March series on National Parks Service Units

Posted on by Sue

Tewksbury Library has invited other libraries to participate in this March weekly Zoom series at noon featuring National Park Service Units in Massachusetts, so we are posting links to the registration! Please note that you must register on their site to get the Zoom links-click below for the links to registration and full descriptions-attend any or all! Recordings will be provided to registrants after the lectures.

March 1st at 12 pm: Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site Presents ‘Olmsted’s Life & Legacy, click here for the link

March 8th at 12 pm: Longfellow House-Washington’s HQ National Historic Site Presents “Past & Present Here Unite”, click here for the link.

March 15th at 12 pm: Boston African American National Historic Site Presents ‘Explore The Black Heritage Trail’, click here for the link.

March 22nd at 12 pm: New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park Presents ‘Stories From The Whaling Port’, click here for the link.

March 29th at 12 pm: John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site Presents ‘From Beals St. To The White House, click here for the link.

Falmouth Enterprise now Online 1896-2017, featuring A Party at the Dump!

Posted on by Library User

We are excited to announce that we now have a new host for the digital Falmouth Enterprise, and instead of stopping at 1962, the entire range from 1896-2017 is now searchable online. We are grateful to the Enterprise for their permission to put these recent years online, and to the Board of Library Trustees for their support of this project. Library staff have tested it thoroughly by serarching for themselves (and finding some amusing childhood memories, among other things) – give it a try yourself! Contact us at the Reference Desk if you need any help getting started.

Of course, the first thing I did was to search for information about that party at the dump question from last July. Back then, we took to Facebook to ask for help finding articles in the Enterprise about a party held at the town dump:

Apparently some time in the later 1960s or early 1970s, there was a large benefit party that was black tie but was held at the Town Dump. Paul E. White was not invited, but decided to dress up in 1920s attire, drive a 1920s vehicle with “Dump or Bust” painted on the side, and crash the event. He was allowed to attend. His daughter Rena is sure there were articles in the Enterprise about both the benefit party, and the crashing of it by her father.

Many did have a memory of this event, and suggested years and people involved (notably Al Lawrence, which was correct), but nobody could pin it down. I searched April-October in the microfilm Enterprise for the years 1968-1972 without success.

It turns out I would never have found it even if I’d gotten to 1973, because the party took place in March! A party at the Town Dump in March – that month of shivers, and either snow or mud? Indeed it was. With a tent, and furs, and black tie, and champagne, and arrival by helicopter, and an Air Force band! Read on…

First notice of the party appeared in an article published February 16, 1973, reporting on the events of the benefit auction in support of the Heart Fund. Four hundred people were in attendance, but the excitement of the evening was clearly the bidding for a “cocktail party for 25 at the Town Dump,” put forward by Al Lawrence, and won by Francis L. Empey with a high bid of $500.

The excitement was already building before the day of the party. On Friday March 9 the Enterprise declared, “Guest List Grows for Party of Year, Champagne and Lobster at the Dump.” This front-page article described the widespread interest (including from Channel 6 news), and listed the expected attendees by name.

The reporting after the party continued the gleeful tone. On Tuesday March 13 the story was page 1, with a photo, captioned “What a Dump: Champagne and Furs at the Sanitary Landfill.”

The article went on to describe the party in detail. About 30 couples officially attended, all in formal attire (although some wore work boots with tuxedoes), but some 1000 more people also turned up, perhaps to legitimately drop off items, as the dump was open for business, perhaps just to look on. Heavy traffic was reported in the area, and Edmund T. McClung directed traffic in a high hat and tails. Did I mention this party was a daytime party, occurring between 11am and 2:30pm?

The guests arrived by helicopter, ten-ton sanitation truck, wheelbarrow, hearse, and Rolls-Royce. They drank eight cases of champagne and ate 50 pounds of lobster salad. They danced to music provided by the Four Aces. They took rides on dump vehicles at $10 a pop as an additional fundraiser, and the table centerpieces, created from dump materials, were also auctioned off. I blame the champagne for the fact that “a syndicate formed inside the tent and bid a couple of hundred dollars for one of the guests’ tuxedo trousers.” Overall an additional $1500 was raised for the Heart Fund.

Later that week the town was still talking, as a page of photos appeared on p. 15 of the Enterprise for March 16, 1973. Here are just two of them:

The one disappointment of this story is I could find no mention of the remembered crashing of this party by Paul White. It may well have occurred, but the Enterprise did not report on it!

Lethal Tides with Catherine Musemeche

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Join us on Wednesday, November 9th at 6:30pm in the Hermann meeting room as we welcome author Catherine Musemeche. She will be speaking about her latest book Lethal Tides: Mary Sears and the Marine Scientists Who Helped Win World War II. To register for this author talk and book signing, click here.

