THURSDAY AT 4 PM New England's Colonial Meetinghouses and Their Impact on American Society

New Ipswich Historical Society

New Ipswich Library - Apr 27, 2023 - 4 PM

New England's colonial meetinghouses embody an important yet little-known chapter in American history. Built mostly with tax money, they served as both places of worship and places for town meetings, and were the centers of life in colonial New England communities.
Using photographs of the few surviving "mint condition" meetinghouses as illustrations, Paul Wainwright tells the story of the society that built and used them, and the lasting impact they
have had on American culture.

Artistic photography and a love of history have been long-standing interests of Paul Wainwright, but he was captured by physics in high school and eventually wound up getting a PhD in the field from Yale. Wainwright worked for many years at Bell Labs, with photography being a continuing avocation. Since 2001, he has pursued his love of photography full-time, working in a traditional manner utilizing sheet film, a large-format camera, and silver gelatin printing. He is especially drawn to photographing historic structures in very personal and introspective ways.

On this day - April 26, 1898- no diary entry

On this day - April 26, 1909

James Roger diary entry

26th (Monday)

Cool and cloudy wind northerly. David fixing up brooders &c.  Mr. Hardy called about 1225 am to say he found window in belfry open and inner door of Church open.  We found on examination that the bolt had been bent by the force exerted in forcing door open, but could see no damage done.  Rehearsal at Masonic Hall tonight.  Got letters from Mrs. Spofford and from Jim at Oakdale.