Programs/Events

We are currently closed for the season. We look forward to welcoming everyone back when we reopen in May. We have exciting things planned for 2024.

Additional Programs are being planned in the off-season. Check back frequently for announcements of programs and events we will be offering, or sign up to receive the museum’s news and announcements.  

January–March, 2024

2024 Virtual Winter Book Discussion Group
via ZOOM
2024 Virtual Winter Book Discussion Group

Our Winter Book Discussion Group is back again for 2024. Join us each month, January–March for FREE virtual discussions about three powerful books. All discussions will be held via ZOOM. Registration in advance is required. Attendance at all three discussions is not required to register.

Tuesday, January 30, 6:30 pm, via ZOOM
A History of the Village of North Ferrisburgh, 1762–2019, by Jean Richardson

Tuesday, February 27, 6:30 pm, via ZOOM
Mr. and Mrs. Prince: How an Extraordinary Eighteenth-Century Family Moved out of Slavery and into Legend, by Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina

Tuesday, March 26, 6:30 pm, via ZOOM
Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts, by Rebecca Hall and illustrated by Hugo Martinez


March

Family Group: Racial Learning for Young Children
Parent Orientation: March 6, 6:00–7:00 pm via ZOOM
Family Group: March 9, 16, 23, 30, 10:00–11:00 am at Rokeby Museum
FREE, Registration Required, Limited to 12 family groups

***Registration is now closed. If you’d like to receive information on the next event, email Tucker at tfoltz@rokeby.org.
Our society does not equip parents to talk to their young children about difficult social topics like racial bias, social class, and other types of inequity. Nonetheless, children observe an unfair world and are curious to learn why. If children are excluded from conversations and information, they can easily internalize harmful, biased messages about themselves and others at an impressionable age. 

Rokeby Museum’s Racial Learning Family Group is designed for children ages 3–5 with one accompanying parent/caregiver. Adapted from our in-classroom preschool program, it offers families a supportive environment to explore the diversity of the human experience while strengthening empathy skills. The group will meet at the Museum four Saturdays in March for an hour to complete incremental lessons that move through themes of Identity, Diversity, and Justice/Action. Through age-appropriate books, conversation, and hands-on activities, we will explore the science of skin color, race as a social construct, the wrongfulness of racism, and other kinds of prejudice and learn the stories of activists who have taken action toward change. The journey of raising empathetic, informed children with healthy self-images takes time. It also takes patience and mistakes. This course is designed to help families jump the hurdle together and support them with tools to feel grounded as they start on the right foot.   

Instructor: Tucker Foltz, Education Programs Manager. Limited to 12 family groups. Includes take-home lessons for continued learning. Parent orientation is required. Funding support by The A.D. Henderson Foundation.


May

Museum Opening Day
May 25
10 AM

Rokeby Museum opens for the season on May 25! Rokeby History Site Tours are at 11 AM and 2 PM.

Music with the Museum
May 30
Ferrisburgh Town Hall Community Center
Tickets are Coming Soon!

Rokeby Museum is excited to host Music with the Museum, an evening of food and music with the Meat Packers! A silent auction will raise funds for the Museum’s educational programming during this event.


June

Seeking Freedom Gallery Talk – Developing the new exhibition
June 13
12:30 – 1 PM
Meet at the entrance of the exhibition in the Visitor Center
Members/Free; $5/Non-Members or free with admission to the Museum

Join Rokeby Museum’s Executive Director and Co-curator of Seeking Freedom for a talk on updating the main Underground Railroad Exhibition.

This is part of a series of monthly gallery talks with the exhibition’s curators this summer. Each talk will explore a different aspect of the new exhibition.


Juneteenth Flag
Juneteenth
June 19
Free Museum Day

In celebration of Juneteenth, the Museum will be open FREE to the public. The historic house will be open for self-guided tours from 11 to 3. No public guided tours on this day.


July

Reading Frederick Douglass
July 5
1 PM
Rokeby Museum
Free

Join the Museum for its annual reading of “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” by Frederick Douglass. The public is invited to read the pre-divided sections of the speech.


Rokeby Theater Camp
July 8–19 (Mon.–Fri.)
9:00 am–1:30 pm
Ages 9–13
Cost: Pay what you can ($450 suggested per camper); healthy a snack included
Performance on Friday, July 19 at 6:30 PM

Join Rokeby Museum for a two-week immersive experience like no other. Set on a serene, historic property, young people will lose themselves in another time as they gain valuable stage experience. This unique program combines aspects of art, outdoor education, hands-on history, and, of course, theater! Campers will draw inspiration from Rokeby’s stories, the historic house, artifacts, letters, and farm history to create their fictional characters in an original play. Outside of rehearsal, daily activities will include improv games, nature adventures, plein-air painting, and cooking with historical recipes. Camp culminates with a performance for families and friends! All experience levels are welcome.

To register or have questions, contact Tucker Foltz, Education Programs Manager, at tfoltz@rokeby.org or (802) 877-3406.

* Cancellation Policy: We understand plans change. If you cancel more than 14 days before the first day of Camp, you will receive a full refund.

Seeking Freedom Gallery Talk – Researching the Robinson Family’s Story
July 25
12:30 – 1 PM
Meet at the entrance of the exhibition in the Visitor Center
Members/Free; $5/Non-Members or free with admission to the Museum

Join Rokeby Museum’s Executive Director and Co-curator of Seeking Freedom, Dr. Lindsay Varner, for a talk on the Robinson family and the stories told in Seeking Freedom. Dr. Varner will discuss the research done for the exhibition and share a few stories that didn’t make it into the exhibition.

This is part of a series of monthly gallery talks with the exhibition’s curators this summer. Each talk will explore a different aspect of the new exhibition.


August

Pie & Ice Cream Social
August 11
1 – 4 PM
Admission FREE

We love Pie! Join us to celebrate Summer and community with Rokeby’s annual Pie & Ice Cream Social.

Seeking Freedom Gallery Talk – Addressing Difficult Conversations
August 15
12:30 – 1 PM
Meet at the entrance of the exhibition in the Visitor Center
Members/Free; $5/Non-Members or free with admission to the Museum

Join Rokeby Museum’s Executive Director and Co-curator of Seeking Freedom, Dr. Lindsay Varner, for a tour of the Exhibition and a discussion on how the curators approached presenting difficult histories and stories in it.

This is part of a series of monthly gallery talks with the exhibition’s curators this summer. Each talk will explore a different aspect of the new exhibition.