What do a 17th-century Japanese Temple Bell, a bridge made of Roxbury puddingstone, and a tree once thought extinct have in common? They all reside in the Back Bay Fens. Learn about these and other treasures on a guided walking tour of the Back Bay Fens that is sure to bring out the history detective in you!

Meet us at the Shattuck Visitor Center, 125 The Fenway. This event is free and open to the public. Bring a refillable water bottle and wear comfortable walking shoes.

Debra has volunteered to lead public programs and bird watching trips, banded migratory birds, and participated in bird counts, primarily for Massachusetts Audubon Society’s (MAS) Joppa Flats sanctuary in Newburyport. Her birding places range from the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island to the La Milpa Field Station in Belize, where she conducted bird banding training sessions for researchers and naturalists, and to Cuba, where she participated in a Cuban Bird Survey. This January, Listernick co-led a MAS trip along the Rio Grande Valley from El Paso to Albuquerque.

These programs look at the rich history of the African American community on Beacon Hill in the 19th century, with a focus on the abolition movement, the Underground Railroad, and the early struggles for equal rights in Boston.

Grove Hall buildings illustrate a variety of architectural styles, from Queen Anne and the Colonial Revival of the late 1800s through Craftsman and Art Deco of the 20th century.

The tour leader is architectural historian Ed Gordon. This free Artweek Boston event is sponsored by Grove Hall Main Streets.

This tour of Boston's Historic Beacon Hill District will highlight the architectural prowess of renowned architect Charles Bulfinch. The tour will be led by the Boston Landmarks Commission's Director of Design Review Joseph Cornish.

Reservations are required! Email Mr. Cornish.

 Join the Boston Landmarks Staff for a not-so-scary graveyard scavenger hunt in some of Boston's oldest cemeteries! Stops on the scavenger hunt include:

• Copp's Hill Burying Ground
• King's Chapel Burying Ground
• Granary Burying Ground

Staff will be (a)live tweeting throughout the event and will have a special surprise at the last graveyard stop.

Registration is encouraged! Contact us at 617-635-3850 for more information.

Started in 1969, the Kite and Bike Festival is a Boston tradition that gathers more than 1,000 people at Franklin Park each May to enjoy picnicking, kite flying, bicycles, and music.

One resident describes the Kite and Bike Festival as, “My favorite day ever in the 20 years I’ve lived in Boston!” Picture endless blue skies dotted with colorful kites and children and families running and laughing across bright green fields. This event is not to be missed.

(Rain date: Sunday, May 19, from 1 - 5 p.m.)

Get a sneak peek of on-going preservation work for the USS Constitution with a behind-the-scenes tour of the Naval History and Heritage Command Detachment’s restoration facility in the Charlestown Navy Yard.  Join Margherita Desy, Historian with the USS Constitution, for a one-hour tour of the 1847 Alexander Parris-designed carpenters’ and riggers’ shops.

This tour requires participants to be able to climb steep and long flights of stairs in the building. The tour is not recommended for children younger than age 10. Also, close-toe shoes are a must. The tour is limited to 25 people. Reservations are required!

With so much attention in Boston's history focused on Puritans and revolutionaries, it's easy to forget that the City has also had a fraught relationship with sex work almost since its founding. What do we actually know, however, about the daily lives of nineteenth-century Boston sex workers? Boston University historical archaeologist Jade Luiz will discuss how the artifacts recovered from a North End brothel privy shed light on what life inside a nineteenth-century brothel might have been like for the women working there, the madam running it, and the male customers visiting.

The Alibi Bar & Lounge, 215 Charles Street, site of the “Drunk Tank” at the Charles Street Jail is the venue for this unique presentation. This is a free event, but purchase of food and beverage is expected. Seating is limited and reservation is required.

Learn from Kathy Kottaridis of Historic Boston Inc. about the ongoing efforts to green and revitalize Columbia Road, Dorchester, and the City as a whole. Then listen in as entrepreneur, Dorchester native, and local history activist Noah Hicks shares his behind-the-scenes story of the Upham’s Corner 1912 Comfort Station and its upcoming transformation into Sip & Spoke Bike Kitchen.

This stucco and tile “mission style” building, adjacent to the historic Dorchester North Burying Ground, was built over a century ago to support Boston’s expanding streetcar system, and has been unused since 1977. Today, Historic Boston Inc. is repurposing the comfort station to help preserve and tell the story of Dorchester’s urbanization and transportation growth in the early 20th century. This building will soon house Sip & Spoke, a neighborhood business and gathering place featuring bicycle repair services and cappuccinos! Hear how the rehabilitation of this historic building promises to contribute to an ongoing urban renaissance.