Abby Epplett, Historian

During my trip to Jamestown, RI in July 2023, I visited Beavertail Lighthouse, a free museum about the history of the building and its keepers. Earlier that day, I visited many other historic attractions on Conanicut Island, including Historic New England’s Casey Farm and Watson Farm , along with several sites operated by Jamestown Historical Society (JHS) , like Conanicut Battery . I had wanted to visit the Beavertail Lighthouse museum for a long time, but it had never been open when I visited. This was my lucky day! Many protective buildings existed on the Jamestown coast even before the construction of the current lighthouse. The first Watch House was built in 1705, and a Fire Beacon in 1712. The original Beavertail Lighthouse was erected in 1749, making it the third lighthouse established on the Atlantic Coast in the British American colonies. The lighthouse was designed by Peter Harrison , often called “America’s First Architect”. His other famous work in

In July 2023, I returned to Jamestown, RI where I had previously visited Historic New England’s Casey Farm and Watson Farm , along with several sites operated by Jamestown Historical Society (JHS) . On this trip, I went to Conanicut Battery, jointly maintained by JHS and The Friends of Conanicut Battery . Since 1973, this twenty-two acre site has been on the National Register of Historic Places for its roles in the American Revolutionary War and the World Wars. The Battery For Rhode Islanders, the American Revolution began in 1772 when a group of Providence-based patriots burned a grounded ship called the HMS Gaspee. (Last year, during the 250 th anniversary, Rhode Island Historical Society (RIHS) hosted an exhibit about the event. ) By 1775, the British navy retaliated against the colony, shelling the villages along the shore. Soldiers raided Jamestown, stole livestock, and burned civilian houses during December of that year. By the next year, the Rho

Earlier today — October 26, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. — I watched the webinar Stories from the Archives: Scrapbooks hosted by American Ancestors – New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) . Leading the talk were collections management archivist Gabrielle Roth and conservator Todd Pattison . Together they covered the history of scrapbooks, the collection of scrapbooks held by The Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center Archives (JHC) , preservation of scrapbooks, and best practices when creating a scrapbook. Roth began by describing the oldest records in America: petroglyphs carved by Native Americans. Visitors to parks around the country, including Fremont Indian State Park in Utah , can view intricate carvings up to 2000 years old. More recently, European diaries recorded mundane aspects of daily life in private journals, although the demographics of this practice skewed towards wealthy, educated men. During the time of the Enlightenment, Renaissance scribes kept commonpl

On October 24, 2023 at 6:00 p.m., I watched a talk hosted by Skyscraper Museum focused on the book Times Square Remade: The Dynamics of Urban Change by Dr. Lynne Sagalyn , published by MIT Press a few days ago. Sagalyn is a professor emerita and founding director of Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate at Columbia Business School . Her latest book is a sequel to Times Square Roulette: Remaking the City Icon published by MIT Press 20 years ago in 2003. Joining Sagalyn were Carol Willis , the founder and director of the Skyscraper Museum, and Alison Isenberg , a history professor in the Department of History at Princeton University and fellow author who specializes in urban architecture. Willis opened and closed the webinar, while Isenberg acted as a moderator during the conversational second half. Sagalyn began the webinar with a presentation covering the history of Times Square from the 1890s to the present. The area was originally called Longacre Square and served as

On Thursday, September 21, 2023 at 7:00 p.m., I watched the webinar Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, & Abstract Expressionism lead by Jane Oneail of Culturally Curious . I have previously watched three talks by Oneail: Revolutionary Design: Modern Architecture in New England in May 2023, George Tooker: Modern Life & Magical Realism in June 2023, and Seaside Escapes: The Art & Architecture of the New England Coast in August 2023. Just like for the past two talks, the event was sponsored by the Greater Manchester Integrated Library Cooperative or GMILCS , which describes itself as “a nonprofit consortium of public and academic libraries in New Hampshire”.

Held annually on the Sunday closest to August 14 or Victory Day, which celebrates the end of World War II, the 2023 edition of “World War II Comes to the Valley” did not disappoint. Like last year , this event took place at Alternatives’ Whitin Mill in the historic village of Whitinsville, MA . The complex is operated by Open Sky Community Services with events planned by its arts and culture arm, ValleyCast . I last visited its plaza during the “Wonders of Whitinsville” Ranger Walkabout hosted by Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (BRVNHP) in June 2023, and I attended the Blackstone Valley Mill Explorations event in December 2022. This latest event was a collaboration between many organizations with volunteers (like me!) provided through Blackstone Heritage Corridor .

