TEWKSBURY — Back when she worked as an administrator at the Public Health Museum in 2017, Ashlynn Rickord Werner was often tasked with giving tours of the Tewksbury State Hospital campus, putting her history degree to work as she recounted tales of the its storied past.
However, she soon recognized that the stories she was telling about one of the oldest remaining hospitals in the state — be it its origins as an almshouse for paupers or the disputed rumors about graverobbers at the cemetery — were often unknown to the general public.
Intent on spreading this knowledge far and wide, Rickord Werner then decided she would write a book about the hospital’s complete history, recruiting local historian Jon Maynard to work on it with her in December of 2019.
After more than a year of researching and writing, the duo published the book on May 24, titled, “Tewksbury State Hospital (Images of America).”
In addition to the myriad stories and recollections, the book is filled with historical images of the hospital gathered from the Public Health Museum’s archives, Tewksbury Historical Society, Tewksbury Public Library and Harvard University, according to Rickord Werner.
“We would get a lot of questions from visitors about the history of the hospital, so I was very eager to share it,” said Rickord Werner, who now serves on the board of directors for the Public Health Museum. “It feels very gratifying to now be able to point folks to a source for the history of the institution. It’s very rewarding.”
Maynard, who grew up in Wilmington just 10 minutes away from the hospital, said he connected with Rickord Werner at a cemetery clean-up event in Westboro and that they connected over their shared interest in history and state hospitals — he runs a nonprofit dedicated to building a memorial to the now-demolished Westborough State Hospital.
While Rickord Werner ultimately wrote most of the book, Maynard played a key role in the editing process and was responsible for gathering and digitizing the photos.
“It was kind of surreal to publish a book on an institution I grew up so close to. If you had told me five years ago that I would work on this I wouldn’t have believed you,” Maynard said.
The book can be purchased at online booksellers such as Amazon or directly at the Public Health Museum.
Rickord Werner said that with the coronavirus pandemic seemingly nearing its end in Massachusetts, she believes reading a book like this is more important than ever.
“As we just lived through a pandemic, there’s no better time to read and learn more about such a historic public health institution,” Rickord Werner said.