The library at the Vermont Historical Society in Barre is now named in the honor of the parents of Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, Howard and Alba Leahy.
Senator Leahy helped secure funding to pay for some of the renovations of the building, which is now known as the Vermont History Center.
Leahy’s father Howard was a Montpelier printer and avid amateur historian. And Leahy says his mother had a keen understanding of history as well.
Leahy says his ancestors were a part of Vermont history. Both of his grandfathers were stone carvers who suffered from silicosis, a disease caused by breathing stone dust, a once-common affliction in Vermont’s stone industry.
Leahy says his parents lived and breathed Vermont history.
AP Photo/Toby Talbot