The Charlestown Historical Society (CHS) will take to the internet for the first time in its long history to conduct its annual meeting this coming Thursday, June 11 – which coincides with Dr. Joseph Warren’s birthday.
President Julie Hall said they would have an online Zoom and Facebook Live annual meeting that will feature the highlights from the year, a membership drive and guest speaker Christian DiSpigna – a published researcher on Dr. Warren.
Hall said the by-laws of the organization require an annual meeting at this time each year, and with the COVID-19 restrictions, they were struggling to figure out how to perform that critical function. They decided to turn to technology, and believe they will have a nice presentation filled with history.
“It’s open to everyone as well as our members,” said Hall. “We have to have an Annual Meeting every year, but it was hard to get that done without doing it online. I believe it’s going to give us an opportunity to kick-off our membership drive too. In the past, the programs have supported us, but we really want to have a push to add new members. We’ve had a lot of interest from all age groups, especially when we added Instagram. Our mission is to Preserve, Protect and Promote all that is special about Charlestown. It’s more than just the Battle of Bunker Hill. There is a long and special culture that is here…Through it all, Charlestown’s culture has been so strong and vibrant.”
Already, starting this week, Hall and members of the community have been reading one chapter a night of Nathanial Philbrick’s book ‘Bunker Hill: A City on Fire.’ They hope to read one chapter a night on Facebook Live through next week.
“It’s something new we can do online and we hope to have it all done by next Thursday – Dr. Warren’s birthday,” she said.
The CHS has been particularly active this year in trying to update the recent history of Charlestown from the 20th Century. This year they added the Sweeney Archives that give a first-hand look at the anti-Urban Renewal fights of the mid-20th Century. They have done an oral history project and a living history of the Bunker Hill Development.
The organization is also working on a Civil War veterans project.
Hall said she is excited for the meeting on June 11, and they will also have a surprise find from Paul Lane. She said she is also excited about DiSpigna speaking, as he has created the Dr. Joseph Warren Society non-profit. The meeting will take place at 6 p.m. online at the Facebook page, (www.facebook.com/CharlestownHistoricalSociety), or on the upcoming Zoom link.