Are you looking for hands-on ways to support the preservation of Stonington’s history? Want to do your part to pay respect to the final resting places of Revolutionary War veterans and their families?

The Stonington Cemetery Commission has partnered with Historic Stonington, the Abigail Hinman Chapter DAR and the America 250 Committee to host a second headstone cleaning workshop on Saturday, June 6th from 10am to 12pm at the Robinson Burial Ground on Broad Street in Stonington Borough. All cleaning materials will be provided, we kindly ask that you bring your own work gloves and some water to stay hydrated. Members of the Cemetery Commission will provide a short demonstration on best practices for headstone cleaning, and talk briefly about the people who are buried in the cemetery. This is a great way to do your part, and honor the sacrifices of the men and women who fought to secure our independence.

No registration is necessary. Parking is available at the public lot at the town docks, just a short walk from the burial ground.

Stop by and visit us at our booth at the Stonington Garden Club Tour “Gardens by the Sea” marketplace in Wadawanuck Square from 10am to 4pm on Friday and Saturday, June 12th and 13th. We’ll be selling Stonington America 250 merchandise, and handing out free pocket constitutions. Think you know all there is to know about the American Revolution? What about civics? Try your hand at our trivia challenge and maybe you will walk away with a prize!

The Stonington America 250 Committee has partnered with the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce to bring you a fun and exciting way to explore Stonington with your family and friends. Download the (free) Go Mystic App to participate. Decipher clues that will lead you to 18 sites across town, from Mystic to Pawcatuck and everywhere in between. Along the way you’ll learn fascinating tidbits about the role of Stonington during the American Revolution. Once you’ve solved the clue and found the location, take a selfie in front of the organization or business, right in the app! Solve nine or more clues successfully, and you’ll be entered into our prize drawing where you could win one of three fantastic prize packages.  Solve all 18 clues correctly and you’ll receive three entries in the prize drawing.  The prize drawing will take place at the Village Fair (you do not need to be present to win). This event runs from July 1st to the 25th, so grab some friends and rediscover the many beautiful spaces and places that make Stonington such a wonderful place to live.

Come one, come all! The Stonington Borough annual Fourth of July Parade steps off from Wadawanuck Square on Saturday, July 4th at 10am. This holiday tradition is one of our favorites each year, and if you time it right, you can see the parade twice! (Once on Water Street, and again on Main Street!) Generously sponsored by the Stonington Village Improvement Association and the Borough of Stonington Warden and Burgesses, this family-friendly event is sure to stir those feelings of patriotism! At the conclusion of the parade, spectators and marchers will gather in Wadawanuck Square for the reading of the Declaration of Independence. This year, Historic Stonington is honoring our military servicemen and women. Readers will be: Patrick Keenan (USN), Suzanne Matteson (USA), Eric Johnson (USAF), and John Maxham (USCG). After the reading, the SVIA and Dog Watch Cafe will be hosting an ice cream social at Mathews’ Park, and the Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce will be sharing a giant birthday cake on Wadawanuck Square. We hope you’ll join us!

The Stonington America 250 Committee has partnered with the Stonington Village Improvement Association to bring you a free, family friendly dance party at the Town Docks on the evening of July 4th, 2026. Enjoy two hours of dancing from 7pm to 9pm on the grassy area near the playground. Woodfellas Pizza and an ice cream truck will be there to keep you fed and happy. Come down and enjoy glow-in-the-dark temporary tattoos, glow sticks and more as we celebrate 250 years of American independence. It’s a great way to burn off that extra energy before catching some fireworks!

Historic Stonington and the UNITED present a special conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning, New York Times #1 best-selling author Doris Kearns Goodwin on the meaning of America in celebration of the United States Semiquincentennial. Doris will be in conversation with Adi Ignatius, former editor in chief for Harvard Business Review and Board President of Historic Stonington, on Friday, July 31st at 7pm.

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a world-renowned, presidential historian, public speaker and Pulitzer Prize-winning, New York Times #1 best-selling author and partner in Pastimes Productions. She is often called upon by the news media and late night TV hosts as well as hundreds of companies, educational institutions, government agencies and nonprofits to share her vast knowledge of leadership and provide historical context for current day events, as our democracy is challenged, international wars rage, and we continue to struggle in a divided and polarized country.

Her eighth book, An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s, was published in Spring 2024, became an instant #1 New York Times bestseller and is being developed as a feature film by Playtone partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman and Goodwin’s own Pastimes Productions. Artfully weaving together biography, memoir, and history, this new book takes readers on the emotional journey Doris and her husband, Richard (Dick) Goodwin embarked upon in the last years of his life as they delved into more than 300 boxes of letters, diaries, documents, and memorabilia that Dick had saved for more than fifty years.

In Fall 2024, Goodwin’s first book for young readers, The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President, was published. In 2020, she executive produced her first documentary miniseries, “Washington” for the History Channel, through her independent production company, Pastimes Productions Inc. Miniseries on Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt followed.

Goodwin previously authored nine critically acclaimed and New York Times bestselling books, including the Carnegie Medal winner The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism and Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, in part the basis for Steven Spielberg’s film “Lincoln,” which earned 12 Academy Award® nominations, including an Academy Award for actor Daniel Day-Lewis for his portrayal of the 16th president. Team of Rivals is often cited as an inspiration for business and political leaders, including President Barack Obama, and was awarded the prestigious Lincoln Prize, the inaugural Book Prize for American History, and Goodwin in 2016 was the first historian to receive the Lincoln Leadership Prize from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation.

Goodwin was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in History for No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II.