Abby Epplett, Historian

On the same day I visited Alden House National Historic Site, I went down the street in Duxbury, MA to see the Art Complex Museum . This small contemporary art museum combined unique architecture and internationally renowned artists with the work of local creators. The visit started outside the building, as sculptures stood on the grounds. I recognized Five Shaker Houses as the work of George Greenamyer , whose sculpture Glace Bay stands outside Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA . Art Complex Museum began in 1971 to house the collection of Charles “Carl” Augustus Weyerhaeuser, Jr. , his wife Edith, and their family. In fact, their son Charles Weyerhaeuser served as museum director since 1973 until a few days ago, when the role transitioned to Peter Mello, who previously managed WaterFire Providence . The collection included European and American prints, Shaker furniture, and Asian art, including a Japanese tea house. The grounds encompass over thirteen acres,...

Happy Hobbit Day to all those who observe! This essay is posted on September 22, the birthdays of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, along with the autumnal equinox and the beginning of fall. The American Tolkien Society declared this a holiday in 1978, and since then, Middle-earth fans have celebrated with plenty of food and no shoes. While some fun-hating detractors argue that the celebration should really take place between September 12 and 14, owing to differences between the Gregorian calendar and the Shire calendar, a discussion of calendars will appear in two weeks and no longer be dwelt upon here. This week is dedicated to family trees. Genealogists gasp in delight upon reaching Appendix C, selections from the family trees of Hobbits first described back in Prologue, “1 Concerning Hobbits” : “The genealogical trees at the end of the Red Book of Westmarch are a small book in themselves… Hobbits delighted in such things, if they were accurate… set out fair and square with no c...

In early August 2024, I visited Duxbury, MA, one of the first towns settled by English colonists in the 17 th century. My first stop was Alden House National Historic Site , listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978 and constructed by John Alden for his wife, fellow Mayflower passenger Priscilla Mullins Alden , in the mid to late 17 th . The couple was famous not only for coming over on the Mayflower, but also from the poem The Courtship of Miles Standish written in 1858 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ( whose house I visited in 2023 ). The house is still owned by the family, who opened it to the public as a museum.

Better known for its shops, football stadium, and enormous lighthouse , Patriot Place is also home to Nature Trail and Ocean Spray Cranberry Bog managed by the Ocean Spray Cooperative , a company run by about seven hundred farmers and started in 1930. The short loop through the woods and passing by the seven-acre bog was designated a Healthy Heart Trail by Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and covers about half a mile (0.8 km). Throughout the trail are signs describing the history and ecology to growing cranberries.

While in Bridgewater, MA, I had quick history stops at McElwain School and Bridgewater Iron Works Park, two parts of industrial history that have been repurposed to serve the community.

Universally disliked by the Free People of Middle-earth, Orcs seemed to exist only to kill and destroy, and yet these people presented a moral dilemma: if orcs were truly evil and not human, they deserved death; however, if they showed an understanding of good and evil, even if they repeatedly did wrong, then targeting them was a race-based genocide. Tolkien was uncomfortable with the concept of his heroes being racist towards their enemies, yet the heroes were frequently racist towards each other, so this was not what set apart their treatment of orcs. The key difference was that orcs could be killed without repercussions. While Elves participated in kinslayings, Dwarves and Elves fought each other, and Men joked about hunting Hobbits, these actions were eventually seen as reprehensible, while the mass killing of orcs was viewed as acceptable, even a game.

On the same day I visited Norton Historical Society and made a few quick history stops in Norton , I stopped at Old Bridgewater Historical Society (OBHS) . This organization was founded in 1894 to keep track of the history for what is now four towns: Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, West Bridgewater, and Brockton, which was formerly called North Bridgewater.

Few towns have been as thoroughly shaped by a single woman than Norton, MA by Eliza Baylies Chapin Wheaton . Born in Northbridge, MA in 1809 and educated at Uxbridge Academy, in Uxbridge, MA , and later at Young Ladies’ High School of Boston, Mrs. Wheaton married a judge, Laban Morey Wheaton , when she was nineteen, and he was thirty-one. Clearly not cowed by the age gap, Mrs. Wheaton kept Mr. Wheaton — as she insisted he be called — in line while running the house, creating a women’s seminary, and donating buildings to the town. Her thumbprint is still found throughout Norton.

Appendix B contained a long and detailed timeline clarifying dates and locations related to characters found in the dialogue portion of the book and Appendix A, explaining relationships between characters, and describing the fates of characters, especially members of the Fellowship. Like in the real-world, all characters died on Middle-earth or passed over the Sea — a metaphor for death — bringing closure to the story in a way rarely seen in modern fiction but common in religious texts, mythologies, and history books.

Several weeks ago, I visited Norton Historical Society in Norton, MA. Located down the street from my undergraduate alma mater, Wheaton College, this historic school and barn features many artifacts from the town and surrounding area. A tour guide and a scavenger hunt assisted me in finding unique items stashed in the space.

Finishing up my three-day trip to the Mystic / Lyme area of Connecticut, I made a few quick history stops along the way, including a nature preserve, a state park with a railroad bridge, and a historic farmstead.

At long last, I present my character design prototypes for everyone’s favorite grumpy four-foot-tall mining engineers, the Dwarves. Other people groups described in the text as having dwarf-like traits previously appeared in this series: the Harfoot Hobbits once dwelled among the dwarves, and the Drúedain Men have a similar height and accent. The Men of Near Harad may also have been similar in appearance, as I have depicted them. However, the text did not explain if these groups shared a common ancestor.

Several weeks ago, I took a three-day trip to the Mystic / Lyme area of Connecticut and visited many historical sites. The most remarkable hidden gem I found during this trip was Thomas Lee House & Little Boston School, properties in Niantic, CT belonging to  East Lyme Historical Society . Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1970 , Lee House was among the best examples of post-medieval houses in New England that I have visited. In the late 1660s, the original portion of the house was built for Ensign Thomas Lee III who used the lower chamber as a Judgement Hall for holding court cases. Additions in 1709 and 1765 brought the house to its current size. The Lee family lived in the house until some point in the 19 th century, when a neighbor bought the property and turned it into a barn. Today, the lower chamber on the left is a 17 th century design, while the lower chamber on the left is an 18 th century or Georgian style design, all...

Several weeks ago, I went on a three-day adventure to the Mystic / Lyme area of Connecticut and visited many historic stops. During this trip, I went to Brookside Farm Museum in Niantic, CT, a village of East Lyme. Formerly called Smith-Harris House, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Thomas Avery House , some reasons behind its many names will be explained in this post. The route the house getting its complex name was likewise complex. In 1845, local carpenter John Clark built the Greek Revival style house for well-off merchant Thomas Avery and his new wife Elizabeth Brace Griswold Avery . The land on which it was built had been in the family for many years, with Thomas being in the seventh generation, and the new house included parts of an older house. Elizabeth died young in 1852 at age 29, so Thomas’ childless sister, Elizabeth Avery Henderson , moved into the house to care for their two surviving children. While older...