5 enjoyable details you may not learn about Lee within the Sixties | South Berkshires

LEE — Did you realize {that a} dam break swept a housing mission away in Lee within the Sixties? Or that bowling was on the top of its recognition. 

You can study these details and extra at a brand new exhibit on show on the Lee Library via July 31. It’s curated by Phil Smith, 85, of Lee, who has spent his free time creating exhibitions that doc the historical past of his hometown for the final 5 years.

“This is my hobby, or it has become my hobby at least,” Smith stated. “It’s great because it gives me something fun to do and look forward to every year.”

Smith is the president of the Lee Historical Society and over the previous yr has been single-handedly making ready a brand new exhibit for its monthlong show within the Lee Library. Last summer season, he curated an exhibit that detailed what life was like each on the town and across the nation throughout the Nineteen Fifties. 

“Last year, when we did our exhibit on the 1950s, we called it ‘Happy Days,’” stated Smith, reflecting on the postwar prosperity within the space. “But when it comes to the ’60s, that’s a much different era you know, so this year we decided to name the exhibit, ‘Lee in the Tumultuous ’60s.’”

According to Smith, life in Lee throughout the early Sixties was similar to the “happy days” of the Nineteen Fifties, however started to really feel distinctly totally different as a result of escalation of the conflict effort in Vietnam.

“From 1965 ahead, we see loads of concern about youngsters getting drafted into the conflict, in addition to for the state of teenagers and their interplay with medication and counter-cultural actions that started to seep into the city,” he stated.

The exhibit opened July 1 on the Lee Library and will probably be on view Monday via Friday from 10 a.m. to six p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. till July 31. As a part of the celebration, the Happy Together Band will carry out Sixties-era music on the library on July 28 from 6 to eight p.m. The exhibit will stay open via the tip of the live performance.

Here are 5 enjoyable details you may not learn about Lee within the Sixties which might be featured on this summer season’s exhibit:

BOWLING BOOM

Bowling was one of many lighthearted pastimes that carried over from the Nineteen Fifties and remained wildly well-liked round Lee into the Sixties. In 1961, a brand new bowling alley was constructed on Route 102, one among a number of within the area. Today, no hint stays of the alley, as curiosity within the sport dwindled in later a long time, however its recognition throughout the ’60s speaks to the city’s urge for food for group exercise.

‘BATTLE OF THE SEXES’

In 1963, the All-American Redheads, a touring girls’s basketball crew recognized for his or her flashy crimson hair, rolled into city to face off towards an area males’s crew, the Thomas Memorials. The sport, which was playfully branded as a “battle of the sexes” drew a big crowd. The Memorials received the sport 62-44. “I think some of them probably must have dyed their hair,” Smith stated with a chuckle as he pointed to a picture of the crew posing for a photograph.

TEENS AND TROUBLE

As the last decade wore on, anxiousness about youth tradition started to bubble up. “We threw in this picture of some kids loitering outside the old Lee Hardware store because it reflects the real concerns people had about kids in Lee not having enough activity in town to keep their noses out of trouble,” Smith stated. While tame by at the moment’s requirements, the photograph captures a second of intergenerational rigidity that was echoed in small cities throughout America.

LOCAL BUSINESSES FACE PROBLEMS

One of the most important themes of the exhibit is the rise of commercialization and its influence on native companies. In Lee, like many different small communities throughout the Sixties, this meant watching beloved establishments shut their doorways all too quickly. Among them was the Lee Supermarket, a family-run enterprise that was cherished by native residents. It closed within the early ’60s and was changed with a Price Chopper, an early signal of the rising dominance of enormous companies over native institutions.

FLOOD OF 1968

Perhaps probably the most dramatic story from the last decade comes from the proposed Lake Lee housing improvement. In 1966, plans have been laid for a brand new neighborhood beneath a dam alongside Mud Pond. But in 1968, catastrophe struck when the dam burst throughout development, inflicting widespread flooding throughout East Lee. Two folks died within the flood, and far of the jap a part of city was left devastated. “This was also the second time that it happened, because they had built a dam there before for industrial use and it broke too, so I am not too sure what they were thinking when they decided to try and put a whole community there,” Smith stated.