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Colonial Heroine at Center of Modern Downtown Controversy

Never mind Lara Croft or Trinity from the Matrix, Haverhill has its own action adventure heroine in Hannah Dustin (1657-1736). And this colonial dame is raising some eyebrows around town.



Hannah seems to be everywhere these days. Posters, stickers, and even T-shirts sporting her image have been appearing on backpacks, laptops, and the coffee shops of Haverhill. The posters for the Haverhill Rocks downtown music festival feature Hannah playing a guitar. 's8220;We didn's8217;t expect this sort of controversy when we chose Hannah Dustin as the icon for the music festival,'s8221; said Shaw Rosen, chair of Team Haverhill, the citizen's8217;s group working with Mayor James Fiorentini and the City Council to help guide Haverhill's8217;s renaissance.



The posters for the downtown music festival have generated controversy as well as compliments. 's8220;People have even said that they wish that someone would bury the statue where no one would find it,'s8221; said Shaw. 's8220;Some people find her to be not politically correct. But we think she is a symbol of Haverhill's8217;s courage, resourcefulness, and history 's8211; and those are qualities that we's8217;re trying to encourage as we revitalize our downtown.'s8221;



Hannah Dustin made history in 1697 when local Native Americans killed her family and took her hostage. Hannah not only escaped from an island in the middle of the Merrimack River, but scalped several of her captors and made it back, barefoot, to Haverhill from Concord, NH. Hannah Dustin is the first woman in U.S. to have a statue erected in her honor, and the first to receive a medal for bravery. Her story became famous through retellings by Cotton Mather and Henry David Thoreau. The city of Haverhill erected a statue in 1879 in a park near Main Street in her honor.



's8220;Haverhill's8217;s history is America's8217;s history,'s8221; said Constantine A. Valhouli of The Hammersmith Group, a firm that specializes in revitalizing historic downtowns. 's8220;People forget that Haverhill is one of the oldest towns in Massachusetts. Because of people like Shaw Rosen at Team Haverhill, the city is waking up to its sense of history and identity. And Hannah Dustin is part of what gives Haverhill its unique identity.'s8221;



Hannah Dustin is only one of several colorful characters that have walked the town'ss streets since the town was founded in 1640. Alexander Graham Bell tutored the deaf son of shoe magnate Thomas Sanders on Kenoza Avenue. George Washington visited Haverhill during his famous victory tour after the Revolution. And City Solicitor William Moody was an attorney in the famous Lizzie Borden ax murder trial in 1893.



The Haverhill Rocks event will be held on Aug 26 from 2-8 pm at Railroad Square. It will feature local artists, vendors, and performers, vendors, as well as national recording artists Entrain.



For additional information, please contact:



Shaw Rosen, Team Haverhill. teamhaverhill.com

Tel 978 289 2639.

whatsuphaverhill.com



Constantine A. Valhouli, The Hammersmith Group

Tel 917 447 8800.

thehammersmithgroup.com

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