From Dighton to Vietnam: Chatting with Dr. Andrew C. Carr About "The 8th Field Hospital"

The original version of this post, one of my favorites in the last few years, is on the Old Colony History Museum's "Medium" blog here. Please take a look. Every reader gets "50 claps" on Medium, and the more claps, the more a post is promoted. So, please clap away!

I am thankful to Dr. Andrew "Andy" Carr for his willingness to be interviewed, to his kind and talented wife, Roberta, for her support, and to Gil Garnet for his deep knowledge of our hometown.

My family moved to North Dighton in 1959 when Raytheon occupied the former Mount Hope Finishing Company's facility on Spring Street. For many of us in North Dighton--a bit like the East and West Boxford(s), where I live now--there were two towns. One stopped on Somerset Avenue at the Elementary School; beyond that, "there be dragons." For the other half of the town, the "real" Dighton didn't begin until the Elementary School. This geographic spread was the source of tension during the Mount Hope years and (I suspect) remains so today. (A little bit, as I said, like East and West Boxford.)

Hearing Dr. Carr's story was not just about a wise and compassionate physician, but also great fun for me to learn about the Dighton of the 1940s and 50s — the "other" Dighton — and to recognize some of the enormous talent that our little town has generated over the years.

Of course, Dr. Carr attended school for many years in the building that we knew as the Raposa-Knott VFW--across the street from my home, and the best way to "The Peat" where we skated and learned to play hockey.

Bird's Eye view of Pearl Street, stretching off toward "The Peat." In about 1992 (before drones), I took a plane ride to take aerial photos of Anawan Rock and the Great Swamp Fight marker for research on King Philip's War.

Mount Hope's view of North Dighton from the opposite perspective. I devoted a chapter to JK Milliken and his company in my book Innovation on Tap. I also wrote a blog post about North Dighton in 2013, which can be found here.

Several views of Andy's old North Dighton Grammar School, "the VFW," now a private residence.

Anyway, before I head down the rabbit hole completely, take a look at the Old Colony post on Medium. You'll love Andy's story. And when you're on Amazon purchasing his book (or visiting Old Colony, which has also stocked copies), take a look at Roberta's novels. The one I chose, The Vernazza Effect, is based on the relationship between Roberta and Andy. As I told Roberta, I was impressed by Andy after reading his book and interviewing him; I was even more impressed after reading her novel!

Thanks again to Andy, Roberta, and Gil for their support, and to Old Colony for keeping history alive. And wishing Dr. Carr many more years of good health and great storytelling.

"Innovation on Tap" Excerpt # 9: Willis Carrier, Entrepreneur (119 Years Later)

[Redux from July 17, 2021:] The seventh chapter of "Innovation on Tap" is the story of entrepreneur Willis Carrier and the birth of modern air conditioning, which celebrates its 119th anniversary today. The excerpt below moves the story ahead some 13 years, to the launch of Carrier Engineering Corporation as a standalone company by Willis and his partner, J.I. Lyle.

While we think of HVAC today as a multi-billion dollar, global, growth industry, the story of Carrier’s launch—in the teeth of World War I, when global trade had ground to a halt--reminds us of just how nimble, innovative, and entrepreneurial Willis and his partners had to be to succeed. 

For more on Carrier and its storied history, see here.

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Carrier Engineering Corporation (CEC) opened for business on July 1, 1915. It was a classic start-up. Willis Carrier rented two rooms in the Mutual Life Building in Buffalo for himself, a secretary, and one draftsman. “We ended up with second-hand furniture—two desks, a drafting board and stool and a few files," his secretary recalled. "We had two wicker chairs for visitors, and Mr. Carrier’s friends would ask him if he had swiped them from a tavern.”

Carrier Engineering raised enough cash to run the business for six months without a sale. "This was certainly cutting it pretty fine," Willis recalled. And, for eighteen days, the new company languished. But what World War I had taken away, it suddenly returned. 

