As we reflect on another remarkable year at the Rye Historical Society, we are filled with gratitude for your continued commitment to preserving and celebrating Rye history. Thanks to your generosity, 2025 has been a year of growth, learning, and community connection—one that truly embodies our mission to collect, preserve, and educate about Rye’s rich past for the benefit of generations to come.
Rye Historical Society’s 2025 Highlights include:
The exhibition Fleur Spolidor’s The Unforgiving Yardstick: A Look at Women’s Roles and Struggles in Westchester County explores the stories of women who shaped history and continue to influence our world today. The exhibit will run through March 2026 at our Square House Museum.
The newest exhibit celebrating the life of First Lady and Rye native Barbara Bush, highlights her local and global impact on literacy, featuring personal touches and memorabilia from family, friends and admirers of First Lady Bush.
Education programs continued to expand curriculum for schools and young learners. At the Square House, school groups enjoyed tours and hands-on experiences and classroom curriculum included Native Americans of New York: The Land and the People are One, a station-based activity about Iroquois and Algonquian peoples.
A vibrant and celebrated lecture series including A Debate for the Ages, featuring high‐school students exploring the perspectives of Rye Loyalists vs. Patriot families.
A much-anticipated trolley tour, From the Gilded Age to the Roaring Twenties, took participants through Rye’s past—its summer resorts, the railroad era and early‐20th-century waterfront evolution—culminating in a picnic at the historical 1670 Timothy Knapp House.
An annual community-favorite event, the Slightly Spooky Square House drew hundreds of people. With the support of a grant from ArtsWestchester, we were able to offer slightly spooky crafts that tied directly to the current exhibit, a treat for visitors of all ages.
The Rye Historical Society programs, tours, talks, exhibits, and more are possible because of your support. We rely almost exclusively on the generosity of the local community to continue protecting Rye’s heritage and sharing it with future generations.
Looking Ahead to 2026…
This coming year we will mark an extraordinary milestone: the 250th anniversary of the American Revolutionary War. As part of the national commemoration known as America 250 (Revolutionary Rye 250 locally), we are thrilled to join communities across the country in honoring this pivotal moment in our nation’s history. Rye played an important role during the Revolutionary era, and we are planning a year of special exhibits, events, educational programs, and community initiatives that will spotlight Rye’s contributions and celebrate the enduring spirit of independence.
Please consider making a contribution today. Your donation—whether small or large—directly supports our exhibitions, maintenance of our collections and archives, educational programming, events, preservation of our historic homes, and our upcoming initiatives.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, thank you for being part of our story. With your continued partnership, we look forward to another year of discovery, preservation, and community engagement.
