The League of Women Voters of Lexington will present its eighth First Friday program on May 5, 2023, 9:30 AM, at the Lexington Community Center, reviewing the present status of the Stone building, future plans and the work of the Lexington Lyceum Advocates. On March 31, 2023, Town Meeting of Lexington voted to approve Article 10a on the Town Warrant including $400,000 in Community Preservation Act design funds as a first step in a phased process to study, design, repair and restore the historic Ellen Stone building (built 200 years ago) for future programming use.

According to the Lexington Observer “The Ellen Stone Building has served many community functions …. since it was built in 1833: home; abolitionist gathering space; transcendentalist hub; and, most recently, a branch library once frequented by many Lexington families. Today, the Greek-Revival style building sits empty, as it has since a pipe burst in 2007 and shuttered the library branch.” Now citizen advocacy seeks to turn the Ellen Stone building into a modern-day lyceum.

We will have three speakers and include parts of power point and video prepared for Town Meeting and other presentations.

• Kathleen Dalton – Director of Lexington Lyceum Advocates.  A biographer and public historian, she is the author of Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life (2002). She has worked as a history teacher, a professor, and as a public history consultant with the National Park Service and the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. 

• Mark Manasas – President of Lexington Lyceum Advocates. His background is in building and leading engineering teams developing novel medical devices. Mark is also on the board of LexFarm and Lexington Zero Waste and the Vision for Lexington Committee. He served on the Stone Building Feasibility & Reuse Committee and is a Precinct 2 Town Meeting Member. 

• Meg Muckenhoupt – Treasurer of Lexington Lyceum Advocates. She is a writer and editor focusing on New England history and land use. She served as a liaison to the Stone Building Feasibility & Reuse Committee, and is a Precinct 1 Town Meeting Member. 

The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan organization dedicated to the principles of self-government established in the Constitution of the United States. The League works to promote political responsibility through informed and active participation of citizens in government. All League forums are free and open to the public. For more information about the League go to https://my.lwv.org/massachusetts/lexington.