New Technologies Help Ashfield History Project

I am a writer, long interested in history and genealogy, so working with the Ashfield History Project seemed a natural choice. Since my experience is with Web technologies, I have been trying to harness a bit of the power of the Internet to help us collaborate, communicate, generate ideas, and soon, edit and publish the third volume of Ashfield History.

My first project was to create a Web site for the project. You can find us at http://www.ashfieldhistoryproject.org. It's a simple Web site, designed to be easy to navigate with up-to-date information about the project. It is the door to several collaboration tools which I would like to introduce to you.

First, most of the Web site is now generated with "Wiki" software. It sounds exotic, but what it means is that the whole community can help us create the Web site. While there are some protected pages, mostly for administrative purposes, other pages, like the Ideas page, are open to anyone who would like to jot down their inspirations. By having a public venue for posting ideas, we hope to encourage many more people to participate—and to inspire their neighbors! As the project progresses, the wiki will also allow us to edit the outline together, add and edit entire stories, and more.

To add your idea, click "Ideas" on the main Web site. Then click the Edit button at the bottom of the page. Then add your ideas and click Save. That's all there is to it.

Next, we're using "blog" software to keep a diary online about the progress we've made so far. You can see our Blog by going to the News section of the Web site (or by going to ashfieldhistoryproject.blogspot.com) We welcome your comments. Just click on the "comments" link at the bottom of each post to tell us what you think.

Third, we have an email list that we use to share comments, scheduling, ideas, and the like. Having an email list makes it easy to make sure that everyone in the group gets the message. And while the list is pretty low-traffic, you can also choose to view messages only online in order to keep your inbox free. If you're interested in working with the Ashfield History Project, please consider joining the list. You can get more information about how to join by clicking Join Us on our home page, or by going to http://groups.google.com/group/ashfieldhistoryproject

Finally, we're using Flickr, a photo-sharing site, to share images and photographs that we hope will either spark ideas for articles, or help illustrate the final book. Our Flickr group can be found at http://www.flickr.com/ashfieldhistoryproject

Indexing the Ashfield News

We at AHP are fortunate and grateful that Anne Eberle, a professional in the art of indexing, has graciously offered to act as consultant and to assist in any way she is able with our plans to index the entire 31 years of the Ashfield News. Don Robinson will be working on this effort covering the major areas of Town business and trends, but there are countless, precious other subjects, people, events and creative output that would not fall into the larger categories. We are hoping that there are some who would find it exciting to comb through the old newspapers and categorize it all into an index that would allow researchers to find what they seek at their finger tips. The only newspaper in the area whose archives are fully accessible, is the Shelburne Falls Independent. Our achievement will result in an extremely valuable resource not only for our history project but for the whole region.
We have all the old issues of the Ashfield News, right from the start, in our office at the Ashfield Memorial Park barn. It is a comfortable, roomy place, where those wanting to indulge in this activity, may work in an undisturbed, quiet place without the activities of others competing. Ms Eberle is particularly interested in having the opportunity to instruct people of all ages including young people. This is a great opportunity for us all.

E. Leete's Life in Ashfield

We’ve received the first two of Elizabeth Leete’s Ashfield remembrances, beginning with her wedding to her husband Gurdon in 1963. She describes the occasion, which was held at the home of Ernie Wyatt in colorful prose. Ernie was pretty colorful himself; Elizabeth characterizes him as “an iconoclast, womanizer, drinker, leftist, anarchist even, retired sailor.” Ernie re-did his house on Town Farm Road to make it look like a ship - port holes and all.
In her second piece Elizabeth reminisces about acquiring her home, “Blueberry Hill,” in Apple Valley (found by Ernie,) and some of the people who figured in her life then: Donald Graves, Ted Howes and Cecil Bolton. We're looking forward to many more of her memoires.
This is one of many sorts of contributions we hope a growing number of people will make to the Ashfield History Project, always enriching the texture of the Ashfield story.

