Here we are at yet another summer! In the life of Marlborough Congregational, we’ve had quite a successful year with a LOT happening, which is never a bad thing. So…what’s on the docket for history this summer?
Well, for the first time ever, an online “journal” or blog-type page is being planned to take the place of the history books I originally thought I would be producing.
This works for us in a number of ways: first, it allows us to share our history with so many more people instantly. Second, it can be updated and amended without needing to be re-written, so that means up-to-date information can be put out much more quickly. Future historians will be able to make those changes when and if they need to, which is far more efficient!
I’ve had a few short conversations about adding something like this to our website, and I will be reaching out to the Tech Team very soon to figure out the best way to get started! I’ll have announcements on this throughout the summer, so stay tuned because I’d like to get the first “edition” out to you sometime in August!
I’m working on a way to get the digitized older documents out so folks can view them. More on that to come, but I’m thinking it’ll be something folks will be able to access in the lounge. Give me some time, but come September, I think I’ll have a solution and you’ll be seeing those old documents in real time at your fingertips!
I met members of the Marlborough Preservation Society at the Juneteenth Memorial event at the church on June 22nd. I am happy to say that we have also begun conversations which I am certain will be blossoming into a very fun partnership. Telling the history of our church is telling some of the oldest and most important history of our town, so I am very excited to be a part of a collaborative effort which I am convinced will yield both exciting events to share that history and a way for a more complete picture of our church and the town to be shown.
Speaking of the Juneteenth Memorial event…if you haven’t seen pictures, head out onto the Marlborough Congregational Church Facebook page and check out the photos from the event, provided by Jillian LaCaresse! If you missed it, the Marlborough CT Happenings & Community Facebook page also has the (most currently) complete list of black citizens who were denied burial in the Century Cemetery, provided by Town Historian Romano Ghirlanda. Those citizens are now memorialized by the permanent bench at the Century Cemetery across the street from the church. Pastor Val shared words which echoed the gravity of the event, and Professor Dr. Camesha Scruggs shared a lecture following the event at the Richmond Memorial Library on the meaning behind Juneteenth and the importance of remembrance.
For those citizens denied burial in what once was a cemetery formerly owned by Marlborough Congregational, the church bell was manually rung forty-one times, aided by several children and other members of our little church. I would be honored to ring the bell every year in remembrance.
So, it’s going to be a busy summer, but I wouldn’t have it any other way! Heck, I might even work in the Meetinghouse (sanctuary). I hear it’s a bit cooler this year!
But for now…I’m history!
Steve Pozzato Church Historian
Arcane Technology Solutions, LLC