November 2025 Update and Membership Drive

November, 2025

Dear Members and Friends, 

For the first time ever, we have a real Certificate of Occupancy, which means that we can open our doors as a museum once all the exhibits have been assembled. The shed between the museum house and barn on Main Road has been transformed, with skillful attention to period architectural detail, into a handicapped-accessible bathroom, using materials from the former Memorial Hall and the Methodist Church. That's historical recycling. 

Next up: re-structuring and insulating the space above the kitchen for use as climate-controlled storage for much of the CHS collection. These artifacts, photographs, textiles and documents donated by Colrain residents over more than 50 years tell Colrain's story, from its beginning on the 18 century frontier to the present. 

Meanwhile, the Curatorial Committee is organizing walls, lighting and exhibits for a first-floor opening, we hope, in 2026. There, you'll see an exploration of the historic villages of Colrain, a children's room exhibit, perhaps a country store and a 1950s kitchen. 

We're writing now, as we do each fall, to ask for your continuing support for this work and to meet ongoing expenses such as heating, insurance, and maintenance of our collection. 

Important! Mark your calendar for "A Colrain Christmas Potluck and Auction," December 6, 5-9 p.m., at the Shelburne-Buckland Community Center. You can donate items for the auction by contacting Debby Wheeler (deborahjeanwheeler@gmail.com; 413-624-8800).

We also hope you'll consider joining the Helen Stacy Legacy Circle by including the historical society in your estate planning as a steward of Colrain's history into the future. 

Please fill out the form below and return it in the enclosed envelope with your generous donation. 

Thank you, 

CHS Board of Directors 

Belden Merims, Bill Cole, Joan McQuade, Phil Sherburne, Debby Wheeler, Sarah Hollister, Casey Ryan, Cynthia Herbert and Joyce Root.

- - - - -

I support the efforts of the Colrain Historical Society!

 **Non-member friends who contribute $50 or more will become life members.

Name: 

Address: 

email: 

Phone:

Please accept my donation of   ( ) $50   ( ) $100   ( )$250   ( ) $500   Other:$ 

Please make check payable to The Colrain Historical Society. Thank you! 

Note: The CHS is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization, so all donations are deductible to the extent of the State and Federal tax regulations.

November 2024 Update and Membership Drive

Click on the photos below to enlarge and read. 

November, 2024

Dear Members and Friends, 

We hope you've seen the elegant sign--Museum of Colrain History-- on the barn, freshly painted barn-red last summer by a lively crew from the county jail. 

What you couldn't see was a bevy of volunteers cleaning the barn and house while another bevy worked to inventory and digitize thousands of items in the collection, which is the repository of the material history of Colrain. Someday it will be the basis for a virtual museum of Colrain history.

While we work to achieve a certificate of occupancy for the physical museum, we will continue to offer free programs such as the recent apple history of Colrain, drawn largely from our archival collection, as well as engaging fundraisers such as last summer's sprawling garden tour.

And as we organize a refreshed museum in the former Pitt House and barn, we want to hear from you what you'd like to see in a Colrain-focused museum. We invite you to enclose a note about that with your contribution in support for an invigorated Colrain Historical Society, its collection, restored museum and popular programs.

We also invite you to join the Helen Stacy Legacy Circle, along with the late Hale Johnson and others, by including CHS in your estate planning.

Please fill in the form on the back of this letter and send it in the enclosed envelope with your generous donation.

Thank you, 

CHS Board of Directors

Belden Merims, Bill Cole, Phil Sherburne, Joan McQuade, Debby Wheeler, Sarah Hollister, Casey Ryan, and Cynthia Herbert

- - - - - - 

I support the efforts of the Colrain Historical Society! 

**Non-member friends who contribute $50 or more will become life members. 

Name 

Address

Email

Phone 

Please accept my donation of ( ) $50 ( ) $100 ( ) $250 ( ) $500 Other: $

Please make check payable to The Colrain Historical Society. Thank you!

Note: The CHS is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization, so all your donations are deductible to the extent of State and Federal tax regulations.

November 2023 Update and Membership Drive

Click on the photos below to enlarge and read.

November, 2023

Dear Members and Friends,

In 1909, in Colrain, Estella Smith married Ralph Purrington in a white tulle and lace wedding dress. In 2023, their granddaughter in California sent us that dress and a portrait of the newlyweds, plus a photo of Ralph on the job on the Shelburne Falls-Colrain Electric Road (trolley).

That’s the stuff of the story of Colrain and of the people who lived here.

The Colrain Historical Society preserves and maintains an extensive collection of artifacts, photos (especially), documents and textiles that tell those stories. They will be told in the Museum of Colrain History (formerly known as the Pitt House) throughout our five buildings in Colrain center. Work to restore these buildings for a refreshed museum will continue in 2024. You can support us in this work by volunteering to help at the summer garden tour or the “Colrain and the Hilltowns on Canvas” in the fall or by working on the collection or in building maintenance.

Meanwhile, the collection will inspire programs next summer such as “Murder on Catamount” and Colrain’s Johnny Appleseed.

We hope you’ll consider joining the Helen Stacy Legacy Circle by including the Historical Society in your estate planning as a steward of Colrain’s history into the future.

