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Hannah Duston Historic Site Will Keep Its Name For Now

Craig Michaud via Wikicommons

Republican state representative Gene Charron of Chester has withdrawn a bill that would have changed the name of the Hannah Duston State Historic Memorial Site in Boscawen to the Contoocook Island State Historic Site.

Backers say a new name would have dampened the controversy over Duston, who killed and scalped as many as a dozen Native Americans while escaping captivity in 1697. Opponents have said a new name would sanitize the story of Hannah Duston, the subject of the first publicly-funded statue in New Hampshire.

Kathleen Ronayne has reported on this debate for the Concord Monitor. She talks with All Things Considered host Brady Carlson about the site and why it will keep its name.

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