PROGRAMS
Programs are scheduled on the third Sunday of each month at 2:00pm and, unless otherwise noted, are held at the HLH meeting rooms in the West Wing (the back room) of the Milne Library. Please check local newspaper listings, the Milne library, or the HLH Bulletin Board prior to each month for additional information or call us at 458-2160.
2010 Program Schedule
SPRING
Annual Meeting
Sunday, June 13, 1:30pm
The Williamstown House of Local History will hold its open annual meeting for members and general public on Sunday, June 13 at 1:30pm in the West Wing (the large meeting space) at the back of the Milne Public Library. There will be a program presented by Sam Edgarton titled “Benedict Arnold Slept Here but Williamstown Need Not Feel Ashamed” following the meeting at 2 PM.
Sunday, June 13th, 2pm: Sam Edgarton will present “Benedict Arnold Slept Here But Williamstown Need Not Feel Ashamed,” a power-point presentation explaining in words and pictures, how his night in Williamstown, May 6, 1775, only eighteen days after the “shot heard ’round the world” at Lexington and Concord, was really the beginning of a brilliant upward trajectory of valiant service to the American revolutionary cause, including his decisive participation in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, the invasion of Canada and Seige of Quebec, the naval battle ofValcour Island, and the Battle of Ridgefield, CT, and finally and most glorious of all, his extraodinary heroism at Saratoga which led to the defeat of British General Burgoyne, the event that definitely turned the tide of war in favor of the Americans. After that, of course, the trajectory of Arnold’s career careened downward to his ultimate treachery and disgrace in 1780 – but that had nothing to do with his time in Williamstown or any where else in New England. Philadelphia, PA, where he was appointed military governor in 1778, must suffer the sole blame for that.
Sam Edgerton retired from Williams College as Amos Lawrence Professor of Art History Emeritus in 2007. He was formerly the Director of the College’s Graduate Program in Art History from 1980 until 1993, and then in the undergraduate College he taught a variety of course in the arts of the Italian Renaissance, Ancient and post-conquest Mesoamerica, and has written many books and articles on these subjects – including eighteenth-century North American art and science. His latest work is a CD publication, “A Hasty History of Williamstown During the French and Indian & Revolutionary Wars.” It is currently posted on the South Williamstown Community Association website: southwilliamstown.org. A special exhibit opening will follow Mr. Edgarton’s program and refreshments will be available.
“The South Part” Exhibit Opening: Following Mr. Edgarton’s program, “The South Part” exhibit will open. This exhibit follows an earlier exhibit on White Oaks, as the second in our look at the different neighborhoods in Williamstown. The exhibit explores the questions of exactly what constitutes the South Part and how its character and relationship with the north section of town have changed over the years. It focuses on the area’s early homes and farms; on the heirlooms passed down through generations of several South Williamstown families; on the area’s “Green” past, as reflected in some of the household and farming tools that operated without the need for electricity or fossil fuels; and on the Sweet’s Corners area. And no exhibit on the South Part would be complete without a look at the 5 Corners National Historic District. The displays discuss a bit about the factories and stores at the 5 Corners (chair, cheese, starch, and plane factories, and the Lyman Hubbel, WA Morey, and Steele’s Stores), the schools (Woodcock, Carleton Parker, Greylock Institute, and South Center), Southlawn Cemetery, and the Second Congregational Church. It concludes with a display by the South Williamstown Community Association that looks at its activities from 1947 to the present. Please join us for an informative and entertaining day of local history.
