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What Is Happening In "Our Town" [1]

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Date: 2025-05-07

You never may have a chance to visit Peterborough, New Hampshire, but it is pure Americana. The Peterborough Town Library holds the distinction of being the first publicly-funded, free library in the United States, established in 1833. Peterborough sits at the base of Mount Monadnock, often cited as the most climbed mountain in the world and Monadnock is featured in the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Mount Monadnock But its real claim to fame is the fact that Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" is inspired by and partially set in Peterborough. Our Town In 2024, the town voted 69% for Kamala out of a total of 4,424 votes. Yes, Peterborough is a liberal small New England town.

Now, you would think a small town in New Hampshire would be exempt from Trump’s ire and ICE’s scrutiny. Certainly Venezuela is not trying to create a beachhead in this small town for its purported invasion of the USA. However, not only is Peterborough liberal but it is also a sanctuary town — in May of 2017, the town voted to implement an ordinance that prevents its police officers from enforcing federal immigration laws or asking people about their immigration status. In fact, Peterborough may be the only sanctuary town in New Hampshire. Peterborough’s Sanctuary Status.

On February 25th, ICE swept into this small town and raided the town’s Mexican restaurant and detained the chef and three other kitchen workers. According to a gofundme page, one of the people detained was taken to a Texas facility and has now been released to await a hearing in immigration court. According to the fundraising page, "They [the detained men] are just trying to exist and support their families. One of them has a baby on the way any day, and they need the village they contribute to, to help out in a time of need. Politics aside, they are real people, and they are our friends. They need our help and support." See Peterborough ICE raid.

Selectman (Peterborough is governed by select board members) Tyler Ward told WBUR that he worries that Peterborough "had a target on its back" because of its policy on policing. "I know the people of Peterborough have no interest in harboring criminals — being a party to people that are up to no good. But I think people don't want the fear of anybody being taken at any time." In fact, Peterborough has an exceedingly low crime rate; only 5 violent crimes were reported in a recent year, which is about 79% lower than the typical U.S. rate for a town of its size, and Peterborough’s property crime rate is about 4.8 incidents per 1,000 residents, roughly half the New Hampshire state average (which itself is low). Peterborough's Characteristics. Another anonymous Peterborough businessman summed up the present state of affairs to WBUR: "I live in a state that has a slogan: 'Live Free or Die.' I live in a country where you have a constitution that allows you to speak. But we're seeing this kind of approach that is undermining that."

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