Road closure near Allerton seawall to begin next month

By Carol Britton Meyer 

Starting Aug. 12, Nantasket Avenue will be closed from Point Allerton Avenue to Fitzpatrick Way as the town gears up for construction of a new seawall across from Mariners Park during an 18-month period. 

Detour signs and signboards announcing the closure will be installed well ahead of that date to allow residents and visitors time to become accustomed to the changes, project manager Kevin Mooney of Waterways Project Management told residents during an update Monday. (See related story by clicking here)

“The contractor is responsible for maintaining the signage” and is aware of the windy conditions that sometimes cause them to fall down, Mooney explained in response to a related question from the audience. 

The time span for the project extends through Dec. 21, 2025. Construction is expected to take place five days a week from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 

“If additional hours are needed, the contractor would need to ask permission,” Mooney said. An emergency access plan will be in place. 

Mooney will be stationed in a trailer in Mariners Park throughout the project and will be available to residents who wish to stop by with questions or concerns. He may also be reached at waterwayspm@gmail.com or (781) 856-8935. 

Project details and maps are posted at https://www.town.hull.ma.us/home/pages/nantasket-avenue-seawall-project-0. 

A replay of the July 22 meeting at the high school for the purpose of providing a project update and information about the temporary traffic plan is available on hulltv.net. 

There will be further public discussions near the end of the construction period related to the plan to change Nantasket Avenue along the seawall to a one direction to determine in which direction the traffic will flow. 

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Select Board devising process for annual evaluation of town manager’s job performance

By Carol Britton Meyer 

The process for evaluating the town manager’s performance – a review that has not taken place at least in recent years – was discussed at length by the select board this week, with a vote expected at the next meeting on which evaluation document to use. 

The town’s labor counsel, John Clifford, who earlier provided the different forms to board members, explained this week the recommended process based on its success in other communities. Board member Greg Grey was not present. 

Town manager Jennifer Constable

The process involves Town Manager Jennifer Constable filling out a self-assessment form and each of the five select board members completing individual assessments of her performance – citing, for instance, areas of needed improvement and specific examples. 

The board is permitted to talk with town staff and department heads about how they rate the town manager’s work. 

After the five assessments are compiled into one summary document by the human resources director, the select board chair, or an outside party or town counsel, the results will be presented during a public meeting and voted upon. 

Board members are not allowed to take a look at each other’s evaluations until after that vote. The summary document, which will not be available to the public, will become part of Constable’s personnel record, along with any responses she makes about the contents of the document, once presented. 

‘Fully and fairly vetted evaluation’ 

Constable said she would be most comfortable with town counsel compiling the assessments into one document and favors a “full and fairly vetted evaluation.” 

Performance evaluations are “a critical part of the board’s relationship with the town manager and [his or her] relationship with the board,” Clifford said. “This should be viewed as an ongoing annual process, and if there’s not enough information available the first year, more will be available to consider later in the town manager’s tenure. A performance evaluation is not a snapshot.” 

Because there is not already an evaluation process in place, Chair Irwin Nesoff said it’s important to take the necessary time to do it right. 

“This needs to be done properly, and next year we’ll be able to move forward with a process in place,” he said. 

The select board will receive the summary document well before the public meeting during which it will be discussed. 

In other business at the meeting… 

• Jason McCann was appointed as the board’s designee to serve on the MBTA Advisory Board as well as the ferry subcommittee. 

• Robert Pahl, an architect who said affordable housing is needed in Hull “big time,” was appointed to the affordable housing committee and Scott Plympton and Judeth Van Hamm were reappointed to the Weir River Estuary Committee, while Pat Finn was reappointed to the zoning board of appeals. 

• Tami Schein, whose family has been summering in Hull for generations and who moved her permanently a year ago, was appointed to the beach management advisory committee. “I want to help protect the beach as much as I can,” she said. “It’s the biggest thing in Hull that brings everyone here.” 

