By Kate Malmstrom, Program Assistant
One of the Vermont History Museum’s most iconic objects is a taxidermied catamount, the Barnard Panther. It has commanded the attention of Vermonters young and old since November 1881, when it was tracked down, slain, stuffed, and sent on tour around New England…
By Emily Lev, Director of Stewardship & Public Relations
With nearly 30,000 items stored in the basement of the Vermont History Center, it might be challenging to determine what is the largest item in our collection. Jennifer Blair, Director of Finance and Operations, says it’s quite simple. The largest…
By Katie Grant, Collections Manager
What does a porcelain saucer from the 1920s, a drum major’s shako from the 1940s, and a signed ribbon fragment from 2025 have in common? These three objects all tell an important story about the Vermont History Center and its occupants.
The Spaulding Graded School…
By Eileen P. Corcoran, Director of Service & Outreach
You can still find echoes of the Spaulding Graded School’s educational mission in the fabric of the building. The chalkboard that spans one wall in theCommunity Room, the worn stair treads leading to second floor, the names carved secretly into the…
By Nate Youmans, VHS Intern
Tucked between agrarian fields and green mountains, the city of Barre is literally and figuratively built on granite. Since its charter as part of New Hampshire in 1780, Barre has been a melting pot of Yankee traditions and the customs of over sixteen distinct immigrant populations.…
Registration is now open for the 2026 LLHSM Conference being held May 8th at the Saint Albans Museum in St. Albans. This meeting is the largest yearly gathering of local history and museum professionals in the state, and it's a chance to network and learn with colleagues in a supportive environment.
This…
By Danielle Harris-Burnett, Museum Educator
“Hello, hello, you’ve got the wrong number,” a third grader places the phone receiver back on the wall. There’s something fascinating about holding it, mimicking one side of a conversation. If they click a button on the side of the station, they hear a different…
The Vermont Historical Society is pleased to announce When the Trees Came Back: The Great Battle to Save Vermont’s Forests, by Robert Mello. This book explores the long campaign to reverse the deforestation that decimated Vermont’s ancient forests after the arrival of settlers in the mid-1700s.
By Amanda Kay Gustin, Director of Collections and Access
No matter how old an object is or how long we’ve held it in our collections, we can always learn something new about it.
This spring, VHS collections staff are focusing intensely on the items we’ve selected for the “50 for 250” project: 50 items…
The Vermont Historical Society is pleased to announce a new project called 50 for 250. As part of national commemorations of the 250thanniversary of the United States, VHS has selected 50 items from its collections that symbolize themes, trends, and moments from the state’s long and proud history.
