Historical Society Program Focuses on Shopping

From the Woburn Historical Society:

Remembering the Shopping Experiences of Day's Gone By.

Please join us in the Flaherty Auditorium at Woburn Memorial High School.  The show starts at 7:00 pm and doors open at 6:30 pm.  Admission is free and we will be serving light refreshments after the show.  (Please note that this will be on Monday Night now that School is out)

Sue Ellen Holland will host a PowerPoint presentation about the old stores that used to line Main Street and beyond in Woburn.  Thus show will bring back many memories.

After that, we will be showing the documentary short by Michael Bavaro entitled: Voices From The Basement.

Voices from the Basement is a new documentary film about Boston’s beloved 100-year-old icon – the original Filene’s Basement. The film is a journey back to a time when the American Dream was accessible to everyone who walked through the doors of The Basement.  The Brahmins of Beacon Hill stood in line with the waitresses from Durgin Park with equal access to the same high-quality, discounted merchandise for which Filene’s Basement is best known.

In the film, celebrities, politicians, employees, and loyal shoppers passionately share their stories about this landmark institution that has been one of Boston’s most visited tourist attractions for generations.

Dr. Susan Edbril embarked on capturing these stories more than 10 years ago to honor her grandmother and the women who worked in The Basement. In 2005, Edbril met filmmaker Michael Bavaro, and they shortly began film production.

The history of Filene’s Basement is captured through newsreels, archival footage, vintage photographs and audio recordings.  The founders, Edward and Lincoln Filene, were two of the leading retail pioneers who helped shape many of the social and economic paradigms that have made America great.  From employee health care to the formation of credit unions, the Filene brothers were 20th Century visionaries.

Throughout the course of production, the producers were witness to history as it transpired.  With the closing of the downtown store in 2007, they were there to capture it all.

Notables interviewed include; Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Governor Michael Dukakis, Congressman Barney Frank, CBS news legend Mike Wallace, Academy-Award Winning Actress Estelle Parsons, Boston journalists Peter Mehegan and Susan Wornick.