News & Events - Brattleboro Historical Society

The Brattleboro Historical Society Annual Meeting 2021

Page 1 Carol Farrington, Sec Brattleboro Historical Society – 2020 Annual Meeting November 15, 2020 – Virtual meeting via ZOOM The annual meeting was held via ZOOM as a result of the Covid Pandemic which has been curtailing most in-person activities. Call to order: 2:00 p. m. The annual meeting of the membership was called to order at 2:00 p.m. by board acting president Joe Rivers, with many of the board members present. Minutes of the November 17, 2019 Annual meeting were read. A motion to approve was made and seconded. Motion approved by voice vote. Financial report for the previous 10 months was available for review. Motion made and seconded to accepted as written. Election of Trustees: Those trustees who were up for re-election had accepted term extension. Motion to accept them was passed by voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 2:06 p.m. “Our guest speaker was Jenna Carroll, the Director of Education at […]

Brattleboro: The Defining Decades 1870-1920 Exhibit

By The Brattleboro Historical Society, Special to the Reformer Feb 15, 2019 In 1870 Brattleboro was in a lot of trouble. In the previous year two disasters had devastated much of the town. A flood had come ripping down the Whetstone Valley and destroyed many mills and businesses along the brook. The deluge had washed away the Main Street Bridge and before the damages could be repaired a fire burned the west side of the Main Street commercial district to the ground. All the buildings and businesses between Elliot and High streets were gone. Photo provided by The Brattleboro Historical SocietyTrolley tracks, the Brooks House and Town Hall (left) are visible. For eight months community leaders traveled to New England’s financial centers in hopes of finding companies or institutions that would be willing to invest in the rebuilding of our downtown and industries. There were no takers. Vermont’s economy was suffering from a post-Civil War […]

Annual Meeting 2020

The Brattleboro Historical Society is holding its annual meeting on November 15 at 2pm via Zoom. The topic will be Jennie B. Powers: The Woman Who Dares. Details on how to join our Zoom webinar are below.

A Weekend of Events Celebrate “Something About Mary”

ACROSS BRATTLEBORO Mary at the Lit Fest The Governor of Vermont has proclaimed Oct. 17, 2019 to be “Mary E. Wilkins Freeman Day,” starting an entire weekend of events celebrating local history and words as part of the Brattleboro Literary Festival, a principal partner in the Brattleboro Words Project. The official proclamation will be read and shared on Oct. 17 at 11 a.m., when a new historic marker will be unveiled at Academy School in West Brattleboro… A Weekend of Events Celebrate “Something About Mary” READ FULL ARTICLE AT SENTINELSOURCE.COM https://www.sentinelsource.com/hub/news/community_news/a-weekend-of-events-celebrate-something-about-mary/article_f0408ba2-e69f-5309-a056-256624953152.html

Historical Marker Unveiling for Mary Wilkins Freeman & Glenwood Academy

Thursday, October 17, 11 AM in front of Academy School 860 Western Ave, Brattleboro, VT 05301 On Thursday, October 17th, at 11 a.m., the West Brattleboro Association, in conjunction with the Brattleboro Words Project and Brattleboro Literary Festival, are unveiling a Historic Marker commemorating four historic schools that stood near the current site of today’s Academy School, and acclaimed local author Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. Mary E. Wilkins Freeman was repeatedly voted the most popular female author during the 19th century. Best known for her short stories, she published over 250 in her lifetime. Freeman spent a significant part of her life in Brattleboro, and credited Brattleboro for its influence on her writing and success. During her time here, Mary attended the Glenwood Ladies Seminary, one of the four schools being commemorated with the historic marker. (Right) Glenwood Academy along Western Avenue in 1917. Courtesy of the Brattleboro Historical Society. The historic marker will have […]