• At James Ianiri’s request, the select board agreed to appoint him to a vacant permanent seat on the No Place for Hate Committee once he officially resigns from the alternate position the board appointed him to earlier, which has no voting rights. 

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Contaminated soil, decades-old gas tank removed from former 7-11 site

A decades-old underground storage tank at the former 7-Eleven store at the corner of A Street and Nantasket Avenue has delayed the potential sale of the property while soil contamination is cleaned up and monitoring wells installed. 

HEAP OF A JEEP. The disabled SUV parked on the site of the closed 7-11 at A Street was used this week to train firefighters on rescues from vehicles that crashed or rolled over in an accident. Hull Police had received several calls reporting an abandoned or stolen vehicle in the parking lot of the abandoned store.

The building has been vacant since the 7-Eleven store closed in 2021. It previously housed a franchise of the Tedeschi Food Shops chain; A Street Liquors occupied the second unit before relocating across the street. 

In June 2022, surveyors discovered a gasoline storage tank near the Nantasket Avenue border of the half-acre site, which is believed to remain from its previous use as the Waveland Garage from about 1922 through 1966. The gas station on the property contained at least three underground tanks over the years, according to property records reviewed by the environmental consultant hired to supervise the cleanup of hazardous materials. 

A grocery store or convenience mart has been at the site since the late 1960s; 7-Eleven bought the property in 2016 when it took over the Tedeschi chain. 

“The suspected source of the release is the UST [underground storage tank] that was removed in June 2023, combined with the historic use of the site as a gasoline service station,” according to the report by AECOM of Chelmsford. “As previously discussed, the UST was observed to be damaged upon removal.” 

The consultant reported that seven 55-gallon drums of a mixture of gasoline and water were removed from the 1,000-gallon tank, along with 45 tons of soil and several groundwater samples. Three monitoring wells were installed in the excavated area on May 14, 2024. 

The cleanup is being supervised by the state Department of Environmental Protection. 

In the meantime, the town has used the property, which is across from Central Fire Station, for water distribution and firefighter training exercises. 

Fire Chief Chris Russo said the disabled vehicle parked on site during the past few weeks was used this week to train firefighters on rescues from vehicles that crashed or rolled over in an accident. Hull Police had received several calls reporting an abandoned or stolen vehicle in the parking lot of the closed store. 

-- Christopher Haraden

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Assistant principal who quietly resigned from Hull High hired in similar position in Mansfield

By Christopher Haraden 

Hull High School’s former assistant principal, who stopped reporting to work in early May and resigned on June 12, has been hired as the assistant principal at Mansfield High School. 

JULIE BURKE ISRAEL

Julie Burke, now known as Julie Burke Israel, was mentioned among other hires by Mansfield Superintendent Teresa Murphy in a district newsletter on June 20. 

When questioned about Burke’s absence from Hull High in May, former Superintendent Judith Kuehn asked that the public “respect her privacy” and would give no further details about the administrator’s prolonged absence. Burke Israel did not attend Hull High’s graduation, and her resignation was not discussed at the school committee’s June 24 meeting. The Times’ request to committee Chair David Twombly about why the district did not announce Burke Israel’s departure has gone unanswered.

Burke Israel was replaced by former Memorial Middle School Principal Anthony Hrivnak, whose appointment was announced in an email to school families on June 28. Burke Israel’s resignation, which created the vacancy, was not mentioned in that email, causing confusion among parents. 

The Times requested a copy of Burke Israel’s resignation letter from the superintendent’s office but was refused; the newspaper filed a formal request under the state’s Public Records Law on July 9. 

On July 23, Superintendent Michael Jette provided Burke Israel’s letter, in which she said she “write[s] to confirm my decision to resign from my position as assistant principal of Hull High School, effective at the close of business on June 30, 2024.” The letter is dated June 12, 2023, presumably a typographical error. 

Click here to see Burke Israel’s letter of resignation

Burke Israel is the second administrator at Hull High School to resign this year, after Principal Michael Knybel resigned on May 3. Robert Shaw was hired to replace Knybel. Hrivnak, whose position at the Memorial School was eliminated by the closure of the building in June, began his new role at the high school on July 1. 

