'Five Miles Astride the River: The Story of Wayland' Premiers With Local Showing

This month, celebrate the 375th anniversary with another event highlighting the town and American history with the premier of “Five Miles Astride the River: The Story of Wayland.”

On Friday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m., the Walden Forum gathers at Wayland High School’s auditorium. Kevin Delaney, the creator of the Wayland High School History Project, features examples of student work as he shares his insights about how, in close collaboration with the Wayland Historical Society, local history can serve as a window to view larger themes of the American experience and its importance to secondary education.

The highlight of the evening will be the premiere of the film “FIVE MILES ASTRIDE THE RIVER: The Story of Wayland” which celebrates the 375th anniversary of the town’s founding.

The History Project is a five-volume digital archive examining how 20th century trends and developments played out in our community of Wayland. His students are now researching Wayland during the Great Depression, the World War II years and the 1960s. In spring 2015, they will turn to Wayland during World War I. Visit the site for information on these and other projects, including an incident when teacher Anne Hale was fired for her communist sympathies during the McCarthy era and background on Lt. Col. Joyce (Commanding Officer of newly liberated Dachau), whose artifacts and papers now reside in the Holocaust Museum in Washington.

FIVE MILES ASTRIDE THE RIVER is a documentary of three periods of Wayland’s history: colonial, industrial and post-war development. Using photographs and interviews to illuminate Wayland’s development, the producers show how historical events and artifacts are still in evidence today – shaping the character of our town and of the larger community.

This program is an example of how four community organizations – the high school, Wayland Historical Society, Wayland 375th, and the Walden Forum – and two talented young men can bring this history to life.

About the moviemakers:

Kevin Delaney has taught at Wayland High School for 24 years and is head of the Social Studies department. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and earned an MA from the University of Massachusetts at Boston. He has earned several awards and distinctions including the 2014 Massachusetts History Teacher of the Year. In September 2013, he was featured in a Boston Magazine article“The Briefcase,” which described the Martin Joyce papers project.

Zander Cowen, a former Delaney student, is a Film and Electronic Arts Major at Bard College in New York. He is the production manager at “Bard On Television” (Bard’s official student-run TV network), which gives students the opportunity to produce their own films.

Jacob Sussman is a student at Wesleyan University in Connecticut and a storyteller. Since making his first short in the summer of 2010, Sussman has been passionate about advancing his craft and finding his niche within the evolving world of film. His short film Molineux was awarded Best Narrative Film in the high school category of the Arlington International Film Festival. Cowen and Sussman are co-founders of Pelham Island Pictures.

After the discussion and the premiere – Delaney, Sussman and Cowen will field questions; then the audience can chat with them and the local people interviewed in the film over refreshments.

Information submitted by Molly Faulkner, Wayland Historical Society