True as Steele

True as Steele A Dramatization Depicting, in Their Own Words, The Lives and Work of Mary & Royall Tyler Performance Info Early Brattleboro Power Couple Royall and Mary Tyler Featured in Brattleboro Literary Festival True as Steel Staged Reading A staged reading of True as Steel, a play in the words of early Brattleboro literary couple Royall & Mary Tyler, will be performed one time only on Thursday, October 11, at 7:30 pm at as the first act of this year’s Brattleboro Literary Festival. Royall Tyler (1757-1826), the most important author of Vermont’s first century and his wife, Mary Palmer Tyler (1775-1866), who wrote the first child-rearing book published in the U.S., lived in Guilford in the 1790’s and Brattleboro from 1810 on. True as Steel, written by Christina Gibbons of Brattleboro, and Don McLean, of Guilford, uses only the Tylers’ own words drawn from their writings to depict their humorous, poignant and somewhat controversial […]

Preserving History in Brattleboro

“Unique, rare, important and humorous historical treasures and archival collections reside within Windham County’s numerous historical societies, public libraries and museums. The Brattleboro Words Project’s Thursday, Oct. 18, roundtable discussion will gather representatives who work with these treasures in recognition of National Archives Month in October…” Read the full article at neh.gov

Rare 19th century Water-Cure Newspaper Donated to Brooks Memorial Library

Brattleboro, VT (10 April 2018)–A rare copy of the Brattleboro Hydropathic Messenger was recently donated to the Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro, Vermont, by former library director Jerry Carbone, member of the leadership team of the Brattleboro Words Project, a National Endowment for the Humanities-backed effort led by five area nonprofits to celebrate the rich but undersung history of writing, printing, and publishing in the greater Brattleboro area. The Hydropathic Messenger was a newspaper issued by the Lawrence Water Cure from 1858 until the business closed in 1859. There appear to be only three issues held in public repositories: the Brooks Memorial Library has volumes 2 and 3, and the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, Wisconsin, owns volume 1. “We are thrilled to have this rare item donated to our water-cure archives,” Brooks Library Director and Project leadership team member Starr LaTronica said. “We look forward to guiding classrooms and community groups on how to […]

Words Project Roundtable: The Abenaki and Early European Contact

Thursday, March 8 6 PM – 7 PM Join us at 118 Elliot Street for a slideshow/discussion on the Abenaki and their early contact with Europeans. This is part of the monthly Brattleboro Words Project Roundtable Series. Rich Holschuh and Joe Rivers will lead the discussion as we explore language and how it had an impact on the early relations between the Abenaki of the region and the encroaching Europeans.

Become a Member of The BHS!

We have discovered a meteoric rise in the number of people following the Brattleboro Historical Society’s social media sites. Currently, thousands of people are daily likely to view our postings of Brattleboro history. Would you consider becoming a member of the Brattleboro Historical Society? Yearly membership is $25.00. Membership benefits include receiving our newsletter. We are strictly a non profit and 100% of your membership dues will go to the efforts of the BHS. To become a member write your tax deductible check to: Brattleboro Historical Society and send it to: Brattleboro Historical Society 230 Main Street #301 Brattleboro, VT 05301 Here is a link to the most recent newsletter to give you a sampling. Thank you. BHS Newsletter 2017 by Brattleboro Historical Society on Scribd

We Have a Winner!

We had over 50 answers and many questions about this car. We had 3 correct submissions and will be awarding a free one year membership to the Brattleboro Historical Society to each of the winners. They are: William Sullivan – Chief Engineer at JVC Broadcasting of South Florida He studied at Vermont Technical College Went to Brattleboro Union High School Lives in Apopka, Florida Doug Bassett – BUHS Graduate class of 1991 Produce Associate at Hannaford’s and Package Handler at UPS Formerly at: 96.7 WTSA FM and Iconic Rock 92.7 Steve Letourneau – BUHS Class of 1988 New Hampshire Department of Corrections Lives in Berlin, New Hampshire About the car – It is a Ford Model N Runabout made in 1906. It belonged to Brattleboro’s John Ryder. Fred Adams, using a Kodak camera, placed his 1 year old son, Lyman, and Lyman’s friend, 2 year old Howard Rice, and took this photograph in October. The […]

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