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Poles to stay on railroad bed pending AG decision; two dozen residents named to committees

By Carol Britton Meyer 

No longer allowing telephone poles to be placed along the railroad bed in the northern alphabet section of town, a stipulation that was included in a town meeting-approved warrant article this spring, isn’t yet in effect because the town is awaiting Attorney General approval of the policy, Town Manager Jennifer Constable reported to the select board last week. 

In the meantime, poles have been placed this year “while the town decides the ownership of particular land and the best mitigation for that stretch,” Constable reported. “Technically, it’s not a roadway, although we know it needs to be accessed by residents.” 

Constable asked that the poles not be removed, as some residents have requested. 

Photos courtesy of Katherine Borsody.

“They are there for a reason,” she said. “We will meet with the neighborhood to discuss possible options once we have a potential recommendation.” 

This relates to a policy developed in the 1990s that telephone poles could be laid across the property from roughly M to X street to block the passage of vehicles, as well as obstruct pedestrian and bicycle access. The goal now is to make the area safer and more appealing for pedestrians and bicyclists while considering input from residents living in the area. 

In other business at the meeting… 

Interviewing 24 candidates for seats on 10 boards, commissions, and a task force took up almost the entire agenda at last week’s select board meeting. These ranged from the board of health and No Place for Hate Committee to the historic district commission and opioid abatement task force. 

The board appointed the following citizens: 

⦁ Board of Health: Sarah Chorney, a registered nurse who said she will work to support wellness in the community. 

⦁ Economic Development Committee: James Ianiri, Jennifer Mullin, and Susan Vermilya. Ianiri said he’s deeply invested in the town and wants it “to thrive,” while Mullin thinks there’s a need for the EDC to “focus on helping local businesses survive during the off-season,” and Vermilya is interested in finding out what “causes people to leave town,” seeking services in neighboring communities when similar services are offered here in town, and also suggested an associated “Invest in Hull” campaign. 

⦁ Historic District Commission: Current chair Julia Parker and 30-year member Don Ritz were reappointed, along with new members Bruce Miller – who went before the commission while purchasing a second home and became interested in the process – and Peter-Michael Preble, who also went before the commission with an earlier project and has served in a similar capacity in other communities. 

⦁ Historical Commission: Dennis Riley was reappointed; there were no other applicants. 

⦁ No Place for Hate Committee: Founding members Rhoda Kanet and Pam Wolfe and Celia Nolan were reappointed, along with new member Susan Neiman, who became aware of the committee through a Martin Luther King Day event and wanted to get involved. 

⦁ Parks and Recreation Commission: AnnMarie Dunn and Gary Twombly were reappointed to the two positions. 

⦁ Beautification Committee: Camellia Bloch, Maureen Koelsch, Michael Parks, and Amy Russell were appointed, joining other citizens who were named to the committee earlier. Bloch and Koelsch, who summered in Hull as a child but is now a resident, have already been involved with helping to beautify the town by picking up trash when they walk around town and wanted to join the committee to assist with other efforts. Parks noted that since he moved to Hull in 2007, “I have seen this town get better and better. It’s a community to be proud of,” he said. Parks suggested that the commission gather ideas from citizens who would like to see additional improvements “but are not sure how to get them done.” Russell said she loves “this beautiful town” and wants to help out in any way she can. 

⦁ Conservation Commission: Tammy Best, who has served on the commission for eight years, was reappointed. 

⦁ Clean Energy Climate Action Committee members Ben Maitland-Lewis, Mark Kohn, and Judeth Van Hamm were reappointed. Kohn, who was present at the meeting, shared his interest in tidal power. “We have an ocean here,” he said. 

⦁ Opioid Abatement Task Force, created by this year’s town meeting: Scott Miller, Scott MacDonald, Richard Schutte, and Deb Silverman were appointed as citizen members. 

