“On July 16th, 1878, Jennie Lind Dickerson was born in Brockton, Massachusetts. It seemed that the moment she was born, a beautiful flower bloomed. Outside the day was warm, but cool fresh air flowed into the house. Her parents and older brother were excited to meet the newest family member. They were awed by her adorable face and tiny body. From the open window, they could hear the nearby factories buzzing and banging. Tall buildings surrounded the house, unlike the small town the family would eventually move to.”
So begins Jennie’s Story, a historical fiction project by the students of the Jennie D. Blake School in Hill. Making use of the facts they had about the teacher for whom the school was named, they found there were gaps: “We don’t know exactly what had happened in her lifetime,” they explained during a book release party on November 8. Telling the story required filling in those gaps with inferences from photos and their own imaginations. “We had to make it fun as a children’s book, so we had to come up with fictional things, too.”