Join the Friends of the Robbins Library for a showing of filmmaker Roger Hagopian’s documentary about the Quabbin Reservoir made in collaboration with author and historian, J.R.Greene. This free event will take place in the Robbins Library Community Room (lower level) on Thursday, May 28, 2026 at 6:30 pm. All are welcome.
Local filmmaker Roger Hagopian presents his documentary film, Memories Flow Beneath It, From Valley to Quabbin. This 69-minute film traces the displacement of people and the loss of a way of life in the Swift River Valley of western Massachusetts, when the Quabbin Reservoir flooded four towns in order to create water infrastructure for 52 Boston metropolitan communities. Several interviewees include former valley residents, historians, and authors, notably J.R. Greene, who has written numerous books on the subject.
The ever-westward evolution of the water systems begins with springs on the Shawmut Peninsula of Boston in 1630, an aqueduct from Jamaica Pond, the Cochituate System emanating from Natick, which became insufficient due to the mass immigration of refugees from the Irish Famine, thus drastically increasing Boston’s population. The Great Boston Fire of 1872 exposed the limitations of the water supply, leading to the Sudbury and Wachusett systems. Italian immigrants, some of whom were stonemasons, found work on these public works projects as the system expanded further. State House debates, Supreme Court decisions, and incredible civil engineering innovations, led to the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir.
Former Valley residents recall their rural agricultural and industrial villages, family life, and the years leading up to their expulsion. The cold processes of eminent domain and eviction caused lifelong trauma, especially for the elderly. Generations of history were demolished by 1938 and the people were not given housing and employment assistance by the state – they were on their own.
Expert commentary is given by noted historian and author, the late Howard Zinn.
The music track is graciously provided by pianist, Jacqueline Schwab, who has performed on numerous Ken Burns PBS documentaries, beginning with The Civil War through the upcoming The American Revolution.
About the Filmmaker: Roger Hagopian grew up in Dorchester and lives in Lexington, where he learned filmmaking at the local cable television studio there. A history lover since his youth, he has had film screenings on the Armenians and the Genocide – which his father survived, and claimed the lives of family members on both sides – World War II veterans, factory workers, and local American history, including the canal that bisected Boston and the Middlesex Canal, the first locks and aqueducts waterway in America – at universities, high schools, public libraries, historical societies, churches, temples, community centers, and other public and private venues. He has also appeared on local cable television stations and radio programs.