The Westfield Athenaeum Hosts a Meeting
About Working Tobacco: Memories and Reminisces
In order to capture a more comprehensive picture of the tobacco/cigar industry in the greater Westfield area, the Westfield Athenaeum is pleased to host an open forum on working tobacco in and around Westfield. Local farms have a long history of growing tobacco (the earliest record is from 1682), and many residents spent summers during their youth working in the tobacco fields and have wonderful stories to tell. The Athenaeum has found some information on the well-known “Pennsy girls” from Pennsylvania who were recruited during WWII by the UConn State Extension program, but we would like to know and document more experiences of working tobacco.
Joan Ackerman, a local photographer and former Reference Librarian at the Athenaeum, will show her slides that document a tobacco-growing season, which she took at Gib Arnold’s farm in Southwick. Then people will be encouraged to share their experiences working tobacco, identify tobacco fields, camps, and companies, to create a fuller picture of this industry. (This forum will be recorded.)
The meeting will be from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, September 30, 2010 in the Lang Auditorium and refreshments will be served. Please bring your photos and stories and join us for a fun night. If you have any questions, please contact Kate Deviny, Special Collections and Technology Services Librarian at (413) 562-0716.