Authored by Hingham Girl Scout Troop 62447

                  Addison    Jaelyn    Ainsley    Lily    Avery                                                            Liv    Celia    Nadia    Cora    Sam

     Last year as 5th graders in Hingham, we learned about our town's history and there seemed to be a lot of information about the contributions of men in our Town's history. We want to make sure that the stories of the many wonderful women of Hingham were also captured. We hope this book highlights some of their stories and inspires other troops to learn more about the women in our community. 

    We dedicate this book to all the amazing women of Hingham especially our troop leaders, Mary Kate Paris and Jamee Downes who have instilled in us the values of the Girl Scouts of America. We also dedicated this book to our mom's - just a few more wonderful women of Hingham!  - Troop 62447 (6th Grade)

drawing by Addison. 

NURSE CAROL LINCOLN, M.Ed. BS, RN, NCSN 

South Elementary School Nurse

    On January 21st, 1964, Carol Sherman Lincoln was born. Nurse Lincoln grew up in Hingham and is the town that she calls home. She grew up going into Hingham Center on Saturday. Baker’s Five and Dime was the penny candy store during her childhood. Then, she would go to Brigham's for hot fudge sundaes. Many things in Hingham have changed, but it is the memories she will never forget.  Growing up she had a dream of being a teacher or a physical therapist. Her mom is her best friend and her biggest cheerleader. Now, as a full time school nurse, she has more than exceeded her and her family's expectations. 

    Mrs. Lincoln lost her leg in 2022 and learning how to live a life without a limb has been hard, but she doesn’t let that stop her from living a normal and fun life. When thinking about her obstacles, she says “We can all do hard things, that’s life and that is how you do life.” She lives by this quote. Another expression she likes is, “It doesn’t matter how slow you go as long as you don’t stop” .

     Mrs. Lincoln has a big bucket list, she wants to  kayak, horseback ride, play pickleball and wheelchair tennis. She has had lots of fun filling up and emptying her bucket list. She has also achieved many goals such as dancing at her daughter's wedding and surfing! Nurse Lincoln is an amazing woman who has done so much for our community. Mrs. Lincoln, we are so. blessed to have you part of our town, we especially love your tooth box necklaces when we lose a tooth at school!  

CAMILLA ROUNDTREE, Lifelong Hingham Resident

    We interviewed Anne Marie Roundtree-Faul, Camilla Roundtree’s daughter to learn more about her mother’s contributions in Hingham and with the Hingham Girl Scouts.

    Mrs. Roundtree’s birth name was Camilla Leah Camillo. She was born in 1931 in Mansfield Massachusetts. At age 16 she ran her parent’s restaurant where she met her future husband, Eugene Roundtree, and was married at 20 years old in 1951. She then moved to Hingham and had seven children. The Roundtree family has been in Hingham for more than 100 years. 

    Anne Marie reflected on her mom’s greatest contributions and the legacy she left her family and the town of Hingham. Ann Marie’s mother taught her that everyone is somebody and people should all be treated the same as everyone has value in life. Although she didn’t finish college and this was a regret of hers, she thought school was very important and was still able to accomplish so much in her lifetime. Ann Marie said her mother counted her successes by the people in her life, including her seven children who have all had successful and happy lives. 

    Camilla Roundtree was passionate about the Girl Scouts and this is where she first learned about community service. She joined Girl Scouts when she was 6 and remained a Girl Scout for 80 years. As a young girl she even made the cookies for Girl Scout Cookie sales, there was no Cookie Cupboard! 

    Outside of her family life, “building ethnic diversity in Hingham was important to her”, said Anne Marie. She helped a lot with the METCO program, which is a program that integrated classrooms since 1966 in Massachusetts. Since its start, the METCO program has enroll tens of thousands of Boston students bringing inner city children from Boston to go to the Hingham Public Schools.

     Mrs. Roundtree personally drove METCO students so they could participate in after school programs and play sports in Hingham. The METCO students would also have to come early so she let them be dropped off at her house and feed them breakfast, “She was a  She also drove a special education bus when they didn’t have enough bus drivers. Anne Marie said that everything her mom did was about service and serving her community. Due to her work with the METCO program, Mrs. Roundtree was awarded with the Hingham Citizen of the Year Award in 2001.

    Camilla Roundtree passed away in 2021 and many METCO students attended her funeral showing how many people appreciated her hard work and commitment to service in Hingham.  

    After meeting with Anne Marie to talk about her mom, we realized we learned about TWO wonderful women of Hingham! Thank you Anne Marie, your mom must have been very proud of you and your family! 

Eileen McCracken, Town Clerk 1997-2021

    Eileen McCracken is the former Town Clerk of Hingham. She was born into a wonderful family on April 14,1949.  She moved to Hingham when she was eight years old. Eileen attended Hingham Public Schools. She said, “Hingham is a great place to grow up!” Every night, she would have dinner with her beloved family. She loved being able to go up the street to go swimming at the town pool.

    Eileen was the Town Clerk of Hingham from 1997 until 2021. Now retired, she still helps the town. When running for town clerk, Eileen's biggest supporter was her husband and he helped her with the ups and downs of the campaign. She had two competitors that were favored to win. However, Eileen got the job with 50 percent of the vote. 