Getting the Kids involved

In July, we met with parents, teachers and school administrators at Belding Library to canvass possibilities for getting school children, teachers and administrators involved in the Ashfield History Project. The curriculum (“teaching to the test”) puts some limits on what we can accomplish during school hours, but those at the meeting were creative in thinking “outside the box.”

One idea that emerged was to set up an announcement board in the lobby of Sanderson Academy and advertise for “help wanted.” Last month in this column, we listed some of the ways students could join the Project: helping families sort through old boxes of letters, photos and other mementos; indexing old newspapers; interviewing older residents. On the board at Sanderson (and perhaps Mohawk), we will post specific assignments and invite students to reply. It might provide ways for students to learn specific skills from knowledgeable adults: working with Dave Fessenden operating video and other photographic equipment, with Phyllis Kirkpatrick and Don Robinson conducting an interview.

Another idea for welcoming children into the process was to invite them into conversation with older residents. We will offer the first of these conversations at the South Ashfield Library at 5 PM on Sunday, August 12. It will be entitled "When I was 10 in Ashfield."

Residents who grew up here will be invited to reminisce about summer days, school days, what you did on Saturdays, where you went sledding, how you spent time with your best friend, and any other memories that might illuminate our recent history and inspire today's kid-generation to do further interviews and written comparisons to their own lives.

We are hoping to have someone of somewhere-around-60 years old, a fifty-something year old, someone in their forties, a thirty year old, a twenty year old and a real live present day ten year old! (As you probably know, the new book will cover Ashfield history from 1960 to the present.)

If you think you'll be there, it would be great for us to know ahead of time. Please call Christina Gabriel, who is organizing the event, at 628-0204. It will be fun to get a picture of Ashfield from a child's perspective through the decades. PLEASE JOIN US, to share or just to listen, at the South Ashfield Library (corner of 116 and Burton Hill Road) on Sunday, August 12th at 5:00. Refreshments will be served!

by Don Robinson

Getting the Kids Involved

We are currently hatching a plan that we hope will result in Ashfield’s children becoming directly involved in the History Project. We are thinking about students from preschool, through elementary and high school, and perhaps even college-age. We have contacted a number of educators, and interested parents who are keen to explore the possibilities.

Even though we already have a good-sized list of ways our kids can get busy, we want your input as well. Here are some of our ideas, most of which would be with adult support: Taking photographs, filming; being interviewed and helping to interview others; doing a research project with other students; assisting older researchers (organizing, typing, filing, etc.); helping families and individuals sort through the proverbial shoe boxes of letters, photos, mementos; indexing; using computer skills; examining ways school experiences have changed; finding old newspaper articles; reporting on current events at school (perhaps awards for writing;) map making; fund-raising efforts. This is just a start.

Summer is a good time to start getting acquainted. We believe that a strong student effort could make a huge contribution to this project. We plan to hold a meeting at the Library probably within the first or second week of July. When we have the date set, we will post it with the Town Clerk and put notices around town. All are welcome.

I’ve been looking through the large beautifully bound folio given to me by the staff of the ASHFIELD NEWS upon my retirement as Editor in 1983. It contains all the issues of the first seven-plus years of publication. The NEWS was crude in the beginning, heaven knows, but it pulled up its socks pretty quickly and began looking smarter, as it continues to do to this digital age.

I was looking for something as I become increasingly despairing over the effects of our laxity as a nation over global warming and the environment in general. I was remembering that Ashfield, more than 30 years ago, was not asleep and not as lax as was much of the world. I found what I was looking for in the May 1977 issue in news of the recent Town Meeting results. Young Roger Harris (Stuart’s brother) had brought before the Town the idea of establishing an “Energy Commission.” Its defeat was later lamented by former resident Steve Judge in his monthly column “View from Baptist Corner.” Yet scarcely a month after the defeat, Roger was writing a column about energy and conservation - including a gloomy view of the future if nothing was done - under the heading of the “Energy Conservation Committee.” His column, containing all the tips, advice, statistics and warnings that we are now suddenly hearing everyday from every corner, continued for at least another 5 years. I wrote a scathing editorial in the Nov. 1978 issue about the Town’s unwillingness to recycle, Henry Warger, then Dump Master, had his say too. Then it all came together little by little to be what it is today.. “From Dump to Transfer Station” is a great story and would be joy to do.