The task force is charged with developing a planning process and strategy associated with the expenditure of the town’s opioid abatement settlement allocation and will provide an annual report identifying the town’s guiding principles, strategies for implementation, and identify populations served. The task force will also include various town departments, such as public health, police, fire, and town manager’s office, as well as local partner programs. 

Miller, MacDonald, and Schutte all have recovery coach or other experience helping those suffering from substance misuse, while Silverman has a nursing education background. 

“I think this will be an impactful, well-rounded group,” Constable said. 

A member of the audience commented that it was a good sign that there were so many interested candidates for such a wide variety of positions. 

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Lifesaving Museum’s annual Harbor Illumination to light up Hull’s shoreline on July 20

NIGHT LIGHTS. The annual Harbor Illumination is set for Saturday and lights up the shoreline from James Avenue in Hull Village to A Street. [Photo courtesy of the Hull Lifesaving Museum] 

By Carol Britton Meyer 

The harbor will be lit with more than 1,000 flares on July 20 as part of the Hull Lifesaving Museum’s 15th eye-dazzling Harbor Illumination event to celebrate the town’s maritime heritage. 

In carrying out this time-honored tradition. often referred to as “magical” by spectators, residents and visitors gather along the bayside shoreline to view the flares in a spirit of camaraderie, engaging the entire town and many non-residents as well. 

Hull Lifesaving Museum Director of Development Maureen Gillis said this year’s theme is “honoring, celebrating, and remembering the lifesavers from the past and our loved ones from today.” 

The illumination will extend from the A Street Pier to James Landing in Hull Village, with a day of special activities planned: 

⦁ 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: The Point Allerton Coast Guard is partnering with the lifesaving museum for the Harbor Illumination by hosting an open house at the Point Allerton Coast Guard Station. This is an opportunity to meet local Coast Guard members, tour the station and boats, learn how to tie knots, play a game of cornhole with the “Coasties,” and for the whole family to enjoy a fun-filled day. 

⦁ 5 p.m.: Coast Guard City Commemoration, Hull Village Cemetery 

⦁ 6 to 8 p.m.: Open house, Hull Lifesaving Museum 

⦁ 7:30 p.m.: Forever Flare Ceremony, A Street Pier. This year’s ceremony “will shine brightly as we honor our brave lifesavers and pay tribute to two remarkable individuals who were very special to the Hull Lifesaving Museum family – Tracy Hyde and Neilie Ann Heffernan Casey,” Gillis told The Hull Times. “With the support of participants from the Cardinal Cushing Centers and friends of the museum, we will lovingly recite the names of all our Forever Flare honorees, ensuring their memory and contributions are celebrated.” Forever Flares are lit in a special location during the current Harbor Illumination. 

⦁ 8:30 p.m.: Harbor Illumination begins. 

The flares are set up by volunteer “captains” along the shore. Those who sponsored the flares have the opportunity to light them or to ask the captains to light the flares for them. To sponsor flares to honor, remember, or celebrate an individual or a meaningful cause, visit the museum’s website at www.hulllifesavingmuseum.org. Individual flares are $10 each; Forever Flares are $300 each. 

“We invite the Hull community [and beyond] to come together with us to reflect on the courage and dedication of our lifesavers, celebrate the lives of our honorees, and remember the loved ones who have touched our hearts,” Gillis said. “This ceremony is not just a commemoration, but also a celebration of the spirit of our community and the enduring legacy of those who have served it.” 

In Hull, lighting the harbor with candles and torches began as an end-of-summer celebration, with the first illumination organized by the yacht club in 1881. It continued until the early 1900s when it was discontinued, but in recent years has once again become an annual event sponsored by the museum. 

This year’s Harbor Illumination sponsors include Keohane Funeral and Cremation, Procopio Companies, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, Local 02045, Clean Harbors, Safe Harbor Sunset Bay, Nantasket Beach Salt Water Club, Nantasket Chamber of Commerce, O’Donoghue Insurance, Rockland Trust, Cohasset Collision, and Woodard and Curran. 

