Jenks Library Regular Hours Suspended but Work Continues!
Jenks Library will be closed to the public until further notice because of the coronavirus outbreak. Although library hours are suspended, please do contact AHS with any questions via email (Jenkslibrary@verizon.net) or telephone ( 978 264-0690), and our volunteers will respond.
Future plans will evolve as we know more. Check here for changes.
Future plans will evolve as we know more. Check here for changes.
Recent Presentation
Ice Harvesting in Acton and New England
Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021 via Zoom The story of ice harvesting in New England is actually multiple stores: that of a local resource necessary for food preservation and dairy farming; the changing technologies for harvesting ice and refrigeration, and the development of a worldwide consumer market. This presentation looks at the history, tools, harvesting methods, personalities, and changes in the market for ice and refrigeration. It also compares Acton’s local ice industry with Wenham's development of a world-wide trade. Presented by Larry Kerpelman and Doug Herrick. For a video of harvesting scenes from Ice House Pond in the mid-twentieth century, click here. |
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Recent Presentation
George C. Wright – Acton Coffee Pioneer
Sunday, December 20, 2020 via Zoom Bill Klauer did our Society's first Zoom history presentation on George C. Wright, a farm boy and shoemaker who became an expert coffee buyer and eventually the president of the largest coffee and spice company in New England. His generosity left a lasting mark on the town of Acton. If you missed it, you can read our new blog post about George C. Wright. |
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Acton History OnlineThough we can't offer the resources of Jenks Library at the present time, we have been busy creating online content to share.
Explore our virtual offerings... |
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Curious About A Town Landmark?
Many of the markers and monuments around town have been photographed and documented. If you know of others that we should include, please let us know!
Explore Acton's monuments & markers... |
A Plea for Photos
During this hiatus from our usual Jenks Library open hours, we have been working on long-standing projects to improve access to our collections. One of those projects is digitizing the wonderful photos that have been donated by individuals with Acton roots.
Do you have photos of Acton houses, scenes, people or events? If you do not want to give up precious originals, we would be delighted to have good resolution scans of your Acton photos. We are very grateful to those who have preserved and shared their family's memories. Please join them in making Acton's history accessible to others. Please Contact us if you can help. |
Long-gone West Acton view
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Add Your Memories to Our Archives
A Joint Project of the Acton Historical Society and Acton Memorial Library
The COVID-19 outbreak has had an enormous impact on people's lives. For those of you coping with immediate and serious issues, our thoughts go out to you. For those who have time at this moment, we invite you to help the Society and the Memorial Library to document this historic moment as it unfolds. We would like to add your stories to our archives so that future generations can better understand this experience and how you, your family, and your friends experienced and dealt with this event. We have set up an online submission form to make it easier to share your stories with us. Items submitted will be reviewed by our archivists and added to a special collection on the public response to the pandemic. This collection will be jointly owned and shared by the Historical Society and the Memorial Library. It is important that we have your permission to use and share the items you submit. |
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