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.

On Thursday, May 25 at 7:00 p.m., I watched the Zoom webinar Revolutionary Design: Modern Architecture in New England hosted by Jane Oneail of Culturally Curious . This organization is based in Manchester, NH and focuses on history throughout New England. Each program is sponsored by a New England organization, with this webinar funded by Manchester City Library . Oneail focused her talk on five buildings, each constructed by a different architect.

Back in January 2023, while seeing family in western Michigan, I visited the Garden of Honor Memorial , also called Veteran’s Park , in Allendale Community Park of  Allendale Charter Township , about twenty-five minutes southwest of Grand Haven . Designed and constructed twenty-five years ago in 1998 by a local artist, the impressive but controversial memorial contains statues of soldiers and civilians surrounding an eagle-topped obelisk. The eight represented  conflicts include the War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, and Gulf War.

For the third year in a row, National Historic Marker Day takes place on the final Friday in April, which is today, April 28, 2023. The William G. Pomeroy Foundation , self-described as “a philanthropic organization based in Syracuse, NY”, created this day to encourage volunteers to clean markers and learn about local history. I first learned of this holiday back in early November 2022 while attending the New England Museum Association (NEMA) Annual Conference in Springfield, MA. (My three-part summary of this three-day conference is available here , here , and here .)

Back in October 2022, I visited Cathedral of the Pines in Rindge, NH, a non-denominational memorial including a bell tower, gardens, trails, and a small museum. The space is dedicated in memory of Lt. Sanderson “Sandy” Sloane and other members of the United States military who died in war, especially World War II. Free and open to the public, this organization provides a comprehensive educational and historical experience, allowing visitors to learn more about a man and his family within the context of a global crisis while providing a place for veterans and military families to process personal trauma.

On Thursday, March 16 at 7:00 p.m., I attended the third installment of the 2023 Parked at Home series hosted via Zoom by Blackstone River Valley National Historic Park (BRVNHP) . Park rangers Mark Mello of BRVNHP and Joshua Bell at Eisenhower National Historic Site discussed the role of the Blackstone River Valley in military productions from the Civil War to the present, along with the career of five-star general and 34 th United States President Dwight “Ike” David Eisenhower . Mello began the presentation with an overview of the United States presidents, forty-five men serving forty-six terms in office with the obligatory reminder that Grover Cleveland served as 22 nd and 24 th . He reminded the audience that twenty-one NPS sites preserve birthplaces, homes, and other important monuments to the presidents . The Blackstone River Valley has strong connections to 27 th president William Howard Taft , whose family lived in the area and whose ancestor, Lydia Chapin Taft ,

Rhode Island Historical Society hosted Valley Talk #4 from its 2023 series via Zoom on Sunday, February 19 at 1:30 p.m. The talk, titled “B’nai Israel: Woonsocket’s Gorgeous but Little-Known Synagogue” , featured historian George M. Goodwin as the main speaker. Goodwin was a former president of the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association and has edited multiple publications. He spent most of the talk describing synagogues and other places of worship around Rhode Island, New England, and the world, accompanying his detailed descriptions with beautiful images. He finished with information about B’nai Israel in Woonsocket, RI. The entire talk with question and answer session took just under 90 minutes. Touro Synagogue of Newport, RI The oldest extant synagogue in North America is Touro Synagogue of Newport, RI , constructed in 1763 by British-American architect Peter Harrison . Harrison introduced the Palladian style of architecture to the Americas, with buildings based

Way back in September 2022, I visited Portsmouth, NH and discovered many Quick History Stops around the city. Part 2 in this four part mini-series features Portsmouth Memorial Park, Point of Graves Cemetery, the liberty pole, and the liberty shield. All of these stops are located within a short walking distance of Prescott Park, which I covered in Part 1 . As an added bonus, I learned a bit about the gundalow, a small but majestic replica of barges that sailed along the Piscasqua River and through Portsmouth Harbor from the late 17 th century to the early 20 th century. Revitalized by The Gundalow Company as a tourist attraction, visitors can cruise in the afternoon or evening while learning about the region. Looks like an adventure for the next time I go to Portsmouth!

Earlier today — Sunday, August 14 — I was a Volunteer-In-Parks (VIP)  at Blackstone River Valley National Historic Park (BRVNHP)  during “World War II Comes to the Valley”, an event that took place at Open Sky Community Services in the historic village of Whitinsville, Massachusetts . This park also contains Slater Mill , where I volunteered during World Ranger Day .