On this day in history: Vermont is formally accepted into the United States as the 14th state in 1791!

No matter how old an object is or how long we’ve held it in our collections, we can always learn something new about it. As part of our upcoming 50 for 250 project, we wanted to take a closer look inside one of the featured objects, and we got some help from the Central Vermont Medical Center:

We are sad to report that former journalist, writer, and VHS Trustee Christopher Wren passed away at the age of 89 in February at his home in Thetford, per The New York Times.

On this day in 1865, Governor J. Gregory Smith issued a proclamation to convened the state's General Assembly in special session in order to ratify the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which formally abolished slavery.

In February 1886, the Burlington Coasting Club hosted a week-long Carnival of Winter Sports. 40,000 people attended, and the events included coasting (bobsledding), ice skating, snowshoe races, and on February 26th, the first international ice hockey tournament!

30 years ago this week, the independent comedy film Man With A Plan premiered. It starred Tunbridge dairy farmer and actor Fred Tuttle as a fictional version of himself, in which he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives.

VHS executive director Steve Perkins was recently a guest on Across the Fence along with historian Brian Lindner to talk about Vermont's history of skiing! You can watch the segment here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxoH...

Thanks to the Waterbury Roundabout for covering author Jeffrey Amestoy's event in Waterbury! He spoke about his recent book, Winters’ Time: A Secret Pledge, a Severed Head, and the Murder That Brought America's Most Famous Lawyer to Vermont and Vermont's legal history.

Correction: Two years from now. The next winter Olympics in the United States will be in 2034 in Utah and Lake Placid.

This year's Winter Olympics are coming into the final couple of days, and after that, it'll be four years before the next event, which will be the 2028 summer games in LA. Here's an item in our collection from when the games were last held in the United States: the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah.

UVM Professor Tom Visser recently published "Vermont Milk Chocolate Company Factory: A Bittersweet History" in Vermont History Journal. He was recently a guest on Across the Fence to talk about this episode of Burlington's history! You can watch the segment here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO92...

The 2026 Winter Olympics are underway, and ski jumping has particularly captivated us this week - not just in Italy, but closer to home at Brattleboro's Harris Hill this coming weekend, which will be holding the Fred Harris Memorial Tournament & Junior World Qualifier this weekend.

On this day in Vermont History: Alden Partridge is born in Norwich in 1785. He studied engineering at the US Military Academy at West Point and went on to teach at the school.

Vermonter Ryan Cochran-Siegle just earned a silver medal at the 2026 Olympics in Wednesday's super-G competition! It's his second silver in the category after his win in 2022. vtdigger.org/2026/02/11/v...

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Congratulations are in order to Olympic skier Ben Ogden, who just took home the Silver medal for the Cross-Country Skiing Men’s Sprint Classic — the first American to medal in the sport since 1976!

Our new book, Green Mountain Quartet: Essays on Antiquarian Vermontiana, edited by J. Kevin Graffagnino, is now available to purchase! This is a beautiful hardcover that explores the writings of four notable Vermont scholars, featuring a number of images from VHS's collection.

NASA is preparing to launch astronauts to the Moon for the first time since 1972 onboard the NASA Artemis mission this spring! We have a tiny connection to this moment in history: we hold a pair of Moon rocks gifted to the State of Vermont from the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 missions!

On this day in Vermont history: Norman Rockwell was born in New York City in 1894. He became one of the best-known American artists of the 20th Century (particularly for the covers he illustrated for The Saturday Evening Post and for paintings such as Rosie the Riveter, and the Four Freedoms series)

In its Winter 2026 issue, The Vermont Bar Journal reviewed Jeffrey Amestoy's book Winters' Time, saying "The fortunate intersection of a forgotten case and an inquisitive former chief justice has provided a compelling book. Winters’s Time deserves a wide audience ..."

The Vermont Historical Society is pleased to announce the publication of a new book: Green Mountain Quartet: Essays on Antiquarian Vermontiana, edited by J. Kevin Graffagnino.

The forecast says that the cold weather is sticking with us for another week! Here's an image from our collection (specifically filed under "Wood") that seems appropriate. It's from the early 1900s showing a man cutting firewood on a circular saw. Hopefully, he kept all of his fingers.

40 years ago today, Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated shortly after liftoff, killing all seven members of its crew. The tragedy hit New England hard: astronaut Christa McAuliffe was a school teacher who taught in New Hampshire and many students were watching the launch live.

We are very pleased to announce a new exhibit is now open at the Vermont History Museum in Montpelier: The Vermont Firsts Collection! This exhibit will be on display through June 2026! vermonthistory.org/vermont-hist...

