Step into a world of enchantment and join Sleeping Beauty for an unforgettable royal celebration at the historic Hammond Castle!

Begin your adventure by crossing the red carpet-lined drawbridge, reminiscent of Aurora’s own castle, leading you into the grand entrance. Descend the spiral stairs to the majestic Great Hall, where the festivities will unfold like pages from a storybook.

Gather around as Princess Aurora captivates your little one with enchanting tales of her adventures, and sing along to beloved tunes as she brings magic to life with her beautiful voice. Bring your camera to capture unforgettable moments with the Princess, and don’t miss the chance to snap photos on the red carpet. Watch your little ones show off their favorite princess or royal cosplay as they strut down the red carpet, celebrating the magic of make-believe. Weather permitting, we will end the evening with a bubble party on our seaside lawn! This event promises to be a dream come true for both children and adults alike!

Ideal for children between the ages of 2 and 8 years old. Includes: Cupcakes and a beverage for little ones and coffee/tea for adults.

The Museum will not be open for tours at the time of this program. Attendees who wish to tour the Museum on the day of this program are entitled to a 20% discount on self-guided tours. Admission may be purchased in the Museum Shop before 3:00 p.m. Little ones four and under are entitled to free admission for Museum Tours.

Good Witches and Bad Witches alike! Join us in celebration of Pride month for a brief family-friendly examination of the Queer history of the popular ABC sitcom Bewitched and its cast, including the 1991 coming out of actor Dick Sargent and the Pride activism of Sargent and the show’s star Elizabeth Montgomery, followed by a free screening of Darrin on a Pedestal, a 1970 episode of the program shot on location in Gloucester and at here at the Hammond Castle Museum!

Program runs on the hour at 10, 11, 12, 1 & 2 pm.

• A brief 10-minute introduction by HCM Director of Education & Visitor Services, Caleb McMurphy
• Bewitched (Season 7, Episode 5) ‘Darrin on a Pedestal’ (25 min. runtime)

Seating is limited so be sure to reserve your FREE tickets! Afterward, be sure to purchase admission to the rest of the Museum and see what else we have on display, including a new, temporary exhibit on the history of TV and a new exhibit on ancient Roman artifacts within the Museum. 

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Join Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award-winner Liza Minnelli, alongside Ken Howard, and Robert Moore in Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon. An episodic story about social outcasts, one of whom (played by Moore) is an out gay man in a wheelchair, coming together as part of an unlikely found family, one of the film’s major sequences takes place across several locations both inside and outside of Hammond Castle Museum. See some of these scenes in the very room in which they were shot 55 years ago! Then, take a trip from Hammond’s Castle to the castle of the Mad Scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the 1974 cult-hit The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  Join actors Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, and Barry Bostwick in Jim Sharman’s legendarily campy adaptation of Richard O’Brien stage musical send-up of Hammer Films and other kitsch science fiction and horror schlock. Come up to the lab and see what films are on the slab! Cosplay and singing along are encouraged!  

General Admission Seating: $30 Hammond Castle Museum Member savings apply.

Program:

• 5:00 pm Doors Open
• 5:15 pm Introduction by HCM Director of Visitor Services and Education, Caleb McMurphy
• 5:30 – 7:30 pm Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (113 mins)
• 15-minute Intermission
• 7:45-9:30 pm The Rocky Horror Picture Show (100 mins)

Learn more about these events and reserve your tickets at https://hammondcastle.org

6:30 pm Reception
7:00-8:00 pm Curated Readings

On the evening of Sunday, June 9th, in conjunction with our Pride month mini-exhibit Maximus to Aquarius: Gerrit Lansing and Set Magazine, opening June 7th, Hammond Castle Museum will host a reception and curated reading celebrating the legacy of Gloucester and the Museum as significant sites in the history of Queer American poetry. Throughout his remarkable life, our founder John Hays Hammond Jr. (b. 1888-d.1965) was a part of a fascinatingly diverse community of Queer individuals, which met at his architecturally unique Museum, called the city of Gloucester home, and stretched from Cape Ann across the country and beyond. In examining our Museums archive, Hammond’s correspondence with these people, among whom were some of the inventor’s closest friends and loved ones, paints a small picture of a vast network of deeply creative individuals which was the lifeblood of a fundamentally transformative period in the history of Gloucester, and America’s, cultural identity.

This Pride Month, join us in celebrating this important and often overlooked aspect of local history and culture. With readings by Mia Contilli, James Cook, Lucas Cotterman, Shaina Doberman, Jim Dunn, Caroline Harvey, Brian King, Eryn O’Sullivan, David Rich, and Malachi Rosen from works by Charles Olson, John Wieners, Robert Duncan, Gerrit Lansing, Daisy Alden, and many others, including, for the first time, newly unearthed poems by John Hays Hammond Jr. himself. Along the way, learn about these figures’ ongoing relationships—their friendships, rivalries, and romances, with one another—and their personal significance within the broader tapestry of Queer history. The evening will culminate in a reading of a unique illuminated version of Abbadia Mare, a poem written by Gerrit Lansing in the Museum’s Guest Book in 1959 about the building and personally dedicated to Hammond.

