Society News - Spring 2009

The Littleton Historical Society needs your help! The Houghton Memorial Building has sustained significant water damage from leaks in the roof. Roof repairs are necessary to prevent further damage and to preserve historical artifacts. An article to repair the roof will be voted on at Town Meeting on May 4, 2009. We invite members of the community to learn more about the proposal to repair the roof by following the links below. We encourage everyone to attend Town Meeting to support the article to appropriate CPA funds for the project.

READ MORE ABOUT THE NECESSARY REPAIRS AND REQUESTED FUNDS

SUMMER 2008

This summer found the Society museum quiet but busy.  Volunteers are continuing to work on the archive project started last year with the installation of additional shelving in the attic storage room.  By the end of the year, we expect to have everything back in its place and our exhibition room ready to open again.

In February, we are hosting the Littleton Country Gardeners for a week's exhibition of interpreting quilts with flowers.  The Gardeners have done similar exhibitions in recent years including interpretation of books which they exhibited at the library.  It should be a welcome bright spot during the winter months!

The last week of September, we again hosted the third grade for their annual trip to the museum and introduction to Littleton's history.   Part of the third grade local history curriculum, we invited the classes to the museum for a talk on the overall early history of the town followed by volunteer-led tours throughout the museum.  Henry Dix Kimball's giant shoe and the Patriot's bullet holes in the doors from the Tory House are perennial favorites.  This year, David Whitcomb's explanation of the early telephone office and making a call on a party line captured their attention.

FALL 2007

LITTLETON HISTORICAL SOCIETY AWARDED GRANT FROM NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES

The Littleton Historical Society has been awarded a 2007 grant of $5,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The funds will be used to further the work of preserving materials in the collection and improving access to documents for use in research.

Grant funds will enable the Society to:

• Purchase additional shelves to make more efficient use of the storage area.
• Buy archival supplies.
• Hire an archivist as consultant.
• Sponsor a workshop in October on Preserving Old Scrapbooks given by an expert from Northeast Document Conservation Center.

In order to install new shelves on the second floor, items in the storage area will be temporarily moved to the first floor. The Society will select high school students, as part of their community service, to participate in the brigade that will hand the many boxes down the stairs, and shift the boxes back up the stairs to their permanent locations after the shelves are installed.

The Historical Society cooperated on two previous grants in 2003 and 2004 with the Reuben Hoar Library to survey and conduct preservation work with their collections, as well as those in the Town Offices and local churches. The Historical Society had also received a grant from the Massachusetts Historical Records Advisory Board (MHRAB) in 2005. The NEH Grant will further the work already begun in these earlier grants.