Falmouth Public Library Unveils New Digital Collection
Two years after receiving a grant to digitally preserve Falmouth’s history, the Falmouth Public Library is ready to unveil its new digital collection—Postcards From Falmouth: The Oral Histories.
The project is an ongoing effort to curate a series of oral histories based on the library’s extensive collection of historical postcards. Kim DeWall, head of technical services at FPL, was the grant manager for this project, which began in 2019 after the library was awarded funds through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners under the Library Services Technology Act. The grant was aimed at helping libraries preserve their local history through various technological means and collaborations with the community, something Ms. DeWall thought would be the perfect fit for the library’s vision of expanding its digital collections.
“We wanted to start to develop our unique digital collections and create content [and] we also wanted to include the public in these efforts,” Ms. DeWall said. “It’s so perfect, the timing is just great. Libraries should be doing this anyway but because of the pandemic, it actually gave us the tools to respond more quickly through digital services.”
The goal of this project, Ms. DeWall said, was to engage the Falmouth community in the telling of the town’s history by making the residents the historians. By letting people share their memories and stories, Ms. DeWall said they were hoping to bring to the surface stories that might have otherwise fallen between the lines of the history books.
“It was so nice to see everyone working toward a similar vision in preservation because a lot of times people write books about Falmouth and not everyone reads it from front to back,” Ms. DeWall said. “But if they’re partaking in telling those stories, then it becomes more human. People do love to remember the old times, especially during challenging times like the pandemic when everyone was feeling like they were so remote and isolated. It was nice to have people come out again and be able to share stories.”
The project is being done in conjunction with FCTV and currently consists of 15 oral histories based on different postcards from the library’s collection, but there are still more to come. Ms. DeWall said that she and her team are eager to continue to engage the public in the telling of Falmouth’s history through personal memories, stories, and postcards. She encourages anyone who is interested in proposing an oral history to email alee@falmouthpubliclibrary.org or call 508-457-2555 x2951 for more information.
“This is a really great project and it meant a lot to me because I grew up here myself,” Ms. DeWall said. “It was probably one of my favorite projects to work on since I’ve been here.”
What follows is a glimpse into three of the oral histories based on Postcards From Falmouth.
Richard Kendall On Playing Baseball At Falmouth Heights
In this interview with Barbara Kanellopoulos, the late Richard Kendall recounts his childhood memories of playing baseball in Falmouth Heights alongside local stars and professional prospects alike. He tells the history of the area, from the early visions of an elegant summer resort through the turn of the century, which evolved the area more and more each decade. But even back in 1870 when the park was established, Mr. Kendall said, baseball has always been an attraction.
“It hasn’t changed in a hundred years, the desire to have events out there,” he said. “I guess it’s instinctive: you have a big field and you’ve got to play a game.”
Mr. Kendall shares his memories of spending endless summer days at the ballfield, back in the days where you could ride the bus to the ballfield for a nickel, and pickup games among neighborhood teams were all the rage. The children themselves were the ones who handled everything, he said, organizing their own games, coaching themselves, and bringing their own equipment.
As the years went on, baseball at the Heights evolved into its own kind of spectacle, one that attracted professionals, college stars, high school prospects, and everyone in between. Mr. Kendall, who played for the Falmouth Falcons, remembers teams from all over the Cape League coming to Falmouth Heights to play baseball.
“We just lived for it,” Mr. Kendall said. “You never really won or lost, you just played the game… when you came up to bat as a late teenager and you had a former Double AA Minor League pitcher going against you, you were in awe.”
Preserving memories like these are a huge part of local history, Ms. DeWall said.
“Baseball really has quite a history on the Cape,” Ms. DeWall said. “It was so fresh in his mind, it was almost like he could go back exactly 80 years ago… He really did so much for our community here in Falmouth, so it was nice to get a lifelong resident’s perspective.”
Reverend Nell Fields On Waquoit Congregational Church
This brief but comprehensive history of the Waquoit Congregational Church tells the story of one small village’s efforts to create their own sense of community in Falmouth, a microcosm within a macrocosm.
Ms. Fields recounts the history of the church, which also served as the meetinghouse and center of activity for Waquoit village. Established in 1848, it was paid for by the congregation and had truly humble beginnings, most of which are actually still visible today: the white paint with green trim, the chandelier and light fixtures that once ran on whale oil, and the individual pews which were custom designed by the families that paid for them.
Ms. Fields explains how through the years, the church and the village have remained committed to supporting each other through community outreach. She talks about how she has always thought of Waquoit Congregational as a place of light, even before she learned that “waquoit” is a Wampanoag word meaning just that, and tells how the church has served as a beacon for people in the community for more than 150 years, both literally and figuratively.
“It almost calls to you, as you’re rounding the bend as you’re coming from Mashpee toward Falmouth, you know that you’re home because you see that steeple,” she said. “The fact that we have this small church with this big heart just delights me so. I think that’s what people see and feel and think about when they drive by that chapel.”
The community outreach efforts continue today with perhaps even more drive than before. For example, Waquoit is currently involved in the resettling of Afghan refugees in town and has a very successful food donation program for families in need.
“I thought it was great that she pointed out what a community effort [it was] and how it is a snapshot of the Falmouth community and how helpful we really are—with each other to help each other out,” Ms. DeWall said. “That’s really what makes that little small community in Waquoit such a charming asset to the Town of Falmouth.”
When the Dome Restaurant was under construction in 1953, residents vehemently opposed it. Now that it is in danger of being torn down, people are adamant that it must be preserved. As the son of E. Gunnar Peterson, the architect who helped bring the Dome to Falmouth, former owner Joel Peterson recounts the entire history of the geodesic spectacle.
Mr. Peterson was 12 years old when his father commissioned the Dome to be designed by Buckminster Fuller, but says he remembers the controversy quite clearly.
“All of that stuff you see now about ‘Save the Dome, it’s going to go down,’ it was the exact opposite,” he said. “‘If it goes up, it’s going to ruin life as we know it.’ It’s very amusing that probably the grandchildren of the people that were fighting it going up are now fighting it going down.”
Mr. Peterson recalls how Mr. Fuller lived at the family home during construction, saying he was not only the father of the Dome but also somewhat of a grandfather figure to his 12-year-old self. He talks about the culture of the Dome, which included a swanky upscale vibe that was occasionally wrinkled by a leaky ceiling. But that was to be expected at the Dome, Mr. Peterson says. It was part of the allure, as was the company who frequented it. Throughout his years at the Dome, Mr. Peterson met former president Jimmy Carter, baseball player Jackie Jensen, even the president of Finland. But the local personalities were just as important as the high-profile visitors.
“The town back in those days was a lot simpler than it is now; you literally knew everybody,” Mr. Peterson said. “So when you’re in the business, it wasn’t, ‘Oh I’m going to the Dome,’ it was ‘I’m going to see Joel.’ It became a personality thing.”