Plum Island

On days that I am teaching, I often check historic anniversaries to see if a relevant anniversary can be brought into the discussion. For anniversary lessons close to home, I subscribe to the Mass Moments e-mail list. Every day I receive a brief description of an event that took place in Massachusetts, with a link to a more detailed version of the story, along with a bibliography and links to related resources.

Yesterday's post began with a 1704 wolf hunt, building on that event to describe the fascinating history of land management on Plum Island, a 9-square-mile barrier island north of Boston. I have been to the island once, more than a decade ago. I remember it as a beautiful place to which I would like to return, and I am more determined to do so after reading this article. We were at a graduation party at a private home, but when we return it will be to wildlife refuge that covers much of the island. The Mass Moments post describes how that refuge came to be established to protect the great diversity of birds that migrate to the island.