The Friends of Forbes Annual Meeting with an update from the President and Treasurer will be held from 6:30 - 7 PM followed by a presentation called "When the Road Came Through: How Construction of I-91 Changes Western Massachusetts" by historian Barry Deitz.
About 40,000 miles of roads were built between 1956 and 1978 as a result of the Interstate Highway plan and those freeways changed the face of America. In good ways, and bad. Part of that 40,000 miles of new road included the 291 miles of Interstate 91 which ran from New Haven, Connecticut up to the Canadian border. Built to run along the abandoned right-of-way path for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railway line, construction on I-91 began in 1958 and was finished when the final sections in Vermont were completed in 1978.
A new highway cutting its way across a county’s farms and towns can leave a wide range of often contradictory emotions in the people affected by those changes. Historian Barry Deitz will present an illustrated talk about the construction and impact of I-91 through Western Massachusetts including research conducted at the Forbes Library.
This program is free and open to all. Refreshments will be served.