Join Eleanor Phillips Brackbill as she presents an illustrated talk about An Uncommon Cape: Researching the Histories and Mysteries of a Property. When she bought her house, three mysteries precipitated an investigation into an otherwise ordinary property. Intent upon finding the facts, she peeled back layers of history, allowing the house and the land to tell their stories, while uncovering a past inextricably woven into four centuries of American history. As she unraveled the mysteries, it occurred to her that everyone’s home has a story to tell. At her small Cape there is no historic marker out front, no designation as a historic site. It’s not even very old, and George Washington certainly never slept there. But stories she did find. At the same time, she found 32 owners, across 350 years, who had just one thing in common: ownership of a particular parcel of land. Through material presented in 22 sidebars, the book offers readers insights and guidelines on how to find the stories behind their own homes.

Our speaker, Eleanor Phillips Brackbill, earned an MA in art history at Boston University and studied in the art history doctoral program at City University of New York. Following twenty-five years as a curator at the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, she embarked on a second career writing about history. She lives in Westbrook.

The Kennebec Historical Society October Presentation is co-sponsored by the Maine State Library and free to the public (donations gladly accepted).  The presentation will take place on Wednesday, October 17, 2018, at 6:30 p.m. at the Maine State Library, located at 230 State Street in Augusta.