“This week we’re exploring the Town of Amherst. How did Amherst became this large College Town? Was this always the case or just serendipity?”
The First Episode of Season 2 or the Sixth Episode of the overall Series is set in Amherst. A familiar place to me as I had spent a good portion of my life (at the time of recording) in Amherst, for this project I had to come with fresh-eyes. Leaving my own definitions of Amherst behind, to recontextualize Amherst based on new evidence and the Historical Record.
Production began around the beginning of June, with initial research and visit to local museums. This expanded not only on Amherst but also the neighboring town of Hadley, the town Amherst used to be a part of. Requiring to do double the research to cross reference events from both of the Towns’ history. A struggle for this episode was linking Amherst’s Industrial Past to its Education-Focused present. It feels like fiction to say that Amherst was industrious not only due to its lack of present-day industry but also lack of physical evidence. The evidence we have left are in the form of a few Industrial-looking buildings “randomly” erected around Amherst and the remnants of their foundations. They themselves provide little information but when coupled with Place-Names and the Railroads, a fuzzy picture starts to form, prompting you to ask ; what were they even making around here anyways?
Amherst felt like a good place to start Season 2. With its interesting History and the amount of people who sets foot in Amherst for the first time each year. It felt like a great place to gain inspiration and steam.
Production Notes
- Production time of 3 months
- On-location recording took 5 days.
- Extended information regarding Hadley was cut due to time.