“Why Concord?” asks historian Robert A. Gross in the preface to his new book, The Transcendentalists and Their World (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021). One drizzly October afternoon I asked him the same question about his own choice to devote much of his career to examining this singular dot on the map of New England.
“I came to study Concord not because I was interested in the local history,” he said. “I was interested in the local history as it helped to tell a national history. And I’ve come to love living here. I love the fact that I’m telling a large story with broad implications in one place, a place that is not a backwater, not on the margins.”
It’s that time of year again when we start to think about holiday gift giving. And what’s better than giving or getting a book as a present? So let’s talk about books! Since this is a magazine dedicated to Concord, let’s focus on books about that most important day of days in Concord history, April 19, 1775.
In war, there are many ways to define victory. So, who won the Battles of Lexington and Concord? On the surface this may seem simple. The colonists were able to keep most of their military supplies safely out of British hands. The British soldiers then suffered heavy casualties during their retreat to Boston where they were trapped and besieged. However, though things certainly did not go the way they wanted, did the British Army actually lose on April 19, 1775? The answer depends upon how you define victory.
Concord’s great tradition of writing lives on today. Here we highlight just two of the books published recently by Concordians: Alan Lightman’s Ada and the Galaxies, and Samantha Power’s The Education of an Idealist.
Often the owners of a beautiful home are called “lucky” or “fortunate” and the same can be said of this historic home, which has benefited from a caring line of owners throughout its 250 years of existence. Now, its current owners, Reinier and Nancy Beeuwkes, have arranged for its permanent preservation. Every historic property should be so lucky.
The original marketing material for Deck House, Inc., the company that built many thousands of kit-of-parts houses all over the country and abroad since its inception in 1959, is meant to be inspirational:
“The Deck House concept, as developed by its designer, Mr. William J. Berkes, evolved from the recognized need ... for a contemporary house that would satisfy most of the requirements of a considerable segment of the market.
Special Collections recently acquired family papers and business records related to the Damon family and the Damon Mill, a textile manufacturer which in the 19th century, operated on Main Street in West Concord, then known as Factory Village. Descendants of the textile mill owner Calvin Carver Damon donated a wealth of archival materials that enrich our understanding of the Damon family and their operation of
the mill.
“I don’t know if this one will make it,” says Billy Crosby, evaluating the badly deteriorated old Tourist Info sign that hung for decades outside the old Visitor Center. “They painted directly onto untreated plywood, so it’s flaking. The seal sticker is peeling. And look at how they tried to fix the lettering!” He shakes his head. Anything that does not make it to the display hallways still has no fear of the dumpster. Billy’s not about to toss any of it. “Someday I might do a hall of ‘Frauds’,” referring to signs so badly deteriorated that he has to stabilize them so they can hang in the museum.
“There is snow in yonder cold gray sky of the morning! And, through the partially frosted window-panes, I love to watch the gradual beginning of the storm.” So writes Nathaniel Hawthorne in his sketch “Snowflakes,” one of many where the author takes his readers into the winter season. First published in 1838 and collected in the second volume of his Twice-Told Tales in 1842, the sketch describes everything from a winter storm (“reverently welcomed by me, her true-born son, be New England’s winter”) to a children’s snowball fight (“What pitched battles worthy to be chanted in Homeric strains!”) to the gloom of a winter burial (“Oh how dreary is a burial in winter, when the bosom of Mother Earth has no warmth for her poor child!”). No matter the season, it seems, Hawthorne’s thoughts were never too far from the grave.
The world’s most famous grape began its life in a backyard in Concord. In the 1840s, Ephraim Wales Bull retired to the countryside to become a horticulturist after a career as a gold beater in Boston. At his farm, Bull set out to cultivate a variety of grape that would better withstand early frosts and severe winters. He did 22,000 crossbreeding experiments on 125 vines and in 1849 discovered a wild grape he thought looked promising – it was sweet, palatable, and hardy – and began to propagate it. He named this grape the Concord.
In the late nineteenth century, Currier and Ives made beautiful and iconic engravings of New England winter scenes. They depicted gleeful children sledding, or skating on frozen ponds, surrounded by a snowy landscape. Fast forward 150 years or so, and you can still do those things, and more, in Concord during the winter. Let’s look at how you can have your own Currier and Ives adventure in Concord, with all the rich winter sports opportunities we have today!
Megan and Mark Pesce, the Concordian couple who own the Dunkin’s around town, have always made community the focal point of their business. For years, they have donated coffee and treats to local sports teams and generously given to fundraisers and philanthropic events. So when the time came to renovate their Thoreau Street store, they wanted to find a way to pay tribute to the town that they and their family call home.
By early next year, the renovation and expansion of the Concord Free Public Library will be complete. This transformative project, eight years in the making, broke ground during the pandemic, but remained on-time and on-budget in spite of the challenges. Showcasing the designs of architects from Johnson Roberts and Associates, the newly renovated Library has something to offer everyone in our community, and as always, it’s free and open to all.
There’s something about curling up by a fire as the snow falls outside. With a good book or a good friend, it’s a wonderful way to spend a winter evening. Add a cocktail specially crafted to bring out the flavors of the season, and you have the perfect evening.
The Thoreau Society (thoreausociety.org) is a Concord-based organization with members all over the world. One of the most dedicated is Donna Marie Przybojewski, who teaches at St. Benedict Catholic School in Garfield Heights, Ohio. Five years ago, she set out to share her passion for the author of Walden—“not just [to] introduce Henry to children, but to help them develop a relationship with him.”
The result was “Saunter the Year with Henry David Thoreau,” a year-long, interdisciplinary curriculum for kindergarten through eighth grade students. (In the classroom she often appears in character as Henry, beard and all.) Resources for such an ambitious curriculum were scarce, so Donna Marie began writing and illustrating books for elementary and middle school readers, presenting vignettes of Thoreau’s life and describing his ideas in age-appropriate ways.
Surviving a New England winter in the 1700s was no easy task. Food, shelter, firewood, and warm clothing were essential. One of the most important jobs of summer and fall was to preserve enough food to feed a family throughout the long winter months.
Meet local artists Sally Lee and Zachary Mickelson. Lee works in ceramics, painting, sculpture, textiles, and more. Mickelson is a ceramic artist, teacher, and Manager of the booming new Ceramics Studio at The Umbrella Arts Center.
Our New England days lose daylight and might even be a bit bleak at times, but it helps to keep our eyes out for warm colors and interesting nature to brighten our days. Reflections of water and ice often glow. The slanting light of winter and patterns of ice are delightfully complex in contrast with the direct light of summer.
