Join
Simply put, join us! We are a community of people of different ages, backgrounds, and interests with one common goal: preserving, investigating, and celebrating Ipswich history. Members receive free admission to the Whipple and Heard House Museums, free admission to our Wednesday night lecture series, our newsletter, invitations to exhibit openings and special events, a 10% discount off store items, and research assistance. But most importantly, you’re part of the community!

Membership categories are:
Individual: $35
Family/Dual: $50
Sustaining: $75
Sponsor: $125
Patron: $250
Benefactor: $500
Thomas Franklin Waters Circle: $1,000*

*Named after the founder of the Society.

Volunteer
If you have some time to offer, we need you! Our volunteers give tours, conduct research, help catalog the collection and archives, take care of the gardens and grounds, work in the office, provide expert advice….Think about it this way. Captain John Whipple, who built the Whipple House, and John Heard, who built the Heard House, were both wealthy men with a full staff. Today, we have…us! Please join us if you can by calling 978-356-2811 or via email.

Ipswich Historical Society Committees:

Membership
Development
Activities
Buildings and Grounds
Gardens
Collections
Special Projects

Make a Financial Contribution
We can’t do what we do without financial support, and we all have a stake in preserving what we have for future generations. We invite you to make an unrestricted gift to the Annual Fund, or one that is restricted to your area of interest. We also ask you to consult with your attorney or financial advisor, and make the Ipswich Historical Society part of your planned giving.

Give a Gift Membership
If you know someone who should be a member of the Society, please give him or her a gift membership! Our rate of membership renewal is over 90%, because once people join, receive information, or attend an event for free, they want to renew. YOU are our best ambassador!

Conduct Research
There are, literally, hundreds of papers or dissertations that could be written on members of the Heard and Whipple families, on the houses and artifacts they left behind, or on dozens of other areas of Ipswich history. Many records still exist, in Ipswich, Salem, Cambridge, and Boston. In the case of the Heards, over 600 linear feet of manuscript material is housed at Harvard’s Baker Library. And there are many as-yet “untold” stories to be unraveled, about women, children, servants, daily life in the Whipple and Heard houses - the list goes on and on. Please call us to discuss an idea you might have, or if we can suggest one.