Cape Cod History

January 29 - 1853: The day Brewster got a Ladies' Library; 2007: Army Sgt. Alexander Henry Fuller dies in Iraq; 2007: 57% in state residents back casino

1853: A dozen women start the Brewster Ladies' (subscription) Library

On this day in 1853, the Brewster Ladies' Library opened to the public with 200 books in its collection.

Originally a subscription library situated at a home now at 1772 Main St., the library was the brainchild of young Brewster residents Sarah Augusto Mayo and Mary Louise Cobb. The pair persuaded 10 other Brewster women to join them in their endeavor - hence the library's name.

According to the library's website, "men were allowed to borrow books, but they had to pay more than the ladies. That rule was dropped in time."

As the library collection grew, space became limited and Captain Joseph Nickerson donated $1,000 to start a library building fund. In 1868, a new library at the site of the present-day structure opened on Main Street with two comfortable parlors lined with bookshelves, each of the parlors warmed by a fireplace. In 1877, another room was added to the rear.

In the Bicentennial year of 1976, the library was expanded with another addition and in 1985, the basement became the children's library. Further expansion in 1997 doubled the floor space, created an auditorium and two meeting rooms and allowed for more than 50,000 books.

 Thirty years ago, "an objection was raised" to the library's name "because of the possibility of misinterpretation - that men were not allowed," states the library website. "However, in an overwhelming vote at the annual library meeting, the decision was made to go with history and keep the name. In 1999, 'Your Community Library' was added to the name to avoid confusion."

2007: Fallen U.S. soldier left New Bedford as a baby, lived in Centerville

On this day in 2007 the relatives of Army Sgt. Alexander Henry Fuller were trying to refreash their memories of baby Alex, who left New Bedford in the mid-1980s to live on Cape Cod.  Sgt. Fuller, 21, who died in Iraq Thursday when a bomb exploded near his convoy, had no real memories of the Whaling City, his widow said last night.  Anastacia Fuller, 19, is pregnant and due in April with their baby girl, Aleahcia.

Sgt. Fuller spent his youth living in Centerville on the Cape with Anastacia's family, the Zinovs, and in Florida with his mother.  He joined the Army in 2004 and had been in Iraq since October. He was due to come home on leave in April for the birth of his daughter and was going to get out of the Army in October, Mrs. Fuller said.

2007: Most back casinos for Massachusetts

Southeastern Mass., Cape Cod also in favor

More than half of Massachusetts residents support casino gambling in the Bay State, according to a poll and behavioral survey released today by the Center for Policy Analysis at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.  The poll and survey of 1,041 state residents, conducted from Sept. 29 to Nov. 2, is the most extensive yet undertaken to determine residents' attitudes toward casino gambling and its effects, center director Dr. Clyde W. Barrow said.

A clear majority of residents in every region, except the Cape and Islands, support establishing casino gambling in Massachusetts as an alternative to casinos in Connecticut and slot parlors in Rhode Island, Barrow said.  About 57 percent of those surveyed support resort casino authorization, the survey showed, with another 30 percent opposed and 14 percent undecided.

Cape Cod; 43% for, 41% against

The regional breakdown in favor of authorizing casinos includes 57 percent in favor to 31 percent opposed in southeastern Massachusetts.  There is also 58 percent in favor to 30 percent opposed in Greater Boston and its suburbs; 61 percent to 28 percent in northeastern Massachusetts; Worcester County, 58 percent to 32 percent; and 53 percent to 25 percent in Western Massachusetts.

Cape Cod residents, the survey indicated, were statistically tied, with 43 percent in favor and 41 percent opposed.