The Great White of ’88 But two months later, on March 12, 1888, the East saw the start of a storm that not only rivaled the Midwest’s, but one of the biggest snowstorms in US history and by far the worst Vermont had/has ever recorded.

It's snowing... again in Vermont. Thankfully it's not nearly as bad as March 1888. A repost of my March 2024 column, now on my blog and Substack.
#vermonthistory #winter

Abijah and Lucy Terry Prince Historical Marker Early Landowners and First Known African American Poet Abijah Prince (c. 1706-94) served in the French & Indian Wars, as a slave and freedman. (A historical marker located in Guilford in Windham Cou...

#MarkeroftheWeek

Abijah and Lucy Terry Prince in #GuilfordVT
www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=196881

@blackhistorydb.bsky.social
#BlackHistoryMonth
@vermonthistory.org
#VermontHistory

Snow in June. Frost in August. A season that earned the name “The Year Without a Summer.”
Mark Breen revisits 1816, separating legend from record—and reminding us how weather has always shaped Vermont life.
#VermontHistory 👉 Read: Two centuries later: sbee.link/t3cxb8wumy

Dancing the winter blues away: Kitchen Junkets For our ancestors, winter in rural Vermont was long and arduous. But Vermonters — many of whom were not long descended from the dance and music-loving English, Scottish, and Irish, or were newly settled French-Canadians — knew how to brighten the dark nights.

It's a tad chilly. Maybe make like our ancestors and clear the kitchen for a good ol' tunk!
A repost of last year's article is now posted.
#winter #vermont #history #vermonthistory #dancing #music #junket #tunk

Hydropathic Healing in the Hills This is a repost of an article originally published in the Rutland Herald/Times ArgusWeekend Magazine on September 23, 2023. credit: Brattleboro Historical Society Pus-filled boils, anyone? Brattleboro's Wesselhoeft Hydropathic Institution was once a favorite of New England's literary elite despite its questionable treatments. Horace Greeley, Julia Ward Howe, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Catharine Beecher, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow… undoubtedly some of the most famous progressive and creative thinkers of the 19th century. As well as all knowing each other, they have something else in common: they spent time here in Vermont getting plunged in cold water multiple times a day, wrapped in wet sheets for hours, and eating bland food — willingly — at the Brattleboro Hydropathic Institution founded by one Dr. Robert Wesselhoeft... Continue reading on Substack (no subscription required)

"Hydropathic Healing in the Hills," my latest at VermontWhen.com.
#vermont #history #vermonthistory #watercure #hmedicalhistory

Vermont’s founding owes much to Ethan Allen’s audacity. His Green Mountain Boys not only seized Fort Ticonderoga but also shaped an independent republic before statehood: https://ow.ly/Fqts50X7jXT

#VermontHistory #RevolutionaryWar

Vermont according to Greeley This is a repost from my “Remember When” column first published in the Rutland Herald/Times Argus Weekend Magazine on May 27, 2023. Horace Greeley may be remembered as the 1841 founder and editor of the New York Tribune. He may also be remembered as the Liberal Republican who, endorsed by the Democrats, lost his presidential bid against Ulysses Grant. Or as the man who gained the unfortunate distinction of being the only presidential candidate to die during the election process. Or maybe he will be remembered as the man who (allegedly) said, “Go West, young man!” But what did Greeley himself remember? Continue reading on Substack (don't worry, it's free!)

Newspaper man, Horace Greeley, remembers his time in a Vermont village where he learned his trade.
#Vermont #History #VermontHistory

First Vermont Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade Historical Marker In 1983, a group of lesbian feminists began planning for the first Vermont Pride march to be held in Burlington and invited the gay male community to join. (A historical marker located in Burlington ...

#MarkeroftheWeek

First Vermont Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade in #BurlingtonVT 🏳️‍🌈

www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=203159

#lgbthistory
#vermonthistory
@lgbthistory.bsky.social
@vermonthistory.org

Did you know that the founder of Mormonism was born in Vermont? I did not. Thanks @atlasobscura!

#vermont #vermonthistory #religion #josephsmith #mormonism #newengland #historicnewengland #obelisk #atlasobscura

227th #atlasobscura location -

Indian Stones
Reading, VT

These commemorative stones honor a young woman born in captivity.

#Vermont #vermonthistory #roadside #newengland #historicnewengland

Howard Coffin honors Vermont's role in American Revolution during devotional in Montpelier Coffin highlights historic significance of Fort Ticonderoga's capture and human rights advocacy.