Genealogy and Potatoes Redux: In Praise of American Ancestors’ New Family Heritage Experience

The facade of American Ancestors'
about-to-open 
Center for Family History,
Heritage & Culture 

I had the opportunity last week to visit Ryan Woods, the President of American Ancestors, at the organization's home office, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, on Newbury Street in Boston. Ryan and his team are scheduled to cut the ribbon on the new, very cool American Ancestors National Center for Family History, Heritage & Culture at 97 Newbury Street on April 24th. 

This spectacular new center is part of a multi-structure building complex named after American philanthropist and preservationist Thomas Bailey Hagen and Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The center will house the Brim-DeForest Library, R. Stanton Avery Special Collections, the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center, the Brue Family Learning Center, museum store, staff offices, and the Family Heritage Experience—an interactive museum experience that will introduce visitors to the joys and possibilities of family history. 

Acquiring the building next door to NEHGS’s long-time library was an opportunity that first presented itself in 2012, the final year of my term as Chair of the organization. The owner of John Lewis Jewelers paid a visit and led us on a tour. Now, after much planning, fundraising, and hard work, the center has been conceived and is (nearly) completed.

The new entrance to the Center is top left followed clockwise by the facade in 2011, showing the old John Lewis
Jewelers; below, our friends the Kyles admiring the design in 2011, and (bottom right) Ken Burns speaking at the first fundraiser
for the Center that same event and year, 2011.

Ryan was kind enough to take me for a tour and even allowed me to snap a few pictures. I don’t want to (and can’t possibly) give everything away, but the Family Heritage Experience is destined to be a top 10 Trip Advisor recommendation in Boston, something full of fun and interactive activities.

Arrive at the Center and place yourself on the map--where you belong!

Pick a disc, scan the barcode on the back, and get started on your genealogical journey.

The famous, or infamous Shattuck family painting. Like our current administration, if you don't like history, you just make
it disappear. That bush in the middle used to be, well...

As we were talking, Ryan reminded me of a brief talk I gave in 2008 when I was elected Chair. The talk, which I had forgotten, compared genealogy and the potato. Fortunately, I found it buried on this blog. So, I dusted it off and present it here.

I hope it will help you imagine the new Family Heritage Experience as an Idaho Russet potato fired at 117 feet per second through a hose into a finely sharpened grate, coming out the other side in a perfect French fry cut.

Mass Audubon Ocean State Weekend - March 1-2, 2025

I was fortunate to spend the weekend of March 1st and 2nd with a great group of Mass Audubon birders visiting sites throughout Rhode Island. Day one included locations on Aquidneck Island, including Portsmouth, Middletown, and Newport. The Ebird hotspots were Town Pond, Lawton Valley Reservoir, Sisson Pond, and Sandy Point Beach. These sites featured dabbling and diving ducks of all shapes and sizes, fresh and saltwater.

Red-tailed Hawk, Town Pond, Portsmouth, RI

Red-throated Loon, Town Pond, Portsmouth

American Wigeons, Town Pond, Portsmouth

While Aquidneck Island was never attacked during King Philip’s War, our birding adventure brought us near many locations associated with the war.

I Got a Pig: Reflections From the Cutting Edge of Cardiac Innovation [Redux January 2025]

(Source: Heartvalvesurgery.com)

“A cat will look down to a man. A dog will look up to a man. But a pig will look you straight in the eye and see his equal.” -- Winston Churchill

Of all the innovations I've been exposed to through the years, from TempTales and modern air conditioning to cotton gins and Hamilton, the one closest to my heart is the 23MM Epic Supravalve. 

Six months Four years ago today, surgeons at Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston cracked open my chest, switched on their magic heart-lung machine, cut out my wonky, calcified aortic valve, and sutured in a new, porcine Epic Supravalve.

In another place or time, I might have received a bovine valve, or even one taken from a cadaver. Was I a little younger, I might have chosen a valve made out of carbon. 

But as it happened, on January 28, 2021, lying on an operating table not far from Fenway Park, I got a pig. I'm delighted to report, after a first year of up-and-down healing, there has been barely an oink. Thank you Beth Israel. Thank you Metoprolol.