Program

Hikes Through History is a popular library program based on the author's recent Appalachian Mountain Club book, Best Day Hikes Near Boston.

The program uses maps and photos to discuss land use in New England, specifically highlighting historical aspects of nearly a dozen of the hikes featured in the Best Day Hikes book. For example, Charles Goodyear was employed at a rubber and dye factory on the site of the Middlesex Fells Reservation at the time he was working on the rubber vulcanization process. 

Audiences love the legend of Dungeon Rock in Lynn Woods, where a Victorian-era mystic tunneled under the rock for many years in search of elusive pirate treasure.

The author also discusses the reasons behind the ring of parks around Route 128, which were assembled during the same era by landscape architect Charles Eliot, who worked for Frederick Law Olmstead.

For more information including sample videos of the author's programs and endorsements by many librarians, see www.alisonoleary.com.