The Framingham History Center is currently seeking to fill a part time Development Assistant’s position (20 hrs per week). Tasks generally center around on developing sustainability based on the Benevon model, utilizing the etapestry platform and working with an established Development Committee. Resumes should be submitted to jobs@framinghamhistory.org on or before February 20th. Read “more” for the complete job description… Continue reading
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If you have memories or photos of Shoppers World that you would like to share, please click on this button to add them to the FHC website. We look forward to hearing from you!
Teachers’ Training Workshop Receives Funding!
I am very pleased to report that we recently received a $10,000 donation from the Foundation For MetroWest to help fund our upcoming Civil War Teacher Training Workshop at the Edgell Memorial Library this summer from July 9-11. We are very excited by the prospect of sharing discoveries from two years of exhaustive research, as well as original programming created to commemorateFramingham’s Civil War history with up 20 high school teachers.
This workshop will bring local teachers to the FHC to see all that we have to offer by way of original documents, artifacts, our Civil War memorial building, recently published books and access to local historians. We are still in the process of putting a syllabus together but we know that Fred Wallace’s Framingham’s Civil War Hero: The Life of General George H. Gordon and Pat Lavin’s My Dear Esty – Letters from Framingham Civil War Soldiers will be heavily utilized. Teachers will also enjoy our “Walking Tour of General Gordon’sFramingham” around the Centre Common and a performance of Be Swift My Soul: A Civil War Salon with Julia Ward Howe presented by local storyteller Libby Franck.
We are also extremely grateful and excited to be collaborating with the Center for Global Education at Framingham State University. They have extensive experience running K-12 workshops and teachers will be eligible for two graduate credits along with a stipend. If you are a local teacher or know of educators who might be interested in this unique opportunity please contact me at director@framinghamhistory.org to learn more. Many thanks are due to the Foundation for MetroWest for making this possible. We appreciate their understanding of how important this will be for our teachers to learn more about our untapped resources and how to use local history to make the national story more personal and meaningful for their students.
An Inspired Intern’s Work Continues…
“A few months ago I completed my internship at the Framingham History Center and returned to school with a late nineteenth century crazy quilt from Framingham. Large areas of shattered silk and silk deterioration were present on the quilt, and my hope was to repair some of the damage in order for the quilt to become exhibitable again. After long hours and lots of blasting music while stitching and repairing, the quilt is finished. Utilizing underlays and couching stitches, each area with severe loss has been repaired. With my love for crazy quilts, I am beyond happy that this quilt can now be displayed, as it is simply gorgeous.
There are many items in small historical societies, and even museums, which have serious damage and remain in a box due to the un-exhibitable state it is in. If one person were to repair just one item, imagine the possibilities! It would be great to see historic pieces brought back to life. That is why I am so glad that I was able to help with one quilt. It is a fabulous start to repairing history!” -Catherine Murphy, University of Rhode Island.
Editors Note: Watch for news of the quilt’s upcoming return to the Framingham History Center and view the amazing transformation up close!
Not just for Framingham students…
Over the holiday break, Stoneham high school students Kayla Walsh (r) and Arianna Sarro (l) visited the FHC to learn more about Shoppers World as part of their National History Day project.
Our National History Day project is on the evolution of shopping representing how the creation of the shopping mall was a turning point in American history.Shopping malls enabled people to come together in one place and make shopping an all-day affair. We chose to spotlight Shoppers World in Framingham because it was the first mall in this area and the second in the entire country.
Upon visiting the Framingham History Center we met with Charlene Frary who helped us discover the uniqueness of the mall. We learned that the mall was designed after a necklace with the stores in a circle with a pendant representing the dome of the Jordan Marsh anchor store. The mall also contained 44 smaller specialty shops; we were strangely drawn to the cute button Shoppe. We feel the uniqueness of Shoppers World is slightly overlooked by outsiders. We learned that it had 5000 parking spaces and because of the popularity many shoppers were waiting in their cars for hours waiting to exit on opening day. We would like to thank Charlene and the Framingham History Center for allowing us to visit and learn about this great place.”
Kayla Walsh and Arianna Sarro
Stoneham High School
Getting to the Bottom of Things…
It’s always important to get to the bottom of things. This phrase certainly rang true two weeks ago as we delved into the Dennison Manufacturing Company’s historical corporate archives. An unassuming box of full of cancelled checks stored in old bank envelopes held a surprising treasure. As we dug deeper into the box, folded and nestled at its very bottom, was an illustrated sheet of music called The Tag Waltz. The waltz was written to celebrate Dennison’s 50th anniversary – 1844-1894. A second look really paid off. What a find!
Posted by Pat Lavin, educational and curatorial volunteer. Want to see and hear about more “finds” from the Dennison corporate archives? Join us January 24th, 7:00 pm, at the Edgell Memorial Library as we share some of our most remarkable discoveries! For info, email charlene@framinghamhistory.org.
Babylonian Tags Back in Tagtown USA
When the Avery/Dennison Company closed most of its operations in Framinghamin 1991 many Framingham History Center volunteers tried desperately to convince them to leave their corporate archives in Framingham with the History Center. Their efforts fell on deaf ears and until this past summer the fate of the archives had been a mystery. No longer!