“Weaving together science, biography, and military history, Lethal Tides is a powerful, revelatory history essential to our understanding of oceanography and naval strategy, and – more importantly – chronicles the gripping story of an unsung woman who was pivotal to the U.S.’s success against Japan in WWII.”

Catherine Musemeche is a graduate of the University of Texas McGovern Medical School in Houston, Texas and the University of Texas School of Law. She has been a pediatric surgeon for more than three decades. Catherine’s first book, Small, was longlisted for the E.O. Wilson/Pen American Literary Science Award and was awarded the Texas Writer’s League Discovery Prize for Nonfiction in 2015. Her second book, Hurt, was named one of the top ten EMS books of the decade. She has also contributed to Smithsonian Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times’ “Motherlode” blog, KevinMD.com, Creative Nonfiction magazine and EMS World.

This event is free to the public and copies of her book will be available from Eight Cousins for purchase at the event.

Cape Cod Archaeology: Past, Present, and Future

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In honor of Native American Heritage Month, we invite you to join us for a lecture about the archaeology of Cape Cod. There are two options to attend: join us in person, in the Hermann Meeting Room at 6:30pm on Wednesday November 16, or use a Zoom link that will be provided upon registration to attend virtually from home.

Above and below-ground archaeological artifacts and features provide a partial view into the 12,000-year human history of Cape Cod. Archaeologist Holly Herbster will discuss what sites on the Cape can tell us, how archaeological study has changed, and how the field fits into other ways of knowing about the past.

Holly Herbster is a Senior Archaeologist/Principal Investigator at the Public Archeology Laboratory, Inc. Over the past 25 years she has directed more than 200 projects in southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and Martha’s Vineyard, ranging from primary background research to large-scale archaeological excavations. She has collaborated extensively with Native American groups in Massachusetts and her research focus includes documentary and ethnohistoric studies, especially those related to seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Nipmuc and Wampanoag communities. She is a co-author of the book Historical Archaeology and Indigenous Collaboration: Discovering Histories That Have Futures which was the Society for American Archaeology’s 2021 scholarly book award winner.

An Illustrated Tour of Falmouth Cemeteries

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Join the Falmouth Public Library, Oak Grove Cemetery Association of Falmouth, and Falmouth Genealogical Society for a ‘Welcome to the Graveyard: An Illustrated Tour of Falmouth’s Cemeteries’ presentation by The Gravestone Girls on Wednesday, October 19th from 6pm-8pm in the library’s Hermann meeting room! (Photo Credit: “Oak Grove in Winter” by Carol Knox)

‘Welcome to the Graveyard: An Illustrated Tour of Falmouth’s Cemeteries’ is a 90 minute illustrated ‘virtual tour’ chronicling cemetery art, history and symbolism. From the colonial New England burial grounds of the 1600s and 1700s, through the nation-wide rural cemetery movement of the 19th century and into 21st century locations, this program examines why we have cemeteries and gravestones, why they look like they do and how styles and art have evolved over almost 400 years. Prior to the show date, The Gravestone Girls will hit the road and go through the cemeteries in Falmouth, taking pictures for use in building the presentation with as much local content as possible. Q&A to follow.

The Gravestone Girls “create decorative artwork using the beautiful and primitive images carved on olde New England gravestones; give lectures and tours on cemetery art, history and symbolism as well as teach gravestone rubbing classes! Their work aims to entertain and educate on the historical perspective of old cemeteries by documenting and preserving the beautiful art they contain.”

Registration is required. To register, click here or call the library at 508-457-2555 extension 7.

This program is co-sponsored by the Trustees of the Falmouth Public Library, the Oak Grove Cemetery Association of Falmouth, and the Falmouth Genealogical Society.

Bounty Film Screening and Panel Discussion (Virtual Event)

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To honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day, on Saturday October 15, from 4-5:30, we are co-hosting a virtual film screening and panel discussion of the film Bounty. This 9-minute documentary features Penobscot parents and children commemorating their survival by reading and reacting to the Phips Proclamation, a government-issued proclamation that motivated colonial settlers to hunt, scalp, and murder Indigenous people.

The film will be followed by a panel discussion with Mishy Lesser, the learning director of the Upstander Program; Gkisedtanamoogk, Mashpee Wampanoag, co-chair, Maine Wabanaki State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and Linda Coombs, Aquinnah Wampanoag, museum educator and historian.

This event is presented by the Falmouth Public Library with the support of the Friends of the Falmouth Public Library; the Woods Hole Public Library; the Mashpee Public Library; and LINK. LINK is a local group dedicated to the belief that when we can come together in respectful, trusting, and committed relations we can link Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge in a way that can move all of life towards a safer, more balanced, and wholesome future.

To register to attend this Zoom event, please sign up at the Mashpee Library’s site: https://tinyurl.com/bountyfilm . After registering, you will receive an email with the Zoom link.