“None of this would be possible without these generous sponsors,” Gillis said. “All proceeds go to keep HLM’s year-round programs affordable and in some cases, remove the financial barrier altogether.” 

The HLM mission celebrates the lifesaving spirit of skills, courage, and caring and the relevance of that history to Hull residents’ daily lives. Those driving principles of the 19th-century coastal lifesavers are the foundations of the museum’s commitment to impact individual lives for the better. 

For further information about the Harbor Illumination and other HLM summer activities, visit www.hulllifesavingmuseum.org or call (781) 925-5433. 

Shorelines - News about your neighbors

• Katelyn Breen received a bachelor of science degree in both finance and marketing from Providence College on May 19. Katelyn graduated summa cum laude and is now employed with Fidelity Investments in Smithfield, R.I., working in the Institutional Sales Division. 

• Ryan Hanlon graduated from Plymouth State University during its 153rd anniversary commencement ceremony on May 11. Hanlon graduated with a bachelor of science in business administration. 

THE FRENCH CONNECTION. Select board members Irwin Nesoff and Greg Grey enjoyed the Bastille Day concert at Fort Revere on Sunday, along with Dave Walsh. The celebration recognizes the partnership of the French during the American Revolution, in particular the French soldiers who were stationed at the fort’s earlier incarnation, Fort Independence. Behind them are Villagers – and strong fort advocates – Randy Gould and Pat Finn. [Photo courtesy of Judeth Van Hamm] 

• Norah C. White was named to the Dean’s List at Saint Michael’s College for the spring semester. Students who complete at least 12 credits of classes and achieve a grade-point average of at least 3.5 in are cited on the Dean’s List for that semester. 
• In addition to being named to the Dean’s List for the spring semester at Saint Michael’s college, Caitlin Elizabeth Canavan graduated cum laude with a degree in history. 

• Patrick Dromey graduated from Santa Clara University on Saturday, June 15 during the university’s 173rd commencement ceremony on its campus in California. Dromey graduated cum laude and received a bachelor of science degree in computer science and engineering with a mathematics minor. Established in1851, the Jesuit university is located in the heart of Silicon Valley and is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. Dromey is the son of John and Vicki Dromey. 

• Haley Walsh-Pederson received a master of science in molecular cell biology from Quinnipiac University during a commencement ceremony held in May. 

• Elise Ryan was named to the College of the Holy Cross spring Dean’s List. A member of the Class of 2025, Ryan was named to the Dean’s List for outstanding academic achievement; to qualify, students must pass four or more letter-graded courses with no failing grades during the semester and earn a grade-point average of 3.5 or higher. 

• The graduation exercises and end-of-year celebration for Wellspring Multi-Service Center’s Adult Education Program were held on Thursday, June 20 at the Bernie King Pavilion on Nantasket Beach. This graduation celebration highlighted the exceptional accomplishments of these students, as well as closing out the end of the year for students in the ESOL program in Weymouth.  

GLAD GRADS. Wellspring held its annual Adult Education Program graduation ceremony; earning diplomas were, in the back row, Joseph Lombardo of Hull, Stephen Wilson of Weymouth, David Brown of Hull, Michael Saniuk-Collins of Hingham, and Zachary Costa of Hingham. In the front row are Ella Benzan-Vazquez of Weymouth, Kayla Whiteley of Weymouth, and Julissa Jean of Hingham. As part of the ceremony, former Hull resident and Wellspring Foundation Trustee Laura Avakian, presented Kayla Whiteley and Cooper Edgren with the Avakian Pathways to Success Scholarship. [Courtesy photos]

The recipients of the Steve and Laura Avakian Pathways to Success Scholarship, Kayla Whiteley and Cooper Edgren, shared their stories during the ceremony: 

“Wellspring gave me hope that I could have a life after failing high school, and they opened my eyes to the fact that college is still attainable,” Cooper said. “Because of the opportunities Wellspring provided me, I have been accepted to the New England Institute of Technology where I will pursue a degree in video game design.” 

