As the town celebrates its 350th anniversary, three separate photo projects are taking a look at Deerfield’s past through the camera lens.

In “Remembering Deerfield, People, Places and Events” and “This is Deerfield 2023,” residents are invited to share their own and their families’ memories of the town through photographs in two projects resident Marie Thomas is planning to showcase at the town’s birthday celebrations throughout the year. 

Meanwhile, Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (PVMA) Memorial Hall Curator Ray Radigan is preparing a repeat photography project called “Deerfield Now and Then,” where museum staff and Frontier Regional School photography students are pulling photos from PVMA’s collection and taking photos of the same location in the present day.

Remembering Deerfield People, Places and Events

Thomas’ first project invites folks to share up to 10 photos of their favorite Deerfield me mory and have it scanned at Town Hall. She said their goal is to highlight the numerous big events the town has put together over the years, such as the 300th-year parade, in order to tell the story of the town through different perspectives.

“Remembering Deerfield is trying to capture people’s best memories of their time … it’s giving everybody an opportunity for their families to become part of history,” Thomas said. While photos will be scanned for the project, people are welcome to donate them to the project. “Any stuff I collect will be donated to PVMA.”

Other examples of photos donated were a 1937 class photo of 2nd graders and then a reunion photo of the same class in 1988, and a 1973 edition of the Greenfield Recorder, which covered the town’s 300th celebration parade, where it was so hot that marchers and spectators collapsed from the heat.

To have photos scanned or to donate them, Thomas is at the Deerfield Town Hall, 8 Conway St., on Mondays from 9 a.m. to noon and Tuesdays from 1 to 4 p.m. Photos should be in by May to ensure they make the exhibit for June’s celebrations.

This is Deerfield 2023

Thomas’ second project asks residents to take photos of their family standing in front of their house to get a snapshot of how people are living in Deerfield in this present moment.

The inspiration comes from a historical collection of photos from the early 1900s where families posed for photos outside their homes, showing how and where they lived in the first decade of the 20th century. Thomas said any resident, regardless of how long they’ve lived in town, is welcome to participate and her hope is to show future generations how Deerfield folks live now.

“This is sort of a gift for the future” she said. “They may not live here in 50 years, they may not live here in 10 years, but they live here now.”

Photos of families can be sent Deerfieldstories2023@gmail.com and should include names, address, the date it was taken and any other information people may find interesting, such as the construction date of the house or ages of subjects. Photos will be accepted through the fall.

Both projects, Thomas said, will supplement the oral history project she and her husband, Peter, are helping put together with other members of the town’s 350th Anniversary Steering Committee in order to paint a full picture of Deerfield.

“We’re hoping we create good feelings for people and also material for future scholars,” Thomas said. “You find people are sitting on this information and it’s all scattered and you want to try and pull it all together.

Deerfield Now and Then

As Thomas pulls her projects together, it just so happens that Radigan is also creating a photography exhibit for the town’s 350th celebration. He plans for Deerfield Now and Then to be exhibited at Town Hall in May and June before moving to PVMA’s Memorial Hall on Labor Day, where it will remain until Halloween.

Radigan said the exhibition will “show the changing face of Deerfield” through contemporary photos and pictures from PVMA’s collection dating from the early 1880s to the 1920s. Furthermore, PVMA is working with local artists to depict what the scenes pictured may look like in the near or distant future.

“Deerfield is an interesting place because its history is on display at all times,” Radigan said. “You want to give people a sense of how things change over time, or how they don’t change over time.”

The three dozen scenes depicted a range from all over Deerfield, with some buildings looking just like they did 100 years ago, while others no longer exist. Each photograph, where possible, will have information alongside it describing the year of construction, background and significance of each scene.

“It’s very interesting, some of them are remarkably similar,” Radigan said, noting some places like an old church in west Deerfield or the Wapping Schoolhouse, which was moved from where Routes 5 and 10 are now, are no longer at their previous location. “Without the photograph you walk down the street and have no idea that something was there.”

Radigan said he is hopeful the exhibit will spread some more historical knowledge to the community.

“It’s giving people a sense of history and a sense of place,” he said. “It’s a broad historic spectrum and not getting into one event. I’m excited to see how it turns out.”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.

]]>