Youth Advisory Council
The Youth Advisory Council (YAC) is a group of volunteers, ages 11-17, who meet monthly to plan fun programs and fundraisers. Sometimes the fundraisers are for YAC, sometimes for the Library, and often they are to support organizations that help people.
YAC kids also help us choose new books, movies, music and video games for the Library’s Teen Space. If you would like to see if YAC is right for you…feel free to join the group’s next scheduled meeting. There is almost always pizza!
Interested in joining YAC? Email Hannele at hminsk@kingstonpubliclibrary.org
Next YAC meeting
YAC meetings are currently postponed until further notice.
- What a mustache!
The following is a portrait of Frederick G. Brackett (1854-1941). In 1889, he purchased the house at 126 Brookdale Street, built by the Chandler family around 1790, along with the sawmill located off Hall’s Brook just east of the house. Brackett continued to operate the mill (which burned down in 1924) ...Continue Reading - Swimming lessons
Source: Image from the Mary Hathaway Collection MC21.Continue Reading - Happy Father’s Day
In honor of Father’s Day this weekend, here is a sweet moment captured by Kingston historian and photographer Emily Fuller Drew of her niece, Norma, jumping into the waiting arms of her father, Clarence Drew (Emily’s brother). Source: Image from the Emily Fuller Drew Collection MC16.Continue Reading - June 1924
This photo from June 1924 shows an especially happy bunch of schoolchildren from the Center Primary School, renamed the Faunce School later that same year in honor of Walter H. Faunce, a former teacher, superintendent of schools, and town selectman. Source: Image from the School Photograph Collection IC5.Continue Reading - Allerton Artifacts at the Kingston Public Libraryhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJzwx0lxztEContinue Reading
- 60 Main Street
In this photo, a group of people (unidentified) appear to be enjoying the shade on a nice, sunny day. One of the women is holding a small dog in her arms. They’re gathered in front of the Elbridge G. Windsor House at 60 Main Street, built around 1860. Source: Image from the ...Continue Reading - Letter from a mother to her daughter on the day of her wedding
On January 1, 1857, Hannah Thomas Adams married Azel Washburn, a 27-year-old fisherman. Her mother, Hannah Thomas Brewster Adams, wrote her a note which reads: To Hannah on the day of her marriage Dear and only daughter in part Farewell! Ever since your birth you have been with me and an object ...Continue Reading - A carriage ride on the beach
Who’s ready for a day at the beach? Maybe not like this, but the weather sure looks nice here! Source: Image from the Local History Room Image Collection IC7.Continue Reading - Memorial Day
Take a look at this snapshot of the 1946 Memorial Day parade as the procession, led by marshall Winfield Keene, exiting Evergreen Cemetery. Source: Image from the Local History Room Image Collection IC7.Continue Reading - Combating an Invasive Species: The Gypsy Moth Infestation
Today, we may see gypsy moths outside our homes or in our woodlands and think nothing of them, but this insect has a tumultuous history in the United States. In 1869, an amateur entomologist imported this species from Europe to his home in Medford, Massachusetts. He intended to use the moths to ...Continue Reading - Arbor Day
Happy Arbor Day! Here are a couple snapshots of some lovely trees from the orchard behind “C. Drew’s house” on Summer Street. C. Drew either refers to Charles Drew or Christopher Prince Drew, co-founder of C. Drew and Company, both of whom lived on Summer Street. Source: Images from the Emily ...Continue Reading - A Centennial, Military and Fancy Dress Party
1876 marked the 100th anniversary of nationhood for the United States. On April 12th of that year, a “Centennial, Military and Fancy Dress Party” was held at Fuller’s Hall (which burned down in 1900) in support of the “Massachusetts Women’s Centennial Fund.” The invitation above was sent to Horatio Adams, ...Continue Reading - Childhood Hours by Cousin Benja
Benjamin Mitchell (1827-1865), who wrote as Cousin Benja, is featured in this month’s exhibit. He spent all of his life in Kingston and composed poetry and essays primarily about nature, God, and the spirit. The following poem is included in a collection of his works, Poems and Letters, compiled by his ...Continue Reading - Follow the Kingston Public Library on Instagram! @kingstonlibrary
@kingstonlibrary Keep up with all the latest library news, or share some of your best photos! Visit the Kingston Public Library Instagram here.Continue Reading - Summer Street, 1927
In March 1927, Emily Fuller Drew (seen here in her Tercentenary costume) took these photos of Summer Street, looking south toward the center of Town, just after Town Meeting voted to widen the street. Summer Street had been previously straightened and/or widened in 1846, 1856, 1905 and 1922, when a ...Continue Reading - Seeing double
In the Local History Room we have a number of stereoscopic photographs, known as stereographs or stereoviews. These prints feature two nearly identical images, side by side, typically mounted on a 3.5-by-7-inch card. When viewed through a stereoscope, they create the illusion of a single three-dimensional picture. They were popular ...Continue Reading - On this day in 1912…
Here’s a snapshot taken 106 years ago. On the back, this image is captioned: March 30, 1912 On James Rickards woodlot. Father Mother Annie Grace Lead According to census records for 1910, James C. Rickard owned a farm in Plymouth, where he lived with his wife, Lydia. The four people in this photo, however, remain unidentified. Any ideas? Source: Image ...Continue Reading - World Water Day
March 22 is World Water Day, a day to focus attention on the importance of water. In honor of the occasion, take a look at this selection of images of some of our local bodies of water. Jones River Silver Lake Indian Pond Russell’s Pond Smelt Brook Forge Pond To learn more about Kingston’s rivers, ponds, and ...Continue Reading - Ye Kyng’s Towne Sweetes
Around 1907, Carrie W. Hall and Sarah DeNormandie Bailey began a candy business called Ye Kyng’s Towne Sweetes, which they operated out of the house owned by the Hall family at 215 Main Street (below). Miss Hall managed the manufacturing, while Mrs. Bailey managed the sales. By 1910, they employed ...Continue Reading - Kingston High School girls’ basketball team, 1951
Row 1 (sitting): Joecille Ayer, Sylvia Bailey, Judy Glass, Eva Villani (Co-captain), Mary Borghesani, (Co-captain), Shirley Marshall, Lilias Ford, Mary Lawrance Row 2: Rose Cazale (Co-manager), Barbara Bearce, Anne Corrow, Nancy Bearce, Barbara Basler, Elizabeth Zwicker, Ann McGrath, Adrienne Gorn (Co-manager), Mrs. Stratton (coach) Row 3: Margo White, Sally Farrington, Patricia Bailey, ...Continue Reading