Spring 2020 WHM Newsletter

During this difficult time we are sharing our April 2020 newsletter electronically.

Click on this postcard of Spring Street, printed between 1901 and 1907, to
access the latest edition of our newsletter.  Within the newsletter you will
find a photo challenge related to this image!

We hope this newsletter will provide you with a few moments of distraction and informative amusement. If you wish to read past newsletters, we encourage you to visit our website where they can be found.  We also hope you will feel free to forward this newsletter to family, friends, and neighbors who might be interested in learning a bit more about Williamstown’s history.

Please stay in touch and let us know what you think about the newsletter and this time we are living in. If you have an idea for a future newsletter article, or if you have questions about what you have read in this or other newsletters, please let us know.  We’re here and ready to help.

Novel Coronavirus Update: Williamstown Historical Museum temporarily closed to visitors

To keep our members and the community safe, the Williamstown Historical Museum will close temporarily.   As recommendations about social distancing evolve, new information about our open hours will be posted.  We apologize for any inconvenience and encourage you to contact us by email or phone if you have questions or would like to make a research request.  Please stay well!

The Thirteen Galusha Farms: 1798-2020

The Thirteen Galusha Farms Video

Most everybody knows about the Galusha Farm out on Green River Rd., but did you know that there have been thirteen different Galusha Farms in Williamstown since the first one was established in 1798 by the first of many Daniel Galushas?  The Williamstown Historical Museum presented a free talk on The Thirteen Galusha Farms with Dusty Griffin on Saturday, February 22 at 11 am in the Community Hall of the First Congregational Church, 906 Main Street (Rt. 2) in Williamstown. The talk was illustrated with more than 50 slides.

In this public lecture, “Thirteen Galusha Farms: 1798-2020” illustrated with photographs, old maps, news clippings, and manuscript materials, Dustin Griffin told the story of that first Galusha farm, which remained in the Galusha family from 1798 until 1940, and the stories of the many other farms set up by descendants of the first Daniel Galusha. The talk also shed some light on the bigger story of the rise and fall of dairy farming in Williamstown. The lecture, free and open to the public, took on Saturday February 22, at 11 am, in the community hall of the First Congregational Church in Williamstown. Dusty Griffin has frequently lectured on topics in local history to local audiences. His most recent talks include “A History of the Hopper” (September 2019) and”A Layman’s History of Williamstown’s Trees” (January 2020). He is the author of Williamstown and Williams College: Explorations in Local History (U. Mass. Press, 2018).

 

ABOUT DUSTY GRIFFIN
Local historian, Dustin “Dusty” Griffin, Professor of English Emeritus at New York University, has been a Williamstown resident since 2003. A 1965 graduate of Williams College, he is the author of many books on English literature. Griffin is a former board member of the Williamstown Historical Museum, he curated exhibitions on “Williamstown in the Civil War” (2012) and on “Big Days in a Small Town” (2014). His recent talks for WHM audiences covered the writing career of Col. Prentice of Mt. Hope, and introduced his own book, Williamstown and Williams College: Explorations in Local History (University of Massachusetts Press, 2018).