Harris Place - Brattleboro Historical Society

Mary Howe and Florence Anderson 1880’s – 1950’s

For many years there was a tradition at Brattleboro High School which included the reading of student essays during commencement ceremonies. All twelfth graders were expected to research and write an essay as part of their senior program. Top essays were chosen by faculty and their authors read the essays to the assembled audience at graduation exercises. At the 1951 graduation ceremony Florence Anderson’s essay was the first featured reading. Florence enjoyed singing and researched a local hero of hers, internationally-renowned singer Mary Howe. Here is an excerpt from her essay… “The heading, ‘local girl who made good,’ could be attributed to the operatic soprano, Mary Howe, as she pursued her musical career on the concert stages of Europe just before the turn of the century. This local star was born in 1867. Her musical talent showed itself in her earliest childhood and had the advantage of careful training from the first. Her father and […]

Dr. Grace Burnett (1886-1963)

This week in Brattleboro History we are going to focus on the first female doctor in Brattleboro, Grace Burnett. Miss Burnett was born in West Dummerston in 1886. She grew up around animals and loved horses. She always wanted to be a doctor and was determined to find a way to make this happen. As a young girl she practiced on her pets and farm animals, making medicines and dressing their wounds. She attended a one room schoolhouse, about a half mile from her home, for grades 1 through 9. After 9th grade she then traveled to Brattleboro High School, on Main Street, where she graduated in 1905. In order to pay for medical school she began teaching and performing janitorial duties in the one room school house she had attended in West Dummerston. To make more money, she also worked at the Overall Factory in Brattleboro producing double stitched overalls very popular with the […]