The Swampscott Historical Commission hosted a reception honoring artist Beth Delforge and the “Celebrating Swampscott Schools” exhibit.

The exhibit, located at 89 Burrill St., features artifacts from both the Stanley and Hadley Schools. Delforge’s contribution dates back to her time as a visiting artist at the Machon School. Delforge’s contribution comes from when she was a visiting artist at the Machon School. She guided students in creating large poster displays celebrating the town’s history. The exhibition was originally started to coincide with the town’s new elementary school.

“Student art work is something to celebrate,” Deforge told the Swampscott Tides. “After all these years, it has a life. I think that’s pretty wonderful.”

About a dozen people joined Delforge at the exhibit, exploring what felt like time capsules from Swampscott’s former elementary schools. The new elementary school now stands on the former site of the Stanley School. The Hadley School closed in 2024 to consolidate all of Swampscott’s kindergarten through fourth-grade students under one roof. The Machon School closed in 2007 due to budgetary constraints. 

Delforge worked with Machon School students in 1992, after the Parent Teacher Organization helped bring her on board. The posters were displayed in the library, gym and cafeteria area of the school.

“I read the history and then I themed it out,” Delforge said. “I marketed myself as a person that could make all kinds of big things with kids because I always loved to have kids feel empowered by their own work.”

Delforge, a former arts teacher and coordinator, served as an artist-in-residence in several North Shore school districts. She worked with the students to build the large artworks, taking about six to eight weeks at each school. Delforge joked that the sea creature featured in one of the Swampscott posters also made a surprise appearance in posters from another town to honor the similar water location and history.

In Swampscott, older students created portraits of notable town figures such as Mary Baker Eddy, Miss Hadley, Mr. Burpee, Colonel Henry Parker, Edward Burrill, and Louise Stanley.

Each grade had their own poster display, with one focusing on the fishing legacy within Swampscott. The poster is spotted with octopi and fish. Three ships sail in the water, as the students also cut out letters to spell out “Egg Rock Lighthouse, It saves Swampscott Fishermen.”

Another poster explores the Indigenous history of Swampscott, showcasing its many historical spellings: “Musquiompskut,” “M’Squompskut,” “Squomskut,” “Swampscot,” and “Swampscott.” Teepees appear in the background, while horses line the bottom.

One grade focused on the Machon neighborhood and the different buildings, plants and closeness the area has to offer. 

Delforge said she wanted to make sure that she also never laid a hand on the artwork.

“I would never tell a student how to do something because to me you’re taking the magic away from what they’re capable of doing,” Delforge said.

In the room off of the hallway, the Historical Commission has an exhibit that includes other artifacts from the various schools. The telephone booth that was at the Hadley School stands in the corner. A weather vane is nearby. There’s a calendar on cloth from 1879 that shows off the “Big Blue Pride.” A banner for the “Swampscott Big Blue Smokeless Class of 2000” hangs on display as well.

Lettering from the Stanley School hangs on the wall, alongside hooks once used for hats, coats, and umbrellas. Also on display is the master clock that once controlled all the other clocks in the school.

“They were master clocks in the principal’s office, and they controlled all of the clocks in the school,” Leamon said. 

There’s a little lectern, where students learned to speak publicly. The sides have hearts carved in it.

“I was very impressed that they had speech for elementary kids,” Leamon said. 

There is also a video on display that a teacher from the Hadley School had made to encompass the school’s history with the students and other teachers. It was over two hours long but has been cut down to 15 minutes for the exhibition.

The Swampscott Historical Commission invites the public to view the exhibition at 889 Burrill St. on Thursday, September 18 from 9:30 a.m. to noon; Sunday, September 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. as part of the Trails and Sails event; and on Thursday, September 25 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Additional exhibit materials may be viewed at Town Hall during normal business hours.