Our town boasts a fascinating record of environmental awareness and action. This, like, all our stories, needs to be told. But remember, the creation and success of our new history book really does depend on you.

by Phyllis Kirkpatrick

Focus Groups (from Ashfield News, June 2007)

At the History Project's kick-off party on April 22, Walter Zalenski reminded us that the police department has not existed forever. It was created in the mid 1960s. Walter himself was the first chief of police in Ashfield, and for many years our sole paid officer. (Elected constables had always attended to certain responsibilities, as they do to this day.)

This summer, following up on the energy displayed at the kick-off party, we will organize several focus groups. Each group will have a scribe who will take notes and write up a summary. Meetings will be posted, and we will try to insure that key people are invited. But we strongly encourage anyone interested in a topic to attend these meetings.

One such group will be devoted to the police department. What led to its establishment? How were duties handled? What kinds of crimes were most common then? How has the situation evolved.? When and how did policing become professionalized? What growing pains were experienced? How did we cope with them?

Another group, taking Phil Nolan the Younger's suggestion, will consider the town dump (or whatever euphemism you prefer). We recently obtained some file cases there, left by some kind soul for recycling. Where did trash go before we had a dump? (Why do we have so much more of it now?) When were fees introduced? When was it regionalized? How did the dump begin to serve as a meeting place, a book exchange, a place for fund-raising for Mohawk's sports teams?

Several people have expressed interest in “Save the Hills,” the project that blocked the Pentagon's plan to build guidance towers on potato fields on the Ashfield-Hawley line. The citizen uprising was reminiscent of Daniel Shays' rebellion. We need to make a record of that event.

Schooling is a huge topic. We would like to start by looking at the emergence of a preschool toward the end of the 20th century. What created the need for such a school? Who organized it? How did it evolve? How was it financed? What skills did the teachers bring? How would we measure its success?

No doubt other groups, following other stories, will begin to emerge, more or less formally. Let us know if we can help. Together we can build a strong archive, the basis for the history of the past 50 years we will soon begin to compose.

by Don Robinson

First Meeting News

It was a beautiful Ashfield day (perhaps the best so far of the year) for being outdoors, for being in the garden or walking or just basking in the Sunday sun. But more than fifty of us chose to go to Elmer's in the afternoon instead, to talk about writing our new history book. And talk we did, and we listened too.
Over coffee and cake folks eagerly got right down to the work of filling in the answers to a clever pop quiz that Don put together based on facts about Town elections. It was pretty tough, but a lot of fun. We had invited Ruth Craft, Susan Todd, Aaron Clark, Roland Taylor and Arnold Jones to speak, which they did, giving us brief perspectives on long experience in their varied fields: farming, Fall Festival, town government and history and, town buildings. Paul Lacinski volunteered to give us his own view of exciting new approaches to farming today.
Then we got down to lively discussion. Some folks were there to find out more about what we've been doing so far, but most had some very specific and creative ideas about how the third history of our town should look, feel and be structured. It was gratifying to know how much thought has been given to the venture. There was general agreement that the book should be a full and forthright picture of everything that has touched and shaped us since 1965, and that it is important to get this work done.
We handed out a survey asking people to flesh out their suggestions and to let us know where they might fit in to the effort. We got some extremely interesting feed back, which we are now poring over. For those of you who were there, we heartily thank you for taking time out of the afternoon to show us how much you care about the project. We know there were quite a few of you who had intended to come, but life, as it has a habit of doing, intervened. We hope to catch up to you too and get your ideas. More surveys will be placed around town shortly. We ask that those of you who haven't had a chance to express yourselves yet, will do so. We need as many of us to come on board as we possibly can get. There are many, many ways that you can be part of this adventure.
We're also pleased to offer a charming set of note cards featuring Mimi Pieropan's original drawings for the second history of Ashfield, published in 1965. She has graciously offered them to us for use in raising funds for the project.
You will see them on sale in the village.

