Author: Sarah Currie

Let us Gather to Honor our Friend

Let us Gather to Honor our Friend
Sunday, July 22, 2018
2 p.m.  to 4 p.m.
at the WHM
32 New Ashford Road, Williamstown

Please join us on Sunday, July 22, 2018 from 2 to 4 p.m. for a special event honoring the late Nancy Burstein, the former Director and Curator of the Williamstown House of Local History and Williamstown Historical Museum.  All are invited to join us to celebrate Nancy’s life and honor her good work and friendship.

The afternoon will provide an opportunity for friends and family to gather and remember Nancy and her impact on the Museum and her friends. A memorial dedication of the Children’s Room in Nancy’s name will be followed by refreshments and a time to connect.  We look forward to seeing all of Nancy’s friends and colleagues at this memorial.

Nancy’s family will be in attendance and the WHM is grateful to the Bursteins for sponsoring this memorial event.  During the event, summer refreshments will be served.

 

WHM Special Summer Exhibit, June to mid August 2018

Summer Special Exhibit
From Trash to Treasure…and Recently Acquired
June – August 2018

at the Williamstown Historical Museum
32 New Ashford Road

 

One of these trunks was once owned by Cole Porter. The curious story of its journey to the WHM will be told in the upcoming summer special exhibit.

What do a travel trunk from Cole Porter, spectacles from a local farmer, a popcorn machine from the Walden Movie Theatre on Spring Street, and smelling salts from the former Hopkins Funeral Home have in common?  These items and their stories are all a part of the summer special exhibit at the WHM:  From Trash to Treasure and Recently Acquired.  This examination of some the lesser known pieces of the WHM collection focuses on objects and ephemera that are unique to the WHM collection and help round out the story of Williamstown.  Many of the pieces featured were close to being discarded and lost indefinitely, but were, fortunately, saved by savvy local history loving donors and given to the WHM.  Visit the WHM’s summer special exhibit to learn more about everything from a collection of Eddies Supermarket food stamp voucher coins, a beautiful hay rake, and other intriguing objects that will broaden your understanding of Williamstown’s history.

Eddie’s Supermarket Food Stamp Tokens from the 1960s

WHM Annual Meeting 2018 Agenda for handout 6_23_2018

The WHM Annual Meeting was held before the special exhibit opening
Saturday, June 23, 2018, 11 a.m.
Williamstown Historical Museum
32 New Ashford Road
Williamstown, Massachusetts

Agenda

1. Call to order and welcome
2. President’s Report
3. Executive Director’s Report
4. Membership Committee Report
5. Finance Committee Report
6. Minutes of 2017 Annual Meeting
7. Recognition of outgoing board members
8. Report of Nominating Committee
9. Adjourn

Letters in a Box: The Journey of a WWII Bombardier

Letters in a Box:  The Journey of a WWII Bombardier
Saturday, May 26, 2018
The Williams Inn
1090 Main Street, Williamstown

Letters in a Box Lecture Video

At this  illustrated lecture, Sheila Stone discussed the book she compiled with her daughter, Ali Adair.  Letters in a Box is a treasure of over 150 beautifully handwritten letters and postcards written home by Shelia’s husband, Robert. L. Stone, during World War II to his family and friends.  These letters chronicle his journey from 1942 – 1945, from his enlistment through 40 combat missions as a bombardier in the South Pacific.   Bob’s story is told through his letters, postcards, V-mails, telegrams, scrapbooks, photos and first-hand memories.  The letters address his impressions of army life and what it was like to go from his home and college environment to that of the impersonal and regimented military life.  The letters expose readers to the daily grind, the disorganization and uncertainty of what happens next as the U. S. makes its serious entry into the war.  This informative lecture will provide you with insight into a bombardier’s experience during a significant time in World and US history.

Robert L. Stone

From the editors of the book:  Letters in a Box was written with love and nostalgia for a unique time in our country’s history that can never be repeated in the same way again.  It is to preserve some of the thoughts and feelings that inspired this generation to do their duty by serving their country in so many ways and how it is reflected in one family’s experiences.