BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – Dr. David Deacon’s May 25 presentation on “A Social History of the Bellows Falls Canal” is now available for viewing at any time by accessing Fact TV’s website, www.fact8.com, and searching for it by title.
Deacon’s talk describes the canal development, ending in 1927. This history encompasses the village’s related mercantile business and the period of the paper mills, complete with historic photos.
Deacon moved to Bellows Falls in 1980 and graduated from Bellows Falls Union High Scholl in 1981. He went on to Marlboro College and then to the University of North Carolina for a master’s degree in folklore. His concentration in American history was at Syracuse University where he earned a master’s degree and a doctorate. The Bellows Falls paper mill industry features prominently in his doctoral thesis: “Paper Town, Sense of Place in Industrial Small-Town New England 1869-1927.” He is an adjunct professor of history at SUNY and at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, N.Y.
This presentation was sponsored by the Rockingham Historic Preservation Commission, the Bellows Falls Historical Society, and the Rockingham Library.