VIDEO: 'Anne Bradstreet' Reads Poetry

The Board of Selectmen was treated to a rarity.

It's not every day a 400-year-old poet shows up at Town Hall. At the Board of Selectmen meeting Monday night, in honor of Anne Bradstreet's 400th birthday, Poet Lauriate Karen Kline and Ed Wang of the North Andover Cultural Council showed up to discuss local events in honor of the famous 17th century poet. And they brought with them actress Susan Lenoe, playing the role of Bradstreet in this month's festivities. Check out this video of Lenoe as Anne reading two of Bradstreet's poems to the flute-playing of Michael Finegold of the Essex Chamber Music Players. And the old gal even has her own Web site. You can check out Anne Bradstreet's story and a complete list of events at http://annebradstreet.org/.

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A Look Back

Happy Birthday, Anne Bradstreet

One of America's most famous historical women reaches a milestone.

It's pretty well known that America's first published female poet was none other than North Andover's own Anne Bradstreet. And this month marks the celebration of Bradstreet's 400th birthday! Bradstreet was born in england in 1612 and at age 18 moved to Andover (now North Andover), where she spent most of her life, raised eight children and blossomed as America's first female poet. Bradstreet actually got that fame because a man rifled through her things. Bradstreet was the daughter of Thomas Dudley, an early governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She married Simon Bradstreet when she was 16, and when she was 18, she and her family moved from Engalnd to Massachusetts. Bradstreet was very educated compared to most other women in her time…

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