Wayland Woman 'Lives' with Rockstars, War Heroes, Stuff of History

Jane Sciacca's love affair with history began the moment she saw her first atlas.

She thinks it was the tender age of 3.

From there, Sciacca pursued study in European history and social studies... and then found herself a stay-at-home mom in Wayland with time to indulge her passion.

Over her 43 years in Wayland, Sciacca has been deeply involved with the historical efforts -- in 1975, she helped coordinate a re-enactment of a 1775 Town Meeting voting procedure during a vote at that year's Town Meeting -- and calls the Wayland Historical Society, "my No. 1 love, I would say, besides my husband."

With the arrival of Wayland's 375th anniversary, Sciacca found herself enraptured with the individual people, places, moments and events that have built Wayland into the town it is today.

So she started culling various books, archives and the Internet for facts, tidbits of history that she is sharing with Wayland Patch for a year-long "All About Wayland: A Year's Worth of History" project.

"My goal is to appreciate the richness of a heritage of a town that goes back 375 years -- that's no small accomplishment," Sciacca said. "I hope that different things will appeal to different people and that something along the way will appeal to people and really just make them feel that Wayland is a special place.

"I've thought it was a special place for 43 years. It's been my home."

Sciacca has worked as a historical tour guide and park ranger for many years, most of which were focused in Concord where she has worked at The Old Manse, Orchard House and other locations. 

While in Concord, Sciacca developed a particular interest in the history of colonial slavery in Massachusetts, an interest that she has expanded into her work with Wayland history.

"I think some of my interest in Wayland really came from interest in comparing the towns," Sciacca said. "This is my home, so I wanted to know what happened here."

Several of the facts Sciacca has already submitted for the project with Wayland Patch have been focused on this topic, but she knows that she's going to branch out widely throughout the coming year.

Look for tidbits about rock star residents, 1600s Town Meeting issues, Revolutionary War-era info and much more.

"I like connecting Wayland to the world, because I think people lose sight of the fact that it is part of a large world," Sciacca said.

And connecting to the larger world extends to her research as well, Sciacca loves consulting the "Wayland A-Z," "The Puritan Village Evolves" and more, but she's also open to help from other residents.

If you have a tidbit you'd like to share or a topic you'd like to see Sciacca explore, email her at jane_sciacca@hotmail.com. 

"I don't consider myself a Wayland history expert," Sciacca said. "There are people in Wayland who are far more knowledgable than I am."

Look for a new fact each morning in Patch's "5 Things" articles. Then, on Saturdays, we recap the week of facts and bring you a few new ones.