PUBLISHING AND PRINTING IN BRATTLEBORO TODAY
Write Action has joined the Friends of Brooks Memorial Library and the Brattleboro Historical Society in researching and promoting Brattleboro’s past heritage and present status as a “book town.” This current collaboration is focused on both the history of, and identifying and presenting today’s publishing and printing businesses as an important and vibrant part of our community.
The Brattleboro publishing and printing collaborative launched its initiative in 2015 with a public meeting that generated ideas about ways to promote the town’s book history and reputation. Subsequent projects have included the preparation of annotated bibliography about relevant holdings at the Brooks Memorial Library, and a public presentation about the Stephen Daye Press.
Additionally, the groups above have joined forces with the Brattleboro Literary Festival, Marlboro College, 118 Elliot and others to better highlight the rich history of the printed word in Brattleboro and environs for locals and visitors alike. The “Peoples, Places and History of the Written Word in Brattleboro, Vermont” project, which was submitted to the National Endowment for the Humanities for a matching grant opportunity last month, aims to create a strong community focused on words in and around Brattleboro. The collaborative research, public events, and tours envisioned to be created by the Project will enable a more rooted connection to the history and places we share as a community today and stimulate increased tourism to the area.
If you are interested in learning more about the current project, please contact brattprintpub@gmail.com.
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The next wave
I wonder which printer in town will be the first known for 3-D printing?
An opportunity!
Oral Histories
Has anyone involved in this project thought about getting oral histories from people who have worked in the printing trades in Brattleboro?
Celebrating the Stephen Daye Press
Here is a link to youtube for a video taken of a September 8 2016 Brattleboro Historical Society presentation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTtei9hfMw
At this event, John Hooper, Jr., Mary Anne Hooper, and Stephen Hooper — the children of Marion Rice Hooper and John Hooper, founders of Stephen Daye Press — discussed the history of that publishing venture, and took questions from the audience. The video is 40 minutes, which may be too long for some, but may be terribly interesting for others.