Sea Captains of Cape Cod!

Posted on by Sue

We are excited to welcome Dr. Michael Pregot on Tuesday, August 23rd at 6:30 pm, for a reading, talk and book signing! Registration is required-please do so by clicking here! Books will be available to buy at the event from Eight Cousins books.

Cape Cod is surrounded by water on all four sides, jutting out prominently into the Atlantic Ocean. This characteristic accounts in large measure for its history, its economic development, its aesthetic beauty, and its maritime legacy.

This narrative explores the connection that each Cape Cod town has to the sea as demonstrated through its seafaring residents. It provides a glimpse into heroic maritime adventures, entrepreneurial brilliance, and an appreciation of the resolve needed by captains to thrive in a hostile seaside environment.

Dr. Pregot has served as a secondary school administrator and as a P-12 school superintendent. During his tenure as a practicing school leader, he has taught adjunct educational leadership courses at Boston College, Keene State, Franklin Pierce, Fitchburg State and Worcester State College. Prior to his appointment to the faculty at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus, he taught educational leadership courses at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y.

His latest interest is in maritime history for which he has written Sea Captains of Cape Cod and Meet the Captains of the Captains Golf Course.

Postcards from Falmouth: The College Light Opera Company

Posted on by Library User

The College Light Opera Company, Falmouth’s historic summer stock theatre company, is in the midst of its 2022 season. Its deep roots connect it to some of the biggest names in Falmouth history, and its company members carry those roots with them as they strike out into the performing arts world.

Join Executive and Creative Director Mark Pearson for a look into that shared history and the connections that grew from it. “The original intent was more entertainment,” he says, “but our mission has sort of shifted over the years as we became one of the last organizations to do this—to really focus on the educational aspect.”

See the CLOC digital exhibit here.

Explore the postcard collection online here.

Postcards from Falmouth is a local history project of Falmouth Public Library, funded by a LSTA grant and administered by the MBLC.

Contribute Your Memories of the Falmouth Road Race

Posted on by Library User

This year on August 21 Falmouth will host the 50th running of the Falmouth Road Race. As thousands of runners race from the starting line, in front of the Captain Kidd on Water Street in Woods Hole, they wind past Nobska Light, up Surf Drive, around Falmouth Harbor, to the finish line in Falmouth Heights.

At the Falmouth Public Library we have large collections of postcards of local landmarks along the path of the Road Race. We’ve created a Map so you can follow the runners’ route, with a glimpse at past views of the buildings and seashores they’ll see as they run.

Many Falmouth residents and visitors have run the Road Race over the years. The Falmouth Road Race web site has a wonderful year-by-year recap of the 49 races to date. Does it spark memories in you?

We’re building a digital archive of Road Race Memories at the library, and we’d love to hear your story.

Dig out your old photos, or take a picture of your collection of mugs and t-shirts, and write us a few lines about the years you ran, or watched, or got stuck in traffic! Library Director Linda Collins shared the following memory:

In 1999 race day was complete with torrential rains. Waiting at the the start, I remember seeing runners with plastic bags taped over their shoes in an attempt to stay dry. As we came out of the woods along the beach we were running through ankle deep puddles. I wondered how the plastic bags were holding up. I turned to the runner next to me and he had the biggest smile on his face. We agreed, we were doing all the things our mothers taught us not to. We were running in the middle of the road, soaked to the skin, jumping in puddles, and talking to strangers. It doesn’t get any better.

She also found a page in her scrapbook about that year! You can see how wet it was even at the finish.

You can upload an image or type in a story without an image attached at our Contribution Link. Be sure you include your name and email address, and give us permission to publish your contribution at our web site. If you don’t have computer access, please feel free to stop by the Reference Desk and we can take down your story or snap a digital image of your old-fashioned paper photograph!

We look forward to hearing from you!

Postcards from Falmouth: St. Barnabas Church

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By any measure, St. Barnabas Church is distinct. Reverend Will Mebane, Jr. recounts the history of its founding: how the Beebe family pushed to establish the parish, and chose Gothic Revivalist architect Henry Vaughan to build a church unlike any other in Falmouth.

“We like to be known as the parish of the community,” he says, “so we are constantly opening our doors and welcoming nonprofit organizations and other entities to use our beautiful campus.” In the summer months especially, that campus is a hub of activity – for example, did you know that the 70th annual Strawberry Festival was celebrated this June?

Explore the oral history and digital exhibit, and learn for yourself how St. Barnabas became part of the fabric of Falmouth’s community!

See our Saint Barnabas Church digital exhibit here.

Explore the postcard collection online here.

Postcards from Falmouth is a local history project of Falmouth Public Library, funded by a LSTA grant and administered by the MBLC.

Category: History