    As Town Clerk, she would record births, deaths, and marriages.  A Town Clerk also gives out dog licenses and does genealogy for the town. They oversee elections. She loved her job and helping the town be a better place. She also goes to church every weekend. 

    Eileen McCracken has done so many things for Hingham to make it a better place. We admire her and her contributions to our town. 

DEIRDRE ANDERSON, 

executive director Hingham Historical Society 

    Growing up in Hingham held some of Deirdre's best memories. Her love for reading always brought her back to the library even when she was a child. She would hop on her bike  and ride from her house to the Hingham public library in the middle of summer.  Looking around she noticed the exposed wooden rafters, and the tall glass-paned windows as the beautiful, cozy place swept her in. She flashed through the Little House On The Prairie excited to read the next series, Every year the library would do their summer reading competition. Then she would walk to the counter and place a small stack of books in front of the librarian, including Johnny Tremain. Deidre read this book many times in her youth as it was written by Esther Forbes who grew up in Western Mass where Deirdre’s mother also grew up.  She would ride back to her house where she spent hours reading away her summer.

    Her parents  where a huge inspiration growing up as they worked very hard with two full-time jobs. She has lots of brothers and sisters. Deirdre remembers how her parents had a very strong work ethic but still managed to fill their house with unconditional love and lots of family traditions. She would go around their neighborhood building forts and hideouts and would bike down to the ice cream store called Brigham's, And after would deliver newspapers to neighbor’s homes. In the hot days of summer, their friends were the only people in the neighborhood to have an inground swimming pool. And when her brothers and sisters were invited but not her she marched down the street in her bathing suit and knocked on the door. When they answered her sister gave her a side eye as if telling Deirdre to leave, but she was persistent thinking of an excuse fast. “Do you have any toothpicks” Still not letting her swim she walked home back to her house. But on days when they would stay out and play for hours, her mother had a loud whistle to call everyone home for dinner. 

    Deirdre is the Executive Director of the Hingham Historical Society. She moved back to Hingham in 2008 and bought her parent's old house. She lives in Hingham with her family .She believes that Hingham is a better community if everyone volemteres or gives back. She volunteeres for town community, is on the 3A task force, and serves on PTO’s for Hingham Public Schools.  In 2022 she was named Hinghamite Of The Year and got to ride in the 4th of July parade. Since she was a child she has always loved the colonial times, but only now does she realize how hard it might have been to live in that time period without the advanced technology we have today. She believes if she can share her love of history with others and they get inspired then the worlds a better place. Her parents inspire her because they both have very strong work ethics and still filled her house with love and family traditions. Also other Hingham women who have worked for the Hingham Historical Society or have work towards the preservation of Hingham's history inspires her.. 

Mary Eastwood, Principal, South Elementary

    Mary Teresa Bernadette McMarrow was born in Dublin, Ireland. She grew up with her brother and sister, mother and father. At a young age she moved to the United States because her father worked for the airline. She grew up in Canton, Massachusetts, but her extended family was in Ireland so she often traveled back and forth.  As a child, Mary’s dream was very clear, she looked up to her teachers and wanted to be one when she grew up! 

    Mrs. Eastwood has worked in the Hingham school district for over 40 years.  She started as a teacher and now is the Principal of South Elementary School. Her road to becoming a principal came with rewards and obstacles. Her first year as principal was the hardest. One of her biggest obstacles was managing the Covid-19 pandemic. The thing Mrs. Eastwood loves most about her job is seeing the students and staff, which wasn't possible during Covid. Things were changing every day and no one ever knew what would come next. But the thing that was the hardest out of everything, according to Mrs. Eastwood, was isolation from all the students.

She  enjoys seeing the children every day and it was a big change to go from seeing their faces to their profile pictures on Zoom.      

    In her free time, she loves to shop at Derby Street, which is one of her favorite spots of Hingham. She also enjoys spending time traveling and loves to cross country ski. Her favorite color is dark coral or red. Her favorite food is any kind of salad and chocolate! Thank you Mrs. Eastwood for your hard work and big contribution to the Hingham public schools. You have made such a difference in all of our lives. We love you! 

Alice Meriweather, 2018 US Olympic Ski Team

     21-year-old Alice Merryweather had been waiting for this moment throughout her whole career as a skier.  It was the 2018 Olympic opening ceremony and it was cold outside. The wind whipped through the below-freezing air, but Alice was ready as she waited all bundled up in her heated coat.  All of the Olympic athletes were crammed together as they shuffled out to the large space.  Finally, it was Team USA’s turn to walk around the arena, and the song Gangnam Style filled their ears.  She was beaming with gratitude and happiness to be there. It was her biggest dream come true, and she was exactly where she wanted to be, surrounded by some of the coolest skiers she had ever met. Even though the temperature was cold, she could not have felt warmer at that moment. As they walked the first half of the big circular arena, Alice was so overcome with emotions, she still can't remember a solid chunk of it. Coming to a realization of the moment, she snapped at herself, “I want to remember this! Don’t I?!” As she walked the second half of the way around, her face hurt from smiling. She was so overcome by the joy she felt and it was one of the best and most exciting moments in her whole life. 

    Her years growing up in Hingham with her older brother and parents had been some of her most special memories; walking on the historic streets of downtown to Nona’s after school and her love for her hometown both bring her so much joy.