February 2 is well-known in the United States, and especially in our Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as Groundhog Day. We are proud to honor today Ms. G, the Massachusetts State Groundhog. Ms. G is a female groundhog living at Mass Audubon Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary in Lincoln, Massachusetts. She has been forecasting the weather on Groundhog Day since 2008.
The story of Ms. G’s official designation as the Massachusetts State Groundhog is well-documented in several places, including her own
website and in a beautifully-written book by meteorologist Mish Michaels called
Ms. G's Shadowy Road to Fame. The illustrations by Kathleen Jameson bring the story to life. After hard work by students at Hunnewell Elementary School in Wellesley, and with help from State Representative Alice Peisch and other dedicated fans of Ms. G, Governor Deval Patrick signed the bill into law on July 31st, 2014.
In our 2017 exhibition on state symbols of Massachusetts, we used a stuffed animal purchased from Mass Audubon Drumlin Farm to illustrate Ms. G’s status as the State Groundhog. A photograph of the real Ms. G is here. Please join us in wishing her a long and healthy life!
Beth Carroll-Horrocks
Special Collections
