Please
pass this invitation to the Library's Holiday Party at Frothingham
to anyone you know helped during the Book Brigade, but may not
be receiving this eNewsletter! You may forward this e- mail
to friends by using the link here.
As many readers know, we moved into
Frothingham
Hall
on September 15 with the enthusiastic and
much appreciated help of a
volunteer
book brigade of more than 300 Easton
residents. The library's own
historic building at 53 Main Street is undergoing
renovations and will be closed for about a
year.
Click HERE
to see images of the the Book Brigade. You might see yourself,
family, or friends!
Originally the Ames Gymnasium, Anna C. Ames
commissioned this historic building in
1902 to help promote the physical well-being of
high
school students, both boys and girls.
The building was also used for music instruction
and
band rehearsals. In the 1920s it was acquired by
Mary and Louis Frothingham who had additions
built
to accommodate offices for the American Legion,
the
Easton Red Cross Chapter, and other local
organizations.
The name was changed to Frothingham Memorial
Hall in memory of Louis Frothingham who died in
1928. After a fire in 1956, the building was
renovated
as it appears today. The building has been used
also
as offices for the Easton Visiting Nurses
Association,
classrooms for the middle school, and by the
Easton YMCA.
MORE INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT
FROTHINGHAM HALL
- It was equipped with the latest exercise
devices,
including dumbbells, Indian clubs, fencing
equipment,
and a pommel horse.
- The architect, Guy Lowell, also designed the
Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the New York State
Supreme Court Building, Lowell Lecture Hall and
the
president's house at Harvard, and academic
buildings
at Phillips Andover Academy, Simmons College,
and
Brown University.
- Mrs. Frothingham was a friend of Clara
Barton,
who founded the Red Cross, and Mr. Frothingham
was one of the organizers of the American Legion
in
Europe and founder of Easton's division.
Mrs. Frothingham was member of the Ames Free
Library's board for 55 years, from 1900- 1955, and
was board president for 36 years, 1929-
1955.
In 1931 she supervised the new children's wing
built by Mrs. William Hadwin Ames
in memory of her husband. Having been
so
heavily involved with the library's history, as well
as the
benefactor of Frothingham, we think she would
have
nodded approvingly at all the library activities now
underway at the Hall.
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Ames Free Library
508-238-2000
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