Abby Epplett, Historian

On Thursday, June 29 at 7:00 p.m. I watched a webinar via Zoom that focused on the life and work of American painter George Clair Tooker . The talk, called George Tooker: Modern Life & Magical Realism , was lead by Jane Oneail of Culturally Curious . I last heard Oneail speak a month ago in May when she presented Revolutionary Design: Modern Architecture in New England . Like last time, 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”. The talk began with an introduction to the life of George Tooker. He was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1920 to an Episcopalian family. His mother was half Cuban, and Tooker considered himself to be mixed-race but passed as White. He began painting around 1927 at age seven, and by the time he was a junior in high school, he was accepted into the prestigious Phillips Andover Academy in Massachusetts. ...

A few weeks ago, I visited Moore State Park in Paxton, MA. This beautiful public park covers about 400 acres of woodlands, meadows, and waterfalls on Turkey Hill Brook . Locals know the site for its flowering bushes, including azaleas, mountain laurels, and rhododendrons, and the site has the remains of buildings from the 18 th through early 20 th centuries. The park is even listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Moore State Park Historic District . More recently, in 2003, the American Chestnut Foundation planted blight-resistant trees in the park.

Yesterday, June 22, at 6:30 p.m., I joined rangers from Blackstone River Valley National Historic Park during their walkabout “Wonders of Whitinsville”, an hour-long tour of the mill village with an overview of the Whitin family and local industrial history. Part of the material overlapped with the Whitinsville Self-Guided Tour available on the National Park Service website , but the three rangers leading the tour provided plenty of additional information about the number of textile looms in the mill buildings, family dynamics, and the relationship between mill owners and mill workers.

Back in late May 2023, I visited Rocky Point State Park , formerly an amusement park in Warwick, RI managed by Rhode Island State Parks (RISP) with funding from the City of Warwick and the Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) . Together, these organizations have transformed the area into a kite flying field, oceanfront beach, and ADA compliant trails, along with supporting the Rocky Point Park Pathways Project by Leadership Rhode Island . Since 2017 , a series of pathway signs detail the history of the park using text and images.

A few weeks ago in May 2023, I visited Browne House in Watertown, MA , yet another restored late 17 th century building owned and maintained by Historic New England (HNE) . Lest you become bored by my obsession with houses constructed in a style known as First Period , American colonial , or Post-Medieval English , fear not! For this house is different and special, as they all are. Browne House was officially the “first fully documented restoration” of an old building in the United States. While not a perfect restoration, and certainly contrary to modern standards, the house shows not only how the Browne family may have lived at the time the house was constructed sometime between 1694 and 1710, but also how early 20 th century historians and architects learned to reconstruct old buildings.

This blog celebrates its first birthday today. Abby Epplett, Historian began on May 31, 2022 with the publication of “How Do You See the World?” Experience & Mapparium about the Christian Science Plaza in Boston, MA. This is the 125 th blog post. I have published about one article every three days over the course of a year. In addition to writing on Blogger , the platform hosting this blog, I have republished seven articles on the crowdsourced blog Mainly Museums , and another post is on the way. Other publications and activities related to this blog include Instagram  posts and stories, tweets on Twitter, and reviews on Google Maps. My blogs are occasionally featured in online newsletters sent out by local organizations.

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.

A few months ago, I received a perfect gift, the revised and expanded second edition of Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East . Few other readers will be quite so pleased by the book as I was, but for those who are interested in mythology from Egypt, the Akkadians, and other ancient cultures, this is an easy-to-read primer. Authors Dr. Victor H. Matthews of Missouri State University and Dr. Don C. Benjamin of the Kino Institute of Theology wrote the book with the intention of creating “a readable, affordable, and portable anthology of ancient Near Eastern law and stories”, beginning with their first edition published by Paulist Press in 1991. I read the 1997 edition, which includes black-and-white illustrations and runs about 380 pages in length. Along with this book, the authors co-wrote The Social World of Ancient Israel 1250-587 B.C.E. in 1993, while Dr. Matthews published Manners and Customs in the Bible in 1988. I knew a conside...

Earlier today—May 21, 2023—I attended the Fish Passage Celebration, an intertribal gathering and collaboration with local river advocates. Held at Old Slater Mill in Pawtucket, RI, which is part of Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (BRVNHP) , the event lasted from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and culminated in a short parade through the historic area of Pawtucket. This event is a sequel or follow-up to an event last fall, Be the Voice of Kittacuck , which recognized one of the original names of the Blackstone River.

