Abby Epplett, Historian

Back in June 2026, I visited the Danforth Museum , part of Framingham State University (FSU) in Framingham, MA. During my visit, I admired the Danforth Annual Juried Exhibition featuring multimedia works by local artists, viewed staff favorites from the permanent collection, and learned more about sculptor Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller , whose life I have researched as the Historian-in-Residence at the National Museum of Mental Health Project (NMMHP) . While walking through the galleries, I enjoyed listening to artist statements on the free Danforth Art Museum Mobile Guide app , a feature I would love to see at other museums.

Last Saturday, July 25, I spent the day at Historic Deerfield (details coming in a few weeks!) and watched the play A Stake in the Ground: 1774 . Part of Plays in Place , a New England-based organization founded in 2018, the play was set on site in Deerfield, MA, allowing the audience to see events where they “really happened” over 250 years ago and remember the events leading up to the American Revolution.

While describing the history of the Ring to Frodo, Gandalf explained that Sméagol/Gollum and Bilbo had many similarities, as they were both of hobbit-kind. While this bothers Frodo, he would later realize Gandalf wisely spoke the truth, if in a long-winded way. Because of their shared background, hobbit-kind quickly understood each other, more so than “a dwarf, an orc, or even an elf”. Tolkien viewed this connection as being of the same cynn , an Old English word meaning “family”; it’s also the ancestor of the word “kin” . It’s important to note that Tolkien did not see genetics or “blood” as an indicator of personality, although plenty of people in his day did, and used the concept to suppress others. He believed instead that language was what brought people together. Accordingly, I will take a brief look at linguistic factors that make the speech of hobbit-kind unique, along with how Sméagol’s mental decline changed his speech. After that, I will give an overview of the music theo...

Back in June, I took a day trip to nearby Milford, MA to walk on the Upper Charles Trail and explore the downtown area on foot. I was born in Milford and have spent my entire life visiting the town but never did quick history stops there! This is the third of three parts about Milford. The first part covered the trail, a memorial, two churches, and a pair of repurposed buildings. The second part included an armory turned youth center, two town halls, and several churches. In the third part, I will discuss a funeral home, a library and its dog statue, an opera building, two war memorials, a church, and a post office turned police station.

Back in June, I took a day trip to nearby Milford, MA to walk on the Upper Charles Trail and explore the downtown area on foot. I was born in Milford and have spent my entire life visiting the town but never did quick history stops there! This is the second of three parts about Milford. The first part covered the trail, a memorial, two churches, and a pair of repurposed buildings. The second part includes an armory turned youth center, two town halls, and several churches.

Back in June, I took a day trip to nearby Milford, MA to walk on the Upper Charles Trail and explore the downtown area on foot. I was born in Milford and have spent my entire life visiting the town but never did quick history stops there! This is the first of three parts about Milford, which will cover the trail, a memorial, two churches, and a pair of repurposed buildings.

This week’s instrumental covers the mental decline of Sméagol from the time he discovered the Ring’s power of invisibility until he made his home in a cave underneath the mountains. While most of the musical motifs in this section have been covered in previous essays, one brand new motif representing the Sun makes a brief appearance. In this essay, I will talk about my inspiration behind how I portray the Sun along with describing how the many motifs blend together to create the piece.

America250 , the non-profit organization created by Congress in a vain attempt to celebrate the Semiquincentennial in a way everyone would like, just released the first volume of a soundtrack for the celebration , albeit twelve days after the event actually took place. The album was produced by multiple Grammy Award-winning musician and producer Emilio Estefan and includes songs from a wide scope of American music. I will look at the history of these songs and give my opinion on its success as an album.

This week is the Smithsonian National Education Summit 2026 , which takes place online and in Washington, DC. The theme of this year’s summit is “Together We Thrive: Towards a More Perfect Union” as part of the 250 th anniversary celebration for the United States. During this Summit, I’ll be watching sessions across multiple tracks from the comfort of my home office and sharing a quick summary of each. This conference is free! Anyone can sign up if they wish to hear these talks. In Part 1 , I discussed sessions on poetry, digital tools and games, and storybooks. In Part 2, I will cover oral histories, storytelling, and civic engagement for the next generation.

This week is the Smithsonian National Education Summit 2026 , which takes place online and in Washington, DC. The theme of this year’s summit is “Together We Thrive: Towards a More Perfect Union” as part of the 250 th anniversary celebration for the United States. During this Summit, I’ll be watching sessions across multiple tracks from the comfort of my home office and sharing a quick summary of each. This conference is free! Anyone can sign up if they wish to hear these talks.