A Trip to the Vermont History Center
Inside Facing Out
President Caroline opened the meeting with the usual Pledge of Allegiance, but an unusual facing of the flag in front of the Vermont Historical Center.
She then introduced our two guests and hosts, Steve Perkins, Executive Director of the Vermont Historical Society and Daphne Kinney-Landis, Stewardship Coordinator.
Karl announced he graduated from this building; Ted attended until his junior year.
Happiness Abounds
Karl gave a Happy Dollar in an Aruba celebration of Tom Babic’s birthday. I think he said it came from Linda Babic.
Tony added a dollar to the coffers for being happy to have subbed for Tom at Meals on Wheels.
Jan was happy to a tune of a dollar because she finished her art item for the Barre Art Splash.
Karl was back with another dollar announcing that ten new stands have been mounted on granite blocks. Mounting the art starts today.
President Caroline arose with a “fist full of dollars:” Happy that Hana Dobrilovic was a winner of Round 3 of the Speech Contest held at the District Training Assembly over the weekend, she advances to the finals at the District Conference in May; another $ for a successful fun-filled Egg Balancing Contest at the Annual Egg Hunt; and one more for her renewed passion for Rotary after attending the District Training Assembly.
She also happily announced that “Gamers for Good” donated $120 to Meals on Wheels.
Eddie threw a dollar in my “lunch box,” happy for Caroline’s enthusiasm and his upcoming podcast as part of his campaign for a seat on the Barre City Council.
Ted had a Happy Dollar for Tom vacationing with 16 family members in Aruba.
Since Last We Met
Birthday: Tom Babic April 17
Club Anniversary: Doug Bullett April 21, 2006 19 years
On this day in history: On this day in
1976 Barbara Walters became the first female US nightly network news anchor.
Let the Tour Begin
President Caroline introduced our tour guide for the Vermont History Center, Steve Perkins, Executive Director of the Vermont Historical Society (VHS).
Steve began with a brief history of the Vermont Historical Society. It was founded in 1838 to preserve and record the cultural history of Vermont. It was originally housed in the State House, then in what is now the Supreme Court Building and in the Pavilion Building before moving its headquarters to Barre. The Pavilion remains home to the Vermont History Museum. Steve told an interesting account that occurred after the move to the Pavilion. During one of Vermont’s floods, legislators formed a bucket brigade to remove water from the basement to save precious documents. Rather than pass a bill, they passed a bucket!
Before becoming the Vermont History Center, the historic building housing the Center was the Barre Academy, a private school that occupied
the site from 1852 to 1885. In 1895 it became Spaulding High, named for Jacob Shedd Spaulding, principal from 1852 to 1880 of the Barre Academy.
The Vermont History Center houses the Vermont Historical Society’s storage for the museum collections, a small exhibition gallery, administrative offices, archives and the Leahy Research Library for individualized research and discovery.
Our tour included the main entrance foyer, renovated using original materials from various parts of the building, the Research and Exhibition Gallery (REG) and the Leahy Research Library. The REG is unique because it is an open-storage gallery with hundreds of items from VHS’s collection. Items are marked with QR codes so that visitors can identify the objects and consider the stories that they tell. Visitors are encouraged to explore by opening the drawers and observing the cases to make connections between the items that are on display. In the REG, we found a painting of a bandmaster who happened to be a Barre Rotarian.
Steve provided us with interesting information, stories and anecdotes during the tour. Rotarians were impressed and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Hats off to Steve and the VHS for work that they do to preserve and protect Vermont’s rich heritage.
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