History

I’ve been reading about Genghis Khan and the Mongols recently, for no particular reason, and learning about the years of the Mongol invasions. This was the period during the 13th century when the Mongols were suddenly possessed with something akin to the Messianic spirit, and decided to take over the world. You may think this an exaggeration, but it really was their intention to take over and rule the entire planet, and they believed, according to the author of the book I’m reading, that their god wanted them to do it. Moreover, they were so completely full of themselves that they actually thought they could. Little things like determined opposition, overreach, and tribal infighting never occurred to them.

Brattleboro, Vermont, 6 January 2025: Events are being planned all across the nation to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States in 2026. This ‘semiquincentennial’ calls for more than just a bigger fireworks display; it offers an opportunity to creatively engage and express ideas about our country’s past and future and what it means to be an American in the world today.

How Vermont and specifically the Brattleboro-area ‘shows up’ and shares these ideas with the rest of the nation during this 250th anniversary will be the subject of a public meeting to be held on January 16, 2025 at the American Legion Hall, 32 Linden Street (just next to the Municipal Center), in Brattleboro, Vermont, from 6:00 to 7:30 pm with light refreshments served. Representatives from various town organizations, including Brooks Memorial Library, Vermont Independent Media (VIM), Windham World Affairs Council (WWAC) and Brattleboro Union High School will share details on what’s happening so far statewide and nationally, and elicit public input. The forum will be taped and subsequently made available on BCTV.

Brattleboro, VT, 22 June 2024: New audio recordings created by multimedia artist Shanta Lee will enhance the visitor experience at selected sites on the Vermont African American Heritage Trail. These recordings resulted from a collaboration between the Brattleboro Words Trail and the Vermont African American Heritage Trail, will be shared on both sites, and can be viewed all together at: https://brattleboro.stqry.app/1/list/26097.

The recordings invite visitors to explore: the back stories of the Turner Family at Journey’s End in Grafton; the 54thRegiment sculpture of Black Civil War Soldiers in Rutland; Abijah and Lucy Terry Prince in Guilford; Black Civil War veterans buried in Woodstock; the Pullman Porters at Hildene, the Lincoln Family Home in Manchester; the archives of Daisy Turner at the Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury; Alexander Twilight at the Old Stone House Museum in Brownington; and freedom seekers at the Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburgh.

An enigmatic Chinese proverb goes something like this: A farmer and his wife have a newborn son, and the neighbors come over to congratulate them. “Now you have an heir to work the field, how great!” The farmer says…”We’ll see.” The child grows to be a strong young man, he indeed was a helper to his parents, but one day he falls off a horse and breaks his leg. The neighbors converge to offer their sympathies, the farmer simply says, “We’ll see.“  Soon thereafter state officials arrive to conscribe all young men of the region into military service. The farmer’s son is deferred because of his disability. The son says to his father, “I guess that was a blessing in disguise.“ ”We’ll see…”

The Esplanade:

Events for Oct 11

1724
Fort Dummer was attacked by about seventy of the enemy and four or five of its occupants were killed or wounded, but the attack was repulsed. It does not appear to have been attacked afterward.

The enemy? I wonder why they do not name the enemy?

Just want to point out this little piece of Brattleboro history for August 30 in the right hand column in iBrattleboro so you don’t miss it.
Some things never change.

1844
Again We Caution the people against lying reports and publications on the day of the election. Look out for them and treat them with the contempt they merit.

This is all from memory and after 45+ years it is not all that good but:

It was January 1976, and I was on Christmas break from VTC at my parent’s house here in Brattleboro.  I drove an old Dodge Dart and was able to get it started on cold mornings by putting a drop light under the hood overnight to keep the battery warm.  During the first week or two of January we went for a spell of 4 or 5 days with the daytime high temperature staying below zero.  I think it was 5 days.  I remember this because my friend Mark was living in Putney and called me each morning for help to get his car started. Each morning I would start my car, drive to Putney and jump start his car.  I think an old VW Beatle.