Joe Rivers - Brattleboro Historical Society

Jennie Powers (1864-1936)

Jennie Powers spent almost forty years of her life as a righteous humanitarian. At a time when politics, personal ambitions, and private interests are occupying so much of our public conversation it is important to remember a person whose life was spent compelling thoughtless and mean-spirited people to be kind. She devoted the best years of her life to battling cruelty – cruelty to animals and cruelty to children. Her name should go down in the annals of great New Englanders. This sentiment appeared in a 1936 article printed in many Vermont newspapers at the time of Mrs. Powers’ death. Jennie Powers was born in Brattleboro in 1864. She served as Windham County investigator for the Vermont Humane Society and continued her animal protection work in nearby Cheshire County, NH. She also took on the role of child welfare worker and deputy sheriff. Her role was to act as agent for the county to examine […]

Helen Dorr and the Carnegie Hero Medal (1915-1922)

In 1915 a little seven year old girl named Helen Dorr was recovering from a traumatic few months. In mid-November her father, Arthur Dorr, died from complications resulting from severe diabetes. He was thirty two years old and operated a machine that made stationary in a paper mill along the Whetstone Brook. As his health slowly failed, Helen’s dad had not been able to work for about a year before he passed away. Young Helen witnessed her father’s passing and was saddened by the experience. Helen’s mom was a seamstress and there was a younger daughter in the family as well. The family lived on Western Avenue and a week after Helen’s father had passed away Helen was accidently run over by a motorcycle. She had been on the side of Western Avenue, playing with friends, and the motorcycle lost control on the dirt road and ran into seven year old Helen. She was severely […]

Harriet Howard and St. Patrick’s Day (1910)

In 1910 the luck of the Irish visited Brattleboro’s Harriet Howard. Twenty two years earlier she had moved to town with her husband. He was a dairy farmer and she was a seamstress. According to a local newspaper article, Harriet surprisingly received a letter from a Dublin, Ireland lawyer and was told she had inherited one million dollars from her dearly departed grandmother. Harriet was astonished. Her father had left Ireland and settled in Nova Scotia many years before her birth. She had never met her grandmother and was not aware that her grandparents had invested in Irish real estate. The Brattleboro Reformer published an article on the front page of the paper explaining Harriet’s good fortune. The article stated that Harriet would be traveling to Ireland to collect her unexpected inheritance later in the summer. Also on the front page of the March 18, 1910 paper was a report on the St. Patrick’s Day […]

George Washington, Ona Judge and Susannah Bradshaw (slavery 1840’s)

George Washington was born in 1732. He was the first President of the United States, leader of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and presided over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. He certainly was a great influence on the founding and formation of the United States. While researching the life of Brattleboro’s Susannah Bradshaw we came across references about George Washington in newspaper articles from the 1840’s. Susannah Bradshaw was an infant when her parents moved to Brattleboro in 1823. At the time, the Bradshaw’s were the only African American family living in town. The 1820 census shows that there were 2027 residents in Brattleboro. Three of the people listed in the census were African American servants who worked for two prominent families. Each of them lived with the family they worked for. There were no African American families recorded in the census before the Bradshaw’s arrived. The Bradshaw’s first rented, and later purchased, […]

Florence Estey and the DAR Forest (1930’s)

On August 24, 1934 the Vermont Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) dedicated an Addison County land preserve to the memory of Brattleboro’s Florence Gray Estey. Mrs. Estey had died the previous year and the DAR chose her birthday for the ceremony. The DAR purchased the 160 acres nestled against the shore of Lake Champlain in order to protect the land and buildings. According to the Vermont State Parks website, this area was one of the earliest and most intensely settled sections of what would later become Vermont. There is evidence of human habitation that dates back over 7,500 years. Native Americans hunted, fished, and settled this land. In the early 1700’s a French village was constructed in the area and flourished until the English burned them out during the French and Indian War. In 1765 John Strong, from Connecticut, was one of the first English-speaking settlers to move into the region. He was 27 […]

Eveylyn Harris (1897-1922)

Evelyn Harris was born in 1897. Her father was the treasurer of the Brattleboro Savings Bank. Her Brother, Fred Harris, was a year and a half older and went on to become a Brattleboro legend. He graduated from Dartmouth College, became President of the Brattleboro Outing Club, organized the construction of the ski jump named after him, founded the Retreat Meadows Air Field, became a pilot and was a famous New England sportsman. Evelyn Harris, Fred’s little sister, was just as driven and motivated as Fred but she did not have the same opportunities. While Fred attended Dartmouth College and became an investment banker and real estate developer; Evelyn went to Miss Porter’s School for Young Women. From there she attended the progressive Finch School in New York City. While both programs emphasized women’s rights; neither provided paths to independent, professional careers. One hundred years ago a successful woman was one who married well and […]

