Young Johnny Appleseed
While traveling west on Route 2 through central Massachusetts, I made a stop at the Johnny Appleseed Visitors’ Center in Lancaster. Greeting visitors outside the entrance is this bronze sculpture of a young John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, one of America’s most enduring folk heroes.
Although the visitor center is in Lancaster, it celebrates the life of John Chapman, who was born just a few miles away in Leominster in 1774. Chapman became famous for establishing apple nurseries across the American frontier, helping settlers plant orchards that provided both food and a means of establishing new communities. Over time, his generosity and simple way of life transformed him from a successful nurseryman into one of America’s best-loved legends.
I enjoyed learning that the sculpture portrays Chapman as a young boy, reminding visitors that every legendary figure begins with an ordinary childhood. It is a fitting welcome to a region that proudly preserves the story of one of its most famous native sons. History can be found all around us, if we simply take the time to stop.
Read More From Nancy
Life Savers and the Rise of American Board Games
The game Life Savers transformed the dangers of a shipwreck into a contest of rescue. Produced by the Milton Bradley Company near the turn of the twentieth century, the game challenged players to send lifeboats to a wrecked vessel, rescue its sailors, and return them safely to shore. Its illustrated cover, playing board, spinner, and colored pieces […]
The Embrace
On Boston Common stands a powerful and modern tribute to Dr Martin Luther King, Jr and Coretta Scott King. The memorial is called: The Embrace. Unveiled in 2023, the sculpture does not depict faces in full figures. Instead, it focuses on a moment, an embrace. Two sets of arms, joined together, rising in bronze. The design […]
Clay Pipe Warmer
Resting on the hearth of a colonial tavern was this simple iron frame and without a pipe set across it, I would never have recognized it as a clay pipe warmer. As with every object, there is a history, and it is that curiosity that draws me in to learn more. Before matches were common and […]