In a powerful devotional, historian Howard Coffin connected Vermont's historic fight for freedom to today's ongoing struggles for civil rights, reminding us that the battle against oppression continues.

Learn more here

#VT #CitizenPortal #VermontHistory #HistoricalLegacy #HumanRights

Quinlan’s Covered Bridge

#vermontcoveredbridges #lewiscreek #charlottevt #vermonthistory #coveredbridge #newenglandarchitecture

Member honors 110th anniversary of Armenian genocide during legislative session A member recognizes the Armenian genocide's significance and the impact on history.

In a poignant moment, Vermont legislators honored the 110th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, urging remembrance for the over a million lives lost and the impact on local Armenian heritage.

Learn more here

#VT #HealthcareReform #CitizenPortal #CommunitySafety #VermontHistory

🧵Among those damaged were collections from the American Revolution and Vermont's creation. While researching and writing my thesis on #VermontHistory I have often wondered about these burned documents, about their journey to the NYSL and more importantly what knowledge we might have lost.

Vermont voters approve Prop 2 to prohibit slavery and indentured servitude Vermont reformed its constitution to eliminate slavery and indentured servitude provisions.

Vermont is taking a historic stand against slavery by amending its constitution to prohibit all forms of servitude, but what does this mean for the legacy of systemic racism in America today?

Learn more here!

#VT #ConstitutionalReform #CitizenPortal #SocialJustice #RacialEquity #VermontHistory

A drawing of Dr. Joseph Gallup, an early 19thc. doctor from Woodstock, Vermont

In early 1813, 6,000 Vermonters died over the course of five months. My latest 'Remember When' column
#vermont #history #vermonthistory #19thcentury #epidemic
www.rutlandherald.com/features/wee...

With a hope of heaven, the fear of the poorhouse Vermont’s poor houses and farms were “the last word in disgrace and for the aged, the poor, the diseased, the insane, and the crippled to be sent there was almost like receiving a death sentence.”

The last of Vermont's poor farms didn't close until the 1960s.

A repost of an article from a couple of years ago, now on my blog, Vermont When.
#vermont #history #vermonthistory #poorhouses #poorfarms

West Townsend celebrates restoration of historic Stone Arch Bridge funded by grants Town restores 1910 Stone Arch Bridge with federal and state grant support

Vermont is breathing new life into its rich history with ambitious restoration projects, including the iconic Stone Arch Bridge and beloved barns, all fueled by community passion and grant support.

Get the details

#VT #VermontHistory #CommunityPride #CitizenPortal #HistoricRestoration

Something so characterful about this passage - the earliest “recording” of the Vermont accent? Earliest I’ve found anyway. #vermonthistory #1812

Having a Ball at Holiday Time Once upon a time, even here in little ol’ rural Vermont, in the 19th century, any time seemed a good time for a ball. However, the holidays – from Thanksgiving through New Year – were a particularly popular time. And in a time of rapid industrial growth, the expanding middle-class was eager to enjoy the kind of fun previously afforded only to the Old Rich. 

A re-post of December 2022's 'Remember When' column. Wouldn't it be great if we still dressed up and had a (literal) ball?
#vermont #history #vermonthistory #christmas #holidays #dancing

Remember When: Remembering Charles Note: This is another in a series of articles acknowledging the lives and humanity of those who were buried at Rutland Poor Farm or House of Corrections cemeteries.

My latest "Remember When" column: In 1908, as his brother was actively searching for him, a Civil War veteran named Charles died alone in the Rutland jail.
#Vermont #vermonthistory #rutlandvt #civilwarhistory
www.rutlandherald.com/features/wee...

Doing the Turkey… Trot? “What began as a necessary “trot” down to the city with a herd of turkeys in time for city-dwellers’ holiday feasts, became a festive parade in Texas, which took on the name of a popular danc…

In honor of #Thanksgiving, a re-share of my Turkey Trotting article. 🦃
rutlandwhen.wordpress.com/2023/11/21/d...
#history #vermonthistory

Me and my great great grandfather John E Smith
In 1890 to 1910 he owned the EL Smith quarry now the flagship quarry for Rock Of Ages in Barre, Vermont . I found a similar masonic hat in an antique shop , He was a 32nd degree Mason. #vermonthistory #vermont #barrevermont #elsmithquarry