Title: Dennehy to discusWicked Local Braintree s Braintree history at library on Jan. 26
Author: Staff Writer
Publisher: Wicked Local Braintree
Date: 1/14/2011
Thayer Public Library will begin its 2011 Author/Speaker Series when John Dennehy, who served as a selectman from 1990 to 1996 and a Town Meeting member from 1991 to 2007, presents "A Look Inside: Braintree," a pictorial history of the town, on Jan. 26 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Logan Auditorium on the upper level of the library. The program is free.
Dennehy's slide show and commentary will be followed by a book signing and a reception. The Friends of the Library will be offering his book for sale, with proceeds to benefit the library.
Dennehy spent a year gathering and choosing the pictures that appear in the book devoted to Braintree in Arcadia Publishing's popular "Images of America" series, which is available at area bookstores.
Most of the pictures were taken from 1890 to 1920, but Dennehy's book also contains a photo taken in 1958 of then-Sen. John F. Kennedy speaking to a crowd in the parking lot in front of Town Hall.
For more information, call 781-848-0405, ext. 4420 or visit www.thayerpubliclibrary.net.
Title: AUDIO SLIDESHOW: New book provides glimpse into Braintree's past
Author: Fred Hanson
Publisher: The Patriot Ledger
Date: 4/10/2010
There are places in town that have changed little in decades. Others have been made over. And some disappeared long ago.
A new book by a local historian, who was once a town official, offers glimpses into what Braintree looked like way back when, especially before highways and subways altered the town's look and feel.
John Dennehy worked about a year to put together a pictorial history of the town for Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series. The book, titled "Braintree," goes on sale Monday.
It includes 200 photos, some never before published. They come from private collections, town records and, most of all, the Braintree Historical Society.
"I've been looking at these photos for years," said Dennehy, a former president of the historical society. "Putting the book together was a labor of love, because I love history and I love old photographs."
A former selectman, Dennehy is a lawyer who also teaches history at Suffolk University.
"I wanted to capture old Braintree," said Dennehy. "The focus is on the town from the turn of the last century to 1960."
The federal census showed the town's population nearly doubled from 16,378 in 1940 to 31,069 in 1960, thanks to the post-World War II housing boom and the construction of Routes 3 and 128. Photos in the book show the town at a time when it was far more farm than shopping center. It was a time when trolley cars ran down Elm Street - and the Expressway didn't run under it.
The book tells of travelers stopping so their horses can get a drink in South Braintree Square, well before they'd wait in their cars there for the traffic light to turn green. It also highlights big events in Braintree, such as the town's 300th and 350th birthday celebrations and the swearing in of the town's first mayor and council in 2008. There are also photos of then-Sen. John F. Kennedy campaigning and making a speech on the steps of town hall in 1958.
"You do get a sense of loss when you look at these pictures" of places that have disappeared, Dennehy said. "But at the same time, Braintree has retained a lot if its character."
The book is the latest title in the "Images of America" series by Arcadia Publishing. Lynn Beahm, the company's publicity manager, said the series began in 1993 and has 4,600 books, from every state except Alaska.
The book is available at local bookstores and retailers, online book shops and the publisher's Web site, arcadiapublishing.com. The author will sign copies of the book at 2 p.m. on April 24, at Borders at 255 Grossman Drive.
Title: Dennehy captures Braintree's history in pictures
Author: Robert Aicardi
Publisher: GateHouse News Service
Date: 4/27/2010
John Dennehy's debut as an author came about when he spotted an omission in Arcadia Publishing's popular "Images of America" series.
"I was in a bookstore one day and I noticed that there were Arcadia books about plenty of towns, but there wasn't a book about Braintree," said Dennehy, an attorney who served as a selectman from 1990 to 1996 and a Town Meeting member from 1991 to 2007. "I contacted the publishers, said that Braintree is a very historic town, and they told me, 'No one has ever stepped forward. Would you be interested?'"
What followed was "a labor of love" for Dennehy, a graduate of Stonehill College and Suffolk University Law School and a doctoral candidate in American history at Boston College, who spent "about a year" gathering and choosing the pictures that appear in "Braintree," which is available at area bookstores.
"I wanted to make sure that Braintree had a book (in the series)," he said. "I knew we had the photographs. I thought that people would enjoy looking at these pictures as much as I did."
Dennehy, who decided to concentrate on the history of the town through 1960 although there are pictures of the landmark 2008 inauguation of Braintree's first mayor and town council, regrets that 50 pictures wound up on the literary equivalent of the cutting room floor.
Most of the pictures in "Braintree" were taken from 1890 to 1920.
"That was the period I most wanted to explore because people know very little about it," Dennehy said. "I particularly wanted to give people a flavor of what it was like to live in Braintree in the 1890s. The 1890s were when people started to take pictures. You get a sense of how slowly paced life was in Braintree then. This was a rural communiity."
Pictures reveal a great deal about the era in which they were taken, Dennehy pointed out.
"You can see that in Sourh Braintree Square, there were very few vehicles driving down the street in the 1920s," he said. "Most people didn't drive."
Among the photos in "Braintree" is a shot taken in 1958 of then-Sen. John F. Kennedy speaking to a crowd in the parking lot in front of Town Hall.
"There were only about 20 to 25 people there (to listen to the future president)," Dennehy said.
The former president of the Braintree Historical Society, who serves on its board of directors, feels that whole books could have been written about various aspects of the town, such as its transportation, schools, and architecture.
"I ended up doing a cross section," Dennehy said.
Since "Braintree" was published, Dennehy has received "a lot of positive feedback" about it.
"Most people enjoy looking at old photographs," he said.
Dennehy signed copies at Borders on April 24.
He has several ideas for future books dealing with history.
"I love the past," Dennehy said.
