Dear readers,
Historic Northampton has done the city of Northampton a wonderful service by putting together its exhibition on the history of Main Street. As reporter Steve Pfarrer points out in this week’s cover story, the exhibit “Making it on Main Street,” which runs through June 1 next year, focuses on the small business owners, artisans and activists of the day rather than the more famous historical figures. In doing so, the exhibit makes a clear narrative from the time of 1650 to the present and, one imagines, lets viewers best picture themselves among the various iterations of Paradise City. The exhibition consists of historic items, descriptions, and a (nearly) to scale 12-foot model of what Main Street in Northampton looked like in the year 1847.
The exhibition is also a testament to the durability of Historic Northampton itself, which five years ago was facing some financial difficulties. Both Elizabeth Sharpe and Laurie Saunders, who joined Historic Northampton in 2016, are doing their best to breathe new life into the organization as co-executive directors. As Sharpe says in the article, “Once you see your world in a new way, your care for it increases, and you want to preserve it or make it better.” That’s the task of our local historians, and they accomplish it with this latest exhibition. I’m looking forward to seeing more.
Speaking of Northampton’s history, it’s been this paper’s sad duty to write about the passing of Frances Crowe, who died Tuesday at the age of 100. A longtime activist who had lived in Northampton since 1951, Crowe was an institution and an inspiration to many of the progressive voices who call the Valley home, and much further beyond. She was also a columnist for Hampshire Life, and we will miss printing her words. I won’t soon forget the image from her latest column, talking about when she poured a baby bottle of her own blood on top of a nuclear submarine in protest of nuclear weapons. Her commitment to anti-war, anti-nuclear, pro-environment, and pro-equality causes has been, and continues to be, a vital part of Northampton’s history.
— Dave Eisenstadter