Past Events
Sunday, Sep 18, 2022, 2pm
John Galluzzo, Author and Historian – The Story of Stellwagen Bank
Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, is a shallow, underwater plateau formed by a complex glacial deposit between 25,000 and 12,000 yrs ago (Image is attached below). Located 25 miles east of Boston and just 5 miles from either Provincetown or Gloucester, the Bank has been a well-known fishing and whaling ground since the 17th century. It is also the site of many sunken merchant and fishing vessels, lost at sea due to storms or accidents, and these wrecks are now being explored by maritime archaeologists to uncover their stories. Please join us to listen to John Galluzzo recount the history of the Stellwagen Bank and the stories surrounding some of the most notable shipwrecks.
Sunday, Oct 16, 2022, 2pm
Stephen R. Wilk – Lost Wonderland: The Brief and Brilliant Life of Boston’s Million Dollar Amusement Park
Sunday, Nov 20, 2022, 2pm
Sheryl Faye Presents – Clara Barton: Civil War Nurse and Red Cross Founder
Sheryl Faye / Clara Barton Link
Sunday, Jan 15, 2023, 2pm
Anthony M. Sammarco – Boston’s Back Bay Through Time
In his new book, Anthony M. Sammarco outlines the Back Bay of Boston, a neighborhood of the city that is not just the quintessential Victorian neighborhood of the 19th century, but one that was infilled and planned as the premier residential and institutional development.
Begun in the late 1850s when the marshlands west of the Boston Public Garden were infilled through the ingenuity of John Souther, the Back Bay was to become a massive project that took over three decades to complete. With fill brought by gondola cars from Needham, Massachusetts six days a week, twenty-four hours a day, every 45 minutes, the fill had an average depth of 20 feet and the expanse of the Back Bay to be filled was roughly 460 acres. A monumental task, it was said that so successful was the venture that by 1885, only a small area was left to be infilled near the Back Bay Fens.
In this photographic history of the Back Bay of Boston Anthony M. Sammarco, with the contemporary photographs of Peter B. Kingman, has created a fascinating book that chronicles the neighborhood from the late nineteenth century through to today. Walking along Arlington, Boylston, Newbury Streets, Commonwealth, Huntington and Massachusetts Avenues and stopping at Park Square and Copley Square, this visually fascinating book offers a fascinating glimpse of the Back Bay of Boston Through Time.
Sunday, Feb 19, 2023, 2pm
Bob Frishman – Timekeeping and Timekeepers in Early New England
With more than 100 digital images, this lecture offers a history of mechanical clocks and watches in New England beginning with the arrival of the Mayflower up to the adoption of standard time by the railroads in the late 19th century. Given Ashland’s connection to electric clocks, Bob has agreed to include some of the early history of battery and plug-in clocks before the emergence of Telechron synchronous clocks.
The program will also include a “Roadshow”-style appraisal session for anyone who brings a mechanical clock or watch. Sorry, but no clocks with batteries or power cords will be appraised!
Bob Frishman, founder of Bell-Time Clocks in 1992, has repaired more than 7000 clocks and has sold 1700 vintage timepieces. He writes and lectures about the history, culture, and technology of horology – the science of timekeeping.
Some of Bob’s Professional Associations and Activities –
Silver Star Fellow, National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors
Liveryman, Worshipful Company of Clockmakers (London)
Member, Antiquarian Horological Society (London)
Life Member, Willard House & Clock Museum
Exhibit Curator, Horological Society of New York
Sunday, Mar 19, 2023, 2pm
Linda Hixon presents – Creating Community: The Woman of the Hopedale Sewing Circle
Although you couldn’t tell by the name of their group, the women (& men) of the Hopedale Sewing Circle were radical thinkers ahead of their time. Starting in 1848, and continuing for over 100 years, they advocated for abolition, pacifism, and for a fairer deal for women, including dress reform, equal rights and equal pay, women’s rights in divorce and child custody, and choice of last name. Linda Hixon tells how she has helped uncover a fascinating story of regular people trying to make their community a better place.
Linda Hixon has degrees in History, English Literature, and Communication Arts, and certificates in Paralegal studies. Click Hopedale Women for more information.
Sunday, Apr 16, 2023, 2pm
Christie Higginbottom, Garden Consultant and Research Historian – The Family Nurse: Home Medical Care in the Early Nineteenth Century
This is a program illustrating the role played by home-grown, wild-gathered, and purchased herbal remedies in the treatment of common health problems in Early American households. Christie will describe plant varieties and preparation methods including infusions, decoctions, ointments, poultices, fomentations, and tinctures.
Christie worked many years as a costumed interpreter at Old Sturbridge Village. She coordinated the historic horticulture program researching, planning and planting the re-created kitchen and flower gardens at the museum’s historic households. Higginbottom also supervised the Village’s Herb Garden collection, a garden exhibiting over 300 varieties of historic herbs.