Calendar of Events

HSCC's winter exhibit takes its name from a booklet published by the Boston and Maine Railroad that marketed the Flying Yankee, the first streamliner east of the Mississippi. While the Flying Yankee added another important form of transportation to the region's railroad history in early 1935, the impact of the railroad had been felt in southwest New Hampshire for more than 90 years. With the opening of the railroad 1848, the nature of life in the region changed, revolutionizing the transportation of people and freight. Historians have long stated that the railroad made Keene what it is today, transforming the city into the region's industrial and economic center with rail lines branching out in four directions.

Speed, Safety and Comfort: A History of the Railroad in Cheshire County will be on view in HSCC's Exhibit Hall through Friday, April 27, 2012 during regular museum hours. Gallery walks, railroad programs, and a field trip will accompany the exhibit, so please review the schedule below to learn more on the exhibit's associated programs. For further information, please visit our Museum Exhibit page, or contactHSCC by email or at 352-1895.

Between January and April, HSCC will only be open on the first Saturday of each month from 9:00 a.m. to noon.

Saturday - February 4, 2012
Gallery Walk of HSCC's winter feature exhibit on Speed, Safety and Comfort: A History of the Railroad in Cheshire County, 1844-1984 begins at 10:00 a.m. in HSCC's Exhibit Hall. For further information, please contact HSCC by email or at 352-1895.

Wednesday - February 8, 2012
Teacher Research Night. HSCC's Director of Education will be available between 4:00 and 8:00 p.m. to work with any educator seeking to use local resources in the classroom. For further information, please contact Tom Haynes by email or at 352-1895.

Thursday - February 16, 2012
The winter meeting of the Monadnock Historical Societies Forum will be held at HSCC beginning at 9:30 a.m. The meeting's morning session will be the Forum's traditional roundtable discussion and further planning for the collaborative exhibit and publication on water power mills and the Roundtable's brochure. After our brown bag lunch, there will be a walking tour of HSCC's winter feature exhibit on the history of railroads in Cheshire County. For further information, please contact Tom Haynes by email or at 352-1895.

Wednesday - February 22, 2012
Railroad Exhibit Program by HSCC's Tom Haynes and Alan Rumrill on "The Making of a City: A Visual Tour of Keene's Railroad History." This program, in association with HSCC's current feature exhibit on Speed, Safety and Comfort: A History of the Railroad in Cheshire County, 1844-1984, will examine the factors and impact the railroad had in the development of Keene from a village to a bustling industrial city. This program begins at 7:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public. For further information, please contact HSCC by email or at 352-1895.

Monday - February 27, 2012
HSCC's February Member Meeting will be on New Hampshire's Wild History: 350 Years of New Hampshire Wildlife. HSCC's Kathy Schillemat will take us on a virtual journey through New Hampshire's past, focusing on changes in the land and how wildlife populations have responded over time.

New Hampshire's Wild History is one of several public talks on "Speaking For Wildlife," programs organized by the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension and given by trained volunteers. The program begins at 7:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public. For further information, please contact HSCC by email or at 352-1895.

Saturday - March 3, 2012
HSCC will offer a Railroad Exhibit Program that will feature a panel discussion and story circle on the Boston and Maine Railroad. The B & M was the last company to own the rail lines in the region. Many people have remembrances of the B & M, including former employees. The panel discussion and story circle will be a time to share and preserve some of these memories. If you have a story on any aspect of the Boston and Maine Railroad, please join us for a fun and nostalgic trip down memory lane. This program begins at 10:00 a.m. in HSCC's Exhibit Hall, in association with the feature exhibit on Speed, Safety and Comfort: A History of the Railroad in Cheshire County, 1844-1984, and will be moderated by Brad Blodget, author of "Marium Foster's Boston and Maine Railroad." For further information, please contact HSCC by email or at 352-1895.

