This certificate ties one Sandwich woman’s life story to a founding tale of the nation.

This undated certificate of life membership in the Cape Cod Pilgrim Memorial Association belonged to Rebecca Burgess (born Hannah Rebecca Crowell), whose journals, registers, and personal objects are preserved at the Sandwich Glass Museum & Historical Society.

The certificate features a lithograph of the Mayflower arriving in Provincetown Harbor in 1620—an image that had become a powerful national symbol by the late 19th century. By affiliating herself with the Pilgrim legacy, Burgess aligned her personal history with a broader American origin story rooted in endurance, faith, and independence.

Burgess’s own writings describe a remarkable life at sea. Married to Captain William Burgess in 1852, she traveled extensively, learned navigation, and later related how she saved their ship as her husband lay dying. While no independent evidence confirms every detail of this dramatic episode, her journals reveal something equally important: how she deliberately shaped her own narrative.

Preserved alongside her writings and belongings, this certificate reminds us that national history is not only inherited—it is actively remembered, interpreted, and claimed.

2026 Collection Focus — 🇺🇸#America250 #SandwichMAHistoricalSociety
Throughout 2026, we’re diving into our permanent collection—researching familiar objects, uncovering new stories, and rethinking how they connect to Sandwich, the nation, and the world as we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.