A Chance To Make Some History (from Ashfield News, April 2007)

On Sunday afternoon, April 22, the Ashfield History Project will host a community get-together at Elmer's Store. The festivities begin at 3 p.m. There will be refreshments and a chance to visit. The centerpiece will be a conversation about what we need to include in our account of life in this town over the past half-century (since 1960).

Several people who have played prominent parts over this period will be on hand to give brief accounts of their activities. We will hear stories about the origins of Fall Festival, the renovation of the Town Hall steeple, the challenge of farming under modern conditions, and the planting of new businesses.

Mainly, though, we want to hear from people who have lived here, about people, projects, and events that helped to shape the town we live in.

History sometimes seems remote. When we focus on the past half-century, we are talking about people we know and events we ourselves have experienced. In producing a new history of the town, we are building a collective memory. We do this as a community, together.

We pride ourselves on being a radical democracy. Nowhere else do communities govern themselves by assembling, as many as choose to come, and deciding laws and public budgets together.

Our third history volume should partake of the same spirit. It should be made democratically.

Inevitably, much of what happened over the past five decades is already forgotten. In collecting the town's history, we are deciding what we think needs to be remembered. The book we produce will have to be highly selective. We hope you will join us in making the choices.

See you on Sunday afternoon, April 22, at Elmer's.

by Don Robinson

Mary Priscilla Howes Grant awarded

At the last meeting of the Town Finance Committee, our application for a grant from the Mary Priscilla Howes Fund was considered and, with whole-hearted support, approved. The application requesting $1.900 was approved in full. The funds have been used for the purchase a powerful IMac computer, capable of generating and manipulating everything from designs to text to photographs and moving pictures on DVD, VHS and more; a scanner; a separate, large hard-drive with the capacity to safely backup a large amount of data, and a color ink-jet printer. Kit Nylen, new to the Board, has well researched the equipment on the market and skillfully matched it up to our anticipated needs. She’s found the best prices and sources, and allowed us all a sigh of relief. Kit is incredibly skilled and experienced when it comes to the application of technology in the field of publication and we are fortunate indeed to have her.

It is very fitting that the fund Mary Priscilla established, before her death, be used to help underwrite the publication of the third History of Ashfield. Our town, its history and its people embodied her most precious pursuits. She was seminal in the writing and publication of the second volume of our history as well as in the establishment of the Ashfield News.

by Phyllis Kirkpatrick

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

A special tribute to Ashfield’s Annual Fall Festival

Of all the stories to be told during the period covered in our new history book, few are more beloved than this one. But how much do we know or remember of when and how it started? Was it in 1967 or 1968? Did it spring forth as the fabulous event that it is today, or was it very different? Did it spread the length of Main Street and beyond as it currently does? Or did it really grow out of a little rummage sale run by St. John’s Church?

What did it have to do with Citizen Scholarships then and now? Who had the inspiration, and who made it a reality?

We want this story in the new book, and we need a few of you to help dig up all the background. Find the people who know what happened – they are still around - interview them, get photos, discover the craftspeople and services, the volunteers who facilitated everything, and even what the weather was like. In other words try to present anything that can be found to explain this miracle for our town and what the impact for us has been and might be.

We can give you lots of leads. Let’s talk.

Board Changes

As summer winds down, the Ashfield History Project reports two changes in its Editorial Board.

Kit Nylen, of Bug Hill, has joined the Board. She brings considerable experience and expertise in publishing, as well as involvement in a number of community organizations, including service as an elected member of the town’s Finance Committee.

Also, in late August, Alden Gray resigned from the Board, effective “immediately.” In his letter to the Select Board, Alden took the Board gently to task for a lack of progress and for the “autocracy” of its leadership, and noted that he had not been able to make the Project a priority in his own life at this time. Happily, however, he did promise to help whenever he could, from his position within the Historical Society.

Meanwhile, the work of the Project proceeds on a number of fronts. David Newell has agreed to work, with others, assembling data relating to the Town’s finances over the past half-century. The public-finance research team will trace the changing allocation of budget resources (proportions spent on roads, schools, town government, etc.), and movement in assessments and the tax rate, as well as other sources of income to the Town.