Wednesday - March 7, 2012
HSCC will offer an Educators Book Group on Abenaki culture and history. The four session book group will give educators an opportunity to enhance their knowledge through a variety of readings and facilitated by Bob Goodby, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Franklin Pierce University. Topics to be discussed through the readings will include the archaeology in the Monadnock Region, interpreting local Native American history, Abenaki history in northern New England, how Abenaki people maintained aspects of their culture and identity during the 19th and 20th century, and appropriate children's books to use in the classroom. Each session will be from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Participants will receive eight professional development credits, handouts, and a tour of the HSCC library and archive to learn what local resources are available to the region's educators. Cost for the four sessions are $25.00 and includes all books and handouts. To register or for further information, please contact Tom Haynes by email or at 352-1895.

Friday - March 9, 2012
HSCC will offer In the Shadow of Monadnock, a class on the history of southwestern New Hampshire from the time of glaciers through the 1940s as part of Keene State Collage's Cheshire Academy of Lifelong Learning (CALL)spring schedule. Within the chronological survey of the region's history, specific topics will be explored in greater detail, such as Native Americans, the Civil War, Mt. Monadnock, agriculture, immigration, industry, and transportation. The class will be enhanced through the use of historic photos, documents, artifacts, and audio-visual presentations, and conclude with a historical walking tour of downtown Keene. The class will meet in HSCC's Exhibit Hall, 246 Main Street in Keene, on Friday mornings from 10:00 to 11:20 a.m. Registration is through Keene State College's Continuing Education program or at 603-358-2290. For further information on the class, please contact HSCC by email or at 352-1895.

Wednesday - March 14, 2012
Teacher Research Night. HSCC's Director of Education will be available between 4:00 and 8:00 p.m. to work with any educator seeking to use local resources in the classroom. For further information, please contact Tom Haynes by email or at 352-1895.

Tuesday - March 20, 2012
HSCC will once again offer a Field Trip to Naulakha. Naulakha was author Rudyard Kipling's home in Dummerston, Vermont. Built in 1892-93, the abandoned property was rescued by The Landmark Trust, USA in 1992 and is a National Historic Landmark for its unusual example of Shingle Style architecture. Kipling, who had a hand in the design, described Naulakha as a ship, with his study in the prow and the kitchen in the stern. It commands spectacular views over sloping meadows to the Connecticut River valley and mountains of New Hampshire.

In addition to touring Kipling's home, storyteller Jackson Gillman will offer a performance as Kipling telling his "Just So Stories." These are Kipling's well known children's stories that he first told to his daughter at Naulakha.

The Naulakha field trip will be on Tuesday, March 20th. We will car pool from HSCC, leaving at 9:30 to be at Naulakha for our 10:30 tour and performance. Space is limited to 20 people. Cost is $12.00 for HSCC members and $16.00 for non-members. To reserve your place for a tour of Naulakha and performance by storyteller Jackson Gillman, please contact HSCC by email or at 352-1895.

Wednesday - March 21, 2012
HSCC will offer a Railroad Exhibit Program featuring a visual tour of the railroad depots in Cheshire County with Brad Blodget, author of HSCC's new book "Marium Foster's Boston and Maine Railroad." This visual "then and now" style tour will highlight the stops of the former Cheshire and Boston and Maine rail lines, and to talk about some of the railroad history connected to each town. The tour of Cheshire County's railroad depots begins at 7:00 p.m. in HSCC's Exhibit Hall, and in association with the feature exhibit on Speed, Safety and Comfort: A History of the Railroad in Cheshire County, 1844-1984. For further information, please contact HSCC by email or at 352-1895.

Saturday - April 7, 2012
Gallery Walk of HSCC's winter feature exhibit on Speed, Safety and Comfort: A History of the Railroad in Cheshire County, 1844-1984 begins at 10:00 a.m. in HSCC's Exhibit Hall. For further information, please contact HSCC by email or at 352-1895.

