Touching All the Chords of Memory
- Robert Thomson
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
When history buffs plan our share of a big national birthday party, they face a little problem: Sandwich is widely known as "the town that glass built," and the famous glass factory wasn't a thing in 1776.
Not to worry. In fact, if the story of the United States and the intertwined story of little old Sandwich were stuck in 1776, we'd have only a sliver of the tale we're celebrating in 2026. In marking the 250th anniversary of our nation, we do so with pride in how Sandwich became part of the Revolutionary Era and how the town has evolved since.
Last month in this space, I wrote about our town's portion of Revolutionary history and invited readers to stand at the junction of Main and Water streets in Sandwich Village to begin a trip back to that time. [How to Visit Revolutionary Sandwich, Feb. 20]
From that vantage point, it's just a slight side glance to see the Sandwich Glass Museum and Historical Society, the starting place for many visitors as they explore the Glass Town Cultural District and nearby Jarvesville.
Sounds like the town that glass built. But inside the museum, curator Bonnie Lilienfeld has the Spirit of '76 and beyond. "l stayed up late one night going through the database for the non-glass objects in our collections and there are some really wonderful things here!"
This winter, Lilienfeld curated a plan for the America250 year.
"We are revisiting familiar pieces, conducting new research, and reinterpreting their stories to explore how everyday life in Sandwich was shaped by—and helped shape—the larger national experience. From household objects to works of craftsmanship, these items connect local lives to the broader history of a developing nation, reminding us that American history is built from individual stories, communities and places like Sandwich.”
One of her Facebook postings highlights a silk-on-linen sampler created in 1827 by 14-year-old Caroline Ewer of East Sandwich. Through this work of art, Lilienfeld stitched a link to early American schooling. Caroline's needlework combined a decorative pattern with a display of the alphabet, a family history and a verse begins:
"Jesus permit thy gracious name to stand
As the first effort of a youthful hand"
Watch for more America250-themed postings on Facebook and Instagram, and in the History Corner of the Sandwich Historical Society website, as well as for displays at the Glass Museum.
This broad approach to the national celebration was starting to sound familiar. I looked back through the files at the Sandwich Town Archives and found a planning memo written by town historian Russell A. Lovell Jr. for the 1976 Bicentennial.
"The idea," Lovell wrote, "is to honor our history broadly, not only in the Revolution but earlier as with our Quaker story and later as with Sandwich glass.”
Lovell devoted himself to celebrating the American Revolution. This energetic researcher probably dreamed of finding 365 Revolutionary things to spotlight during 1976. But he encountered an obstacle: Our town isn't Boston, Lexington or Concord. Yes, we have Revolutionary heroes, villains and dramas, but as Lovell wrote, the "supply of events and leading personalities is very unevenly distributed.”
Undeterred, Lovell found ways to get scores of people—government leaders, history groups, museum coordinators, civic associations, artists, actors—into meaningful party planning.
In his Bicentennial memo, he outlined "some of the things that were happening in Sandwich in the Revolution itself and how we might join in the national festival period by marking both these events and other notable parts of our town history.”
Lovell then drafted assignments for everyone and found relevance in every part of Sandwich's many centuries of history. One of his suggestions for the Historical Society caught my attention: Display Freeman's sword-cane.
Nathaniel Freeman (1741-1827) was a big deal in Revolutionary Sandwich, and town records show him in the middle of fights large and small. If I saw the colonel coming down the street with that walking stick, I'd step out of the way. Is the devilish device still around half a century after Lovell highlighted it?
"l just had the sword-cane in my hands a few days ago!" Lilienfeld said. It was on loan to the Nye Museum in East Sandwich but came back to the Historical Society this year. In June, closer to our big July events, Lilienfeld plans to highlight the wood cane with the concealed steel dagger.
The big July events are in the hands of the town's America250 committee, led by Leanne Drake, the director of community development. Library Director Diane Costagliola, a member of the committee, is planning a July 1 celebration on the library lawn at 142 Main Street.
That will include a Town Band concert conducted by Jeremy Cadrin, a reading from the Declaration of Independence and a church-bell ringing like the ones Sandwich heard at Independence Day celebrations in 1876 and 1976. A new work of public art, commissioned by the Glass Town Cultural District Steering Committee for America250, will be displayed on the library lawn.
Then on July 4, the town will march and cheer throughout Sandwich Village in its traditional Independence Day parade.
The committee also is working on a web page that will link to the town's many historical organizations, drawing together all centuries of our story through writings, exhibits, documents, art and photos.
Sandwich Town Archivist Jen Ratliff said she's been "working with local historians and museum professionals booking appointments to pore through research materials related to the Revolutionary period, Bicentennial and Sandwich during the 18th century.”
"Their work," Ratliff said, "unearths fascinating stories, from the defiant raising of liberty poles to the deep-seated rifts between Patriot and Tory families that simmered for generations.”
Ratliff is part of an evolving group of museum stewards, collection managers and preservation advocates called Sandwich Preservation Partners.
"The group is just beginning to take shape," she said, "but I hope it will spark more collaboration between the various cultural heritage organizations in Sandwich.”
On May 27, I'll talk about the time capsules that link the 1876 celebration with the 1976 festivities and, we hope, the 2076 Tricentennial. Thanks to the Friends of the Sandwich Town Archives for sponsoring this event at the library and for sharing my stories about the town's Centennial Box, one of America's first time capsules.
Many fans of local history are hoping to evoke the spirit Lovell described a half-century ago: "This is going to be a series of really happy, constructive events which everyone should enjoy and help to bring about. Let's make it happen!”
Robert Thomson is a member of the Friends of the Sandwich Town Archives, a dedicated, all-volunteer, 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to supporting and promoting the archives’ collections and the rich, diverse history of the town of Sandwich.
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