Wellesley Home Magazine 2022-23

Now that the mortgage for the Stanwood House, at 323 Washington Street, has been paid off, the Historical Society will work
on installing an HVAC system suitable for housing its historical archives, continuing to make public exhibit space accessible,
outfitting office space, and waterproofing the basement.
As time moves on, the Society is always “thinking forward in
how we’re collecting,” says Kalloch. “Our collections range
from objects, everything from a sewing needle to
farm equipment. We have a significant textile collection,
archival collection, and part that includes
an entomology collection, by the Denton Brothers;
circa 1900, they were creating their specimens
– there’s over 3,000 of them,” says Kalloch.
In fact, each year since 2016 (outside the past two
pandemic years), Wellesley’s third graders have been
introduced to 24 specimens from the collection.
“(The children) learn about butterflies and their defense
mechanisms. It gives children a chance to learn and it’s
a great way to blend science and history together,” says
Kalloch, who admits children have a lot of questions about
how butterfly specimens were killed to be added to the
collection. “They think that’s mean, which it is, but today, if
you want to study a butterfly, you can just use your smart
phone. In 1900, you’re looking at a long boat ride, there’s
photography, but not as we know it today. If you had to
study the natural world, you had to kill it. It’s a history of science
and history as well, a blended program.”
With fall approaching, the Society is also gearing up for its
5th Annual Craft Beer event.
“It’s a craft beer event, usually with 5-6 local craft brewers.
Attendees get to have a tasting, and it’s a great introduction
to the Society,” says Kalloch, “Wellesley tends to empty out
in the summer, but everyone’s back in the fall. This sort of
launches our fall programs.”
On Sunday, September 18th at 2 p.m. the Society will offer
a lecture by Dr. Robert Savage about Isaac Sprague IV, and
on Sunday, November 13th, at 2 p.m., Jessa Piaia will speak
about Susan B. Anthony. Both lectures will take place at the
Wellesley Free Library. To find out more information about
the talks, visit https://wellesleyhistoricalsociety.org/programs .
This fall, the Wellesley Historical Society also plans
to post a Historical Scavenger Hunt of Wellesley
Square up on its website. This project was developed
by two Wellesley Girl Scouts, Elizabeth Mc-
Donnell and Thea Fischmann, from Girl Scout Troop
73505, as work toward their Silver Award. The project,
supported by the Wellesley Historical Commission
and Wellesley Historical Society, was introduced this year
at Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend, which takes place each
May.
“Wellesley is unique,” says Kalloch. “We have three different
historical organizations and committees. We (Wellesley
Historical Society) are the only nonprofit historical repository,
the town, as part of the town government, has the
Historical Commission, and they’re in charge of the historic
plaques you see on buildings, and then there’s a Historic
District Commission.
Currently, the Wellesley Historical Society’s Board of Directors
number 10 positions, although that number can change
from year to year, and the organization has a core group of
about 15-20 volunteers.
To stay apprised of current happenings at the Wellesley
Historical Society, you can check them out on Facebook
(https://www.facebook.com/wellesleyhistoricalsociety) or
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/wellesleyhistorical/)
You can join the group’s email list by emailing info@wellesleyhistoricalsociety.org
or consider becoming a member to
be the first to learn about and get early access to upcoming
programming. Membership information is available:
https://wellesleyhistoricalsociety.org/membership.
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