Meanwhile, the other half of the group (about 90 students) traveled by yellow buses to Meeting House Hill Road in Brookline, where Brookline Historical Society’s docents were waiting to showcase their vast collection of artifacts housed in the Barnaby House and attached barn, which included tools from the ill-fated Fresh Pond Ice House found at the bottom of Potanipo, the infamous Democratic Canon, and a 1919 Model T Firetruck, courtesy of the Brookline Fire Department.

At lunch time both groups made their way to Lawrence Barn, where they enjoyed bag lunches outside in the autumn sun. After lunch, the groups swapped locations to see and learn what their counterparts had earlier in the day. 

All in all, we couldn’t have asked for a better day. The Hollis and Brookline Historical Society volunteers were incredibly generous with their time, and had clearly prepared to make the day a special one for the students. The students, for their part, represented HBHS well. The chaperones received several compliments about the students’ politeness and inquisitiveness from the Historical Societies’ volunteers throughout the day.    

(Written by the Social Studies Dept and published in our school newsletter) 

DEVELOPMENTS THIS WEEK:                                               A gradual history of how this project took shape

September 24, 2026

I hope you're settling into the year and taking time to breathe. 

I just wanted to share some news about the project:  HBHS has organized an early launch of the NHLAB2026 project, and I'll keep notes on the NHLAB site to let you know what works and what to avoid.

Here's what we've organized at HBHS. I will share all the materials with you on the NHLAB2026 website. :

Tonight during the Open House, our NHLAB artifact tables will be fully set up for parents to preview and ask questions. As a special involvement activity, we will have a table where parents can write and leave their own "townie stories" for their students to discover, connecting family history to local lore. 

Tomorrow, history classes will visit our NHLAB artifact tables in the school library all day. Students will need to choose one item from the list of 12 to analyze and write about for sharing later in class.

On Monday, the entire 9th-grade class will tour the Hollis and Brookline town historical societies. Local historians will share stories and explain the evolution of our two communities. Students will be asked to identify two items of interest and complete a thorough artifact analysis on each. We are happy to be supporting our Social Studies Department for this portion of the project. 

I'm still all-in on this project, and will continue to encourage all school libraries to reach out to their local historical societies. Ultimately, there is so much we can discover about our entire state simply by looking closely at the rich history of our own local communities. Don't forget that the NHHS has provided the state and national context with their fabulous resource database.

Please reach out if you need anything or if you would like to include your middle schools this year.

~ Be your own local legend!

June 8, 2026

If you know of anyone who would like to join our project, please reach out.  I still have supplies to share.

This week, I’m trying to plan some online meetups and in-person sharing. Looking ahead: 

1. Last SY25-26 Online Checkins!    Google Meet.  Links in email sent on June 8.   June 11, 9-10 AM         June 11 · 1–2pm      

2. August Online Meetings:  August 20 & 25 I will be hosting 2 online meetings at 10am and 4pm each day to connect with anyone who needs to touch base or join our project.     Google Meet.  Links in email sent on June 8.  Aug 20  10am       Aug 20   4pm        Aug 25   10am       Aug 25   4pm        

May 26, 2026

If anyone needs a press release, it is in the shared folder. 

May 11, 2026

Reminder:  NHLAB2026 Librarians & HistSocieties   Monday, May 18 · 2:30 – 3:30pm    Google Meet joining info is in your email! 

Please reach out if you need any help collecting items for your box. 

Here are some sites that may be helpful as you build your box content: 

The More Obvious: 

• NH Historical Society   (a focus on state history)   https://www.nhhistory.org/  

• A list of all local historical societies in NH  https://www.historicalsocietiesnh.com/  

• Library of Congress NH History  https://guides.loc.gov/new-hampshire-state-guide  

• UNH Vertical Files NH 1700s-2012   https://library.unh.edu/find/archives/collections/new-hampshire-vertical-files-collection-1732-2012   

The More Obscure: 

• https://pastmaps.com/    A web-based platform that allows users to explore over 185,000+ high-resolution, georeferenced historical maps of the United States, dating back over 150 years. It overlays these historic maps onto modern map layers, enabling users to visualize changes to landscapes, buildings, roads, and waterways over time.

• https://www.images-of-new-hampshire-history.com/     A large collection of images, you will need to cull through and possibly date them yourself.

• https://www.pinterest.com/imagesofamerica/    Arcadia Publishing's iconic Images of America books chronicle the history of US small towns and downtowns, detailing often forgotten aspects of American life.  These are the images in the books, so citing them is easy.

