Vermont Historical Society

09/18/2026

If you’ve visited the Vermont Historical Society’s education website, Vermont History Explorer, you probably remember it as a site designed for students.

It’s been a beloved resource for nearly two decades, and it still has plenty of that spirit. But, something has shifted: Vermont History Explorer is becoming a site for educators.

Read more here: https://vermonthistory.org/built-for-teachers-and-history-educators-the-new-vermont-history-explorer

09/18/2026

The latest issue of our member magazine, History Connections, is now out! This issue is all about the 50 for 250 project and includes:

🏛️ an overview of 50 for 250 and how the project came together
📖 a preview of some of the items in the exhibit and book
📸 how we photographed the objects
🎧 how we partnered with Bloomberg Connects to explore the exhibit.

The issue is now out to members, with copies at the Vermont History Center in Barre and Vermont History Museum in Montpelier!

09/17/2026

The Tunbridge World's Fair kicks off today in Tunbridge! The fair's been held almost annually (with a couple of exceptions in 1917/1918, 1942-44, and 2020) since 1867, and is a celebration of Vermont's agriculture and farming culture.

Here's a selection of images from photographer Jack Delano from the 1941 fair from The Library of Congress's collection.

09/16/2026

When the Trees Came Back author Robert A. Mello will be attending the Green Mountain Book Festival on Saturday, September 19th. This year's theme is Climate, Critters, and Canopies and will take place at Phoenix Books on Church Street in Burlington.

Join us on Saturday, September 19th for our next festival: Climate, Critters, and Canopies, a day devoted to environmental and nature writing!

This year's festival includes panels about ecosystems and forests, writing about our changing climate, and environmental policies and civic action. Our keynote author is Ethan Tapper, author of How to Love a Forest and the forthcoming The Forest Year!

You can find more details and RSVP on our website: https://www.greenmountainbookfestival.org/

09/16/2026

Congratulations to Brown Ledge Camp on Malletts Bay, celebrating 100 years! WCAX TV covered the story at https://www.wcax.com/2026/08/26/vermonts-brown-ledge-camp-celebrates-century

More history:

Brown Ledge Camp for girls, ages 10-17, was originally Champlain Camp, a boys' camp established in 1897. In 1927, Harry and Marjorie Brown took over, renaming it Brown Ledge Camp and operated it for the first 30 years. Their daughter, Barbara Winslow, took on the role as camp director in the 1960s.

When Barbara stepped down as the director in 1983, she appointed Bill and Kathy Neilsen to take her position as co-directors of the camp. For more than 35 years, the Neilsens upheld the traditions
established by the Brown family while steering the camp successfully into the 21st century. When Bill and Kathy retired in 2018, the board of directors of the Brown Ledge Foundation conducted a search for its fourth director and welcomed Abby Lovshin-Smith to the role. Today, Hilary Strimple Chiang serves as executive director and Brooks Johnson is camp director.

Former camp director Bill Neilsen, in speaking about what separates Brown Ledge Camp from others, said it “stems from the two approaches used by the camp. As far as the activities program goes, the female campers attend what they want, when they want, with whom they wish, for as long as they wish. For instance, if they only want to sail for the four or eight weeks, they can do that. However, usually they try a bit of everything before they decide on what to concentrate. The other difference is in their living quarters. Four to five girls stay in a cabin together. They can decorate it the way they want, etc. Their counselor lives close by but separate, and is readily available should they need her. We enable the girls to make their own decisions, to live independently – they have the opportunity for self-discovery and self-realization.”

Brown Ledge Camp is located on Malletts Bay and offers activities that include horseback riding, tennis, archery, riflery, watersports, arts and crafts, and theater arts. For more history and information please visit http://www.brownledge.org.

Sources:
- Photo courtesy of the David Coates family and Greg Dirmaier
- Chronicles of Colchester by Inge Schaefer (The History Press, 2009)
- http://www.brownledge.org

09/04/2026

Intern Nate Youmans recently took a look into an item from our collection that reflects an interesting period of Montpelier's history: when the city issued license plates for bicycles.

You can read more over on our blog: https://vermonthistory.org/vermont-history-bicycle-modernization-license-plate-museum-object

09/03/2026

Join local fiber artist Pamela Wilson for an exploration of Vermont's historic textiles, and an introduction to handspinning techniques at the Vermont History Museum in Montpelier on September 26th!

08/22/2026

Author Robert Mello recently visited Across the Fence to talk about his book, When the Trees Came Back.

You can watch the segment here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyjqRqDKjpw

08/20/2026

Today is ! It's one of those unofficial holidays that seeks to bring attention and commemorate the importance of radio and the role that it's played in our nation's history.

Vermont has a rich history with radios: the first radio station was WCAX, which began broadcasting in May 1922 (it became WCAX-TV in 1954!). As the radio industry grew, inventors and companies began manufacturing and selling receivers. One such individual was Burlington's Atwater Kent, who established his company in Philadelphia. His early radios were prohibitively expensive: one would set you back around $117 ($2,196 today). But for a rural state, radio was a useful way for Vermonters to connect with the larger world, and demand grew in the decades that followed.

We included an Atwater Kent radio from 1923 in our 50 for 250 exhibit at the Vermont History Museum in Montpelier, and you can read about its place in Vermont's history in Llu Mulvaney-Stanak's essay in our book, 50 for 250, "History of Radio in Vermont."

You can also find more about the history of radio in Vermont on our website: https://vermonthistory.org/early-days-of-radio-1920

08/20/2026

On this day in Vermont history: Alexander Twilight graduates from Middlebury College in 1823. He's the first person of color to graduate from a US institution with a college degree, and would later go on to become the first elected to serve in a state legislature in the country in 1836.