By William F. Hanna
Throughout its almost 400 year history many of Taunton’s most celebrated houses have fallen victim to the wrecking ball, most claimed by avarice or indifference. Because so few of these treasures have lasted over the centuries, let’s begin the New Year with a story of a…
By William F. Hanna
December 7, 2021, marks the eightieth anniversary of the Japanese attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The strike killed more than 2,300 military personnel and heavily damaged the Navy’s Pacific fleet. The next day Congress declared war on Japan and shortly thereafter…
“All of us prisoners of war heard one repetitive refrain from the Germans . . . They would say, ‘For you the war is over.’ And that was pure B.S.”
Within minutes of jumping from the dying Mischief Maker II, Sgt. Bob Doherty and three crewmates were being interrogated by…
Part One
By William F. Hanna
“Without warning I was smashed against the floor. Like a specimen butterfly pinned on a lab corkboard I was immobilized in a position only a contortionist could praise . . . I remember seeing my chest pack on the floor beside me but I…
By William F. Hanna
On November 30, 1993, in the East Room of the White House, President Bill Clinton awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to environmental activist Marjory Stoneman Douglas. As frail as she was, the 103-year old “Grande Dame of the Everglades” was able to rise from her…
by Katie MacDonald
A common first question in Introduction To Museum Studies in graduate school is “What is a museum?”. It’s a classic opening question asked to encourage conversation among a group of people about to study together and develop their professional approaches to museum work. Of course, there is…
By William F. Hanna
Of all the men and women from this area who have participated in professional sports, among the least famous — but most successful — was Ralph Moody. Born and raised in Dighton, Massachusetts, Moody spent his life trying to make automobiles run faster. As a teenager…
By William F. Hanna
A cold winter rain began after dark on Wednesday, February 9, 1886, and with the temperature hovering around the freezing point, it hit the ground and quickly turned to slush, coating muddy streets and placing added stress on telegraph and electric wires. All night and through…
By William F. Hanna
One day in January 1976, Carol Scofield, of Old Saybrook, Connecticut, was driving along Winthrop Street about two miles west of the Taunton Green when she spotted an aging, deteriorating structure beside the busy road. It was a 40-foot high rendition of a wooden milk bottle…
By William F. Hanna
In the spring of 1852, as Reverend Samuel Hopkins Emery was writing his two-volume church history of Taunton, he came upon a research problem that brought his project to a halt. A talented biographer, Emery was producing a chronological study of the local ministry when he…
We are a local history museum in Taunton, MA and this is our blog! Visit us online at www.oldcolonyhistorymuseum.org to learn even more. Enjoy!