Another intriguing effort will look at changes in Ashfield’s climate over the pasty half-century. We were delighted to learn that Harriet Sears kept daily records of high, low and mean temperatures and rain-fall, beginning in 1960. Later Russ Fessenden took up that effort, and about ten years ago, the baton passed to Steve Sauter. As a result, we may be able to report the truth, whether convenient or not, about warming in our own neck of the woods. Steve reports that other nearby towns have maintained similar efforts, so we may have some good comparative data, as well.
Board member Grace Lesure has been working on a filing system for the Project’s body of materials. Her initial index will be ready when the Project moves into its new quarters in the basement of the Ashfield Historical Society, we hope sometime early this fall.

by Don Robinson

Research Teams Organizing

The Editorial Board for the Ashfield History Project (preparing the third volume of the Town’s history, focusing on the half-century from 1960-2010) continues to organize research teams around particular topics.

Generally the impulse for topics comes from interested residents. The best example is the current effort to gather material about Apple Valley. It began with Lou Battalen’s suggestion that we study the neighborhood as a whole. In discussions with Lou, we realized that we need to establish the history of Bear Swamp Reservation. Martha Townsley was eager to contribute what she knows (which is a great deal about Apple Valley!), and Johanna Pratt was enthusiastic, too. So a team is organizing, and we are eager to identify others who would like to be part of this neighborhood effort.

Surely there are other neighborhoods (South Ashfield? Steady Lane? Baptist Corner?) where similar efforts could be organized. If you know of one, please contact a member of the Board. We will put you in touch with others.
Meanwhile, Eleanor Ward is burrowing through the vault at Town Hall to assemble a chronology of Town government.

And Don Robinson is eager to work with a team of volunteers to put together a record of voting and elections over the past half-century. How has turnout fluctuated? Who have we supported in national and state primaries and general elections? What trends can we discern? (Someone, for example, remembered a primary election in which there were exactly two Democratic votes.)

We’d love to have a team undertake a history of agriculture in Ashfield since 1960. There seems to be a renaissance going on now. What have been the ups and downs over the past half-century?

Let us know your ideas. We are eager to encourage and support a variety of research efforts.

by Don Robinson (for The Ashfield News)

Building a Book AND a Permanent Archive

It’s our wish that the book containing the third history of Ashfield
will be richly illuminated by representations of people who took part
in the life of the town during the years covered in the book (1960 *
2010), as well as of places and mementos that spark our memories and
affections. In any case we invite everyone to look for what they have
received, created or saved, that represents significant events and
moments. We also ask that there be a special effort to start now to
capture such moments as they occur. Naturally finances will determine
how much illustration will make it into these pages but we wantto see as
much as we can. We are not only planning a book but want to build a
permanent tangible collection to be safely stored at the Ashfield
Historical Society for future generations. Where copies can be made of
things folks don’t want to relinquish altogether, we will try to do it.
Please don’t overlook photographs, drawings and paintings,
correspondence, diaries or other souvenirs.

We are about to embark on our first project. Lou Battalen of Apple
Valley and Librarian at the Arms Library in Shelburne Falls, has come
forward to begin doing research on his neighborhood. He is particularly
interested in the Bear Swamp Reservation, its history and natural
features. This is a rich and fascinating resource in town and, with the
weather being favorable during the next few months, it should be
appealing to plumb the depths of its riches now. There’s a need for
record keeping of all discoveries and observations, the combing through
records as well as finding people willing to share their memories in
one way or another.

by Phyllis Kirkpatrick

Great Sources

The editorial board for Ashfield History Project has turned in recent meetings to the best possible source of information about the past fifty years: those who have lived here during that period.

We already have a treasure trove at our disposal. The Ashfield Historical Society has been conducting an oral history project for the past several years. Volunteers have interviewed about thirty people who have been at the center of Town life in recent decades.

We even have one interview on video-tape. Hannah Robertson, a precocious young woman, has learned how to use her video equipment to film such conversations. John Krasnoselsky is the star of her first effort for this project; Barbara Donielo Maloney was the interviewer.

