This essay is part of our “People’s Guide to the Revolution” initiative for 2026. Visit our webpage for original content, events related to the 250th, and more.
By Deena Caswell
Board member, Mass Humanities
Library Director, Bushnell-Sage Library
Growing up in the Philadelphia suburbs, the spirit of the American Revolution was a part of daily life. Radio DJs would remind us that we were “rockin’ in the cradle of liberty.” We were the birthplace of American democracy; our basketball team is the 76ers. School field trips brought us to Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the Betsy Ross house. Family picnics happened “down the monument,” aka the Red Bank Battlefield located a mile from my childhood home. It’s no wonder that my view of America’s founding is Philly-centric.
I’ve been in the Berkshires, serving as the director of the Bushnell-Sage Library in Sheffield, for nearly six years now. Folks know that I’m not from around here, but I’m also not from Boston or NYC—points in my favor. My underdog Philadelphia spirit sees a kinship with western Massachusetts, in a state where some people believe Western Mass starts at the Boston city limits. I’ve learned a lot about local history and the revolutionary events that took place in the oldest town in the Berkshires. Lesser known figures like Elizabeth Freeman are receiving renewed attention. Her brave journey from her home in Ashley Falls to the Sedgwick law office in the center of Sheffield led to a decision abolishing slavery in Massachusetts. The woman known as “Mum Bett” heard the Declaration of Independence say that all men are created equal and wondered where enslaved people fit in this new American experiment.
Mass Humanities amplifies and celebrates these stories, as well as those that complicate our existing narratives. I traveled to Historic Deerfield for the first time on Saturday, April 18 for the opening of the Mass Humanities grant-funded exhibit, “A Town Divided: Deerfield in the Age of Revolution.” Stories from western Massachusetts, especially in the context of the Revolution, can be few and far between. Historic Deerfield was able to look at their town’s experience and tell a fuller story. A fairly even split between Loyalists and Whigs meant that there was much to discuss and decide as they looked to the future of their rural town in a tumultuous time.
Two other exhibits accompanied A Town Divided. “Picturing the Revolution” featured broadsides, political cartoons, and other print media that helped preserve the tenor of the era, while underscoring the value of a free press in democracy. It is an inspiring exhibit that reminded me of the power of free expression and the First Amendment.
The other exhibit, “Dressing the Revolution: Fashion and Politics 1760–1789,” showed how topics that can be considered frivolous, like fashion, hold their own deep meaning. Textiles and clothing of the era showcased differences in class, race, gender, and increasingly, political loyalties. Increasing consumerism was balanced against British taxes and tariffs, and colonial women’s ingenuity in creating and mending clothing strengthened the revolutionary spirit. Seeing the garments on display made that tension visible.
“Picturing the Revolution” and “Dressing the Revolution” are on display at the Historic Deerfield Flynt Center of Early New England Life through January 3, 2027. “A Town Divided” is open through January 2, 2028.
It is an inspiring exhibit that reminded me of the power of free expression and the First Amendment.
I was also one of a dozen Massachusetts librarians invited by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to attend “Library Convening 250: Telling America’s Story,” taking place in Washington D.C. from June 10-12, gathering 150 librarians from the Northeast states and the territories. Four additional convenings were hosted in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Phoenix, and Reno. The gathering was fully funded by IMLS and aimed to engage librarians from small and rural libraries as we look towards America 250. Together, we explored ways to tell the local and national American story, and to give attention to stories and communities that are often overlooked.
It was an interesting time to be in our nation’s capital. I was inspired by the other librarians that were also looking to highlight the unique stories from their towns, both in the context of the historical period and also the overall spirit of freedom, democracy, revolution, and social change. To ask the question of ourselves, what does it mean to be an American? What stories from our past do we tell not to celebrate, but to learn and debate? There is a richness in a complicated history that can give voice to a multitude of perspectives. It’s a challenging moment, but also a rewarding opportunity for all of us to truly engage with the lofty ideals of our nation’s founding fathers.