Wednesday - April 11, 2012
Teacher Research Night. HSCC's Director of Education will be available between 4:00 and 8:00 p.m. to work with any educator seeking to use local resources in the classroom. For further information, please contact Tom Haynes by email or at 352-1895.

Monday-Friday - April 16-20, 2012
Abenaki Lifeways Children's Camp is designed to expose children to the region's Native history and culture, and to better understand and appreciation their cultural differences. Camp activities will follow the seasonal cycles of the year, and include:

cordage making, identifying and collecting spring plants, making toys & playing games, constructing models & life-size structures, cooking traditional food and basket making.

Interwoven into seasonal activities:

Abenaki history and culture; sharing oral stories in the Abenaki tradition; use of primary documents, artifacts & reproductions; and a review of appropriate Native literature.

Teacher Laurel Powell and HSCC's Director of Education Tom Haynes will be teaching this week-long camp during the April school vacation week from 8:30 to 4:00 p.m. It is open to all Cheshire County students in grades 3 to 8. Cost for the camp is $130 for HSCC members and $150 for non-members and is limited to 12 children. Each participant needs to bring their lunch, drink, and snack for each day.

Registration to the Abenaki Lifeways Camp is required. To register or for further information, please contact HSCC by email or at 352-1895.

Wednesday - April 18, 2012
HSCC will offer a Railroad Exhibit Program on the Flying Yankee. This Boston and Maine's streamliner began operations in 1935. Renamed the Cheshire in 1944, it traveled through Cheshire County daily until 1952. The Flying Yankee is currently being restored by The Flying Yankee Restoration Group. They will offer a presentation on the history, restoration, and eventual use of the Flying Yankee in HSCC's Exhibit Hall beginning at 7:00 p.m.

The program on the Flying Yankee is in association with the feature exhibit on Speed, Safety and Comfort: A History of the Railroad in Cheshire County, 1844-1984 and is free and open to the public. For further information, please contact HSCC by email or at 352-1895.

Monday - April 23, 2012
HSCC's Annual Meeting will offer a special program by Jere Daniell, Dartmouth College Professor of History Emeritus, on New Hampshire Towns and the Civil War. His program will focus on the home front, to describe both formal town actions and non-governmental community responses to the war in Cheshire County. Specific topics include rewarding men who enlisted; helping citizens avoid military service; ostricizing war opponents; organizing aid societies; celebrating military victories; and post war memorialization.

HSCC's Annual Meeting is free and open to the public and begins at 7:00 p.m. in its Exhibit Hall. For further information, please contact HSCC by email or at 352-1895.

Friday - April 27, 2012
Last day to view the exhibit Speed, Safety and Comfort: A History of the Railroad in Cheshire County, 1844-1984 in HSCC's Exhibit Hall during regular museum hours. For further information, please contact HSCC by email or at 352-1895.

Friday - May 4, 2012
Beginning in 2004, HSCC has offered a trip to a Red Sox game, and we have a trip record of 6 wins and 2 loses. Well, this year will be no exception. Please join us to celebrate Fenway Park's 100th anniversary with a game against the Baltimore Orioles. The bus will leave HSCC at 3:30 p.m. This year we have seats in Section 8 of the Right Field Grandstand, and they are $62.00 for HSCC members and $70.00 for non-members. We also have a few outstanding tickets in Section 18 of the Coca-Cola Corner Pavilion Reserved area in left field, and these seats are $120 for HSCC members and $125 for non-members. The Coca-Cola Pavilion tickets also include $15 worth of concession credit. All Red Sox tickets include bus transportation, drivers tip, and a $10.00 donation to HSCC's educational programs. To secure your tickets for our 9th annual trip to Fenway Park, please contact HSCC by email or at 352-1895.

Wednesday - May 9, 2012
Teacher Research Night. HSCC's Director of Education will be available between 4:00 and 8:00 p.m. to work with any educator seeking to use local resources in the classroom. For further information, please contact Tom Haynes by email or at 352-1895.