Photo by Andrew Thompson
In September and October, we are celebrating sheep and all things wooly. We have two programs planned: On Wednesday, September 29 at 7 p.m. “The Great Sheep Boom and Its Enduring Legacy” with farmer journalist, Steve Taylor, a NH Humanities Council program. Program description: In a brief 30-year period in the early 19th century the New Hampshire countryside became home to hundreds of thousands of sheep. Production of wool became a lucrative business, generating fortunes and providing the only era of true agricultural prosperity in the state’s history. It left behind a legacy of fine architecture and thousands of miles of rugged stonewalls. Farmers overcame enormous challenges to make sheep husbandry succeed, but forces from beyond New Hampshire were to doom the industry, with social consequences that would last a century.
Also on display are related materials from our local history collections, from the “We the People bookshelf”, and posters from our “Picturing America” collection – these last two provided by grants from The National Endowment for the Humanities.
On Saturday, October 2, from 1 to 3 pm, you can sign-up on Fiber Arts Day for one or two workshops: needle-felting with Theresa Bennett and felted soap with Debra Franchi. There is a display of hand-spun, plant-dyed wool, knitted woolen things, and a fleece by the big south-facing windows.
Wendy Ketchum has a wonderful exhibition of prints and paintings of her sheep up on the library walls.