Support ‘building, growing’ Robbins House
A 30% increase in visitors tells us something powerful: People are hungry for the true, complete story of American history.
As we close out 2025, I find myself reflecting on a year that tested our resilience and reminded us why our work matters so deeply.
The Robbins House welcomed over 10,000 visitors this year, a 30% increase that tells us something powerful: People are hungry for the true, complete story of American history. They want to know about Caesar Robbins, who fought for independence while enslaved. They want to understand Ellen Garrison’s courage in the face of injustice. These aren’t footnotes. They’re foundational.
When we learned that federal funding through the Institute of Museum and Library Services would be eliminated by the current administration moving forward, we had a choice to make. We chose to dig deeper, work smarter, and trust our community.
That trust wasn’t misplaced. We’re now pursuing partnerships that could help us uncover more of our history, including the possibility of finally marking the graves of the forgotten Garrison and Robbins families.
Our programming expanded, our visitor numbers grew, and our impact became impossible to ignore.
Looking toward 2026, we’re not just surviving: we’re building, growing.
We have a strategic plan that honors the past while embracing innovative approaches to education and preservation. But we can only execute that vision with continued community support; we’re once again placing our trust in you, our community near and far.
If you believe Acton’s African American heritage deserves to be preserved, researched, and celebrated with the same rigor we apply to other chapters of our town’s story and our nation’s story, consider investing in The Robbins House this year. Every contribution helps us turn ambitious plans into reality.
The work continues because history matters, and so does its future. Join us.
Jen Turner
Executive Director
The Robbins House
Monument Street
