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.
Oct 1, 2024 It was the 1970s, at the height of the women’s liberation movement, with Gloria Steinem at the forefront fighting for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.With two children in high school, and having recently earned her master’s in public administration, 39-year-old Medfield resident Sandra “Sandy” Munsey ran for
Read more
Oct 1, 2024 It was the summer of 1961, and I was sitting comfortably at the top of the huge apple tree that was in the back yard of my family’s home on Pleasant Street. I even put a small cushion at the top where several branches converged.It was summertime, and
Read more
Sep 1, 2024 Upwards of one million Americans have the surname “Clark,” making it the 20-somethingth most common name in this country, and it’s almost as common in England. Clark or Clarke is an occupational name, like Baker, Cook, Cooper, or Smith, and it’s derived from the Middle Ages, when a
Read more
Sep 1, 2020 William S. Tilden was one of Medfield’s two most important and prolific historians.(The other is, of course, Richard DeSorgher, who grew up here, taught history and social studies here for over thirty years, published four books on Medfield history, and is still Medfield’s official town historian, though he
Read more
Sep 1, 2024 Doctor Jabez Fuller was the son of Isaac Fuller of Middleboro, Massachusetts. Born in 1723, he came to Medfield at the age of 24 in 1747. That same year he married Elizabeth Hilliard. In 1756 the couple bought the homestead of Timothy Metcalf, located in Dingle Dell. Dingle
Read more
Sep 1, 2024 Another Medfield school year is now underway marking nearly 370 years since the first schoolhouse was built on North Street in 1655 – evidenced by a historical marker where the new 21 North restaurant is now located. And while much has changed with education over time, some aspects
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
Read more
July 25, 2024 Thanks in part to its location along the Charles River and other waterways, Medfield has long been known for its abundant natural resources. It’s these very resources that attracted city dwellers to the town centuries ago.In the late 1800s and into 1920s, Bostonians arrived to purchase large farms
Read more
Jun 1, 2024 Medfield is in full bloom once again, as we welcome the month of June. Along with my usual time-travel musings, I’ve been thinking about Juneteenth, wondering about Medfield’s involvement in the antislavery movement. Evidence shows that Medfielders were active in the movement, which gained strength in the northern
Read more
June 1, 2024 While searching for a way to tie in two related stories – Claire Shaw’s history of Medfield’s animal shelter and Tim Flaherty’s remembrances of the some of its former denizens – we learned that June is National Cat Adoption Month, June 4 is National Hug Your Cat Day,
Read more
May 1, 2024 One doesn’t need to be famous to write a memoir, or to engage readers through a journal or diary. In fact, volunteers at the Medfield Historical Society Museum have spent countless hours cataloguing numerous journals found in storage recently – all from average citizens, and with plenty of
Read more
May 1, 2024 Visitors to the Medfield Historical Society during History Weekend had the opportunity to view, for the first time in eleven years, our town’s collection of J.A.S. Monks etchings and paintings. This exhibit included both early and later etchings, an untitled watercolor, and of course, the famous oil painting
Read more