Category: History

Postcards from Falmouth: The Old Stone Dock

Posted on by Library User

The Old Stone Dock of today might be easy to overlook, but its past self lives on in our vintage postcard collection – and in our oral history from Kevin Doyle, former president of the Old Stone Dock Association. He takes us back to the days when the Dock was a cornerstone of Falmouth commerce, and from there to the transformations wrought by the arrival of the railroad on Cape Cod.

“If you were to go down to the shore today, there’s a sign that says it’s the kiddie pool,” he says. But as his oral history proves, there’s a lot more to the story than that!

 

Dive into our Old Stone Dock digital exhibit.

Explore the postcard collection here.

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

Book Discussions for Juneteenth

Posted on by Library User

To celebrate Juneteenth, please join us at the library for one or all of the following book discussions!

Please join us for the monthly meeting of the Narrative Nonfiction Book Club as we discuss this month’s selection The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom.  Come pick up a copy of the book at the Reference Desk and join us, Thursday, June 2nd at 4pm, in the Hermann Meeting Room, to share your thoughts! Register Here.

“This is a story of a mother’s struggles against a house’s entropy, and that of a prodigal daughter who left home only to reckon with the pull that home exerts, even after the Yellow House was wiped off the map after Hurricane Katrina.”

 

 

Please join us for a special Book Club meeting to discuss On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed. Come pick up a copy of the book at the Reference Desk and join us, Wednesday June 15 at 6pm, in the Hermann Meeting Room. Register Here.

“As Juneteenth morphs from a primarily Texan celebration of African American freedom to a proposed national holiday, Gordon-Reed urges Texans and all Americans to reflect critically on this tangled history. A remarkable meditation on the history and folk mythology of Texas from an African American perspective.” ― Lesley Williams, Booklist, starred review

The FPL Fiction Book Club is currently meeting in person in the Hermann Room this month. June’s book is Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, and we’ll be meeting on Tuesday June 21st at 4pm. Register Here.

“Two half sisters, unknown to each other, are born into two different tribal villages in 18th century Ghana. Effia will be married off to an English colonial, and will live in comfort in the sprawling, palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle…Esi will be imprisoned beneath Effia in the Castle’s women’s dungeon, and then shipped off on a boat bound for America, where she will be sold into slavery. Stretching from the 18th century to the present, this modern masterpiece moves through generations and places.”

Pseudoscience & Archaeology

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Pseudoscience & Archaeology

How the Media Blends Fact & Fiction: ‘The Indiana Jones Effect’

Join the Falmouth Public Library on Wednesday, May 18th via Zoom from 7pm-8pm for the online lecture of Pseudoscience & Archaeology: How the Media Blends Fact & Fiction ‘The Indiana Jones Effect’ by Marie Zahn.  Registration is required.  To register online click here or call us at 508-457-2555 x7.

Marie will discuss how the evolution of science fiction has affected the public view of archaeology. Throughout the history of sci-fi, archaeological plot lines have become more popular in recent times. While this has furthered public interest in archaeology, the science fiction origins of the “ancient alien theory” have tarnished the view of legitimate archaeological studies. From H.P. Lovecraft to Indiana Jones and Doctor Who, the impact of the entertainment industry on archaeological research is examined.

Marie Zahn, a Cape Cod native, is the Director of the Brooks Academy Museum and A. Elmer Crowell Decoy Barn Museum for the Harwich Historical Society, as well as serving as the Administrator for the Historical Society of Old Yarmouth. Prior to this, she spent several years working on an early 18th century shipwreck as an archaeologist, conservator, and science education coordinator.

This free, online lecture is sponsored by the Trustees of the Falmouth Public Library.

Understanding your Cat

Posted on by Sue

We are delighted to welcome Cat Behavior and Retention Specialist Rachel Geller on Monday afternoon, March 28th at 2 pm, for a Zoom presentation by the Falmouth Public Library. She will talk about what a cat behaviorist does and the most common problems she encounters, and then answer some cat behavior questions from the audience! Click here to register and get the Zoom link.

Rachel Geller, Ed.D. is the Founder and President of All Cats All the Time, Inc. which is a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to promoting the adoption of cats and preventing their surrender and abandonment by helping cat/animal shelters and cat access cat behavior counseling free of charge.

Rachel is currently a cat behaviorist for cat/animal shelters all over the world, including working with adopters, training shelter volunteers and instituting surrender prevention programs. She also provides individual cat behavior help to cat parents. She is certified as a Cat Behavior and Retention Specialist, Humane Education Specialist, Pet Chaplain®, Fear Free Shelter Specialist, American Association of Feline Practitioners Cat Friendly Veterinary Advocate and RedRover Reader.

She is the author of Saving the World, One Cat at a Time: What I Know about Cats, and Why You Should Know It Too, which is available at the library and at Eight Cousins Books-Rachel donates 100% of her proceeds from the book to cat shelters.

This event is free and appropriate for adults and teens.