Hidden History on WCAI

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Nantucket Historical Association Acquires a Thank-You Gift from the 1840s Feb 18, 2019

Show notes

The Nantucket Historical Association recently added an unusual item to its map collection: an embossed outline map of Nantucket, tucked in the back of the 1841 Annual Report of the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind, now known as the Perkins School for the Blind. “It seems that the head of the school, Dr. Samuel Howe, when he founded the school, or was one of the co-founders of the school, he was interested in building a library for his students, and there were not many tactile books available for the blind at this point in time,” said Amelia Holmes, Associate Director of the Historical Association’s Research Library. “And so he was interested in increasing not just educational texts but leisure texts as well that they could read in their own free time.” The Braille method was being developed in France at the time, but it wasn’t well-known in 1841. So Dr. Howe developed his own method of tactile type, known as “Boston Line Type,” that could fit twice as much

Melting Glaciers Brought Brick Making to West Barnstable Feb 04, 2019

Show notes

Just north of Route 6-A in West Barnstable, a narrow path runs through a nature preserve to the edge of what looks like a pond. It’s actually the flooded clay pit from the West Barnstable Brick Company, the ruins of which lie just out of view on the opposite side.

Set Designers’ Vision Infuses Former Meeting House-Turned Private Residence Jan 21, 2019

Show notes

Just off route 6A in Yarmouth Port sits a former Universalist Meeting House called Strawberry Hill, built in 1836. It was converted into a private residence, and is now on the market. What makes the property so unique is the legacy of its most recent owners, world-renowned set designers Herbert Senn and Helen Pond. “They’re very, very well-known throughout the theatrical world, both on Broadway in New York, and Boston, Houston, Texas, and as far as Moscow in Russia,” said Lee Marchildon, the real estate agent handling the sale. He’s lived in Yarmouth Port for 48 years, and knew Herb and Helen well. They spent 40 years designing sets for the Cape Playhouse in Dennis. “And it was not uncommon for them, when the curtain would open they’d get a standing ovation and tremendous applause just from the set,” said Marchildon. The couple bought Strawberry Hill in 1973, and used their considerable talents as set designers to transform the building’s interior. Their living space was the section of

From A Sea Captain's House To A Public Radio Station - The Story Of WCAI's Home Base Jan 07, 2019

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WCAI has operated from a former sea captain's house in Woods Hole since the station’s founding in 2000.

Solstice Singers Perform Medieval Music For The Holidays Dec 24, 2018

Show notes

The Cape Cod musical group, the Solstice Singers, has been performing for over a quarter century. They sing mainly medieval and Renaissance songs, complemented by drama, dance, poetry and period costumes.

Cape Cod Fire Towers: Still Standing Watch After More Than A Century Dec 03, 2018

Show notes

Cape Cod’s fire towers –like the one at Howlands Park Hill in Falmouth - have played a major role in helping to detect fires for over a century – and today they’re used in much the same as they always have been.

At Plimoth Plantation, Shedding Light On The First Thanksgiving Nov 19, 2018

Show notes

Later this week, most of us will sit down to a Thanksgiving meal, just as the Pilgrims’ did after their first year in Plymouth. But Thanksgiving as we know it today is much different from the one the Pilgrims celebrated almost 400 years ago. Plimoth Plantation offers living history re-creations of that period in American history. One of their missions is to educate visitors about how the first Thanksgiving really happened. “For one thing, the first Thanksgiving was three days long,” said Kathleen Wall, a Foodways Associate at Plimoth Plantation. And it most likely occurred in late September or early October. The day that came to be known as Thanksgiving didn’t become a national holiday until 1863, under President Abraham Lincoln. “The Pilgrims are actually an afterthought,” said Wall. “First, there’s Thanksgiving to celebrate the nation together. And remember, Abraham Lincoln is President during the Civil War, so the nation is not together. And this becomes in some ways a northern

Falmouth Presents History With A Halloween Twist Oct 29, 2018

Show notes

A pre-Halloween event in Falmouth called ‘A Night with the Watchman’ presents local history with a lighthearted twist. It’s held at the Dr. Francis Wicks House, built in 1790 and acquired by the Falmouth Historical Society in 1930. “It’s a sneaky way of getting historic education about the town out,” said Tamsen George, President of the Falmouth Historical Society. “In the parlor we will have the poisoner who was from Cataumet who poisoned 32 people and was captured in 1941. And she’ll talk about it.” Prior to the event, which attracts a few hundred people each year, local volunteer actors rehearse scripted scenes they’ll act out in different rooms of the house. The scenes are fictional, but they’re derived from real people and events in Falmouth history. Each is presented with tongue-in-cheek humor, like a scene in the doctor’s office dealing with smallpox inoculation. “And we will say ‘Well, the modern innovation is to use an inoculation with cow pox.’ And the patient is very alarmed

An Art Deco Masterpiece Entrances Dennis Moviegoers Oct 15, 2018

Show notes

The mural at the Cape Cinema movie theater is one of the Cape’s largest, most unusual works of art. The Cape Cinema opened in June, 1930. It was built by Raymond Moore, who had established the Cape Playhouse in 1926, then decided to build a movie theater nearby.

Re-Affirming Cape Cod's Independence Day Oct 01, 2018

Show notes

244 years ago, on the morning of September 27 th , 1774, 1,500 Cape Cod residents gathered at the Old Colonial Courthouse in Barnstable. The protesters were upset about new, punitive laws the British had imposed shortly after the Boston Tea Party.

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