Children's Wartime Adventure Novels
The Silent Generation's Vicarious Experience of World War II
Thursday, February 27, 3:00 PM ON ZOOM
Jacqueline Lynch’s new book explores how WWII children’s literature—particularly adventure novels aimed at teens and young adolescents—shaped the world views of these readers, readers who would later become members of the ‘Silent Generation,’ known for their conformity and strong work ethic. In Lynch’s view, how fictional nurses (Cherry Ames and Ann Bartlett) and young aviators (Dave Dawson and Stan Wilson) navigated wartime challenges served as entertainment, information, and indoctrination for those old enough to know about the war, but too young to participate.
Ms. Lynch will be joining us on Zoom.
Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of many novels and works of non-fiction. She is also an award-winning playwright and the author of numerous published articles and works of short fiction. She previously appeared at the Library in 2017 to talk about her book, Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts.
More Winter / Spring Events
from the
Stay tuned for other details, including a possible film screening in March!
Our Genealogy Lab continues in 2025, now just one Wednesday afternoon per month. Our new longer time (2:30-5:30) lets you drop in at your convenience. As always, History Room staff are available to assist with research during the History Room's regular hours.
Next date: Wednesday, February 26
Hillary Schau (2:30-4:30)
Irisneri Alicea Flores (3:30-5:30)
Both genealogists have wide expertise and Iris also offers specialized, bilingual help with Spanish-language genealogy sources. / Ambos genealogistas tienen una amplia experiencia e Iris también ofrece ayuda especializada y bilingüe con fuentes genealógicas en español.
Nuestro Laboratorio de Genealogía continúa en 2025, ahora sólo un miércoles por la tarde al mes. Nuestro nuevo horario (2:30-5:30) le permite venir cuando le convenga. Como siempre, el personal de la Sala de Historia está disponible para ayudarle con la investigación durante el horario habitual de la Sala de Historia.
November 18, 2024, 5:30 PM
Holyoke Public Library Community Room
A House in Holyoke Through Time: The Lovering School
with Robert Comeau
Join us for Robert Comeau’s third annual talk on A House in Holyoke Through Time. This year, Bob explores the varied history of 250 Pleasant Street, which was home to a private school for children in the Highlands and later a private residence. Free and open to the Public.
Polish and Eastern European Immigration in the Industrial Era- Holyoke & Western Mass
Saturday, October 26, 2024
1:00 PM
Holyoke Public Library Community Room
Missed the talk? View the recording here.
Thank you to Holyoke Media for recording this event!
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, people from Poland and other Eastern European countries immigrated to Western Massachusetts in significant numbers. Many in the upper Pioneer Valley farmed the rich soils in Franklin and Hampshire Counties; others came to work in the mills and factories in Holyoke and Chicopee.
Join us as Robert Forrant, Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, brings his expertise in the history of labor, industrialization, and de-industrialization in New England to the topic of Polish immigration to the area. The talk also explores the hostility encountered by early generations of Polish immigrants to the U.S. and the often difficult conditions of life and work in their new home.
Free and open to the public.
(Left: Robert Forrant; Right: From the Grzesik family photograph collection at the Holyoke History Room.)
Full Holyoke History Room Hours
Missed the talk? View it here. Many thanks to Holyoke Media for making this possible.
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.
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.
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.
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