Springfield Museums

DELAYED OPENING ❄️ Due to ongoing weather conditions, the Museums will open at 12pm today.

Drive safe and stay warm! ☃️

Get discounted defense zone tickets now for just $22/ea: springfieldthunderbirds.formstack.com/forms/museums

THIS FRIDAY, FEB. 27! The ultimate local collab is here: Dr. Seuss x Springfield Thunderbirds!

Cheer on the Thunderbirds alongside the Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 & Thing 2. Look out for a special Museums membership deal, giveaways, and hands-on activities all night long!

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is eligible. Specialty plates cost $40, plus standard registration fees, with a portion supporting the Museums. When re-registered, the full $40 benefits the Museums.

Dr Seuss Plate Auction Help Springfield Museums spread the word about Dr. Seuss License Plate Auction!

Museums. Preview the 26 available numbers now: drseussplates.givesmart.com

Register online from any device or by texting DrSeussPlates to 76278.

Plates not included in the auction can be purchased on the RMV website or at a service center. Anyone with a passenger car registered in Massachusetts...

Wish Dr. Seuss a Happy Birthday! Celebrate his legacy—and ride in true Seussian style—by bidding on a low-number Cat in the Hat license plate.

Auction opens NEXT WEEK on March 2 at 10am. This final batch of low-number plates is the perfect way to kick off the birthday celebration and support the...

We look forward to welcoming you back and will announce a reopening date soon.

Beginning Monday, February 23, the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum will be closed to allow for important restoration work. Thank you for your patience as we care for this extraordinary architectural and cultural landmark — Springfield’s first museum.

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Image 1: Thomas (left) at his restaurant on Worthington with Mrs. Mary Ann Jones Jenkins and Edgar Lee.
Image 2: Eli Baptist Sketch

loans, causing them to create their own institution to help others succeed.

Visit the Wood Museum of Springfield History and its Archives to learn more about civil rights movements in Springfield.

#BHM

threatened under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. After the war, in 1866, Thomas and Baptist then founded the Union Mutual Beneficial Society to provide financial assistance to Black entrepreneurs. Each of these successful businessmen had experienced discrimination when trying to secure financial...

Pennsylvania, Eli Baptist came to Springfield in the 1850s. He worked for R.M. Cooley selling soap and candles.

In pre-Civil War Springfield, Thomas Thomas and Eli Baptist were members of the League of Gileadites, a group of Black men and women who pledged to defend any local Black people...

1843, he came to Springfield where his mother and sister had settled. By the time of the Civil War in about 1862-1863, after working at hotels in Springfield and Holyoke, Thomas opened his own restaurant—first on Main Street and then on Worthington Street. Born a free individual in...

Discover Springfield’s rich history of civil rights participation #AtTheMuseums!

Two significant figures included Thomas Thomas (American, 1817-1894) and Eli Baptist (American, 1820-1905). Born an enslaved individual in Maryland in 1817, Thomas Thomas later purchased his freedom for $400. In...

Featured: Triptych with the Crucifixion (ca. 1517), tempera on panel by Goswijn van der Weyden (Flemish, 16th century). The James Philip Gray Collection, 58.10.

on the occasion of Cruyt’s promotion to abbot in 1517.

Find this piece on view in the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts.

wing are the initials MC and a coat of arms with a bull’s head on a blue background over a red rose on gold. The coat of arms has been identified as belonging to Marcus Cruyt, the 27th abbot of the Abbey of St. Bernard-on-the-Scheldt in Hemiksem, near Antwerp. Van der Weyden created the painting...

the Cross and shown on the right is the Lamentation over Christ. The triptych is also painted on the verso, or exterior, of the wings. One wing is painted with the initials MC and the motto “Spes mea in Domino” (My hope is in the Lord) with a miter and crosier (symbols of an abbot). On the other...

apprenticed in his father’s studio and later moved to Antwerp, where he became known for his fine color harmonies and the attention to detail in his paintings.

The central panel of this triptych depicts the Crucifixion with Mary and St. John flanking the cross. On the left wing is the Bearing of...

From the Collections #AtTheMuseums: Triptych with the Crucifixion

Born into an artistic family, painter Goswijn van der Weyden’s parents were both artists and his grandfather was the celebrated Rogier van der Weyden, the official painter of the city of Brussels. Goswijn van der Weyden...

Spark!Lab is the flagship educational initiative of the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.

The Museums are OPEN TOMORROW FEB.16 and we’re diving straight into week-long Olympic STEAM Quests!

Don’t miss daily activities, special exhibits, and interactive programming based around science, engineering, and artistry, happening February 16-20:
springfieldmuseums.org/series/olymp...

Featured: I Will Not Ask To Press That Cheek (1880), hand-colored lithograph by Currier & Ives (American, 1834-1907). Gift of Lenore B. and Sidney A. Alpert supplemented with Museum Acquisitions Funds, 2004.D03.777.

Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us #AtTheMuseums! We are sending joy and love to everyone on this special day❤️

Stop by the Museums and see if you can spot themes of love throughout the galleries!

#ValentinesDay

Photo Credit: MassLive

Congratulations to our very own Welcome Center staff member, Anna O’Toole, on being crowned the 2026 Springfield Colleen by the Springfield St. Patrick's Parade Committee! 🎉🍀

We’re so proud to have such an incredible ambassador and teammate here #AtTheMuseums.
www.masslive.com/living/2026/...

Developed in collaboration with National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, NASA, MATHCOUNTS, National Society of Professional Engineers, and Society of Women Engineers.

Sponsored locally by bankESB and M&T Bank.

Olympic STEAM Quest | Springfield Museums Sorry, this product is unavailable. Please choose a different combination.

School’s out next week! Join us for Olympic STEAM Quest from February 16-20, where visitors can enjoy “Math Alive!” while celebrating cold-weather sports:
springfieldmuseums.org/series/olymp...

Endless explorations await in “Math Alive!” #AtTheMuseums!

From sports and design to movie-making and robotics, math powers everything around us. Dive into computer games, freeze-motion, snowboarding, and more to discover just how dynamic math can be:
springfieldmuseums.org/exhibitions/...

Ubora and Ahadi Awards | Springfield Museums Recognize a member of the Greater Springfield community who has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to service, education, science, humanities, and the art

organizations and served as co-pastor of Macedonia Church, always striving “to make the community a healthy, nurturing environment for our youth.”

Know someone making a powerful impact in our community today? Nominate them for the 2026 Ubora Award: springfieldmuseums.org/ubora/