The Libraries of Massachusetts: Medford to Provincetown and Return

Thursday, June 12, 2025

This morning, I found out that my arteries were clogged: I93 and MA 3 were bumper to bumper as I headed south from Medford. Last weekend, I drove a couple of hours through northwestern Massachusetts before seeing another car. Today, it was a few spins of the minute hand around the clock until I hit open road. Goldfinger and I were well-fueled for the trip.

A report on my byway conversations:

“I don’t work here. I’m just doing a delivery.” The uniformed man’s answer to my “Is this full service?” question as he walked out of the gas station toward my car.

“He donated a box truck of books, mainly Catholic theology and philosophy,” said the man pulling a Radio Flyer red wagon full of books through the parking lot at the Hyannis Public Library. I had commented that it looked like he had loaded up at the library’s book sale.

“It’s our most loved and our most hated flavor.” Statement by the creamista to my comment that I loved the lavender honeycomb ice cream at Katie’s.

“I was stressed out the whole time.” Comment from the tall blond woman sitting out front of Katie’s who had just finished eating a chocolate ice cream cone while wearing white pants. I had said that it takes a bold person to do that.

Eating a single scoop at Katie’s (which is actually a double scoop, as you can choose two flavors; the second scoop of my single scoop was the purple cow) gave me time to think, in addition to wondering whether the woman on the outside deck was going to drip chocolate on her pants. Sometimes, thinking is good. When I was taking pictures of the Hyannis library, I saw a sign on the front door 

Ora Adams Hinckley Memorial

Librarian 1909-1943

Hyannis Public Library

Because I was ready for a latte, which turned into an ice cream cup after I came to Katies instead of Chez Antoine Cafe as I had planned, I snapped the shot of the Hinckley Memorial sign and then climbed back into Goldfinger. While enjoying every last sweet, sweet, spoon from my single/double scoop, I thought: Why don’t I take the time to go back to the library and see what I can find out about Hinckley? So, back I went.

Carolyn Anne, an “Operations Associate,” responded immediately to my request for information about Hinckley by handing me the pamphlet, “Tributes to the Beloved Librarian Ora Adams Hinckley.” These memories are so beautiful, I have included them at length.

This little booklet is a tribute to the memory of ORA ADAMS HINCKLEY, our beloved librarian and friend. It is a memorial token for her many friends from the Trustees of the Hyannis Public Library. She was a woman who possessed rare qualities of mind and spirit; she had a great sense of justice and kindness and a loving disposition. Maybe one source of her inspiration and strength is shown by this little everyday conversation that occurred in our library…Mrs. Otis, about to make some measurements for the curtains, inquired, "Hasn't Mrs. Hinckley a tape measure?" Mr. Rich replied "Oh, no-Mrs. Hinckley always uses the Golden Rule." This was the source of her kindliness and the secret of her quiet charm. Her work lives after her and by it she will long be remembered.

Charles E. Harris

Clara J. Hallett described Hinckley’s life in her extended tribute to “A Wonderful Woman.” 

Ora Adams was born in Rochester, New Hampshire, in 1857. She was a direct descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins (who had come over on the Mayflower) and President John Adams. She was educated at the Tilton Seminary and the Normal School at Tilton, New Hampshire. When she was only fourteen, she taught for a short while at a grade school.

Often some careless decision changes the whole course of our lives. One summer in the late [18]70's, [she] met the wife and daughter of Capt[ain] Allen Bearse at a mountain resort in New Hampshire…Bearse was one of our well known sea captains, living on Camp Street, Hyannis…Mrs. Bearse invited Ora…to come to stay a while at her home here which she did, and a lifelong friendship resulted from this accidental meeting. Arriving in Hyannis she told a driver, who happened to be John S. Bearse, that she wished to go to Captain Bearse's. "Which one?" said he. "Why, is there more than one?" she asked. "Is there? Well I'll say there is [sic] fifteen or twenty maybe more." But finally the right one was found.

She liked the village, and decided to stay, becoming a school teacher, as “[s]he was fond of children and had a way with her that appealed to their busy little minds.” She engaged in the social life of the community and wrote stories about local events for the Hyannis Patriot. She joined the Federated Church, was a charter member of the Yanno Woman's Relief Corps, the Hyannis Woman's Club, the Garden Club, and during World War I, the U.S.O. 

“She loved to write about Cape Cod — to make it live in days to come, both the old and the new.” And write she did: for the Barnstable Tercentenary, “Women Who Went To Sea.” “Barnstable O! Barnstable.” “Villages and Libraries Throughout the Cape, Great Island, Craigville.” “Changes and Interesting Events in the Lives of People Now Gone.”