“Next year, I plan on attending Quincy College to earn a degree in psychology,” Kayla said. “I want help others feel understood and focus on how mental health issues affect the lives of many every day.” 

Members of the Wellspring graduating class of 2024 are: David Brown of Hull, Ella Benzan-Vazquez of Weymouth, Zachary Costa of Hingham, Julissa Jean of Hingham, Joseph Lombardo of Hull, Michael Saniuk-Collins of Hingham, Kayla Whiteley of Weymouth, and Stephen Wilson of Weymouth. 

For more information on the education program and to learn how to enroll, visit wellspringmultiservice.org/adult-learning. 

If you have news about Hull residents to share – birthdays, anniversaries, career and education  achievements, weddings, births, and other milestones – send your information to us at news@hulltimes.com. If you include a photo, please be sure that everyone in the image is identified. Thank you! 

That blooming summer! Inside or out, this is the season for plant perfection

By Tricia Fleck 

Hull Garden Club 

Summer is here and that means more time on your porch or patio to enjoy the sounds and scents of the beach and summer sea breezes. Tomatoes are rounding out on the vines while kale, zucchini, and peppers are loving the regular rain and heat. It can be overwhelming to keep up with weeding, watering, fertilizing, and shooing away those cute and hungry rabbits, but your plants will thank you with a hearty harvest. 

DAISY DAISIES. The early summer blooms of a field of flowers accentuate the Victorian charm of this home on Strawberry Hill. [Richard W. Green photo] 

This summer we have been rewarded with gorgeous blooms on everyone’s favorite flowering bushes, the pink, white, and blue hydrangeas. Cut a bouquet and bring it to your neighbor. Set another on your mantel or in a guest room to welcome your friends and family. 

Successful gardeners will tell you that deadheading spent flower blooms, pruning yellow leaves and stringy vines, weeding, regular hand watering, and occasional fertilizing will keep your flowers blooming for weeks on end. 

Don’t have the time or energy for being outside in the heat and maintaining a vegetable or flower bed? Try an arrangement of houseplants to enhance your living space. Inside or out, there are many flowering and foliage-type plants that can bring a smile to both your place and your face. Perhaps you have some plants that need a refresh. This is a perfect time to bring your spiders, aloe vera, begonias, jades, peace lilies and more outside. Many of your favorite flowering plants like marigolds, nasturtiums, and impatiens will also grow beautifully in pots. 

Plan a “potting party” with your friends and neighbors. Invest in a large bag of potting soil and scour the thrift stores, yard sales, your basement, or garage for some interesting containers. That old watering can that’s been missing a spout may be the perfect container to hold a newly potted geranium, some marigolds or a colorful coleus plant. Share your resources, a pitcher of refreshing iced tea, some laughs and come away with some happy new house plants! 

Did you know that many plant varieties will propagate by simply placing cuttings in fresh potting soil? Beautiful red bloodleaf plants, begonias, geraniums, echeveria, aloe vera, and the ubiquitous baby spider plants are all good examples of this type of propagation. 

Some plants will require you to take cuttings, that when placed in water will quickly grow roots and be ready for potting in fresh soil. Examples of these are abutilon or flowering maple, coleus, and impatiens; all familiar favorites that add visual interest to your surroundings. 

Many other varieties of heat tolerant, moisture-loving plants are readily available in your local nursery, farmers markets, or home improvement stores. Spruce up a corner of your porch by placing plants on stepladders, upside down empty clay pots, old boxes, or side tables to add a colorful dimension to your space. A glass jar filled with shells and seaglass, personal mementos and a string of twinkling lights will add sparkle and match the stars twinkling down at you at night. 

Plants are happiest when they are nurtured, fed, watered, sung to and confided in; sound familiar? 

Balance matters – and Hull seniors can reduce fall risk with ‘A Matter of Balance’

Many older adults experience a fear of falling. People who develop this fear often limit their activities, which can result in physical weakness, making the risk of falling even greater. ”A Matter of Balance” is an evidence-based program designed to reduce the fear of falling and increase activity levels among older adults. 