John is an avid fisherman and hunter, and a keen observer of the comings and goings of turkeys, trout, moose and whip-poor-wills. Among other things, the tape preserves an invaluable record of a century of changes in the natural environment of Ashfield.
We are eager to expand this interviewing project. We invite suggestions about whom to interview, and we especially ask for volunteers who are willing to do some interviewing. It is a lot of fun to do these interviews with neighbors, and it preserves a priceless human record.

Please contact Phyllis Kirkpatrick, Don Robinson or any member of the editorial board if you are able to help with this project.

by Don Robinson (for The Ashfield News)

History Project Needs Help

The project to write volume three of The History of Ashfield – this one to cover the half-century from 1960 to 2010 – is beginning to gather momentum.
The Editorial Board continues to meet on the first and third Wednesdays of each month in Town Hall. We are grateful to the Select Board and to the Town Hall staff for their cordial hospitality and support.

We have received a most generous offer from the Ashfield Historical Society to set up headquarters for our editorial work in the basement of the Society’s building on Main Street. The Belding Library and Town Hall also kindly offered space, but we are inclined to begin with the space at the Historical Society. Stuart Harris will take charge of preparing it for our occupancy by late spring.

We will need help with this project: both volunteer labor and materials (boards, paint, wall covering and ceiling insulation, etc.) Anyone who is able to help or who has materials to donate should contact Stuart or another member of the Editorial Board: Phyllis Kirkpatrick, Don Robinson, Grace Lesure, Eleanor Ward, Alden Gray or Tom Carter.

We will also need office supplies: folders, pens, pencils, felt markers, paper clips, etc. Also, a three-hole punch, stapler, sticky notes, a calculator, envelopes…. You get the idea. Also filing cabinets. And flat files for 2’ x 3’ sheets and on up. And 30” x 72” tables.

Books these days cannot be produced without computers! We have the promise of two computers from Smith College, one primarily for word-processing, the other for data-processing and graphics. We will need tables to put them on, as well as a printer and a scanner. Anyone who can tell us where we might get them will be a certified local hero.

Our next step will be to organize our research. Stay tuned!

by Don Robinson

First Meeting (from Ashfield News, Feb 2006)

Some in town may already be aware that in December the Select Board appointed a group of people to manage and oversee the research for and the writing and publication of a third history of the Town of Ashfield. Now it’s official; the newly dubbed Editorial Board of the Ashfield Town History, Vol.III met on January 7, and set up some preliminary rules and guidelines for moving forward.

The first Ashfield History chronicled the years between the founding of the town in 1742, and 1910. The second volume covered the half century from 1910 to 1960 and was published in 1965. The vision for the new book will encompass the next 50 years, ending in 2010 to be published, hopefully, in 2015, which will also mark the 250th anniversary of the town.

The idea took root last spring when a few people began to talk about doing another history. Soon an “exploratory” committee was formed under the leadership of Susan Todd to ascertain the feasibility of such a project. The committee identified and enumerated many of the resources – human and historical - and the procedures to guide them that would be necessary to fulfill this ambitious venture. A substantial packet of proposals on many topics was assembled and presented to the Select Board. It was very well received.

The new Editorial Board (largely drawn from members of the earlier Exploratory Committee) consists of Eleanor Ward, Stuart Harris, Alden Gray, Tom Carter and Grace Lesure with Don Robinson and Phyllis Kirkpatrick serving as co-chairs.
From the very beginning of discussions surrounding this undertaking, there has been a clear and unanimous objective that this book, in addition to being accurate and fair, will be truly inclusive, representing the lives and viewpoints of all our citizens. There are many ways for people to participate. The more involvement we can attain in this book, the richer it will be. Any commitment may be as large or small as is comfortable. The Board will keep the public informed about what there is to do and what help is needed.

Anyone having an idea about how he or she might contribute or who is interested in finding out more, should call Phyllis at 625-9328 or Don at 628-3361. Other members of the Editorial Board are available as well; their numbers are listed in the Ashfield phone book.

by Phyllis Kirkpatrick