Articles from the Portal
The Medfield Historical Society publishes a monthly newsletter, The Portal, containing articles about our events, our collections, and people and places of the distant and not-so-distant past. Below are selected articles from past newsletters. Looking for a specific topic? Use the search function below to search by subject, author or date. Click to sign up for our free monthly newsletter, The Portal.
Mar 31, 2020 “What’s the buzz, tell me what’s happening?” It feels as if these lines from the musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, apply to the deadly corona virus. We don’t know the origin of this virus. Some have suggested a zoonic process, where the virus may have jumped from an
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Feb 24, 2020 Fast Times at Medfield High School – Part II In 1963 at Medfield High School two distinctive groups of teens showed their separate ideas of our culture as related to education, music, fashion, and legacy – the college-bound Collegiates versus the blue-collar trade-bound Greasers.Some of the culture was
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Feb 24, 2020 Town Historian Richard DeSorgher addressed a packed house Feb. 3 as he explained the causes and events of the deadliest war in New England and Medfield history.The core issues were land disputes resulting in loss of native lands due to what the natives saw as the colonists’ land
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Jan 20, 2020 Fast Times at Medfield High School – Part I In 1963 at Medfield High School two distinctive groups of teens showed their separate ideas of our culture as related to education, music, fashion, and legacy – the college-bound Collegiates versus the blue-collar trade-bound Greasers.A somewhat similar split between the
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Jan 19, 2020 With 20-20 hindsight, these plans from the 1960s seem bizarre… “Urban Renewal” for Medfield?In 1964, when Medfield’s population was around 5,000, a new master plan was developed to prepare for future growth.At that time, urban renewal* in blighted areas was controversial but still considered practical and viable by
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Oct 28, 2019 In the season of Veterans Day, in addition to Ray Lambert, it’s appropriate to pay respect to Medfield men who went to war and paid the ultimate price.There are 12 such men killed in the 20th century who are honored with white on blue plaques in the neighborhoods
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Sep 27, 2019 A direct descendant of Medfield founder Ralph Wheelock – and an activist in all things Wheelock – Ted Wheelock of Pittsburg, California, stopped in at the historical society booth at Medfield Day, September 14. Ted made a generous donation to the society and to the Vine Lake Preservation
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Sep 1, 2019 Barbara Leighton of Robert Sproul Road died on July 11, 2019 in Medfield, where she had spent almost her entire 100-year life. She was the daughter of Newell and Myra (Spofford) Leighton and the sister of the late Harry Leighton. Barbara attended Medfield Public Schools; she graduated with
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Sep 1, 2019 August 24, 1619 is a less-remembered date that lives in infamy. On that day, a ship landed near Jamestown, Virginia, with a cargo of the first 20 kidnapped Africans who survived the Middle Crossing and were brought America to be sold into slavery.On August 24, 2019, church bells
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May 2, 2019 The historical society recently received an Allen family treasure from Ellis Allen, now of Mashpee, an arborist who served as Medfield’s tree warden for 34 years and retired some 20 years ago. His succeeded his grandfather, who was tree warden for 42 years.(James Allen was one of Medfield’s
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May 1, 2019 The rhododendrons may be blooming in your yard this week, but to savor the wild ones tucked away in the woods near the Catholic church you’ll have to be patient a little longer. The Rosebay variety found in the Trustees of Reservations’ Medfield Rhododendrons property typically bloom in
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Mar 27, 2019 How the Vietnam War Changed AmericaWe are now nearly 50 years beyond the end of the Vietnam War and continue to celebrate the lives of young soldiers who gave their lives and to those who returned to Medfield. This story calls attention to those brave patriots who served
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