Preparing the Headquarters

The Ashfield History Project has spent much time and effort during the past month preparing space for the Project’s headquarters, the space so generously offered in the basement of the Ashfield Historical Society building on Main Street.
Stuart Harris has been doing most of the work of renovation. Several file cabinets have been donated by Hans Teensma, a graphic artist whose firm, Impress, is moving to new quarters in Northampton.

We expect to be “open for business” at our new headquarters before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, work has gone forward on collecting materials to document the history of the last half-century in Ashfield. We have been talking with David Gold about organizing and indexing the audio-visual tapes he has made of important events of recent decades, including “Save the Hills,” the sewer project, and other sagas. David’s tapes contain a remarkable record of democracy in action.

We continue to do live oral interviews with the Town’s leading history-makers, ably assisted by Hannah Robertson. Most recently, Janice Scott told of her work with the Girl Scouts and the Town Ambulance service, and provided rich background generally regarding the Town’s development over the past half-century.

We continue to look to Town residents for suggestions about stories that need to be included in this survey. Please contact any member of the Editorial Board (Tom Carter, Stuart Harris, Grace Lesure, Kit Nylen, Eleanor Ward, Phyllis Kirkpatrick or Don Robinson) if you have suggestions.

by Don Robinson