Revolution to Reflection: Live on the Brattleboro Words Trail

“It is a great fit for us to highlight Brattleboro’s unique and rich literary history by including the beautiful, locally created Brattleboro Words Trail murals and maps as part of the design for the new Amtrak station.” Dr. David Handera, Amtrak Vice President of Stations, Facilities, Properties and Accessibility, said. The new station features Vermont’s first at-grade level boarding platform allowing passengers to walk directly onto the train without navigating stairs or steps.

Brattleboro Town Manager John Potter shared that the new train station and exhibit, “are signs that people and organizations are ready to invest in making Brattleboro’s historic downtown riverfront a welcoming and wonderful place for years to come.”

The Brooks Memorial Library’s 14-foot, interactive ceramic Brattleboro Words Trail Exhibit links sites to Brattleboro and surrounding towns to audio stories on a free app. The Exhibit, designed by Brattleboro artist Cynthia Houghton, will permanently occupy the platform-facing outside wall of the new train station. 

Launching of the Exhibit marks the Project’s transition, shepherded by former library director Starr LaTronica, into its new home at Brooks Memorial Library. “The collaboration with the Brattleboro Words Project and all the partners supporting this exhibit are part of the library’s mission to inspire, inform, and empower our diverse community while celebrating Brattleboro’s unique literary history,” said Margaret Atkinson, Chair of Brooks Memorial Library Trustees.

The Brattleboro Words Trail features stories about key literary figures from or who chose to settle in  Brattleboro and its close environs, including Rudyard Kipling, Robert Frost and Lucy Terry Prince, the nation’s first African-American poet, among others.

The Exhibit is a culmination of almost 10 years of work to connect community members around shared storytelling. At the opening ceremony, the Exhibit will be unveiled by artist Cynthia Houghton with comments by Brattleboro Words Project Director and Exhibit Coordinator Lissa Weinmann. Attendees will be able to interact with Cynthia, other leaders, and actors depicting characters featured on the Brattleboro Words Trail, as well as get their copies of the Brattleboro Words Trail maps, newly designed by Christopher Grotke of MuseArts.

The Exhibit will be maintained by Friends of Brooks Memorial Library and Brattleboro’s Sunrise Rotary Club using a long-term maintenance fund secured by the Words Project.

Later that evening of June 24th, around 6pm, actors led by the Tiny Theater will perform “From Revolution to Reflection: Live on the Brattleboro Words Trail”, an America 250-inspired performance at the Historic Downtown Waterfront (rain date at Brooks Memorial Library). More information about that can be found on brattleborowords.org.

About the Brattleboro Words Trail

The Brattleboro Words Project was initially funded by a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) “Creating Humanities Communities” 2017–2021 matching grant to celebrate the unique literary and historical legacy of Brattleboro. The Brattleboro Words Trail is designed to generate interest about the rich history of this “Gateway to Vermont”, for those visiting the area as well as people already settled here. From native Abenaki stories, the trailblazing Estey Organ Company, the Wesselhoeft water-cure and Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams to Rudyard Kipling’s best friend Mary Cabot, Robert Frost’s impact on Marlboro College and Richard Morris Hunt, the architect who designed the Statue of Liberty pedestal, the different audio stories present a deep dive into the local history and writers and other people important to the area’s history of ‘words’.

Weinmann, also founder of 118 Elliot, along with William Edelglass, PhD, a professor of philosophy at (then) Marlboro College, wrote and secured the NEH grant application. Weinmann was elected Project Director by a 14-person leadership team led by Project partners Brooks Memorial Library, the Brattleboro Literary Festival, the Brattleboro Historical Society, Write Action and Marlboro College (fiscal sponsorship switched to Vermont Folklife after Marlboro College closed in 2020).

The Project launched the Brattleboro Words Trail app and published the book “Print Town: Brattleboro’s Legacy of Words” in 2021. Since then a small Advisory Team (Edelglass, LaTronica, Rolf Parker, Sally Seymour, Shanta Lee and Weinmann) have produced: 24 new stories to relaunch an improved app now with more than 120 stories; a monthly Brattleboro Words Trail Podcast for longer-form stories; African American Heritage Trail stories produced by artist Shanta Lee; reprints and distribution of the “Print Town” book and a redesign of the printed map the Exhibit at the Amtrak station. A full video archive of the Words Project is available at Brattleboro Community Television (BCTV): https://www.brattleborotv.org/brattleboro-words-project/

At the culmination of Weinmann’s long experience leading this project, she reflects, “The Brattleboro Words Trail started as a novel idea that has now helped shape the town’s identity as a nationally significant literary hub as expressed by hundreds of community members. The permanent Exhibit at the new Amtrak station will be the cultural anchor for a new town common at the historic downtown waterfront, and a great addition to Brooks Memorial Library where we hope new stories can continue to be told.”

Since its introduction, the Brattleboro Words Trail app has had more than 16,000 users. The Project won the Vermont Historical Society’s Hathaway Award for best history project in 2021 and an Award of Excellence from the American Association of State and Local History.

The Project donated digital recording equipment and trainings to area schools and Brooks Library. Student work, facilitated by Joe Rivers of the Brattleboro Historical Society and other teachers, is included on the Words Trail. BHS Trustee Bill Holiday added, “This collaborative focus highlights how the town’s voices, narratives, and creative expressions deepen understanding of Brattleboro’s evolving identity.”

About the Exhibit and Map Artists

Brattleboro-based artist Cynthia Houghton is the lead designer at Natalie Blake Studios where she has created ceramic murals for public and private installations throughout the United States for the past two decades. She specializes in sgraffito, a ceramic carving technique which creates a look similar to wood block or linoleum printing. The Brattleboro Words Project commissioned her to carve tiles from clay that together represent Downtown Brattleboro and the larger Brattleboro region. The final exhibit combines 10 18×18-inch tiles, 12 carved portrait medallions, text and photos. The murals and maps include some original Sokoki Abenaki place names – Wantastagok is Brattleboro – as they remain an important part of our continued, shared story. An interesting short video of Houghton’s process of creating the clay murals can be found here.

Sharing her process of working on the Exhibit, Cynthia said “Creating this Exhibit for the new Amtrak station has been a six-year long journey for me, starting during COVID and persisting into the present…Lissa Weinman has carried this final phase of the project over the finish line with the help of architects, engineers, builders, funders, storytellers and numerous community members. The Exhibit and the digital app offer a glimpse into the lives of so many people and stories connected to this place. I’m proud to have contributed my skills to support a project of this depth, scope and quality.”

A custom framing of the Exhibit was undertaken by local woodworker Claude Blazej who designed a white oak frame built with help and support from HatchSpace founder, Tom Bodett. Both Blazej and Bodett volunteered their efforts to the project. All of the audio stories on the Traill were mastered by Guilford Sound as an in-kind contribution.

Other Key Supporters

Along with them, Brattleboro Words Trail is also grateful to Stone Bridge Iron & Steel, Inc which donated the steel and the installation holding the exhibit up; Jim Williams Architecture and Austin Design Cooperative for technical drawings; Nick Moorhouse, Moorhouse Made, for exhibit logo and map box;  Sara Coffey and David Snyder for the Exhibit maintenance fund; an ‘Animating Infrastructure Grant’ from the Vermont Arts Council; a Vermont Humanities Council grant; Brattleboro Savings & Loan support for maps; Windham Foundation, John Hooper, Johnny Gifford at BCTV, the Town of Brattleboro and others too numerous to be named. A full list of hundreds of supporters and Project participants can be found at BrattleboroWords.org.