Abby Epplett, Historian

In late June 2023, I visited the Dominican Republic and learned about the history and culture of the country. My first stop was Monumento a los Héroes de la Restauración (Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration) in the city of Santiago de los Caballeros, part of the Cibao region. Originally constructed as part of the Dominican independence centennial celebration in 1944 by Dominican architect Henry Gazón Bona as El Monumento a la Paz de Trujillo (The Monument to Peace from Trujillo) in honor of a dictator, the current iteration of the monument instead honors those who served in the military, government, and other organizations during Guerra de la Restauración (War of the Restoration), which lasted from 1863 to 1865. The figures appearing on las plazoletas (little plazas), las escaleras (the stairs of the monument), and in el museo (the museum) are also found throughout the country. In part one of a three post series about the monument, I focus on las plazoletas.

I recently finished watching the first season of  Slatersville: America’s First Mill Village , which was directed, edited, and produced by award-winning local filmmaker Christian de Rezendes of Breaking Branch Pictures . I last met de Rezendes, along with  Slatersville researcher-producer Gail Denomme , at North Smithfield Heritage Day on July 8 , where they led tours using the history featured in the documentary. The series itself was nominated for a 46 th Boston/New England Emmy Award in the documentary category and won the music composition/arrangement category for its score composed by  Stephen Gilbane . Besides its high artistic merit, the documentary shared stories of Slatersville and its residents that had never before been published. “Episode 1: The Mental Smugglers” covered the life of Samuel Slater , a mill worker from Belper, England , an industrial town in the Amber Valley within the county of Derbyshire . Slater memorized the entire text...

On Tuesday, July 25 at 8:00 p.m., I watched the online program “Linn Westcott’s Wildly Diverse Railroad Photography” presented by Kevin P. Keefe and sponsored by the Center for Railroad Photography & Art (CRP&A) , a train photography collection based in Madison, WI . Keefe is former editor and publisher of the aptly named Trains , a magazine and online platform all about real railroads and railroad models. His book Twelve Twenty-Five: Life and Times of a Steam Locomotive published by Michigan State University Press was a 2017 Michigan Notable Book from the Library of Michigan . Keefe knew Westcott while working for Kalmbach beginning in 1974. Today, Kalmbach Media “connects enthusiasts to their passions with magazines, books, digital products, videos, online stores, social media, and more.” Their primary areas of focus include everything associated with trains, model building, space, and general science. Westcott was the editor of the Kalmbach publication Model ...

Today — July 20, 2023 — was the second full online day of the Smithsonian National Education Summit , with the Welcome Reception held two nights ago and the first full online day on Wednesday . I attended three history-focused sessions inspiring students and teachers to learn about their past in order to change their school, community, country, and the world for the better. Inspire Creative Changemakers During this fast-paced session based on an article by the same name published on July 13 , six Smithsonian educators used artifacts from their respective museums to demonstrate how to teach students to become creative changers , or “people who intervene to in creative ways solve a social problem”. The educators used routines like “See Wonder, Connect Times Two” from Harvard’s Project Zero to lead the audience through thinking critically about the objects. The lively text chat for viewers was monitored by Stephanie Greenhut , a Smithsonian Learning Lab product owner. ...

Earlier today — Wednesday, July 19, 2023 — I attended several sessions during the first full day for the online version of the Smithsonian National Education Summit after the Welcome Reception last night . Two of the sessions had a strong focus on history and presented ways to share concepts with students and visitors of all ages, inspiring them to deeply engage with artifacts and artwork.

Early today — Tuesday, July 18 at 6:00 p.m. — I watched the online Welcome Reception to the Smithsonian National Education Summit . Held online over the next two days, and in-person throughout this week, the summit brings educators together from across the United States to discuss improvements in American education. The theme for this year is “Together We Thrive: Fostering a Sense of Belonging” and has a special focus on the experiences of Black male students. Dr. Monique M. Chism, who works as the Smithsonian’s Under Secretary for Education , hosted the opening panel. She noted that students are getting the lowest test scores in decades after the COVID-19 pandemic, and teachers are leaving the field. This effect is felt by Black male students more than other demographics, as they are disproportionately suspended and expelled and most likely to dropout of high school and college. On the stage to discuss education were Secretary of the Smithsonian, Lonnie Bunch III ; Distric...

Besides visiting Historic New England’s Dole Little House , Museum of Old Newbury , and the Lower Green Area of Newbury , I also made several quick history stops while visiting the Newbury & Newburyport region, as I was unable to see these stops my previous trip to the area in September 2022 . Locations included a house and a memorial in the Upper Green Area of Newbury, along with historic buildings and one live horse in Downtown Newburyport.

Along with visiting Historic New England’s Dole Little House and the Museum of Old Newbury during my last trip to the Newbury & Newburyport region in June 2023, I visited the Lower Green Area of Newbury. Back in 2010, Preservation Massachusetts listed this area as one of the ten most threatened historic sites in the state. Stops include places maintained by the Sons and Daughters of the First Settlers of Newbury (SDFSN) ; a stewardship property protected by a Historic New England (HNE) Preservation Easement Program , and historic signage created by the Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary Commission (MBCTC) .

Early today — Saturday, July 8, 2023 — I spent a few hours at North Smithfield Heritage Day, an annual event hosted by the North Smithfield Heritage Association (NSHA) in collaboration with multiple other organizations and vendors. This event was free and open to the public with plenty of parking and easy to navigate sidewalks. Slaterville Walking Tour The first event I attended was a walk through Slatersville , a village of North Smithfield. The tour started at 9:00 a.m. and lasted for about 90 minutes. It focused on life in the mill town during the early 20 th century. The walk was led by park ranger Allison Horrocks of Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (BRVNHP) and by Christian de Rezendes of Breaking Branch Pictures , whose latest work is the Emmy award winning documentary series Slatersville: America’s First Mill Village . Using a path similar to the self-guided walking tours available on the park service website, this tour started at He...

On the same day I visited Dole-Little House, I also toured the  Museum of Old Newbury , located in Newburyport, MA. Founded as the Antiquarian and Historical Society of Old Newbury , the organization has existed since 1877 and spent its nearly 150 years “collecting, preserving, and presenting the history of Newburyport, Newbury, West Newbury, Byfield, and Plum Island”. The organization has known many locations but since 1955 has been in Cushing House , once the home to American politician and diplomat, Caleb Cushing.

Several weeks ago during Historic New England (HNE) Open House Day on the first Saturday in June, I visited Dole-Little House in Newbury, MA . This property — built with materials from another house around 1715 for either cattleman Richard Dole (1650-1723) or his nephew Richard Dole (1689-1778) — is rarely open to the public. The Dole and Little families were long-time North Shore residents, as cattleman Richard Dole’s father Richard Dole (1622-1705) was among the first European colonists to settle in the area. A distantly related branch of the Little family owned Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm , another HNE property in Newbury that I visited in mid September of last year .