July 15, 2025 Imagine a local park with all these amenities: a pavilion, fountain and pool, separate lawns for picnicking and flowers, pergola, bowling green, multiple track facilities, plus tennis courts, and football and baseball fields. That is what “The New Athletic Field and Grange Park” on Pleasant Street would have looked like if the […]
Grange Gatherings: Medfield’s Summer Social Scene Read More »
Jul 25, 2024 I had a hypothesis. My hypothesis was wrong. This little story is a perfect example of how much fun it is to volunteer at the Medfield Historical Society. One line of inquiry leads to another, which leads to still another, until I am uncovering stories I never knew I needed to hear. Old
Stillman J. Spear: Soldier, Printer, Community Leader, Legislator Read More »
Apr 1, 2024 Editor’s note: This story is excerpted from Richard DeSorgher’s “This Old Town: On the Banks of the Charles” (to order book see bottom of page) From 1868 when Oliver and Elizabeth Clifford moved their family to Medfield until the death of their daughter Ellen in 1919, the Clifford name was a well-known
The Cliffords of Medfield Read More »
Apr 1, 2024 Some 60 people turned out on March 4 to hear an entertaining and engaged Johnny Dalton, sound engineer, show and tell about key developments in the 166-year history of sound recording. Dalton graduated from Medfield High School in 2013 and established KungPow! Recording and Mastering in 2017. Johnny introduced his subject by
Sound Engineer Johnny Dalton Presents History of Sound Recording Read More »
Mar 1, 2024 On a 70-degree, late-summer day, under fair skies in 1875, Medfield hosted a “Woman Suffragists’ Picnic” in Curtis Grove, which was once a popular day resort located at the north end of Adams Street and current West Mill Street. The picnic served as a convening of suffragettes from towns in the
Medfield “Suffragists’ Picnic” Bolstered Women’s Movement Read More »
Sep 1, 2023 Christina “Tinah” Levant, the daughter of Frank LeVant and his wife who were brought over on a slave ship from the east coast of Africa1, was born into slavery in 18422 on a plantation in Marion, South Carolina. Tinah’s first work as a slave began at the age of 13, when she
Christina “Tinah” LeVant Platt Read More »
Sept 1, 2022 In the last issue of The Portal, I wrote about the Palumbo family of Frairy Street. This month the focus is the Iafolla family on that street that was known as Little Italy. In the 40 years between 1880 and 1920, some 40 million Italians emigrated to the United States. Antonio Patrizio
Remembering and Celebrating the Iafollas Read More »