Blog Roundup #59 | Abby Epplett, Historian
Abigail Epplett
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For this week's roundup of my blog, Abby Epplett, Historian, I finish my adventure to Middleboro from late August 2024 and begin my trip to Lincoln, RI to celebrate Great Road Day, an annual event that happens every September. Also in the roundup is a review of a historical pamphlet on a local bank, and another installment to my ongoing essay series on the history and culture influencing The Lord of the Rings. As an added bonus, Mainly Museums recently released another of my articles.
Middleboro Adventure
Run by the Massachusetts Archaeological Society (MAS), this building stands across the street from Middleborough Historical Museum. It previously housed Robertson Factory, was named after Massachusetts’ first state archaeologist, Maurice Robbins, and opened in 1988.
On the same day I visited Middleborough Historical Museum and Robbins Museum of Archaeology, I took my customary history stops around the town, including the library, town hall, churches, and war memorials. Most of these important community buildings were located in Middleborough Center National Historic District, which has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2000. Unique features of this town are its incredibly tall town hall design, a historic bell, and signage commemorating American Revolutionary War hero Deborah Sampson. This is also an informal survey of who is on what side of the Middleborough/Middleboro naming divide.
Great Road Day 2024
Constructed 1810 by a young Quaker named Stephen Hopkins Smith?who supposedly won a lottery, the mansion was owned by eleven families before its donation to the town of Lincoln. The building had more than enough artwork, antiques, and unique architectural features to satisfy any visitor.
Located in a village named after the mill-owning Sayles family during the mid-19th century, this active place of worship for the Society of Friends (Quakers) has been on the National Register for Historic Places since 1978.
Book Review
Continuing through my history book pile, I recently read an antique pamphlet, One Hundred Years of Banking Service published by Blackstone National Bank in 1925. At two hundred years of service, the Uxbridge-based bank is now a branch of UniBank. The book is only thirty-three pages in length but offers a wealth of insight into local history along with photographs and engravings of important people, places, and things. While a product of its time in some aspects, I was impressed by the research that went into the publication.
Lord of the Rings: The Animated Musical
The infamous poem, which begins with the line “Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky”, sets the tone for the rest of the book. The epigraph existed in-universe as a song, and so I decided to make it the first song in the hypothetical musical. Before I release the next Billboard Top 100 hit, I researched a range of topics pertaining to the song. I learned more about epigraphs found in other books, verified the difference between the word epigraph and the many other words that sound like it, investigated the Fach system for determining vocal type, decided whether to write the piece for a cappella or with orchestra accompaniment, and studied the musical styles of famous composers. As an added bonus, this post includes a pair of music videos, an instrumental and a demo reel, which I have embedded below.
Mainly Museums
Based on a blog post from October 2022, this article describes an almost 400-year-old house in Exeter, NH with incredible architectural features and a dark history.
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1 周Very insightful! Well done, Abigail!