Kalischer’s Peacham Photos
The celebrated photojournalist, Clemens Kalischer, spent time in Peacham in the 1950s and 60s and captured his encounters with the town and its people in a series of remarkable photographs. Many of them appeared in Vermont Life magazine in 1959 and in the Time-Life Library of America volume on New England in 1967.
This summer, thanks to a loan from the Kalischer family, the Peacham Historical Association displayed a sampling of these photos, along with others from its own collections. Kalischer captured a unique view of life in a northern Vermont town in the mid-20th century. The photos feature children studying in one-room schoolhouses, attending dances at the Peacham Academy, and playing in the snow at the local ski tow. Others portray adults at the post office, at church suppers, and social clubs.
Clemens Kalischer came to the United States in 1942, a refugee from Nazi Germany. He studied art and photography at the New School and Cooper Union in New York City and eventually settled in Stockbridge Mass. His work has been displayed in museums all over the world, including the celebrated Family of Man exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art’s in 1955. He died at the age of 97 last June. You can view his obituary here.
