As we have learned over the centuries, when it comes to burning witches, it doesn’t really matter if you have burned a real witch or just someone who, in your fevered, partisan, and paranoid imagination, could easily become a witch in the future. It is the burning that is the message.
At least a few residents of Great Barrington were aware of Laura Secord by the early 1900s. When the Ingersoll home was first moved and then torn down during the construction of the Mason Library, structural artifacts were removed and sent to Canada for a Laura Secord exhibit.
Not only are supporters of the legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois trying to name one of the local public schools after him, but they want to commission a sculptor to come up with a life-sized likeness of him that would be placed on the front lawn of the Mason Library.
It was a messy night at Town Hall. In the end, Benchmark Development got a green light to proceed with its plans to design a second building planned for a parcel on the historic Searles Castle property.
Benchmark's principals had informally brought the plans to the Historic District Commission meeting and were met by the reality that the land parcel’s proximity to Searles Castle and its carriage house may raise some hoops to jump through.
BerkshireSPEAKS will feature brief presentations by six Berkshire trendsetters discussing their work, their passions, and their visions for the future.
