Wellesley Historical Society in Schools

Science, the Wellesley Historical Society, and the Denton Butterfly Collection

In-class presentations of our Denton Butterfly Collection is one example of the Society’s collaboration with the Wellesley Public Schools. Each spring, Society staff visit third-grade classrooms to share samples from our famous butterfly collection as part of the science curriculum. The collaboration provides the Society with the opportunity to introduce the third-graders to the collection both as a piece of history and as a tool for them to practice identifying the butterfly defense strategies they have been learning about in their science curriculum.

The Denton Butterfly and Entomological Collection comes from Wellesley residents Willie and Winsey Denton, who in 1892 formed The Denton Brothers, supporting entomologists and collectors around the world.  Our collection includes over 2500 butterfly and moth specimens from every corner of the globe, each in their original Denton mounting. We use the collection to teach students about entomology, but also to expose them to the tangible and real-world applications of history and archiving.

The presentation of the Denton collection is one way the Society works with local teachers to support their classroom activities and bring history to the young people of Wellesley.