LIFE IN AN OLD NEW ENGLAND COUNTRY VILLAGE

by Catherine Fennelly ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1969

Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts is a popular ""outdoor history museum"" of life in early eighteenth century New England, with transplanted and restored buildings and reconstructed village landscaping in a lovely rural setting. In this series of brief monographs on aspects of daily life in the new republic, the author moves about the village green, conjuring up political, religious, social currents and modes of living that eddied indoors and out. An examination of the school building at Old Sturbridge leads to a summary of trends in education; the church building is the focus for a discussion of the new liberalizing influences after the iron rule of the Calvinist religions; and on with the walking tour to dwellings, the tavern, the mill, etc. The text is a bit more critical than the atmosphere of Old Sturbridge--a storybook version of the lost American dream--would perhaps suggest. It is painstaking but bland, suitable for duty reading before a visit, or for general, necessarily simplified, period reference.

Pub Date: June 1, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Crowell

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1969

Categories: NONFICTION