Admission: $30
Availability is limited.
Hammond Castle Museum Member savings apply.

Rocco Gangle, Philosophy Professor at Endicott College to Present on the Evolution of the Painted Image in Italian Renaissance Art And Its Correlation to Other Cultural Shifts.

This Speaker’s Series includes the following presentations:

• Monday, May 20:  Witches and Wards: Magic and Counter Magic in 17th Century England and New England. Presented by: Krystina Yeager, Founder, Historians Guide to the Salem Witch Trials Tours & Education Manager at Historic Beverly.
• Tuesday, May 28: Lotta Dames, No Horses – The Life, Death, and Legacy of John Latouche. Presented by: Caleb McMurphy, Director of Visitor Services and Education, Hammond Castle Museum.

Join us on a captivating journey through history as we explore the profound connections between art, innovation, and the human imagination. Delve into the fascinating intersection of artistic expression and community dynamics, from the medieval world to the present day. Discover how art has shaped our collective identity and inspired generations to push the boundaries of creativity. Don’t miss this enriching series that celebrates the power of imagination to transform the world around us. Join the conversation and be inspired! The series includes:

• Monday, May 6: 140 Years of Television Technology. Presented by: John Leysath, Curatorial Director, Hammond Castle Museum
  • Television is one of the most ubiquitous technologies in human history, so much so that we tend to take it for granted. However, the story of TV is a winding tale of decades of painstaking research, false starts, technological dead ends and breakthroughs, commercial failures and successes, aspirational ideals, and human drama. The full picture of TV is composed of a mosaic of individual scientists, engineers, and industrialists who helped to bring it to life, including our founder, John Hays Hammond Jr., whose contributions to the medium are often overlooked. “Who invented television?” is not a simple question. Through this presentation, the complex evolution of television will be traced, the pioneers who forged its path will be given their due, and in particular, the significance of Hammond’s work will be revealed.
• Monday, May 13:  Science and Spirit in Italian Renaissance Painting. Presented by Rocco Gangle, Philosophy Professor, Endicott College
  • The form and function of the painted image changed drastically during the 15th-century Italian Renaissance. From the late medieval paintings of Giotto to works of Renaissance painters like Botticelli and da Vinci, one feels as though stepping from an old world into a new one. What were the sources of this transformation of image and world? How was this transformation related to other cultural shifts such as the rise of humanism, a burgeoning secular society, and the scientific revolution? This presentation examines the religious, philosophical, and scientific backgrounds to the changes of the image in Italian Renaissance painting, in particular the development of linear perspective techniques, and connects this visual revolution in painting to its accompanying spiritual, cultural, and scientific revolutions.
• Monday, May 20:  Witches and Wards: Magic and Counter Magic in 17th Century England and New England. Presented by: Krystina Yeager, Founder, Historians Guide to the Salem Witch Trials Tours
  • Beliefs and fears surrounding witches and the Devil were rampant in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Laws against witchcraft were in place as early as 1542 in England. The resulting witch trials were published in witchcraft pamphlets written for the public to consume. While the church advised the people to trust in the power of God, many people took defense against witches into their own hands. Specific items concealed in walls or specific markings carved into fireplaces were believed to keep the Devil and his agents away. When the British came to colonize America, these practices came with them and can be found in many local historic homes even today.
• Tuesday, May 28: Lotta Dames, No Horses – The Life, Death, and Legacy of John Latouche.  Presented by: Caleb McMurphy, Director of Visitor Services and Education, Hammond Castle Museum.
  • On July 7, 1956, the librettist John Treville Latouche’s seminal American Opera The Ballad of Baby Doe premiered in Central City, Colorado. “It’s about love and It’s about money,” Latouche had joked, in predicting the public’s response to the Opera, “And there’s no combination an American audience likes more!” Today, The Ballad of Baby Doe is often cited as one of the most significant Operas in the American canon, but Latouche would never know just how right he had been. One month later, John Latouche was dead. He was 41. Over the course of his short years, Latouche lived a remarkably dynamic life; like a brilliant star, he pulled some of the most important artistic figures of 20th-century American culture into his brief orbit. The story of the community which Latouche anchored is one that features well-known characters such as composer Leonard Bernstein and artist Marcel Duchamp and local figures like Margarett McKean and Hammond Castle Museum’s own John Hays Hammond Jr.In fact, through Latouche’s legacy, a curious assembly of artists, poets, and occultists, many of them Queer, came to assemble at Hammond Castle Museum in its founder’s final years. This is a story about the life of John Latouche, but it is also a story about love. About money. About art. About magick. About false accusations of murder, and more. This lecture, the final in Hammond Castle Museum’s May Series on Art & Community Through the Ages, will also serve as an introduction to Hammond Castle Museum’s June Pride Month programming.

Admission: $15 per presentation / $50 for series. Member savings apply.

Friday, April 19th – 6pm
Monday, April 22nd – 2pm.

