Author: Erica @ MCLA

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Looking For the False Start

The false start was roughly to the left, we knew that much. We had seen photos of a big mouthed tunnel to the left of the real tunnel, but where it was exactly… we didn’t know that much.

What strikes me first are the trees. We had just learned about this in science class – what was it called, a new growth forest? We look up at the trees, reaching, curling up and out of the rock face. A breeze comes in. The branches shiver when we do.

I look at the mound of dirt before me, and I have an idea. I look at Cassie, back again at the mound, then down at the camera and phone in my hands. I smile and put my phone in my backpack, shouldering it off so I can be a bit more nimble.

I clench my camera hard and still smiling, I use my long legs to propel me up the side of the hill. I’m still grinning when I get to the top, even with my mud-soaked knees and mud splattered camera lens.

“I can clean it,” I say, looking around. I get distracted, forgetting about the false start – the reason I came up here in the first place. I get distracted again by the trees and make my way over to them.

Moss on the rocks, a blip of green in the gray, brown scene.

I think to myself how new the trees are, how young. I can almost fit my hands around them. I look down at the ground, shouting over my shoulder to Cassie that there’s some Christmas fern up there, some other species of fern, too. I look up at the pine tree over my head, trying to see if I can remember species and can’t. I look behind me, looking for more plants, maybe a flower or two if they sprouted when the weather was nice.

My eyes drift down and stop. I’m looking at something, and it takes me a second to see it, to realize what it is.

“Hey! I found it!” I laugh, taking a few pictures before I forget.

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Visiting The Library

Libraries are considered emergency services. During a snowstorm, or other extreme weather, they are one of the few places that must stay open, no matter what.

This is due to the fact that libraries are one of the few completely free locations left in the world. You can come in from any walk of life, and stay there, for free, while the library is open. You are not expected to pay a fee just for entering. You don’t have to purchase anything to be there. You won’t get in trouble for loitering. You have free access to wifi, computers, and hundreds, and hundreds  of books.

Libraries are welcoming, warm. I had never been to the North Adams Public Library prior to this project, and I am so glad that I was able to do so.

Admittedly, I was nervous before going for the first time. I had no idea what it was like, what it would look like inside, or what we would be able to get when we went. (The library is gorgeous – I was not disappointed)

Chandelier in the Library

On our first visit, we were deciding which location we were going to look into and research. Our first visit, we asked about another location, offhandedly mentioning the Hoosac Tunnel, but got information on another location instead.

The third time we visited, we made sure to ask specifically for information about the Hoosac Tunnel – and got a blank stare.

“What are you looking for?” The reference librarian asked us.

“The history, that kind of thing,” we replied. “Pictures, if you have them.”

She gave us a look, and turned away for a second, coming back with a binder.

“This is everything we have,” she responds. “You have the book, already, right? Builders of the Hoosac Tunnel?”

We nodded, we got that last time. We noticed a picture in the book with the caption, courtesy of the North Adams Public Library. So, we assumed there were pictures. Maybe hanging on the wall somewhere, we weren’t sure where it was, what we would find.

She opened the binder, and inside was, well, everything.

“Here is the table of contents,” she explains, pointing at it, flipping through the contents pages. “If there’s anything specific you’re looking for, you can find it here first. We have photos, microfilm, letters…” she flips to show us the lists and lists of stuff. “You know how to use call numbers, right? Just write it down and I can find it for you.”

She paused, then looks up at us.

“Do you know how to find stuff in the online database?”

Cassie and I looked at each other.

“What?” We say at the same time.

The librarian smiles and reaches for a sticky note. She writes down a URL to the library’s website, telling us how to find the online database as she writes everything down. She eventually goes over to the computer to log into it for us, and tells us to get her if we need anything.

By now, Cassie and I are grinning from ear to ear. We get it now. The first time we came here, it’s not that they didn’t have any information, it’s that they had too much, which is why they didn’t want to give us anything. The second time, nope, still didn’t get it that we wanted everything – but by the third time, they understood.

As of now we have practically full reign of the reference library. When Cassie and I are squealing over all the information we find about the tunnel and North Adams – they probably roll their eyes. I know they enjoy it, though, because when we smile and gush about how much we love libraries, the librarians tell us we’re preaching to the choir.

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The Beginning

North Adams exists as a hub of activity, and commonly is called a “drive-through town.” Even the trains are driving from one place to another, trying to get to somewhere else, never stopping for long.

Much of North Adams is historic, run down, falling apart or somehow being “reclaimed by nature” if you prefer to romanticise it in that way. Old Victorians, falling apart, or apartment buildings marked with signs that say it is no longer safe to enter. One can walk into any old house and see dandelions peeking through the floorboards.  Or walk through the various historic sites, of the Hoosac Tunnel, perhaps, and see pieces of the past, where nature exists within history.

Like the beavers who live alongside the West Portal, creating shapes, changing the landscape, and adding to it as parts break, we as humans do the same thing.

The history of the Hoosac Tunnel is rich with individual narratives, horrible deaths, and more, which enable the stories of the tunnel to be all the more interesting. With the wide range of stories, there enables a wide range of materials to show them, including TimelineJS, Storymap, of course visual aspects such as video, and the more straightforward nature writing.

The Vault will play into our writings as well. The archives we have access to, mostly documents which have been scanned and posted online, will aid us in our research. Physical artifacts will help us as well, and the aid of the local historical society will be of great use to us.

We have also designated some responsibilities for the two of us.

Cassie: TimeLineJS, StoryMap, maintaining the blog/ writing pieces, research/ visiting the site.

Erica:  filming and editing videos, maintaining the blog/ writing pieces, research/ visiting the site.

The Hoosac Tunnel, although well known, has much that is no longer understood. In seeking the truths that the tunnel will tell, we may be able to see more than what even the builders themselves fully intended to show.

 

– Erica