The Hull Council on Aging will host the Norwell Visiting Nurse Association’s “A Matter of Balance” eight-week program beginning August 1. Classes will be held from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Anne M. Scully Senior Center, 197A Samoset Ave. There will be no class on Thursday, August 22.  

“A Matter of Balance” uses a variety of activities to teach fall prevention strategies. Activities include group discussion, problem-solving, skill-building, assertiveness training, videos, and exercise training. Participants receive a workbook to use during the sessions and to keep as a reference after the class. 

The program was designed to benefit older adults who: 

• Are concerned about falls 

• Have sustained falls in the past 

• Restrict activities because of concerns about falling 

• Are interested in improving flexibility, balance and strength 

• Are age 60 or older, community-dwelling, and able to problem-solve 

“A Matter of Balance” includes eight two-hour sessions beginning Thursday, August 1. The sessions are led by two trained facilitators for a small group, up to 15 participants. The program enables participants to achieve significant goals. 

They gain confidence by learning to: 

• View falls as controllable 

• Set goals for increasing activity 

• Identify common factors that contribute to falls 

• Make changes to reduce fall risk at home 

• Exercise to increase strength and balance 

Register for the classes at 781 925-1239, ext. 201 or lthornton@town.hull.ma.us. 

Birders be on the lookout: New naming patterns will change what you’re seeing

By John J. Galluzzo 

From time to time, common names of wildlife species of all types undergo change. While it may not have made the evening news when it happened, the Gypsy moth lost its historic epithet in 2021. Since then, it’s been known as the Spongy moth. Cultural sensitivity drove the Entomological Society of America to change the name, used since 1832, as “Gypsy” is an ethnic slur for people of Romani heritage. Until the day we die, you and I may call them Gypsy moths out of reflex. Future generations will learn the new name the first time they encounter the species and carry it forward. 

CHANGE IS IN THE AIR. Bird names like ‘Red-winged Blackbird’ will become more common as the American Ornithological Society proceeds with a broad sweep of name changes in the next few years. [John Galluzzo photo] 

During the 1800s, when many species of birds had yet to be named out West, here in the East birds underwent name changes based on numerous factors. For instance, birds with numerous “morphs,” or color patterns, were known to be separate species. Today, we recognize that Red-tailed Hawks have, generally, two morphs, light and dark, with various subspecies names attached to them: Harlan’s, Krider’s, etc. In 1839, when the state of Massachusetts published its first annotated bird list, the morphs were treated as individual species: Red-tailed Hawk, Black Warrior, etc. Today’s Merlin was known as two species, the Pigeon Hawk and the Little Corporal. Eventually, scientific research cleared up many of the disparities and brought the state list into a sharper focus. 

Often, name changes have to do with taxonomic discoveries. The advent and proliferation of DNA research has led to seemingly endless annual taxonomic order changes announced by the American Ornithological Union each June. We have found, for instance, that falcons are less closely related to hawks and eagles than they are to woodpeckers. Whether a species is a warbler or a sparrow or a finch is becoming easier to know through that research, and sometimes name changes follow. 

A new precedent was set for birds, though, in 2000, when the American Ornithologists’ Union voted to change the name of a sea duck we see off our coast in winter, the Oldsquaw, to Long-tailed Duck. At the time, the Union believed that the name was triply offensive, simultaneously ageist, racist and sexist. While, they suggested, political correctness alone was not reason enough to change the name, the fact was that the rest of the world knew it by the latter name, and the change would bring North America into step with everybody else. Today, political correctness, or just plain old human sensitivity, is the singular driving force behind a pending massive wave of bird name changes. 

