By Alana DiPlacido
Hometown Weekly Reporter
The Sherborn Library was visited by a local author and historian, Walter McClennen. McClennen’s life-long passion for history led him to write three different books in an attempt to capture history that might otherwise have been lost. In the Sherborn Library’s Community Room, McClennen led the audience of history enthusiasts through his process of uncovering and capturing the histories of three different figures.
McClennen noted that although he studied history in college and has always been fascinated by the subject, he didn't believe he was “good at history until [he] retired.” McClennen attributed his growth as a historian to the perspective he gained over the years and the inspiration provided to him by his descendants: specifically his granddaughter, Taylor, who inspired his first attempt at capturing history. Although McClennen wrote and illustrated a short history of the world for his granddaughter, he considers his book of letters, “Hannah Smith; a Medfield Girl,” to be his first real attempt at capturing history.
The story of Hannah Smith came to McClennen through a family heirloom passed down to him and his wife by her uncle. After McClennen and his wife received a wooden trunk filled with 130 letters written by her ancestors who lived in 19th century Medfield, McClennen created a book that displayed and contextualized their correspondences for a modern reader. His second book, “Remembering Clem; a Good American in Iran,” followed a very similar format but covered the letters of a more recent ancestor who had spent his life working as a Christian missionary in the Middle East.
In writing his most recent book, “Looking East: Short Histories and More 2004-2023,” McClennen took a different approach. Instead of rescuing lost pieces of history from the past by utilizing letters, McClennen focused on his own personal history. Once again inspired by his family, McClennen wanted his grandchildren and future great grandchildren to be able to get to know him through this book. Thus, he wrote several different ‘short histories’ about a variety of topics important to him: chapters ranged in content from winter birds observed on Cape Cod to the history of the house in which he raised his children.
Walter McClennen says that his goal as a historian and author is to “save what could be lost,” and through his presentation at the Sherborn Public Library as well as his catalogue of writings, many important and otherwise forgotten pieces of history have been preserved for us to appreciate.
