Howe-Manning School, Middleton -- May 4

42° 35' 47" N
71° 00' 51" W 
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EarthView returns to the North Shore with a visit to the Howe-Manning School in Middleton. Located on the Ipswich River, Middleton was part of Salem prior to 1728. It is one of three towns in Massachusetts whose name begins with "middle" -- in this case because it is mid-way between Salem and Andover, which were the most prominent towns in the region at the time Middleton was founded.

The EarthView team is delighted to be bringing our giant globe to a town that has a globe right on its town seal! Thanks to a helpful librarian at the Flint Public Library for this version of the seal, and for letting us know that it was officially adopted on May 21, 1971. The script reads "Knowledge is Power," which of course it is!


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Middleton is now mostly a residential community, but in previous generations was known for its iron manufacturing. Middleton is also home to the oldest tree in Massachusetts. The Howe-Manning School is in a new building located in a commercial area in the center of the town and very close to the Flint Public Library.


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The EarthView visit takes place on May 4, the birthday of EarthView team member Dr. Hayes-Bohanan and the anniversary of a number of important events:

In 1853, Sarah Remond refused to sit in a segregated section of a Boston theater
In 1493, Spanish Pope Alexander VI divided the Americas between Spain and Portugal, even though very little had been mapped by Europeans at the time
In 1494, Christopher Columbus landed in Jamaica
In 1626, Native Americans sold Manhattan for $24 in cloth and buttons
In 1886, Haymarket Riot in Chicago
In 1961, Freedom Riders bus tour begins in the South
In 1963, the Spellman Museum of Maps and Postal History was dedicated in Weston, Massachusetts. It remains one of only two comprehensive postal museums in the United States, and is a great place for people of all ages to learn geography!
In 1970, four college students killed in Vietnam War protests in Kent State, Ohio

It also is (or would be) the birthday of Hosni Mubarak and Maynard Furgeson (both in 1928), Audrey Hepburn (1929), William Bennett (1938), and George Will (1941). Students and teachers can use Mass Moments to learn about significant anniversaries in Massachusetts history, and Brainy History for birth dates and anniversaries worldwide.

Also, a very special geography-related event will take place in Middleton on the evening of our visit. Author Robert Thorson will be speaking about stone walls at the Flint Library. He is the co-author of the children's book Stone Wall Secrets and the author of Stone by Stone and Exploring Stone Walls. As geographers, ecologists, and historians throughout New England know, stone walls can tell us a lot about prior human uses of land in our region. Almost all of the forest we find in New England today -- such as the large area just to the north of the Howe-Manning School -- was once used for farming or grazing. The walls that remain within or along the edges of such patches contain clues about what happened there decades or centuries before. Mr. Thorson's talk is primarily for adults, and begins a 7:00.