WHATELY — The Whately Historical Society will host a talk by local resident Harold Swift about the history of the town’s tobacco Thursday in the Town Hall, starting at 7 p.m.
Growing up, Swift said he worked in local tobacco fields, where he later became a supervisor for Consolidated Cigar Co. As Swift relates, his family was heavily immersed in the tobacco crop’s industry “for years and years” dating back to the 1800s.
“That’s where my father started me,” Swift noted about working in the fields when he was young. “I thought I was going to start driving a tractor, but I started sitting on the ground picking leaves.”
The talk will last for about an hour, and will provide time for questions. It’s listed on the Historical Society’s website as “a fascinating chance to learn about what was once Whately’s largest industry.”
“It has to be talked about in the valley as a whole,” Swift said about what the talk will cover. “Tobacco Valley, as I knew it in my day, ran all the way from Portland, Conn., to Greenfield, Mass. It was along the Connecticut River, and it extended east and west.”
As the event’s host, Historical Society President Adelia Bardwell said they’re “excited about the prospect of gaining more insight into the process of working tobacco.”
When she was younger, Bardwell said “many of us made our money in the summer” working in tobacco fields.
“At the end of the day you were dirty, with that black oil from the tobacco leaves,” Bardwell continued, adding that the society plans on “pulling out a lot of our archival things and bringing them to the town hall that night.”
Included in the event will be historic photographs and refreshments.