Natick Historical Society Receives Grant from MutualOne Charitable Foundation

The Natick Historical Society has received a $5,000 grant from the MutualOne Charitable Foundation to revise, deliver, evaluate, and expand the reach of its field-trip program for third-grade students. The new program, On this Land: Algonquian and English People in Early Natick, will allow students to learn about how different people lived in the local area in the century before and after the town’s founding in 1651.

“Much like present-day New England, early Natick was home to many different people with many different experiences,” said Niki Lefebvre, Director of the Natick Historical Society. “By learning about the different languages spoken, the variations in how Algonquian and English people used the Charles River, and their differing burial practices, students will be able to see that there was more than one way to live in early New England.”

On this Land will be offered annually to all third-grade students in Natick public schools at no cost to the town. In 2020, the Natick Historical Society will begin offering the field trip for a fee to private schools, summer camps, scouting troops, and other youth organizations.