All History Room programs are Free of charge. All are welcome.
Todos los programas de la Sala de Historia son gratuitos Todos son bienvenidos.
  |
Both Hillary and Iris will be offering full workshops in the winter and spring. Stay tuned! Tanto Hillary como Iris ofrecerán talleres completos en invierno y primavera. Esté atento.
Hillary Schau brings a background in programming and education and has worked as a professional genealogist since 2014. Iris came to professional genealogy after unraveling a family mystery and is committed to empowering others by helping them connect to their family histories. Both are members of the Association of Professional Genealogists and additional professional associations.
Hillary Schau tiene experiencia en programación y educación y ha trabajado como genealogista profesional desde 2014. Iris Alicea Flores llegó a la genealogía profesional después de desentrañar un misterio familiar y está comprometida a empoderar a otros ayudándoles a conectarse con sus historias familiares. Ambas son miembros de la Asociación de Genealogistas Profesionales y de otras asociaciones profesionales.
Missed the talk? View it here. Our thanks to Holyoke Media for recording it!
Considered by many to be the greatest American architect of the 19th century, Henry Hobson Richardson and his firm were commissioned to design more than two dozen railroad stations, many along the east-west line of the Boston & Albany Railroad. Only one, his 1885 Holyoke Passenger Station, was completed in his lifetime on the north-south line between New York and Montreal (the Connecticut River Railroad). When rail passenger service to Holyoke was abandoned nearly 80 years later, the station was altered into automobile parts and machine shops.
It sat empty for decades until local businessman David White bought the building in 2021, "tired of listening to people complain 'Someone should fix it before it falls down.'" His takeout restaurant and Choo Choo's Ice Cream shop will open on the site this Spring. Dave's friend Will Melton will tell the story of Richardson and this architectural commission.
This is Will Melton's third history talk for Holyoke Public Library. He retired in 2015 after four decades in university and museum fund raising to devote time to gardening, his mandolin ensemble, and history studies and writing. Liberty's War, An Engineer's Memoir of the Merchant Marine 1942-45, which he published in 2017, is available from U.S. Naval Institute Press, our library, and the C/W MARS library consortium.
A House in Holyoke Through Time: 159 Chestnut Street, a talk with Robert Comeau
The elegant building at 159 Chestnut turns 155 years old in 2023. It was once the home of James Newton of the entrepreneurial Newton brothers and later the Holyoke Club. It is currently the Holyoke Day Nursery. Come learn about the biography and residents of one of Holyoke’s oldest homes in this second annual “House through Time” presentation by local historian Robert Comeau. In the Community Room.
Missed the talk? View it here.
Blue Ghost: A helicopter pilot writes home from 1968 Vietnam
As a child, Holyoke native Tom Pueschel (1945-2019) dreamed one day of flying. What he didn’t know was that he would learn to fly, during his 423 days as helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War. His letters home, published in 2023, capture “a raw, unfiltered journey that navigates not just the perils of war but the emotional and ethical turbulence that comes with that.” Join us in on November 9 in the Community Room at 4:00 PM as Tom’s brothers and sons read from his letters and share stories of his life. A recording of this event is available here.
Read all about our newest Holyoke History project HERE.
.png)