It is not often a child gets to hold history. That’s why Nancy Cole, Education Director at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, is especially excited for the summer. The museum debuts a Hands-on-History exhibit today, which will bring the past to life through physical interaction. Opening in the old kids’ space of the museum’s Pease House, the exhibit consists of a number of stations at which visitors can hone skills characteristic of the Island’s native Wampanoags, and settlers and maritime figures throughout the ages.

The Edgartown Lighthouse, the prominent beacon overlooking the outer Edgartown harbor that has long been a symbol of the town, is going to be put up to bid by the federal government, with the town and the Martha’s Vineyard Museum expressing interest in taking stewardship of the landmark.