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Call for Letters of Interest to Serve on the Town Seal Review Committee The original Westborough town seal as it appears on the 1913 Annual Town Report. The new Westborough seal design, as it appears on the 250th anniversary Commemorative Booklet. I was going to...

Aren’t these gorgeous! But, first a little science. Beyond some swaying in the wind, a plant generally doesn’t move during its lifetime. And while this allows it to stay put to enjoy the soil, sun, and water they need to grow, the main drawback of a stationary...

Parson Weems’ Fable, by Grant Wood (1939), depicting the story of George Washington cutting down a cherry tree as a boy. National Narratives I have lately been thinking about national narratives and their importance. National narratives give us a sense of purpose and...

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/benfranklinsworld/306_The_Horses_Tail_w_Ads.mp3 The words of the Declaration of Independence are not the only aspect of the American Revolution that carry power. Visual and material objects from during and after the Revolution also...

In previous blog posts, we took a look that the two crops we planted in the OCHM Garden that were successfully introduced to the region early: onions and potatoes. In this update, we are dealing with two more crops planted in the garden that were introduced later on:...

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/benfranklinsworld/305_Seeman.mp3 Death is one of the few universals in life. Everyone who is born, will die. How do the living make peace with death? While different cultures make peace with death in different ways, Erik Seeman joins...

Charley Williams and Granddaughter, age 94 Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project By the time you read this newsletter, Juneteenth—a day that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States after the American Civil War—will be designated a national...

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/benfranklinsworld/304_Gordon-Reed.mp3 Juneteenth is a state holiday that commemorates June 19, 1865, the day slavery ended in Texas. Over the last decade, a push to make Juneteenth a national holiday to commemorate the end of slavery...

Charles M. Fay – Personal War Sketch, 1890 The Discovery of Charles M. Fay The most exciting element of my job is Discovery. Every time I think that I have unearthed every possible historical record hidden away in our library, another one shows up. Such a discovery...