From Bennington, for all Vermont
by J. Kevin Graffagnino , Executive Director of the Vermont Historical Society
Bennington Banner op/ed column, November 11, 2007
In October I visited Bennington to give a talk to the Bennington Historical Society. I arrived early so I could check out the local book and antique stores, spent a fascinating hour going through the restored Isaac Tichenor house with owner Bob Guarino, and then spoke on Ethan Allen. My audience seemed interested in my presentation on the rhetoric of Vermont’s frontier hero, so I headed back to Montpelier pleased with my latest trip to southwestern Vermont.
Driving home that night, I thought about how much Bennington and its county have contributed to Vermont history.··Bennington’s importance was obvious as the center of the 1770s resistance to New York authority, home of the Green Mountain Boys, and the Battle of Bennington.· My list also included the 1775-76 Dorset Conventions that paved the way for Vermont independence, along with Reuben Harmon’s mint in Rupert, the remarkable roster of writers and artists who’ve lived in Manchester, Arlington and Dorset, and the eight Bennington County governors of Vermont.··· Considering the contemporary scene, I reflected on the county’s local historical societies and outstanding institutions like Hildene, the Park McCullough House and Bennington Museum as convincing evidence of strong interest in our heritage.
And I thought about two Bennington individuals who played major roles in the preservation of Vermont history. The first was Hiland Hall (1795-1885), who achieved distinction as Congressman, associate justice of the Vermont supreme court, comptroller of the U.S. Treasury, and two-term Governor. Hall’s first love was Vermont history, though, and there he really excelled. He served as president of the Vermont Historical Society from 1859 to 1867, published a history of early Vermont that influenced generations of Green Mountain scholars, and led the drive to replace the original sculptural design for the Bennington Battle Monument with the graceful obelisk completed in 1889. In the last years of his life Hall was mentor and inspiration to his grandson Hall Park McCullough, who became our greatest twentieth-century collector of Vermont history.
The other Benningtonian who occupied my thoughts was John Spargo (1876-1966). Born and raised in Cornwall, England, Spargo came to America in 1901. He made an international reputation as spokesman for socialism and as author of such passionate reform titles as The Bitter Cry of the Children.· Spargo moved to Bennington in 1909, and when his commitment to socialism faded during World War I he turned his prodigious talents to Vermont history instead. In 1926 he helped establish Bennington Museum, serving as its director and curator for the next 28 years.· He also became president of the Vermont Historical Society in 1927, breathing new life into VHS during a dozen years at the helm. Spargo published books and articles on such diverse aspects of Vermont history as early printing, Masonry, Bennington pottery, Ethan Allen, covered bridges, and iron mining. In productivity, breadth of interest, and institutional leadership, John Spargo exerted as much influence on Vermont’s cultural heritage community as any individual of his time.
The Vermont legacies of Hiland Hall and John Spargo live on today. Their many publications continue to shed valuable light on Green Mountain history. The Vermont Historical Society they led and strengthened is now one of America’s best small state heritage organizations, recently named recipient of the Institute for Museum and Library Services prestigious Gold Medal for public service. Bennington Museum has a well-deserved national reputation for the quality of its collections and programs. The Spargo papers and the Hall archive at the University of Vermont library are rich resources for students of our state’s past. From their Bennington base, these two men made a lasting statewide difference that all Vermonters and Vermonters at heart should remember and appreciate.