$25 per attendee.
Hammond Castle Museum Member benefits apply.
Attendees may explore the Gertrude Cawein At Hammond Castle Museum fine art exhibit and enjoy a self-guided tour of the Museum.

Step into the vibrant world of outdoor summer theatre on Cape Ann with our upcoming lecture, a perfect complement to the expanded art exhibit featuring the multitalented Eric Pape. Pape, the visionary behind the 1909 Outdoor Pageant at Stage Fort Park, not only set the stage but became a model for future productions in the region. His collaboration and close friendship with Percy MacKaye infused the pageant with artistic intention and grandeur, leaving a lasting impact on the cultural landscape of Gloucester, Rockport, and Lanesville. Join us as local historian, Leslie Bartlett delves into the rich history and artistic legacy of Eric Pape, exploring how his innovative approach continues to inspire outdoor performances to this day. After the program, attendees may explore the Gertrude Cawein Eric Pape fine art exhibit and self-guided tours of the Museum.

Reservations required.

Doors open: at 10:00 am. Timed Admission.
The last entrance is at 3:00 pm.

Join us tomorrow, Saturday, April 13th as we celebrate the start of our new season and our visionary founder, John Hays Hammond Jr, whose pioneering scientific achievements continue to shape modern technology! Born 136 years ago on April 13th, 1888, Hammond’s enduring influence transcends time, and we’re commemorating his extraordinary legacy.

As our special gift to you, enjoy:
-Free admission to see the breathtaking Great Hall and a limited number of smaller exhibit spaces during your timed admittance and discover the magic that inspired Hammond’s visionary creations.

-Enjoy free access to the “Gertrude Cawein At Hammond Castle Museum” fine art exhibit of nearly 60 works by Eric Pape.

Please note:
No admittance without advance registration. RSVP is required for us to manage attendance as capacity is limited. Not all rooms within the Museum will be open during this special event. Thank you for your understanding.

Join us this April as we will present “Gertrude Cawein at Hammond Castle Museum,” a new exhibit of nearly 60 works of art by Eric Pape, (1870 – 1938) the distinguished artist and former Cape Ann resident. This exhibit offers a unique insight into the multifaceted talents of Pape. Renowned as a painter, designer of the iconic “Tablet Rock Memorial” in Stage Fort Park, and a society portraitist, Pape’s brilliance shines through various mediums, including pencil, pen, watercolors, and oils. At the heart of this celebration is the full-length portrait of Gertrude Cawein, painted by Pape and loaned from the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, KY. For the first time outside the Filson, visitors can witness this rare example of Pape’s work as a society portraitist. 

The connection between the Cawein family, Eric Pape, and Gloucester runs deep. Poet Madison Cawein, known as the Keats of Kentucky and Gertrude’s husband, wrote a poignant Ode to the founding of Gloucester for the 1907 Gloucester Day celebrations, during which time Pape presented his iconic Tablet Rock Memorial. The exhibition will also feature an elaborate pen and ink drawing by Pape, representing Madison’s moving elegy upon the death of Pape’s first wife, Alice Monroe Pape, in 1911.

Tickets are now available at: https://bit.ly/HCMAprilCalendar

Celebrate the transition from 2023 to 2024 in unparalleled style by gathering your friends in the opulent setting of our Castle’s Great Hall. Prepare to dance the night away to the sensational beats curated by DJ JRM of Scape Audio New England, all while being charmed by our master of ceremonies for the evening, the incomparable Bruce Jacques! Check out Bruce’s reel here for a sneak peek into the infectious energy and unparalleled entertainment he brings to every event. Indulge your palate with a selection of enticing hors d’oeuvres crafted by Creative Catering, and raise your glass for a complimentary champagne toast as we collectively countdown to the magic moment at the stroke of midnight, marked by our dazzling New Year’s illumination.

But the festivities don’t end there! Embark on a journey through Hammond Castle Museum’s many rooms, each possessing its own unique charm and rich history, enhancing the layers of delight woven into your New Year’s Eve celebration. Join us for an unforgettable night of music, laughter, and exploration, creating memories to carry into the promising dawn of the new year.

Bid farewell to 2023 and ring in the brand-new year, 2024, in grand style in our Castle’s Great Hall. Get ready to dance the night away with the fantastic beats of Scape Audio New England and be entertained by our emcee of the festivities – Bruce Jacques! Savor the evening with an array of mouthwatering hors d’oeuvres by Creative Catering and raise your glass for a complimentary sparkling champagne toast as we count down to the stroke of midnight with our New Year’s illumination. But that’s not all! Explore the many rooms of the Castle, each with its unique charm and history, adding an extra layer of delight to your New Year’s Eve celebration. – Doors open at 9:00 pm and the celebration goes to 1:00 am. – Tickets are only $125 for each guest. – VIP Tables (Limited Availability) are only $850 and offer guaranteed seating for up to 6 guests, a bottle of champagne, and six souvenir champagne glasses for your midnight toast!

Hammond Castle Museum Member savings apply.