She used to say "I'm a real Cape Codder, you know" and the fact that she was born elsewhere seemed not important; she had transferred her allegiance and love to Cape Cod and its people. Everything worthwhile she tried to keep alive through her writings…

Ora married Mr. S. Alexander Hinckley, a Cape Cod native, in 1886. Hinckley, who had previously been married, had three young children. Ora “loved these children as her own and they found in her a real mother. When her little daughter Isabelle was born they continued to be one happy family to which she gave her love and untiring devotion.” Mr. Hinckley died in 1908, the same year the library moved into the Loring-Hallett-Otis House, which still had tenants living there. Several village ladies volunteered at the library until an election was held to choose a permanent librarian. 

Someone suggested Mrs. Ora Hinckley and what a happy inspiration it was! She accepted the position. Her first annual report was given in 1909. Those reports that have always been looked forward to with delight; telling not only of work done during the year, but full of bits of humor, revealing a side of her character not often seen, for she was very modest and retiring never seeking the spotlight for herself. Her library notes are of special interest. I can only quote a few. Every word spoken in praise of the library was carefully noted. "A young girl said to me 'Do you know you work in the sweetest place'?" "A lady won my heart," she writes, "when she said, 'I wouldn't like to see in this library a modern girl with lipstick decoration'."

Mrs. Hinckley was an old fashioned lady, for although she gave much thought to new ideas and the changes they have produced, she still was true to the standards of living by which she had been reared. She felt those standards had been lowered and regretted it. Of course we have to remember that every generation serves its own for better or worse and we cannot expect another Ora Hinckley…Many simple and amusing things were also recorded from time to time like "A mouse ate up all my paste last night – caught him next night."

No woman on Cape Cod ever had more sincere and gracious tributes paid to her memory than those that came voluntarily from so many who mourned her loss. From that accidental meeting so long ago with Mrs. Allen Bearse, many lives have been influenced. But was it accidental? Maybe some kind fate helped to weave the chain of events that brought her to us, for otherwise we might never have known her, or be meeting here to honor her memory. It seems fitting to dedicate these rooms in the old library to her as the Ora Hinckley portion of the Hyannis Free Public Library; for to her friends and admirers, this old house is saturated with her presence. We see her busy at her desk but she would always take a moment to greet old friends, "'Why haven't you been in before? What are you doing now? How are you? Have you heard from this one and that one?” Deeply interested in the lives of everyone she knew and anxious to make new friends for the library and herself.

Each new man, woman or child who entered the library door was made welcome, her gentle voice and kindly smile and the many little favors she knew how to do so well, made the library a pleasant, attractive place to visit. Largely through her influence this quaint old house which shelters the library has become known to hundreds of people in widely scattered areas. All hail to her memory. 

Annie S. Crowell memorialized her in the “Day to Day Life of Mrs. Hinckley.” 

She never talked about people in an unkindly way. She had great faith in common people and in democratic ways. If someone expressed views at variance with her own she responded, "We must all say what we think. We must."

She seemed very little interested in her material possessions. She allowed free use of her house and its furnishings. Her interest was in people and their welfare. On the window sill in the dining room close by the kitchen door she kept a small bowl full of pennies. When someone asked her the purpose of that she answered, "Oh, just to have some handy – help yourself." She was very generous in sharing the use of her possessions…

Her strong sense of loyalty to people and to causes made her faithful in attendance at meetings of organizations; her personal convenience mattered little. She made effort to attend meetings of Church, Club, Relief Corps, Historical Society, Town Meeting and special occasions at the Teachers College and Public Schools. One cold Sunday evening the minister, in asking his congregation to assemble more promptly, said "When it was almost time for this meeting to open 'Grandma’ Hinckley and I were the only ones in the Church.”

At Christmastime she made tiny wreaths and Christmas cards by mounting a bit of green on a red background applied to a white card. On the day before Christmas she delivered in person these little gifts to her neighbors and to others who were ill or lonely or in trouble. She never spoke of feeling tired or ill or annoyed or discouraged or busy. She always seemed to have something worthwhile to do, yet was never too occupied to accept one more responsibility or to put aside work to receive and to pay visits to friends.

These tributes appeared in the Barnstable Patriot, the town’s weekly newspaper since 1830. The Rev. Carl F. Schultz-Pastor of the Hyannis Federated Church said:

Mrs. Hinckley went about [life] with physical vigor that was amazing, without regard for weather. She went about to the library, to the homes of her family and friends, to the meetings of many organizations, to the U.S.O. on Thursday afternoons, to the Patriot Office, to Church on Sundays, to the observance of Memorial Day each year. She went quietly so that no one would feel they must take her. She went quickly as there were so many places for her to go. The Community will long remember her as one whom they so often saw "Going about doing good" in so many ways.

Donald Trayser describes Mrs. Hinckley as

The Charming Little Lady whose love and knowledge of Barnstable was boundless…

Chester A. Crocker, speaking for the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Barnstable stated that

Mrs. Hinckley was a remarkably intelligent woman and there was little of much importance or general public interest which escaped her notice.

