For information on any of these projects or to volunteer, please contact the Ipswich Historical Society and Museums office at 978-356-2811 or director@ipswichmuseum.net.

Bull Brook DVD and Curriculum Resource Guide In 2003, the Ipswich Historical Society agreed to serve as fiscal agent for a project to tell the story of Bull Brook, an 11,000-year-old Paleoindian site in Ipswich whose history is largely unknown outside of archeology circles. But thanks to a generous grant from the Essex National Heritage Commission, a group of talented and dedicated professionals is creating a DVD and companion Curriculum Resource Guide to build awareness of the site in Ipswich, Essex County, and beyond.

Melanie Tossell, the DVD producer (who also works for the Peabody Essex Museum), has spent hundreds of hours conducting interviews with, among others, the “Bull Brook Boys,” a group of heroic amateur archeologists who preserved the site from destruction in the 1950s, and worked for many years studying and recording its importance. Chris Idzyk, a teacher at the Frederick Douglass Charter School in Boston, and Eugene Winter, a renowned archeologist and curriculum developer, have been working on the Resource Guide for primarily high school and junior high school teachers.

Ipswich Women’s Heritage Trail
A group of researchers and interested volunteers has been working to uncover the stories of women in Ipswich history, from its earliest days of settlement in 1633 to the more recent past. The plan is to create a published, self-guided walking tour if sites having to do with individual women (poet Anne Bradstreet, artist Jane Peterson, Ipswich lace makers) and organizations (Ipswich Female Seminary, Ipswich Female Anti-Slavery Society). Modeled on the Salem Women’s Heritage Trail and the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail, we hope to complete the Ipswich Trail in the Fall of 2006.
Nominations to the trail will be accepted through March 31, 2006.

Arthur Wesley Dow Collection Cataloging
Under the guidance of Historical Society trustee and Dow curator, Stephanie R. Gaskins, a team of volunteers has been cataloging Dow paintings, woodblock prints, woodblocks, manuscript material, journals, medals, mementoes, and furniture items. The Society owns the largest single collection of works by Dow.

Rare Books Cataloging
In February 2006, a hard-copy catlog and condition report of the Ipswich Religious Library was completed -- a unique collection of volumes including those dating to 16th century England. The religious books contained in the Society’s general collection were also catloged. Books presently being inventoried include: Heard family books, Ipswich Female Seminary books, and those that comprise the Society’s general collection (genealogy and family history, military, history, geography, literature). Soon, the task of entering the data into PastPerfect will begin, to create a searchable database.
(The Society’s library is non-circulating, and may only be investigated by appointment by calling Pat Tyler at 978-356-2811, or by emailing her at info@ipswichmuseum.net.)

Ipswich Historical Society Collection Cataloging For the past few years, a group of dedicated volunteers has been cataloging all of the objects in the Society’s collections including numbering, photographing, and entering the information into PastPerfect to create a searchable database.

The Highland Cemetery, New Part, Project (Also known as the “Immigrant Cemetery,” the “Polish Cemetery,” the “Greek Cemetery,” and the “TB Cemetery”) The project was conceived and sponsored by the late William Markos, a long-time member of the Ipswich Historical Society Finance Committee. Bill had lived in Ipswich all his life and served on many town committees. During his tenure on the Finance Committee of the town of Ipswich, he called attention to the small cemetery on Fowlers’ Lane and succeeded in having it cleaned up. But it was also Bill’s wish to have the stories of those buried there told. The cemetery was mostly used from 1913 until the 1930s. Buried there are Greeks, Polish, French-Canadians, and “Yankees.” Many of these people made the journey to Ipswich to work in the Ipswich Mills.

Under the direction of Society trustee Stephanie R. Gaskins, research has been conducted on the history of the cemetery and those buried there. Works Progress Administration (WPA) cemetery index “cards” from the 1930s, birth and death certificates, obituaries, and old newspaper articles have been copied. All of the information gathered has been entered into a special computer program. The stones have been photographed. Articles have appeared in several newspapers. Public gatherings have been held, and interviews have been conducted with descendants of the people buried there.

In 2006, a historic plaque will be mounted at the cemetery. An exhibit and accompanying booklet are also planned.

Ipswich Sports History
Another project conceived by the late William Markos, it was his hope to document and tell the stories of athletics in Ipswich - both competitive and noncompetitive. In January 2006, the Society hosted an informal discussion to kick off the project. Now, Society trustee Stephanie R. Gaskins is collecting stories and images. If you have something to share, please contact us!