A HAWK BY ANOTHER NAME? The next Cooper’s Hawk you see in Hull may be called something else. [John Galluzzo photo] 

In 2022, the American Ornithological Society (which itself underwent a name change in 2016 after a merger with the Cooper Ornithological Society) formed an Ad Hoc English Bird Names Committee for the purpose of developing “a process that will allow the [AOS] to change harmful and exclusionary English bird names in a thoughtful and proactive way for species within AOS’s purview.” The movement coincides with the internal uprising at the National Audubon Society that led to the dropping of pioneering naturalist John James Audubon’s name from the society’s name. Despite his contributions to the field, real or concocted by him as he tried to craft a marketable image for himself in order to sell his books, Audubon owned slaves, a practice hardly worth celebrating in any way. 

The AOS Ad Hoc English Bird Names Committee met in 2022 and 2023 and came to three targeted recommendations. Change all English names of birds named after people (and three additional troublesome names: Flesh-footed Shearwater, Inca Dove, and Eskimo Curlew); establish a separate naming committee; and involve the public in the naming process. In all, the committee identified 152 species on the North American list and 111 on the South American checklists in need of change. 

Changing from eponymous names to descriptive will, theoretically, make future birding easier. A Long-tailed Duck is easier to guess at that an Oldsquaw, just like a White-rumped Sandpiper is easier to find than a Schinz’s Sandpiper. We can expect more Red-winged Blackbird-type names in the near future. 

While a broad reform like this one seems simple, it brings moral questions to the forefront. While some names elicit obvious conflicts – like anything named for Audubon, for example – others were chosen for individuals as honorifics. While those individuals may not have done anything morally wrong, they will be swept away in the process. The decision to change all names removes the need for case-by-case moral judgements on the part of the final naming committee.  

The planned process means an interesting bit of local history will be lost. Isaac Sprague, a talented nature artist from Hingham, who once worked in Hull at an old carriage stop at the base of Nantasket Beach, accompanied John James Audubon on an exploration up the Missouri River in 1843 in search of new wildlife species. Audubon was so taken with his work that he named a bird that Sprague shot in order to draw it – Sprague’s Pipit – after him. Meek little Isaac returned home, got married, drew fantastic scenes of the White Mountains and beautifully detailed illustrations of New England wildflowers, then quietly passed away. Sprague’s Pipit will be named differently in the future. 

On a grander scale, Hull residents can expect to see a modest amount of change to the names of birds that grace the peninsula and surrounding waters throughout the year. Perhaps the most ubiquitous species will be the Cooper’s Hawk, once colloquially known as the Chicken Hawk. That species gained its name in 1828 when French naturalist Charles Bonaparte named it for his friend William C. Cooper, a fellow ornithologist (but not for whom the Cooper Ornithological Society was named; that was for his son, James C. Cooper). In the case of the Cooper’s Hawk, it comes with the added encumbrance of a Linnaean name change. The current scientific name, “Accipiter cooperii,” also pays homage to William C. Cooper. The AOU process will be forced to stand the test of many layers: common names, subspecies names, Linnaean names. 

Ironically, the second most commonly seen species in Hull due to have a name change is the Bonaparte’s Gull, named for the aforementioned Charles Bonaparte. Since 2020, the names on the list of species that will undergo changes that have appeared in Plymouth County become rarer and rarer in Hull: Swainson’s Thrush (William Swainson also had a warbler and a hawk named after him), Wilson’s Warbler (and Storm-petrel, Snipe and Plover), Lincoln’s Sparrow, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Townsend’s Warbler, Forster’s Tern, Baird’s Sandpiper, Nelson’s Sparrow, Bicknell’s Thrush, Ross’s Goose, Bullock’s Oriole, and MacGillivray’s Warbler. 

Historically, Plymouth County has had about a dozen more eponymously named species appear since the 1970s, including Harris’s Sparrow (named for Edmund Harris, who accompanied Audubon and Sprague up the Missouri), Allen’s Hummingbird, and Franklin’s Gull. 

The next time they arrive in Hull, they will probably have new names, whether they know it or not. We will struggle with the new names, as change is hard, but someday somewhere in Hull, someone will not say that they saw a Wilson’s Warbler grabbing a Gypsy moth, they’ll say that, perhaps, they saw a Black-capped Warbler snatch a Spongy moth. 

And the world will go on.