Postcards from Falmouth: Portuguese and Cape Verdean American Life in Falmouth

“Cape Verdean and Portuguese history is Falmouth history,” says Dr. Miguel Moniz, an anthropologist at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon. After leading two Joy of Learning courses, he returns with Postcards from Falmouth to recount personal and community stories that move from the historic family farmsteads of East Falmouth to the cheerful chaos of Heights summers.

Of the Portuguese and Cape Verdean farmers that helped Falmouth grow, he says, “These communities were largely invisible, I think, to a lot of the people that were coming.” But what happens outside the frame of a postcard is just as much a part of Falmouth’s history – so head into the digital exhibit to explore!

Watch the oral history recording here.

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.

YT Link

Looking for America: Sculptor Hiram Powers’ Falmouth Legacy

In the Katharine Lee Bates entryway of the Main Library sits an elegant sculpture hidden in plain sight. Executed by world-renowned American-born Hiram Powers (1805-1873), the piece delights the viewer who happens to look up and notice. 

On Tuesday September 26th, at 4pm in the Hermann Meeting Room. Falmouth Museums on the Green’s Executive Director Rachel Lovett shares her research on Powers, his notable works, and how this historic piece came into the collection of the Falmouth Public Library.

This program is free to the public courtesy of a member of the Falmouth Historical Society Board of Trustees. All are welcome. Please register as space is limited.