Abby Epplett, Historian

Last night — March 29, 2024 — I watched the latest installment of the 2024 season of Parked at Home hosted by the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (BRVNHP) . During this webinar, chief of interpretation Todd Smith joined us from Fairbanks, AK to discuss Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve (GAAR) . Park Ranger Mark Mello began by remarking how people tend to look down at phones and tablets instead of up at nature even when visiting a national park. Mello grew up in a relatively rural part of southeastern Massachusetts where he saw many stars at night. He first experienced severe light pollution as a teenager when he visited Boston and realized he could not see the stars. In contrast, while working at Arches National Park , he saw significantly more stars than at home and understood why the area was dedicated an International Dark Sky Place . The first people to inhabit the Blackstone River Valley had a close connection to the sky. The name Wampano...

On Thursday, April 6 at 7:00 p.m., I attended the sixth installment of the 2023 Parked at Home series hosted via Zoom by Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (BRVNHP) and Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor . During this penultimate discussion on the theme of community, park rangers Mark Mello and Allison Horrocks of BRVNHP were joined by Barak Geertsen of Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Skagway, Alaska. Mello began the talk by describing community as “a central piece of the human experience”. Many communities in the Blackstone River Valley took the form of mill villages, where a factory owner also owned the identical worker housing, stores, and even the church building. The first of these mill village — the town of Slatersville in North Smithfield of northwestern Rhode Island, which was previously called Buffam’s Mill — was created by English-American brothers John and Samuel Slater with investments from Moses Brown and hi...

I recently read The Great Book of Alaska: The Crazy History of Alaska with Amazing Random Facts & Trivia by Bill O’Neill, which contained random facts and trivia about the largest state in America. As a prolific self-published author, O’Neill has written about other popular states, including Texas, California, and New York, along with books of movie trivia and random facts. The book is divided into six section: Modern History Culture of Alaskan Natives Pop Culture and Sports Attractions Inventions Supernatural Each section is divided into quick bites of related facts, perfect for reading if you only have a few minutes. The simple writing style make it accessible to upper elementary school and older. The comprehensive table of contents at the front of the book make finding a favorite fact super easy. The short quizzes at the end of each chapter allowed readers to check memory and reading comprehension. This w...