February 23, 2026 By Carol Britton Meyer
Longtime Hingham resident Jim Conroy is settling into his new role as town historian.
“I’m honored and privileged to be appointed to this position, especially given Hingham’s status as one of the oldest towns in America and the uniquely historic character of the town,” he told the Hingham Anchor. “I look forward to working with the select board and Town Meeting on issues concerning its history, historic architectural resources, and historic preservation. I’m convinced that the problems we face as a country today are due in large part to a less than full awareness of its history. History matters.”
True to this statement, Conroy – who is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Hingham Historical Society – is finishing a book, pro bono, on Hingham in the American Revolution to be published by the Society in June.
“I’d love to hear from anyone who has diaries, letters, memorabilia, family lore, or the like concerning Hingham folk in the Revolutionary period and would be willing to share it for the book,” he said. Any such information can be sent to him or described in an email to jamesbconroy@gmail.com.
Prestigious awards
Conroy has also authored four prominent books of narrative history. His first one, “Our One Common Country,” was a finalist for the prestigious Lincoln Prize. His second, “Lincoln’s White House,” won the Lincoln Prize for the best book of the year on Lincoln or the Civil War era. His third book, acclaimed by leading Jefferson historians, is entitled “Jefferson’s White House: Monticello on the Potomac. The fourth, “The Devils Will Get No Rest: FDR, Churchill, and the Plan that Won the War,” is set in Casablanca during a pivotal time in world history.
Conroy was elected a Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society in 2014 in recognition of “Our One Common Country: Abraham Lincoln and the Hampton Roads Peace Conference of 1865,” the only book ever devoted to Lincoln’s little-known peace negotiations with Confederate leaders on a riverboat in Virginia near the end of the Civil War.
Select Board Chair William Ramsey shared how the position of town historian – created by a vote of the 1943 Annual Town Meeting — came about and why Conroy was chosen by the board to fill it.
That vote accepted the report of the then-selectmen and “the suggestion therein that a historian be appointed to record the many activities carried on in the town during the present war . . .” and authorized the board to appoint a citizen to fill this role.
“Jim is the perfect person to serve as the next town historian. He is an accomplished author, long-serving board member of the Hingham Historical Society, and former member of the historical commission,” Ramsey told the Hingham Anchor. “When I nominated him for the position at a recent select board meeting, Liz [Klein] and Julie [Strehle] enthusiastically endorsed Jim’s appointment. We were thrilled that he accepted this position and look forward to working with him on future projects.”
Former town historian remembered
Ramsey’s close friend Alec Macmillan held the position for many years before passing away last August. “As town historian, Alec redefined the role in helping the town mitigate the impacts of the Greenbush Commuter Rail Line and documenting the town’s history by publishing and republishing several histories of the town,” he recalled. “He also advised town boards and committees, and citizens at large, on local historical matters of interest.”
Conroy – who has lived in Hingham with his wife, Lynn, since 1982 — is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and served for six years in the United States Naval Air Reserve. While working on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. as a speechwriter, a press secretary, and a chief of staff in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, he earned a master’s degree in international relations at George Washington University and a law degree, magna cum laude, at the Georgetown University Law Center.
Conroy has spoken as an historian at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois; The FDR Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York; the National Archives; Ford’s Theater; The World War II Museum in New Orleans; the Boston Athenaeum, and many other venues.
As part of the annual Virginia Tay Memorial Lecture Series presented in Hingham, Conroy also interviewed on stage Jon Meacham (in 2024), Doris Kearns Goodwin (2023), Ken Burns (2025), and MS NOW’s legal analyst Andrew Weissman (2025).
Conroy also shared what makes Hingham special to him. “What I like most about Hingham since our children have grown up and left for other parts is its charm, its beauty, and the talented volunteers in and out of office who help make it work,” he said. “I like spending time on yard work, the New England Patriots, the Boston Celtics, and enjoying my wife, Lynn’s, company after almost 57 years.”
For more information, go to https://www.jamesbconroy.com