Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, and Report for America
BURLINGTON — There are nearly 200 historical societies in the state of Vermont. But Burlington, the state’s biggest city, doesn’t have one of its own.
A group of local history enthusiasts want to change that.
For the last three years, the volunteers have been laying the foundation to open what they’ll call the Burlington History & Culture Center. With future funding up in the air, the group aims to create its inaugural exhibit by the end of 2027. Those involved hope it will lead to additional funding and a permanent home to showcase Queen City history.
“We’re hoping that perhaps there’s a space that is empty — an empty storefront or some other area — that there’s space, and the people who own that space would donate it, reduce the price,” said Gail Rosenberg, one of the co-founders.
When Rosenberg and fellow historian Elise Guyette led the Burlington Edible History Tour from 2014 to 2019, they often found themselves remarking that Burlington lacked a dedicated history museum. After the pandemic, when restaurants were not yet ready to welcome tour groups again, they saw an opportunity to turn that observation into action.
The women joined up with Melinda Moulton, co-founder of Burlington’s Main Street Landing, and Lisa Evans, former executive director of the St. Albans Museum. The four women formed a nonprofit and set out to create Burlington’s history museum, guided by the belief that “history belongs to everyone, and we all belong to history.”
In 2023, the project received a three-year, $10,000 grant from Vermont Humanities, part of the organization’s first multi-year partnerships.
The grant helped launch an 18-month-long “listening tour” that included discussion groups, presentations, interviews, surveys and evaluations designed to help shape the organization’s mission.
“We’re dedicated to telling stories that haven’t been told. And there’s a lot of them that haven’t been told,” Guyette said.
Rosenberg recalled one conversation that left a lasting impression. A discussion group of young women, many from African countries, spoke about wanting to bring pieces of their childhood to Burlington.
“They started talking about music, and the lullabies that their grandmothers sang to them when they were in Africa, and some here. And they started to go online and find some of the tunes,” Rosenberg said.
Alongside the listening tour, the organization assembled a 10-member board and a 14-member advisory council, launched a website and participated in various local and national events and conferences. On June 30, the group launched an online quarterly newsletter.
“The newsletter is a way to let people know what their organization is, what they do, what their mission is,” said Stephanie Salmon, a Burlington-based graphic designer who created the newsletter. “It helps bring people to the website to find out what’s the latest and greatest thing that they’re doing.”
One of Salmon’s favorite features is an interactive “Mystery Artifact” section, where readers try to identify a historical object from a photograph. The most recent newsletter featured a butcher’s cuff, a protective sleeve worn by butchers to prevent injuries while cutting meat.
The organization’s larger focus, however, is creating a 1,000-square-foot sample exhibit by the end of 2027. They’re collaborating with a Maryland-based exhibition and experience design firm, Quatrefoil Associates. Amity Femia, Quatrefoil’s senior graphics designer, is a Burlingtonian and is helping bring a local perspective to the “pitch deck,” which includes sketches, renderings and diagrams of the exhibit.
“We’re gonna use the pitch deck to fundraise so that we can build the exhibit,” Guyette said. “And then we’ll use the exhibit so that funders can really see what we have in mind. And then we can fundraise for a more permanent space.”
The exhibit will explore themes such as immigration, industry and civic life through audio, visual, tactile and interactive displays. Featured stories will highlight historical figures including Abial Anthony, a Black barber who was born in Burlington and worked on Church Street for over 50 years. He developed hair products for men and shipped them to Boston and New York. His story will be accompanied by a vintage barber chair and audio stories about other Black barbers in Burlington.
Another featured figure will be Anne Connelly, known as the Blind Merchant of Burlington. She had the state’s first seeing-eye dog and opened schools for blind students in Vermont, at the request of Helen Keller. Sight impaired support tools such as guide dogs and white canes will be introduced in the form of images and touchable activities. Newer technology designed for people who are sight impaired will also be presented.
Other sections will explore the history of the Lebanese ice cutters, who were based on Maple Street and Perkins Pier, and a central community hub where visitors can converse, give feedback and share resources. Contemporary issues affecting Burlington will also be woven throughout the exhibit.
Cultural center volunteer Adison Yandow has been researching many of the exhibit’s stories. She said that it’s easy to go down rabbit holes after finding basic information and start fleshing out specific details.
“It’s always interesting to learn about these big events in history, but it’s something like a different type of special when you get to have this personal connection to it,” Yandow said.
Locations for both the sample exhibit and the more permanent museum are still up in the air.
The group plans to announce its fundraising goal within the next month, but judging from the positive responses the project has received from the community so far, the co-founders said they’re hopeful in reaching their goal.
Moulton estimates that the permanent exhibit will open in three to five years.
Emily Rodin is an intern for UVM’s Community News Service through Report for America’s Local News Internship Program.