An alert for scholars: applications to the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium are due on Saturday, February 1st. NERFC is a collaboration of 30 major cultural agencies, which offer grants to researchers ($5,000 for a minimum of six weeks of research at participating institutions.)

We have some new arrivals at the VHS bookstore! - If I Can Get Home This Fall: A Story of Love, Loss, and a Cause in the Civil War by Tyler Alexander - Citizen & Soldiers: The First 200 Years of Norwich University by Alex Kershaw - Norwich University in American History by Gary T. Lord

Historic buildings require a lot of work, and the heavy rain and flooding that took place in 2023 and 2024 was hard on the Vermont History Center. Last fall, we began work on some longstanding and pressing issues, starting with the building’s windows, which had begun to require attention.

This winter, join VHS and our League of Local Historical Societies & Museums for a series of online lunchtime discussions this winter! These three roundtables will explore variety of topics, with an emphasis on best practices, related to creating exhibits. Details:

We had a wonderful first year of the Activating 21st Century Local History Training Program here at the Vermont Historical Society!

Ira Allen, one of Vermont’s founders, members of the Green Mountain Boys, and state leaders, died on this day in 1814 in Philadelphia, penniless.

VTDigger profiles Olympic skier Ben Ogden and his family's roots in Landsgrove, Vermont.

On this day in Vermont history: on the evening of January 6th, 1857, the second Vermont State House in Montpelier caught fire and burned down. Earlier that evening, a worker had stoked a fire to warm the building ahead of a constitutional convention set to take place the next day.

To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, former VHS Executive Director, historian, and author J. Kevin Graffagnino will write a weekly column in The Times Argus: Glimpses of Vermont's Past. www.timesargus.com/news/local/g...

188 years ago this month, George Dewey was born in Montpelier. After attending Norwich University and the Naval Academy, he played a pivotal role in the Spanish American War, and returned home to Montpelier a national hero.

VHS is closing early today for the Christmas holiday: both the Vermont History Museum and Vermont History Center will close at 1PM. Here's a fun image from our collection: the Calder & Richardson company parade float during the annual Barre Christmas parade, sometime around 1930.

Earlier this fall, we embarked on a large project at the Vermont History Center in Barre: addressing a host of long-standing issues facing the historic Spaulding School Building in an effort to preserve not only our artifact and library collections, but the structure itself: keeping water out.

Now on display at the Vermont History Museum in Montpelier: a set of hand stamps used by the US Postal Service to cancel stamps on the mail train in White River Junction. You can read more on our blog: vermonthistory.org/vermont-hist...

On the evening of December 16th, 1773, Boston residents staged an anti-tax protest in Boston Harbor, destroying hundreds of chests of imported tea by throwing them into the harbor. Image via The Library of Congress.

"In 1922, Vermont became the first New England state to support a bookmobile. At the time, it was known as the “Vermont Book Wagon”. The term “Bookmobile” did not become commonplace in Vermont until the 1930s.

Shopping for the holidays? We publish has a wide range of books about Vermont’s history, exploring all sorts of fascinating topics that’ll leave you with a better understanding and appreciation of the Green Mountain State!

We are very pleased to announce the next cohort for our Activating 21st Century Local History Training Program for 2026!

The latest issue of our member magazine, History, Connections, is now headed out to VHS members! This issue is all about the Spalding building in Barre and includes articles about:

Today at the Vermont History Museum in Montpelier: join us for a reception for the Vermont Tunebooks Tradition exhibit from 1-3! Come learn about Vermont's music history with the exhibit's curators, with free admission and refreshments.

We have some bittersweet news: we're sad to report that our Stewardship Coordinator, Daphne Kinney-Landis, is leaving for a new opportunity.

Thanks to WCAX for covering the work we’ve been doing at the Vermont History Center in Barre!

Author Jack Kelly stopped by the VHS bookstore in Montpelier to sign copies of two of his books: Valcour: The 1776 Campaign That Saved the Cause of Liberty and God Save Benedict Arnold: The True Story of America’s Most Hared Man!

We have a new position on our team: Stewardship Coordinator. This position is on our development team and is responsible for the stewardship of our members and volunteers and the handling of day-to-day operations of the organization. You can find out more here: vermonthistory.org/career-oppor...

WCAX reported on our preview screening of Ken Burns' upcoming series The American Revolution: www.wcax.com/2025/11/14/v...

The Times Argus takes a look at the work taking place at the Vermont History Center in Barre. Read about it here: www.timesargus.com/news/local/v...

If you're driving by the Vermont History Center in Barre in the next couple of weeks, you'll see some pretty dramatic things taking place. A large, covered scaffolding has been erected on the front of the building, while excavators and workers are busy digging up the grounds. What's going on?