The Edwin Smith
Historical Museum is 

ready for you. After being closed for several years, the Museum has been given a new lease on life: new lights, air-conditioning, and new displays. Some of the old favorites are still on display; for example, the large Colonial kitchen, showing how arduous life was back then, makes us all appreciate our modern time-saving appliances.  Also a visit to the dentist today seems much more pleasant; a look at the tooth extractors on the lower shelf  in the wall cabinet makes one thankful for modern dentistry.
The main theme of the current exhibit is transportation which includes Westfield's canal  barges, trolleys, and railways. One case is devoted to the Columbia Bicycle factory and has a "penny farthing" cycle (as they were called in England). It is interesting to conjecture how one climbed on, let alone rode, the cycle.
Children might also be especially interested in the wall cupboard full of toys from the past. In the middle, sits a doll, "Deborah,"  surrounded by books titled "Deborah Remembers" .  In the 1940s, Mrs. Albrecht, then the Curator of the Museum, wrote a book about a doll which lived in the Colonial kitchen of the Museum and remembered times past.

Assistant Director of the Westfield Athenaeum, Don Buckley, is moving to become the Assistant Director of a brand new library in Cerritos, California.
Don was first hired by the Athenaeum in August of 1971 to catalog the art collection. He came back in February of the next year and cataloged the Roscoe Scott Collection of newspaper articles. In June of '72, he helped with the start up of the Bookmobile and, over time, took various positions in the Branch library,  circulation, and even the maintenance department.  In June of 1976, he was hired full time as the Bookmobile Librarian with the responsibilities of visiting outlying areas of the city. Because of his expertise and experience,  Don went on to become the Head of the Branch Library at the Westfield High School in 1987 and the Head of Circulation at the Main Library in 1990.   In July of 2000, Don became the Assistant Director of the Westfield Athenaeum.
Known for his sense of humor and puns, he has helped make the Athenaeum and Westfield a better place and will be sorely missed.

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