Posted on February 2, 2015 by Jenny ONeill
We see her name on the street sign in the center of Westport: Charlotte White Road. She is mentioned in local history books as a healer, a midwife, a poet. But what do we really know about Charlotte White? Let’s start with her name. The typical pronunciation of the name Charlotte is “Shar-lot” but there […]
Continue ReadingPosted on February 2, 2015 by Jenny ONeill
We all learned the word secession in school, and probably associated it with South Carolina’s departure from the Union in late 1860. But the concept is not just about civil war, or specifically related to states. To secede is to withdraw formally from membership in an organization, association, or alliance. And in the 1920s, the […]
Continue ReadingPosted on January 29, 2015 by Jenny ONeill
This collection of 50 cards, including many Valentine cards dating from 1902, was donated to the Westport Historical Society by Elizabeth Acheson. Click on each image to view the details.
Continue ReadingPosted on January 26, 2015 by Jenny ONeill
An item recently found in the collection is a Civil War register of sick and wounded from Ward No. 4 of the U. S. General Hospital in Portsmouth Grove, RI. Included in the list of “Citizen Nurses” is Cornelius T. Allen, as Chief Nurse and Pardon S. Allen, both of Westport. Both started nursing for […]
Continue ReadingPosted on January 21, 2015 by Jenny ONeill
We welcome our new intern, Westport High school senior Elizabeth Broadbent, as she embarks on a project to photograph many of our three dimensional artifacts. Elizabeth is donating not only her skills as a photographer, but also use of her equipment and Photoshop know how. We look forward to sharing some of her photographs in […]
Continue ReadingPosted on January 20, 2015 by Jenny ONeill
This collection includes many documents relating to the family of William Gifford (1722-1793). As was typical of many families in the Dartmouth/Westport region during the late 18th century, some members left this area and moved to New York State, specifically to an area close to Albany. The NY state towns of Easton, Troy, and Cambridge […]
Continue ReadingPosted on December 15, 2014 by Jenny ONeill
Enjoy these humorous newspaper reports about Westport from the 1860s. Westport Point reporter Thomas W. Mayhew laced his stories with a particularly dry sense of humor: “Any person passing by would think the advent day was high at hand.” May 14, 1860 A worthy member of the Society of Friends at Westport thinks that the […]
Continue ReadingPosted on December 15, 2014 by Jenny ONeill
Westport in the Great Depression Most of us know about the Great Depression of the 1930s either because we lived through it, listened to stories from parents or older relatives, or heard all the references to it when we went through the recent “Great Recession” of 2008, which had some of the same causes and […]
Continue ReadingPosted on November 20, 2014 by Jenny ONeill
Take a closer look at this historic photograph of the Westport Point Bridge. Click on the image to see the details: Can you see the tips of the windmill? What kind of vessel is anchored at the wharf? Can you find the building that is now the Paquachuck Inn? When do you think this photograph was […]
Continue ReadingPosted on November 18, 2014 by Jenny ONeill
What is the connection between cursive writing and history? As schools begin to move away from teaching cursive writing skills, will students also lose the ability to read cursive handwriting? And if so, how will they access the handwritten documents of history? One of the great pleasures and challenges of working with primary source documents […]
Continue Reading