Mrs. Charles W. Megathlin, President of the Hyannis Woman's Club, wrote: 

The passing of Mrs. Hinckley may be. counted as a personal loss to each and every member of our club family. For years she had been a guide and inspiration in [the]  cultural advancement of our organization. Her memory will ever shine forth in our hearts as a guiding star urging us to maintain the highest standards of our club ritual, so truly exemplified in her own life…

Miss Eleanor I. Jones, Superintendent of the Cape Cod Hospital, praised Hinckley:

Each Christmas for many years it has been her custom of sending delightful typewritten verses pasted inside lovely Christmas cards to all the New Mothers in the Hospital – the verses telling of the happiness of the mothers with their newborn infants, with all good wishes for their future.

When making her regular visits to the Hospital on behalf of the Cape Cod Library Association it was Mrs. Hinckley's custom to bring with her some little thought for each patient with whom she came in contact–  sometimes a small flag, a picture postcard of the library or perhaps a bright penny. Her visits were always welcome as she radiated friendliness of the finest sort."

Mr. James Otis, Trustee and one of the founders of the present library, proclaimed: 

"Mrs. Ora" as we all knew her, possessed one of the first qualifications of a fine librarian, sympathy and a desire to help. To suggest a suitable book for the young reader or procure a rare volume was for her a joy. To have the shelves bare of books, all in circulation, to be open every day in the week was her dream, as the Trustees will testify. Her readiness to have the building used for various exhibitions revealed the breadth of her vision. Truly A Wonderful Woman.

Ora Adams Hinckley was hardly the only woman devoted to the vision of a library for Hyannis. In 1865, Mrs. Rosilla Ford Baxter and thirteen other women came together to start one, using a few shelves in Freeman Tobey's Store on Pleasant Street and then rooms in a gift shop owned by the Colonial Candle Co. (In these years it was a subscription library and not one open to the public.). In 1895 the library moved to the Saturday Night Club building on Main Street, and in 1908 it moved into the Loring-Hallett-Otis house after Mr. James Otis put the home into a trust for the library. 

Carole Anne gave me a tour of the library, from where she was working in the “new” two-story addition built in 1974, through the 1938 Eagleston wing, and then into the 1750s Loring-Hallett-Otis House, its first permanent home. The L-H-O rooms had not been restored and they were jammed with books, in shelves and boxes, and other haphazardly stored stuff; these rooms are now the library’s second hand book store. 

More interesting than the rooms was Carole Anne. She said proudly that she had walked through those front doors with her mothers when she was about three years old; it's one of her earliest memories. She gave me old-school directions to find Hinckley’s home (something like “drive down Main Street, then take a left on Pine, then turn on right on Harvard, but there’s no street sign there, and then you’ll drive by a church on the left and go around a corner and turn up the hill…the house has been badly damaged by fire, so just look for it and you’ll see it.”) Oh, for the days when people could give directions, rather than telling you the address and saying just map it. No, wait, just mapping it is way easier. One of Carole Anne’s special joys is to see her young patrons grow up and then bring their own children and, sometimes, grandchildren.

Eldredge Public Library

The Eldredge Public Library in Chatham is open until 7 p.m. on Thursdays, so I had the chance to go in and catch my breath, if one loses one’s breath while sitting behind the wheel all day except for taking gasoline and ice cream breaks. The main reading room, trimmed with dark oak, had a massive hearth on one wall and a seemingly-to-scale half moon glass window above its opening to the rest of the library. Before I settled down to write, I asked Sara at the front desk if she had a history of the library, and she did. That’s how I learned that the building is in the “Renaissance/Romanesque Revival Style, with Quincy granite fountain, red West Barnstable brick walls with pink mortar, and Longmeadow brownstone trim, a late roof with terracotta cresting, and eyebrow dormers.” That sentence was longer, really, than the description of the individual (“Marcellus Eldredge, who was a successful businessman and legislator”) behind the library’s establishment. 

Eldredge Public Library

Eldredge Public Library

Sara was quite chipper for a late afternoon and, after a couple of minutes of library talk, she said that I must go meet Meghan, the “magician” who is the children’s librarian. Her magic trick is to excite children about the library’s summer reading program “Color Our World.” Her outfit was task appropriate: her earrings were replica boxes of Crayola crayons, and her dress carried on the crayon theme. While she was a “library kid” her path to librarianship was not a point-to-point; it was more of a point-to-point-to-point-to-point until she earned her MLIS and took the job at the Eldredge. It’s obvious to me that both Sara and Aldredge love their jobs; at any rate, they were able to convince this visitor that they did.

I wanted to make Provincetown before it was dark so I proceeded north, taking pictures of the Snow Library in Orleans, the Eastham Public Library, the Wellfleet Public Library, the Truro Public Library, and the Provincetown Public Library before the sun slipped yet again over the horizon.

Provincetown Public Library