• https://www.earlyamericansources.org/new-hampshire-archives

• https://www.historicnewengland.org/explore/collections-access/gusn/171261   Historic New England in Boston is one of the most comprehensive independent preservation organizations in the United States.  They offer free 30min remote research help with a historian.

• https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/nationalgeology/#lat=37.0000&lng=-97.5000&zoom=4&theme=esurf&symbology=synthesis    The CNGM is full of data.

• https://native-land.ca/    Native Land mapping - Whose land are you on?

• https://www.nh.gov/almanac    This is sparse but offers a starting point? 

Can't wait to speak to you soon!  

       PS   Don't forget to sign up for the NH History PD days by the NH Historical Society! Free, and librarians are welcome!

April 13, 2026

At this time, everyone should have their materials. Please contact me if you do not. 

I'd like to keep the momentum going with a ZOOM to share progress, struggles, needs, successes, etc.  ​How does Monday, May 18 at 2:30pm sound to everyone?   If you can make it, great!  If not, I will try to record and share.  Link will be sent out to the group email.  

The Conversation:  What do you have so far?  What help do you need?   Which Historical Society contacts have been made? 

Are you making any edits to the contents of your collection?  When can we share our NH Local Artifact Boxes?

​This project is a labor of love that I'm fully committed to seeing happen across our communities. If you are feeling overwhelmed and in need of assistance for any part of this, please reach out. I will make phone calls, send emails, help find items, etc.  And YES, I will be working on this all summer, so do not hesitate to email. 

​PS:  If your HS library would like to join us, please email.  There is no such thing as too late when trying to graft stronger, healthier ties between our Libraries and our communities.

April 1, 2026

At this time, the last 4 boxes are being shipped by ILL van. I've seen some very cool community libraries in my delivery travels. TY to everyone for your patience.  The additional supplies should arrive soon and I will get those additional 8 boxes out ASAP. 

March 27, Supplies Going Out

Fifteen materials kits were picked up at the March 20 NHSLS Conference, and remaining kits are being delivered (by me) or shipped (via ILL). For those who signed up at the conference, thank you for participating. I will have kits for you after my next supply order. Special thanks to Mindy Atwood at the NH State Library for her help wth van coordination.

I've created an email group (separate from the general NHSLS mesg board) of all participants.The project timeline spreadsheet is updated and all materials were linked to my first email.  I will also update the Historical Societies tab so you have that contact information.

March 6, Timeline Ready

3/6/26  The press kit is complete and will be shared with you.  It contains everything including an image and MARC record format that you should be able to copy-paste.  If someone knows how to make an uploadable version, please guide me. 

3/4/26 Librarians, please check your email for access to our spreadsheet of progress. I will not be linking the live document here as it contains contact information.

Feb 24, Monetary Support! 

The Hollis Historical Society has been AMAZINGLY generous in supporting this endeavor! 

Feb 19, Project Steps

I'm hearing the need for a "project schedule."   

I am still in the "getting everyone on board" phase, so I'll have a clearer timeline (with approximate dates) once all of the materials are sent out.  But in the meantime, here are the 5 steps to making this happen.  I'm only on Step 2, myself.  But we should all be aiming for boxes to be ready for use in the Fall. 

Feb 16, Inclusion Idea

My students are getting excited to see the map of participants expand, and they have a suggestion for artifacts to include: People of Importance.  To clarify, they do not mean celebrities.  They hope to see stories about anyone who did difficult and important things for their communities.  I was happily surprised and proud that they made this suggestion.

Feb 13, NH Historical Society Support!

Elizabeth Dubrulle of the New Hampshire Historical Society shared that the NHHS has been working on a response to the 306 updates. Later this spring, they are rolling out a free online resource bank of NH-specific sources for high school history and government classes. Their initiative will include dozens of curated primary sources, secondary informational texts, contextual background materials, graphic organizers, discussion prompts, project suggestions, and free PD for educators. However, the NHHS materials will look at NH through a statewide lens. Ms Dubrulle sounded enthusiastic that our locally-focused project will dovetail with their work. NHHS will provide state-level history and national context, and our artifact boxes will bridge this with local historical societies' experiential, community-based materials. NHHS has also expressed interest in helping promote our artifact box network through a webpage connected to their new initiative so educators statewide can see what communities are offering and how to participate. Big visibility win for our collaboration!

To help us reach more communities, NHHS recommended some names and organizations to contact, so that’s on my weekend to-do list. 

Participating/Supporting Organizations:   Hollis Historical Society, NH Historical Society.