Dinosaurs in the Driveway with Sarah Doyle

Visit Wistariahurst Museum to experience Dinosaurs in the Driveway with Sarah Doyle. Doyle dives into the history of the dinosaur tracks leading up to Wistariahurst. In 1927, when Belle Skinner had slabs of sandstone with dinosaur footprints laid as a driveway to Wistariahurst, it may have seemed an idiosyncratic choice. Although the tracks were well known locally, dinosaurs had not yet made the big mark on pop culture we see today. It is only in recent years that scientific interest in the footprints has been revived, yet their discovery in the valley in 1835 made our local small towns and people well known to scientists in Britain and Europe. How the Connecticut River Valley became part of international dialogue over identifying […]

Visit Wistariahurst Museum to experience Dinosaurs in the Driveway with Sarah Doyle. Doyle dives into the history of the dinosaur tracks leading up to Wistariahurst. In 1927, when Belle Skinner had slabs of sandstone with dinosaur footprints laid as a driveway to Wistariahurst, it may have seemed an idiosyncratic choice. Although the tracks were well known locally, dinosaurs had not yet made the big mark on pop culture we see today. It is only in recent years that scientific interest in the footprints has been revived, yet their discovery in the valley in 1835 made our local small towns and people well known to scientists in Britain and Europe. How the Connecticut River Valley became part of international dialogue over identifying what had made the footprints — if they even were footprints! — makes a fascinating trip into another little slice of local history.

Sarah Doyle has investigated the history of the discovery of dinosaur footprints since 1990. She was lead writer for the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association’s Impressions from a Lost World website and since 2010 has directed Jurassic Roadshow, a pop-up exhibit of local fossils that includes amateur fossil collectors, academic paleontologists and geologists, historical re-enactors, and learning activities. Jurassic Roadshow was the impetus for the creation of DinoFest, held annually in Greenfield since 2017, often in collaboration with Jonathan Mirin’s Piti Theatre group for children. She has written papers on the mostly unknown figures in the story of the discovery, including three in collaboration with the late Robert Herbert.

Visit Wistariahurst Museum July 20th from 1:00-2:00pm for Dinosaurs on the Driveway.

Dinosaurs in the Driveway is funded by a grant from the Holyoke Local Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

Visite el Museo Wistariahurst y descubra Dinosaurios en el camino de entrada con Sarah Doyle. Doyle se sumerge en la historia de las huellas de dinosaurio que conducen a Wistariahurst. En 1927, cuando Belle Skinner mandó colocar losas de arenisca con huellas de dinosaurios como camino de entrada a Wistariahurst, pudo parecer una elección idiosincrásica. Aunque las huellas eran bien conocidas en la localidad, los dinosaurios aún no habían dejado la gran huella en la cultura popular que vemos hoy en día. Sólo en los últimos años se ha reavivado el interés científico por las huellas, pero su descubrimiento en el valle en 1835 hizo que los científicos de Gran Bretaña y Europa conocieran bien nuestros pueblos y gentes. La forma en que el valle del río Connecticut se convirtió en parte del diálogo internacional sobre la identificación de las huellas -¡si es que eran huellas! — es un viaje fascinante a otro pequeño fragmento de la historia local.

Sarah Doyle investiga la historia del descubrimiento de huellas de dinosaurio desde 1990. Fue redactora jefe del sitio web Impressions from a Lost World de la Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association y desde 2010 dirige Jurassic Roadshow, una exposición itinerante de fósiles locales que incluye coleccionistas aficionados, paleontólogos y geólogos académicos, recreadores históricos y actividades de aprendizaje. Jurassic Roadshow fue el impulso para la creación de DinoFest, que se celebra anualmente en Greenfield desde 2017, a menudo en colaboración con el grupo de teatro infantil Piti Theatre de Jonathan Mirin. Ha escrito artículos sobre las figuras, en su mayoría desconocidas, de la historia del descubrimiento, incluidos tres en colaboración con el difunto Robert Herbert.

Visite el Museo Wistariahurst el 20 de julio de 13:00 a 14:00 para ver Dinosaurios en el camino de entrada.

Dinosaurs on the Driveway se financia con una subvención del Consejo Cultural Local de Holyoke, un organismo local que cuenta con el apoyo del Consejo Cultural de Massachusetts, un organismo estatal.