Programs, Exhibits and Events.
Fisher School open to visitors first Sunday of the month
2-4
pm 830 High Street
Westwood, MA 02090
The Fisher School is handicapped accessible and the meetings are open to all.
Programs
The Westwood Historical Society is a charitable, educational institution, organized under Chapter 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is completely supported through membership and private donations. The mission of the Society is to preserve Westwood's unique history, educate the community about it, and promote an understanding of its impact on the future. The Society collects, maintains, and preserves documents and artifacts related to the town; serves as a resource for research; and advocates for historical preservation. It supports the study of history by conducting school programs and by educating the community through public programs and exhibits. For more information please visit www.westwoodhistoricalsociety.com.
Spring Programs at 7:30
Westwood Historical program events are free of charge to all attendees
The Society's events are open to everyone at no charge. The Fisher School is accessible to all in accordance with American Disability Act. Please park along the Thurston Middle School driveway, accessed off Nahatan Street, as parking is not permitted along High Street. 830 High Street. For more information, call Westwood Historical Society at 781-326-5334.
Fisher Schoolhouse Named One of 1000 Great Places in Massachusetts to visit
see article "other activities, programs, news.
June 5th: 2:00 pm (Please note time) The Great Escape by Peter Vuono Parents and kids alike will enjoy this captivating program. Be sure to join us at the Fisher School on Saturday June 5th at 2:00 pm.
The Great Escape focuses on escapology, its history an its most famous escapists. Escapology is the art of escaping from various types of restraints - straightjackets, handcuffs, legg irons, ropes, chains and prison cells are all among the more popular restraints.
A dying breed of only 80 world-wide escape artists are in constant pursuit of more unique and difficult restraints to set them apart from the rest, often combining different restraints to increase the difficulty and drama of the escape.
Harry Houdini was undoubtedly the most famous escape artist of all time. Houdini understood that escapes were all about showmanship. Audiences would flock to see escape Houdini's performances, and despite the spectacular escapes he would perform, the real attraction was his personality and his presentation.
Houdini has an historical connection with our area. In early 1900, the WL Douglas Shoe Company of Brockton challenged Houdini to escape from one of their leather mail bags. Houdini accepted the challenge and performed the great escape at the Keith Theater in Boston in 20 minutes.
Peter Vouno's lively audience-interactive program is designed for both children (age 8 and up) and adults. It combines magic, comedy and history. Peter Vuono is a magician and teacher in the Brockton Public Schools. He performs children's magic shows frequently in the area. His programs bring rave reviews.
The program is supported by a grant from the Westwood Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
June 11th - 6:30 to 9:30 pm SPRING SOIREE
The annual Spring Soiree will be held at the home of Joanna Kjellman at 258 Grove Street. Join us for a delightful evening featuring entertainment by the Bo Winiker Trio.
Westwood Historical Society Annual Meeting
June 12th at 11:00 am at the Fisher School, 830 High Street, Westwood MA. All are invited to attend. A light lunch will be served.
Annual Appeal is Underway
The Annual Appeal is underway. Your contributions to the Society support our lectures, exhibits, programs with the Westwood Public Schools and efforts to preserve Westwood's unique history through special projects like the Baker House restoration. We do not receive any financial support from the town. We are a non-profit organization dependent upon the support of our members, In these challenging financial times, we are deeply appreciative of your support.
Exhibits: 2-4 p.m. at the Fisher School Open House
The exhibit is free to everyone and handicap accessible in accordance with the Americans Disability Act. everyone is welcome. Please park along the Thurston Middle School driveway off Nahatan Street. For more information call Westwood Historical Society at 781-326-5334
May 2nd, 2010 "School Days" Would you like to go back in time? If so, Open House at the Fisher School on Sunday May 2nd from 2:00 to 4:00 pm is an opportunity for the whole family to step inside the one room schoolhouse as it looked in the 1800s. Built in 1845 at the corner of Clapboardtree and Milk Street the schoolhouse was then the District 9 School of Dedham. In 1867 the schoolhouse was renamed for Ebenezer Fisher, a prosperous West Dedham farmer who left $600 for District 9 School when he died in 1847. The schoolhouse was donated to the Westwood Historical Society by Roger Pierce in 1994 and moved to its current home on High Street. School desks are in order and a large bronze bell sits on the teacher's desk along with the school rules. Be sure to see the original wallpaper, blackboard, flooring (covered with lots of ink spills that accumulated over the years) and coatrooms. Look for the motto for the day on the largest blackboard. If you'd like to try, quill pens and ink are available. Be sure to mind your manners or you might end up in the dunce chair wearing the dunce hat!
Throughout the month of May all Westwood third graders will spend a day at the schoolhouse experiencing school as it was in the mid 1800s.
June 6th, July 11 & August 1st. Westwood Families
The Historical Society has many artifacts and items from West Dedham and Westwood families some dating to the 18th Century. Among them are the John Abel Family, Allen Baker. Daisy (Wells) Baker, the Ernest and Leah Baker Family, George Baker Family, Harold and Sarah Baker, Sarah Eugenie Baker, Susan and Wayne Dyer Ellis Family, Farrington Family, Waldo and Katherine Hodgdon Family, Raymond Ellis Houghton and Corrine Connor Raymond, McLaren Family, Lillian (Vietz) Perkins Families, and Pickardt Family, to name a few.
Items from these and other families will be on display during the summer months. The eclectic exhibit will graphically illustrate the contributions a diversity of residents contributed to the Westwood of today. Join us and revisit Westwood's past through the experience of its families.
The Society's events are open to everyone at no charge. The Fisher School is accessible to all in accordance with American Disability Act. Please park along the Thurston Middle School driveway, accessed off Nahatan Street, as parking is not permitted along High Street. 830 High Street. For more information, call Westwood Historical Society at 781-326-5334.
School Days
School Programs
"1800s School Days" by Joan Swann
In May--Once again thirteen third grade classes, one class at a time, step back during May for an 1800s day at the Fisher School. "Scholars" arrive in period clothes and bring an old fashioned lunch, read from McGuffey's Reader, do arithmetic from West Dedham resident Warren Colburn's 1847 Intellectual Arithmetic, write with quill pen and ink, participate in a spelling bee, play old fashioned games at recess and visit the old Westwood Cemetery. A dunce chair is ready lest a student misbehaves. This is the ninth year of the popular program which compliments the third grade history curriculum.
June No House and Garden Tour for 2009 please keep an eye out for 2010
The Soiree on Friday evening June 11th. All are invited to attend this festive cocktail party. Call the Westwood Historical Society for ticket information to attend the Soiree at 781-326-5334. The Soiree is a major fund raiser to help fund the restoration of the Obed Baker House. Thank You.
Philbrick Art Class at Westwood High School
Longtime Historical Society member and former art teacher Irene Buonopane, coordinating with High School art teacher gave a presentation to art classes at the High School on March 30th, using Margaret Philbrick's step by step process for silk screening. Irene's program complemented that of the art teachers who received a 2006 "mini grant" from the Westwood Educational Foundation to purchase equipment for silk screening.
Third graders gathered on the steps of the Fisher School
Photo courtesy of John Pritchard
SPRING 2010
Map
to Westwood Historical Society, Fisher School