Anyone who enjoys the American version of the appraisal show Antiques Roadshow , which just finished its 27 th season on GBH Boston (PBS) and shows no signs of slowing down, will love the podcast companion Detours . Started in January 2020, the podcast is now in its third season. Adam Monahan , who has served as a longtime producer of Antiques Roadshow , hosts the podcast. Frequent guest appearances include executive producer Marsha Bemko , appraisers and antiques experts, and former guests from  Antiques Roadshow . I have so many favorite episodes from this podcast that I cannot describe all of them! Some of the best include  Season 3, Episode 6, “Good Grief” about a Charles Schulz comic strip collection related to a Hallmark greeting cards licensing deal; Season 2, Episode 8, “If It’s Brown, It’s Down” about the downturn of the early American furniture market; and Season 1, Episode 2 “A Soldier for Sale” about a prop from the Laurel & Hardy movie Babes ...

Yesterday, on May 16, I watched a webinar about The Great American Transit Disaster based on a book written by speaker Nicholas “Nick” Dagen Bloom and published by the University of Chicago Press . The Skyscraper Museum in lower Manhattan’s Battery Park City , which is part of New York City , hosted this talk via Zoom with a livestream available on YouTube . Museum founder, director, and curator Carol A. Willis introduced the talk and facilitated the Q & A after the main presentation. Robert L. Fishman , a professor at University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning , joined Bloom and Willis in conversation near the end of the talk. Bloom began his talk with the question, “Was the destruction and subsequent poor quality of mass transit inevitable in twentieth century America?” Some historians believe the rise of automobile culture in the 1940s and 1950s brought the end of mass transit such as streetcars, trolleys, and local trains. This p...

I am a longtime listener to Cautionary Tales , a podcast hosted by Tim Harford and published by Pushkin Industries with the tagline “telling true stories about mistakes and what we should learn from them”. Harford is a multi-talented communicator, blending history and statistics to publish books, host radio shows, and write newspaper articles along with hosting this podcast. His ability to balance the often dark cautionary tales with a sense of humor brings witty charm to each episode. The show is currently in its third season, having debuted back in November 2019. The show follows two standard formats. In the more common format, Harford introduces a main story taken from history and then relates the problems in the historical event to modern issues, often using statistics to compare the two stories. Actors such as Jeffrey Wright and Helena Bonham Carter read letters or newspaper articles from the time period. In the less common format, Harford interviews an expert on a t...

Earlier today — May 13, 2023, from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  — the National Park Service (NPS) collaborated with an expansive range of local organizations to host the second annual First Strike Fest at Old Slater Mill in Pawtucket, RI, part of Blackstone River Valley National Historic Park (BRNHP) . Free and open to the public, this festival allowed visitors to experience historic tours and lectures led by park rangers in collaboration with  Old Slater Mill Association , listen to live performances from local musicians, learn about archeology and anthropology from experts, watch an artist create a plein air watercolor painting, and many more fun and educational activities! The first strike in the United States began on May 26, 1824, just under hundred and ninety-nine years ago. Women working at factories in Pawtucket walked out of work after facing a drastic wage cut and increased work day. The strike lasted until June 3, when strikers reached a settlement ...

Finishing up the trip where I visited Franklin Park Zoo and Pierce House , I took a walk in Dorchester Park . Frederick Law Olmsted originally planned this park to become part of the Emerald Necklace , a chain of green spaces throughout Boston. His sons, John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. , joined his apprentice Charles Eliot to design and built this landscape in 1891. All three had long worked under the oldest Olmsted. Eliot had designed multiple landscapes, including Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC . Later, the trio would become the architecture firm Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot . They influenced the founding of The Trustees , a Massachusetts non-profit organization dedicated to preserving over one hundred attractions covering 47,000 acres. While this early project is a feat in itself, Dorchester Park never attained the same status of later works. Despite a similar naturalistic style, paved walking trails, small sports venues, and jurisdiction falling unde...

A few weeks ago in April 2023, I visited Pierce House in Dorchester, MA . Not to be confused with the John H. Pierce House in Lincoln, MA or the President Franklin Pierce Manse in Concord, NH (both of which I have added to my ever-growing list of places to visit), this Pierce House is a Historic New England (HNE) property where only about 100 adults visit in a year. Located across the street from an early 20 th century school, the 17 th century house serves as an educational venue for multiple schools in the Greater Boston area.

A few weeks ago in April 2023, I visited the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, MA. While I have often visited Franklin Park in the past to run in cross country races, I had never gone inside the historic zoo, which first opened in 1912 and is among the oldest urban zoos in the United States. Now part of Zoo New England , a collaboration with Stone Zoo in Stoneham, MA that was formerly called Commonwealth Zoological Corporation , this seventy-nine acre property sits at the northeast point of the largest park in the Greater Boston area. The entire park is part of the Emerald Necklace designed by American landscape architect  Frederick Law Olmsted . Formerly called as West Roxbury Park for a local neighborhood now known as Jamaica Plain , the park is currently named after American politician and inventor Benjamin Franklin , who was born in Boston. The zoo itself was designed by former Olmsted employee Arthur A. Shurtleff , greatly changing Olmsted’s idea of a natural wildernes...

