. These working women contributed to the growth of the American industrial economy, challenged the idea that women couldn’t be “breadwinners” and were actively involved in early workers rights movements and trade unions.

Tour length: 45 minute

It is a FREE TOUR which will explore a limited section of our exhibits.

Should you wish to stay and tour the remainder of the Museum, we ask that you please pay our regular admission

The Mill Girls of New England are an iconic feature of early American industry. More than being a symbol of industrialization, they were the first industrial workforce in the U.S. These working women contributed to the growth of the American industrial economy, challenged the idea that women couldn’t be “breadwinners” and were actively involved in early workers rights movements and trade unions.

Tour length: 45 minute

It is a FREE TOUR which will explore a limited section of our exhibits.

Should you wish to stay and tour the remainder of the Museum, we ask that you please pay our regular admission

The Tarbox Ramblers Holiday Barnburner 2025

This event has SOLD OUT

Nothing quite brings the fire to the Charles River Museum the way that the The Tarbox Ramblers do!

Bandleader Michael Tarbox, joined by bassist Johnny Sciascia, violinist Dan Kellar and drummer Jon Cohan to play songs from the group’s original repertoire. High-energy blues, gospel and hillbilly music, incredible and energetic playing with rousing vocal harmonies—these are all hallmarks of The Ramblers’ inimitable style.

Rally round the party, raise a glass or two, and give a shout of joy and euphoria!

Industry and Innovation Tour: Manufacturing the Modern World A Gallery Tour

Explore the history of American ingenuity with this new tour, a guided experience that provides an overview of the museum’s collection, highlighting transformative advancements in manufacturing, precision engineering, and industrial technology. 

Visitors will learn about include the revolutionary textile machines of the early factory system, the world-class craftsmanship of Waltham watchmaking, and tools and inventions that shaped the modern age.