Author: Sarah Currie

Volunteers Welcome!

Volunteers Welcome

We invite all members of the community to give back by serving as a Williamstown Historical Museum greeter so we may keep our doors open for visitors throughout the year.  WHM greeters are the key to the museum’s smooth functioning as a cultural anchor in the southern end of town, and our volunteers are the lifeblood of the organization.  As WHM greeters, our volunteers provide a friendly and welcoming environment for visitors and help us to keep our doors open to all for free.  No experience is necessary to serve as a greeter.  Training, support, and volunteer manuals are provided to all volunteer greeters.

Please contact the museum if you are interested in serving as a greeter or if you are interested in giving back in other ways.  We can be reached at  413-458-2160 and info@williamstownhistoricalmuseum.org or at 413-458-2160 and we will schedule a time for you to visit and get acquainted with the museum!

Some of our recent volunteers in action!

 

 

 

 

Parmalee Prentice: Mount Hope’s Polymath

Parmalee Prentice:  Mount Hope’s Polymath
an illustrated lecture
presented by Dustin Griffin
Saturday, January 19, 2019
11 a.m.
at Sweetwood of Williamstown
1611 Cold Spring Road

Many know Parmalee Prentice from his development of Mount Hope Farm in Williamstown with his wife, Alta Rockefeller Prentice.  Though the farm and its owners are renowned for establishing scientifically based breeding methods, Prentice had numerous interests beyond livestock and crops.  On Saturday, January 19, 2019, popular lecturer, Dustin Griffin, discussed Prentice’s writings, collections and more in an illustrated lecture.

View a video of the lecture by clicking on this button: Parmalee Prentice: Mount Hope’s Polymath Video

Prentice near the “Million Dollar Cow Barn” at Mount Hope.

 


Over the last ten years the lecturer, Dusty Griffin, has presented many talks in the Museum’s lecture series, including “A Short History of Treadwell Hollow,” “The History of Flora’s Glen,” “Captain and Corporal: Two Williamstown Soldiers in the 37th Massachusetts,” “Three Eph Generals in the Civil War,” “The Hoosic and the Ohio: The Cincinnati Connection,” “The History of Fort Massachusetts,” “The History of the West Hoosuck Blockhouse,” “A Tale of Two Cities — and a Country Town,” “Enemies of the People: Political Divisions in Early Williamstown,” and “Buxton:  The History of West Main Street from Benjamin Simonds to Cole Porter.”  He has curated exhibitions at the Museum on “Williamstown in the Civil War,” “Big Days in a Small Town,” and (with his wife, Gale), “Williamstown in the Golden Age of Postcards.”

Dusty considers his lectures to be “micro-histories,” deep dives into narrowly-focused topics in local history.  A collection of his essays on the history of Williamstown and Williams College was published in the fall of 2018 by the University of Massachusetts Press.

What Remains: The Elizabeth Botsford Mysteries

What Remains:  The Elizabeth Botsford Mysteries

On Saturday, December 8, 2018, Pat Leach presented a lecture at the Milne Public Library to unravel the real-life mystery of Elizabeth Sanford Botsford.  The Williamstown Educated and independent and the only child of a leading Williamstown family, Elizabeth Sanford Botsford died in an automobile accident in 1915.

View a video of the lecture here by clicking on this button:  Elizabeth Sanford Botsford Mysteries Video

How did she meet her end.  Who was with her? Why were they driving on the unpaved Roads in Pownal.  And how, a quarter of a century later, did her death change the face of Williamstown?