The Spirit of Christmas Past: Four Centuries of Christmas in America

The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum will present Kenneth Turino for an illustrated, talk titled, The Spirit of Christmas Past: Four Centuries of Christmas in America. Mr. Turino, a renowned expert on holiday traditions, will take questions from lecture-goers after his presentation. The talk will be held in the Community Room at City Hall in Norwalklk.

This well-illustrated lecture traces the development of the celebration of Christmas from when it was outlawed in 17th Century New England through the mid-21st Century when all the trappings of a traditional Christmas were in place. For many, the celebration of Christmas today is the most important holiday of the year. However, many of the customs, which we take for granted as part of the current holiday festivities and religious celebrations, are actually a product of more recent history. The presentation will look at how Christmas transformed from a rowdy celebration to a family centered event. Among the topics discussed are how Christmas trees were raised, halls were decked, and Santa Claus came to town.

Kenneth Turino is currently a Senior Consultant for Museum Search and Reference, an executive search firm. Previously, he was Manager of Community Partnerships and Resource Development at Historic New England. There he oversaw community engagement projects throughout New England for 24 years and was responsible for exhibition partnerships at Historic New England’s museums. Prior to this, he was Executive Director of the Lynn Museum in Lynn, Massachusetts for 14 years. Ken frequently consults on interpretive planning and community engagement projects at historic sites including Madam John’s Legacy, New Orleans, LA, on best practices of community engagement, James Madison’s Montpellier, Orange, VA, where he was part of a charrette to rethink the visitor experience and more recently with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater on interpreting LGBTQ history.

Ken holds a MA in Teaching, Museum Education, from the George Washington University and is an adjunct professor in the Tufts University Museum Studies Program where he teaches courses on the future of historic houses and exhibition planning. Mr. Turino currently serves on the Board of the American Association for State and Local History and is former President of the Board of Trustees of the House of Seven Gables in Salem, MA. Along with Max van Balgooy he is an instructor for AASLH‘s Reinventing the Historic House workshop and the two have edited, Reimaging Historic House Museums, New Approaches and Proven Solutions. Ken frequently speaks on the history of Christmas and his book Interpreting Christmas at Museums and Historic Sites was published in September 2024.

LMMM’s 2024 Lecture Series is made possible in part by: The DiNardo & The Aiello Family Fund, John R & Dorothy D Caples Fund, and Elliott Tuckel. LMMM’s 2024 programs are made possible in part by LMMM’s Founding Patrons: The Estate of Mrs. Cynthia Clark Brown; LMMM’s Leadership Patrons: The Sealark Foundation; and LMMM’s 2024 Season Distinguished Benefactors: The City of Norwalk, The Maurice Goodman Foundation, and Lockwood-Mathews Foundation, Inc.

Hotel accommodation for Mr. Turino is generously donated by The Watershed.

Images | Top: trade card C.1860, courtesy, the Lynn Museum, Lynn, MA. Mid-page left: Christmas postcard, 1958, courtesy of Kenneth Turino. Mid-page right: Christmas at a Swampscott, MA home C. 1915.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

125 East Ave, 125 East Avenue, Norwalk, United States