A historic victory for an extraordinary aircraft.![]()
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The American Heritage Museum’s PBY-5A Catalina, BuNo 2459, has been named the World War II Grand Champion Warbird at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2026. American Aero Services also received the prestigious Golden Wrench Award for its remarkable seven-year restoration.![]()
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Discover the story behind this historic achievement and the dedicated team that returned the world’s highest-scoring anti-submarine aircraft to the sky.![]()
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Read the full story at: www.americanheritagemuseum.org/2026/07/american-heritage-museums-historic-pby-5a-catalina-wins-wo...![]()
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Photos: Al Sauer, Jim Harley, Doug Birkey
America’s Tank Demo Weekend starts today at the American Heritage Museum in Hudson, MA! See our WWII tanks in operation along with our new Cold War Era tanks for their first running display! See the M4 Sherman, M5 Stuart, M24 Chaffee, and M36 Jackson along with the M41 Walker Bulldog, M47 Patton, M60 Main Battle Tank, M88 Recovery Vehicle, and the M60A2. Gates open at 9am and live demos at 11am and 2pm. Lots to see and do - all three museum buildings are open, and speakers in the main museum on tank topics all day. Buy tickets and get info at the link in our bio or at americanheritagemuseum.org. #americanheritagemuseum #visitma #tanks #worldoftanks #hudsonma
If you haven't already had a chance to see our PBY-5A Catalina at EAA AirVenture, there's still time! Come on out and pay us a visit before the show is over!![]()
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#AmericanHeritageMuseum #WWIIHistory #PBY #eaa #osh
This Weekend! America's Tank Demo Weekend - Saturday, July 25th and Sunday, July 26th! Learn More: ahmus.me/atdw2026 - Here's a sneak preview of the incredible new Cold War Era tanks that will be featured including the new M41 Walker Bulldog, M47 Patton, M60 Main Battle Tank, and M88 Recovery Vehicle and M60A2. These will be joined by our WWII tanks: M5 Stuart, M4 Sherman, M24 Chaffee, and M36 Jackson! You don't want to miss it! Get Tickets at ahmus.me/atdw2026
Rounding out our Cold War era tanks that will be on the roll for America’s Tank Demo Weekend on July 25-26, 2026 this weekend - the last light tank designed by the U.S., the M41 Walker Bulldog. Though we have an M41 in the Vietnam Gallery, this second operational example is a great addition to our operational tank lineup… more info on the event at the link in our bio or at: www.americanheritagemuseum.org/event/americas-tank-demo-weekend-july/ ![]()
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The M41 Walker Bulldog was developed in the late 1940s to replace the aging M24 Chaffee and provide the U.S. Army with a faster, more heavily armed light tank for reconnaissance and airborne support missions. Entering service in 1951, the M41 featured a high-speed gasoline engine, torsion bar suspension, and a powerful 76mm gun capable of engaging both enemy armor and fortified positions. Named in honor of General Walton H. Walker, who was killed during the Korean War, the tank combined mobility, firepower, and reliability, making it one of the most capable light tanks of its era. Although it saw only limited combat with U.S. forces, the M41 was widely exported through American military assistance programs and served with dozens of allied nations for decades. It participated in conflicts throughout Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, with many countries modernizing the design long after its retirement from U.S. service. Today, the M41 remains one of the most recognizable and successful light tanks of the Cold War. #m41 #walkerbulldog #tanks #worldoftanks #tankmuseum
- This event has passed.
Speaker Series: A Perfect Frenzy by Author Andrew Lawler
April 12, 2025 @ 1:00 pm, ending 2:30 pm
Free with standard museum admission
Join us on Saturday, April 12th for a talk by nationally best selling author Andrew Lawler about his book A Perfect Frenzy – A story that will forever change our understanding about the American Revolution.
As the American Revolution broke out in New England in the spring of 1775, dramatic events unfolded in Virginia that proved every bit as decisive as the battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill in uniting the colonies against Britain. Virginia, the largest, wealthiest, and most populous province in British North America, was led by Lord Dunmore, who counted George Washington as his close friend. But the Scottish earl lacked troops, so when patriots imperiled the capital of Williamsburg, he threatened to free and arm enslaved Africans—two of every five Virginians—to fight for the Crown.
Virginia’s tobacco elite was reluctant to go to war with Britain but outraged at this threat to their human property. Dunmore fled the capital to build a stronghold in the colony’s largest city, the port of Norfolk. As enslaved people flocked to his camp, skirmishes broke out. “Lord Dunmore has commenced hostilities in Virginia,” wrote Thomas Jefferson. “It has raised our countrymen into a perfect frenzy.” With a patriot army marching on Norfolk, the royal governor freed those enslaved and sent them into battle against their former owners. In retribution, and with Jefferson’s encouragement, furious rebels burned Norfolk to the ground on January 1, 1776, blaming the crime on Dunmore.
The port’s destruction and Dunmore’s emancipation prompted Virginia’s patriot leaders to urge the Continental Congress to split from Britain, breaking the deadlock among the colonies and leading to adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Days later, Dunmore and his Black allies withdrew from Virginia, but the legacy of their fight would lead, ultimately, to Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.
Chronicling these stunning and widely overlooked events in full for the first time, A Perfect Frenzy offers a striking new perspective on the American Revolution that reorients our understanding of its causes, highlights the radically different motivations between patriots in the North and South, and reveals the seeds of the nation’s racial divide.
