By 1997, Hopkinton had long-outgrown the Bates Library.
The library, constructed in 1959, couldn’t add a new book to its collection without getting rid of an old one, and the small building just wasn’t suited to the town’s more-than-doubled population.
The library’s Board of Trustees had secured most of the $1.6 million needed to fund new construction, but they still needed another $190,000. So, Christine Hamm, the board’s chairwoman, stepped in to spearhead those fundraising efforts.
“I’ve been in some other fundraising projects,” said Pete Mousseu, who served with Hamm on the board, “and she was a master of identifying people within the town that she thought would be willing to contribute to this.”
About 500 donors covered roughly a quarter of construction costs, and the new Hopkinton Town Library opened its doors in June of 1998.
“When she got an idea, she saw it to its conclusion,” Mousseu said.
Hamm died of cancer last month at age 83. She is remembered for her love of Hopkinton and investment in the community’s vibrancy.
The library was what drew Susan Lawless to Hopkinton in 2005. Lawless was driving through town to tour a new home when she heard a band playing.
“I drove up and I found the library, and it was just such an amazing indicator in this town of like 5,000, 6,000 people that we would have such a specific library. It wasn’t like it was pretenses. It just was clear that people cared about what the library was about: reading, about community, about meeting us together,” Lawless said.
Hamm welcomed Lawless into the community with open arms, inviting her to dinner.
The two found friendship while putting together the town’s performance of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, a three-act play on the lives of people in the fictional town of Grover’s Corners.
“I’ve always loved this play, and when I moved here 18 years ago, and I always envisioned this town as Our Town,” Hamm said in a 1990 interview with the Monitor, the first year she directed and produced the play.
Hamm had initially moved to Hopkinton in 1972. She briefly left in 1978, before returning with her husband and three young sons in 1985.
Klaus Hamm, her oldest son, remembers her love of history and eagerness to learn about wherever she called home.
She was “always interested in the history of our house and our neighborhood that we moved into,” he said.
A homemaker, Hamm spent much of the time she wasn’t with her family with the community. She brought her love of history to the Hopkinton Historical Society and was asked by Executive Director Heather Mitchell to direct town cemetery walks discussing the lives of various Hopkinton residents buried there.
She was a frequent writer, including regular contributions to the Monitor, where for 20 years she served as poet laureate, publishing annual recap poems to ring in the New Year.
Once she became an empty-nester, Hamm became involved in state politics, serving in the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 2002-2012 as the Merrimack County District 34, and later District 4, representative.
Former state Rep. Kim Casey remembers Hamm for her “commitment to the quality of the state’s ability to help people.”
“She was a fast and good representative for her town because she knew it so well,” Casey said. “I think she really worked hard to be Hopkinton’s representative in the State House.”
Co-founder of the Hopkinton Democratic Committee, Hamm also hosted numerous politicians in her home, including then-Vice President Al Gore.
After leaving the State House, she continued to be an active member of the Hopkinton community, contributing to the Historical Society, helping with cemetery walks and arranging another performance of Our Town in 2015.
Later that year, she moved to Portland, Oregon, to be closer to her sons. While Klaus had initially been worried about his mother adjusting and making friends, she found her place in the community quickly.
“She just dove right in and made a ton of friends very quickly, and like real friends, not just acquaintances,” he said.
As she had done in Hopkinton, she found a place in the local history scene with the city’s Urban Tour Group. Hamm began hosting cemetery walks, as well as regular tours showcasing the city’s history for schoolchildren.
“She was a mighty soul. She had vast amounts of energy and never slowed down a moment until the very, very end,” said Lucy Karl, a Hopkinton resident who Hamm welcomed into the political sphere.
In late 2023, Hamm was diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer. Still, she stayed active up until her death.
“She had this dire prognosis, and yeah, I went to see her and we did like 10, 15,000 steps a day,” said Lawless.
Even in the midst of illness, Hamm exuded strength.
“People would come visit her, to be with her, to help her from out of town, friends and family, and they would just be exhausted after a few days to try and keep up with her, even though she had stage four cancer,” Klaus said.
Hamm will be interred at the Old Hopkinton Cemetery this Saturday, July 25, at 3:00 p.m.
