CA Celebrates Along With Concord250
“Still Heard Round the World” was the theme of the Concord250 celebration, a lineup of programs honoring the 250th anniversary of the battles of Concord and Lexington on April 19, 2025. The phrase echoes “the shot heard round the world,” memorialized in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Concord Hymn,” which commemorates the beginning of the American Revolution.
Robert Munro, Concord Academy’s assistant head for academic program and equity, co-chaired the town’s Concord250 Executive Committee, which worked over four years to prepare for the occasion. “We wanted to reference that famous moniker but needed something a little different that spoke to the legacy of the ‘shot heard round the world’ and the momentum of independence, freedom, inclusivity, and diversity it ushered in, and how we’re still embarking on that work,” he said. “Equity, inclusion, learning, intellectual engagement—so much of what is near and dear to us at CA—is what we celebrated on April 19.”
Munro estimates that upwards of 70,000 people enjoyed the festivities, which Concord Academy helped sponsor with a $10,000 gift. At the height of the celebrations, the weather was beautiful for the traditional dawn salute; a North Bridge ceremony attended by Governor Maura Healy, U.S. Representative Lori Trahan, and other officials; block parties; and a much-larger-than-usual Patriots Day Weekend parade. Several events leading up to the big day also had CA connections.
CA students participated in an essay contest that invited high school students living in or attending school in Concord to reflect on the town’s historical significance while envisioning the changes they hope to see in the next 50 years. Sally Sanford P’05 ’08 and Sandy Smith P’05 ’08, a former trustee, were generous supporters of the contest. One of five winners, Aurora Hao ’25 was honored for her paper, “Castles in the Air,” in a ceremony on January 24 at the Concord Free Public Library.
On March 22 and 23, CA hosted the Concord250 quilt show, which brought many visitors to campus during spring break. The gym was filled with a stunning array of quilts that visually expressed themes related to the founding and evolution of America and the dynamic range of quilting arts over the last 250 years.
The school also contributed programmatically in the months and years leading up to Concord250 in several ways that testify to the depth and longevity of CA’s History Department’s partnerships with other Concord, Mass., institutions—and the exceptional learning opportunities the town itself offers. Last year, students in history teacher Kim Frederick’s U.S. Public History: Tour Guide course trained to be local tour guides while contributing original work to an exhibition at the Concord Museum. Inspired by that course, this year, for a departmental study, Hannah Crozier ’25 researched the history of several Concord Witness Houses and created augmented reality plaques and videos to bring their Revolutionary War stories to life.
Frederick, a member of the Concord250 Civic Engagement Committee, also spent the past few years working with the committee’s history and education subcommittee, her history colleague Topi Dasgupta P’22’25, and the Concord Museum, as well as with local teachers. With a goal of developing authentic, hands-on learning experiences, they meticulously researched overlooked stories for updated narratives drawn from primary sources, and they created traveling “Revolutionary Trunks” with replica artifacts that, come fall, will help students in grades 3, 5, and 7 in Massachusetts classrooms better understand the Revolutionary War. Frederick was recently featured in TuftsNow for this work.
Bringing diverse historical perspectives to light was a goal for the organizers of Concord250, including the history of enslaved people and Indigenous communities. “This is one of my favorite parts of this work,” Munro says. “More than just a celebration, this was an opportunity for us to unearth and highlight narratives and voices that have not been heard.”
Much of the programming created for Concord250, both involving CA and independently of the school, will continue throughout the next year, such as the augmented reality waysides and a new Patriots of Color tour through the Visitor Center. Reflecting on the main event and these accomplishments, Munro says, “I’m proud to live in this town that is complicating its history and ensuring that we recognize and reconcile all of it.”
Photo Captions
Above: Local educators gathered at Minute Man National Historic Park to research the Battles of Lexington and Concord for the traveling “Revolutionary Trunks” program.
Lower Left: Aurora Hao ’25 celebrated winning the Concord250 essay contest with Robert Munro, CA’s assistant head for academic program and equity, and co-chair of the Concord250 Executive Committee, at Concord Free Public Library.
Lower Center: Hannah Crozier ’25 researched the history of several Concord Witness Houses and created augmented reality plaques and videos to bring their Revolutionary War stories to life.
Lower Right: The “Quilts250: Stitching in the Spirit of Democracy” art show at CA visually expressed themes related to the U.S.’s founding and evolution.