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.

In December 2022, I visited Eustis Estate, a mid 19 th century Queen Anne Revival mansion and a Historic New England (HNE) property in Milton, MA. Open to the public since 2017, the house and surrounded area are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and offer a different experience than other HNE buildings. Visitors have the option to freely roam the house and grounds or join a guided tour. Additionally, Eustis Estate hosts chamber music concerts and acts as a venue for weddings and other private events.

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 .)

Earlier today — Wednesday, April 26, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. ET — I attended the webinar Venice, Crete, and the Birth of the Modern World hosted by the National Hellenic Museum (NHM) in Chicago, IL. I previously attended another NHM event, Tragedy, Comedy, & Democracy in Ancient Athens , held earlier this month. Just like last time, the fast-paced and occasionally humorous talk was given by Dr. Katherine “Katie” Kelaidis , director of the museum. Dr. Kelaidis explained that as an island “closer to Jerusalem than to Paris”, Crete is a crossroad between the East and West. The largest island in the Mediterranean served as a stop for traders and militaries, leading to influence from cultures in the Middle East and Ethiopia. The culture has been part of the Greek world for thousands of years. The Minoans , who were Pre-Indo-European settlers of Mediterranean islands, lived in Crete until the Greeks pushed them out of the area in 900 BC during the Greek Dark Ages . Later, during ...

Last October, I made a few Quick History Stops in Southern New Hampshire on the border with Massachusetts just north of Fitchburg, MA. This fun day trip, which included longer stops at Cathedral of the Pines and Historic New England’s Barrett House , also featured apple picking at Washburn’s Windy Hill Orchard, climbing Mount Kidder, and visiting the childhood home of Uncle Sam.

Early tonight, at 5:30 p.m., I watched “Early Rhode Island Family Cemeteries and Their Stories”, a webinar hosted by Historic New England via Zoom. The presenter, Robert (Bob) A. Geake , is an archivist and board member Warwick Historical Society , author of eight books, and a frequent contributor to Small State, Big History , a self-proclaimed “Online Review of Rhode Island History”. As stated by Jane Hennedy , who manages Casey Farm and Watson Farm in southern Rhode Island, Geake’s next book is Death in Early New England: Rites, Rituals, and Remembrance , will come out in July. I last met Geake during Lincoln's Birthday at Arnold House in Lincoln, RI, where he is a tour guide. Geake’s presentation utilized beautiful pictures of churches and cemeteries found in the tristate area of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Cemeteries familiar to me included The Old Cemetery circa 1774 on Hill Street in Whitinsville, MA ; Ballou Cemetery in Cumberland, RI (RIHC ...

In October 2022, I visited Barrett House , my last Historic New England (HNE) stop in the regular season. Located about fifteen miles north of Fitchburg, Massachusetts in the small town of New Ipswich, New Hampshire, the home is an easily accessed destination for anyone living in southern New Hampshire, central Massachusetts, and even northern Rhode Island. Barrett House is a three-story whitewashed Federal style house originally called Forest Hall . Wealthy businessman and politician, Charles Barrett, Sr. , along with his wife, Rebecca Minott Barrett , built the house as a wedding present for their oldest surviving son, Charles Barrett, Jr. , and his new wife and their niece, Martha Minot Barrett . Rebecca’s oldest brother Captain Jonas Minot spelled the family surname with one t instead of two. Jonas had served in the American Revolutionary War and evidently accrued as much wealth as his sister and brother-in-law, as he provided all the furniture for the house.

Yesterday, on Thursday, April 13, at 7:00 p.m., I watched the final installment of the 2023 season of Parked at Home by the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (BRVNHP) . Park rangers Mark Mello and Allison Horrocks spoke about the connection between music, factory work, and protests during the Industrial Revolution. Horrocks began the presentation by reviewing the themes of Parked at Home 2023, which focused on labor and work in company towns or on the frontier. She reminded the audience of the parks they had virtually visited over the seven weeks: Yellowstone National Park Ellis Island & Statue of Liberty in New York City Eisenhower National Historic Site in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Reconstruction Era National Park in South Carolina Ste. Geneviève National Historical Park in Missouri Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Site in Skagway, Alaska The soundscape of each site is unique and inescapable. Horrocks explained that while we ...