We count on your support to meet ongoing expenses such as heating, insurance and maintenance. Please fill out the form on the back of this letter and return it in the enclosed envelope with your generous contribution.

Thank you,

Colrain Historical Society Board of Directors 

 Joan McQuade, Maria Kingsley, Phil Sherburne, Debby Wheeler, Sarah Hollister, Casey Ryan, Bill Cole, Belden Merims and Cynthia Herbert

- - - - - - 

I support the efforts of the Colrain Historical Society! 

**Non-member friends who contribute $50 or more will become life members. 

Name 

Address

Email

Phone 

Please accept my donation of ( ) $50 ( ) $100 ( ) $250 ( ) $500 Other:$

Please make check payable to The Colrain Historical Society. Thank you!

Note: The CHS is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization, so all your donations are deductible to the extent of the Federal tax regulations.

November 2022 Update and Membership Drive

Click on the photos below to enlarge and read.

Dear Members and Friends, 

Perhaps you attended the engaging Colrain on Canvas Ill art show in September, the magical Woodland Garden Tour in the spring (both of them fundraisers) or the nostalgic revisiting of the Dude Ranch at its former site in Colrain.

What you could not see was the extensive recent work under the Pitt House to ensure its stability as a refreshed museum. Over the winter, electrical work inside the house will include removal of knob-and-tube wiring, a new service box, and improved lighting. Enhanced insulation will help to reduce our heating costs.

For all this, and to meet ongoing expenses such as heating, insurance, and maintenance of our extensive collection, the Colrain Historical Society counts on your support.

You can help us as well by volunteering at events such as the summer daylily sale, or the fall art show, in building upkeep (we have five buildings to maintain!), or in maintaining our extensive, and growing, collection of Colrain artifacts, costumes, and ephemera, and in planning exhibits.

Check out our new website, colrainhistoricalsociety.org, and watch the Colrain Clarion for advance notice of events such as a fascinating program on Colrain's apple history next year.

We hope you'll consider joining the Helen Stacy Legacy Circle by including the historical society in your estate planning as a steward of Colrain's history into the future. 

Please fill out the form on the back of this letter and return it in the enclosed envelope with your generous donation.

Thank you,

CHS Board of Directors

Belden Merims, Joan McQuade, Ken Noyes, Phil Sherburne, Debby Wheeler, Sarah Hollister, Casey Ryan, Bill Cole and Cynthia Herbert

- - - - - -

I support the efforts of the Colrain Historical Society!

**Non-member friends who contribute $50 or more will become life members.

Name

Address 

Email 

Phone 

Please accept my donation of ( ) $50 ( ) $100 ( ) $250 ( ) $500 Other:$ 

Please make check payable to The Colrain Historical Society. Thank you! 

Note: The CHS is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization, so all your donations are deductible to the extent of the Federal tax regulations.

November 2021 Update and Membership Drive

Click on the photos below to enlarge and read.

Dear Members and Friends,

 Flushed with pride in the success of our art exhibition, "Colrain on Canvas II," we approach 2022 with hopes for the return of in-person programs in an accessible Stacy Barn, the certification of the Pitt House for use as a museum, and a fresh Colrain on Canvas III.

Beyond their appeal as fundraisers, these popular "Colrain on Canvas" exhibitions of regional art serve to build community in Colrain. We invite your participation as volunteers in these and other Historical Society events. It's fun. 

Plans for the coming year---Covid permitting—include a Woodland Garden tour and Christmas house tour fundraisers, and a free, on-site program on the Dude Ranch. 

Why all this fundraising? Simply put, when we assumed trusteeship of the Pitt House property last year, we assumed the expense of maintaining, heating and insuring five buildings on the property. The material history of Colrain lives here in the collection of artifacts, photographs, textiles and documents donated by Colrain residents for more than 50 years. They tell Colrain's story. We curate the collection to preserve it and to uncover and display forgotten or little-known bits of town history in exhibits and in free programs. We hope to use the collection as a portal into Colrain's unique history for school children as well. 

As we plan for the re-opening of a refreshed museum in the Pitt House, once required repairs earn a certificate of occupancy, our focus is on relevancy: what did Colrain look like historically, who were its residents and what did they do? We welcome your input. 

Those repairs, largely foundational in the house and barn, will require capital funds beyond our annual operational budget. For that purpose we will be launching a capital campaign which you will hear about shortly. We will also be building a legacy circle of folks who include the Historical Society in their estate planning. Please consider joining that circle as a steward of Colrain's history into the future. 

Please fill out the form below and return it in the enclosed envelope with your generous donation. 

Thank you, 

 CHS Board of Directors 

Belden Merims, Joan McQuade, Ken Noyes, Phil Sherburne, Debby Wheeler, Janet Umphress, Casey Ryan, Bill Cole and Sarah Hollister 

- - - - - -

I support the efforts of the Colrain Historical Society!

**Non-member friends who contribute $50 or more will become life members.

Name

Address 

Email 

Phone 

Please accept my donation of ( ) $50 ( ) $100 ( ) $250 ( ) $500 Other:$ 

Please make check payable to The Colrain Historical Society. Thank you! 

Note: The CHS is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization, so all your donations are deductible to the extent of the State and Federal tax regulations.