Evelyn Harris and the ski jump (1920’s)

This week in Brattleboro History we’re going to focus on one of Brattleboro’s many independent women…you may have heard of past trailblazers like Clarina Nichols, Mary Wilkins, Dr. Grace Burnett, Marion McCune Rice and Mary Cabot. Each, in her own way, demonstrated a strength and ability to carve a successful female path in a male-dominated culture. Another female pioneer was Evelyn Harris. She was born in 1897. Her father was the treasurer of the Brattleboro Savings Bank. Her Brother, Fred Harris, was a year and a half older and went on to become a Brattleboro legend. He graduated from Dartmouth College, became President of the Brattleboro Outing Club, organized the construction of the ski jump named after him, founded the Retreat Meadows AirField, became a pilot and was a famous New England sportsman. Evelyn Harris, Fred’s little sister, was just as driven and motivated as Fred but she did not have the same opportunities. […]

Eleanor Roosevelt, Putney School and Integration (1956)

In June, 1956 Eleanor Roosevelt traveled from Hyde Park, New York to Putney, Vermont in order to give the commencement address for the Putney School. Mrs. Roosevelt wrote in her daily newspaper column that the road to Putney “goes through the mountainous countryside-not very high mountains, but friendly, small ones-heavily wooded, with many streams rushing down beside the road, and every now and then a beautiful lake.” Forty nine students graduated from Putney School that year. They came from ten different states, the District of Columbia and three foreign countries. Mrs. Roosevelt had agreed to give the commencement speech because, over the years, many people in her circle of friends had sent their children to Putney. In her speech she asked graduates to reflect on the experiences they had at the Putney School. She said the modern world left little time for going through life without a purpose and she explained that young people should […]

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 […]

Dorothy Lamour and War Bond Rally (1942)

In 1942 the world was at war. In December of 1941 the U.S. had been attacked by Japan and the fear of an enemy invasion meant that most Americans were ready to sacrifice at home in order to help the war effort. During the spring of 1942 a ration system was begun that set limits on the amount of food, gas, tires, clothing and fuel oil a family could purchase. Stamps were issued to buy items like meat, sugar, butter and vegetables. Scrap metal drives rounded up old trucks, printing presses, wash tubs, bed springs, and other metal odds and ends to make the tools of war. An ad in the local paper said you should donate everything you may have saved thinking you might use it sometime in the future because “This is it! The Greatest Emergency Possible!” People were expected to sacrifice and donate to the war cause. Another way Americans could support […]

Clarina Nichols and Women’s Suffrage (1840’s-1920)

In August, 1920 the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution granted women the right to vote in state and national elections. In the 1800’s, here in Vermont, women’s rights were very limited. Property, personal and voting rights did not exist for women in the early 19th century. Local woman Clarina Nichols worked to change that reality. Nichols was Vermont’s first well-known female leader for reform on women’s issues. In the 1840’s Clarina Nichols was the editor of the local newspaper, the Windham County Democrat. She wrote editorials that argued for women’s rights, African American rights, children’s rights and prohibition. Her advocacy led to a change in Vermont law for married women. In 1847 the Vermont Legislature passed statutes which established more rights for women. Married women gained the right to own property, write their own wills and protect themselves from the debts of their husbands. In 1851 Nichols went on the national stage for women’s rights […]

Clarina Howard and Women’s Rights (1810-1885)

Clarina Howard was born January 25, 1810 in West Townshend, Vermont. Her parents enrolled her in the local school and she had a great deal of success, performing well, and graduating high school as the valedictorian. All of the other graduates were boys. After graduation her parents introduced her to Justin Carpenter. He was ten years older than she and a college graduate. Clarina had enjoyed her education, but her family expected her to marry. At the age of 20 she married Justin.  They moved to Manhattan and lived on the dowry her family had provided Justin upon their marriage. She went to New York City willingly, valuing his career over her own. She was interested in writing literature but gave the dream up in order to move to New York. They had three children. Justin began a newspaper and a girl’s boarding school, both of which failed and cost the family most of Clarina’s […]