These days, it’s hard to imagine a hurricane sneaking up us. But on September 21, 1938, New England was literally taken by storm as a massive and fast moving hurricane hit the region with no warning.

This September marks the 75^th anniversary of the hurricane, and the Mattapoisett Historical Society is working on an exhibit to commemorate the storm, starting with firsthand accounts from residents who lived through it.

The historical society has partnered with Old Rochester Regional High School seniors on an intergenerational project to record memories from the storm.

“We had some stuff on the hurricane, but not a ton,” said Mattapoisett Historical Museum Curator Elizabeth Hutchinson. “I was looking for firsthand accounts of people. We had only one.”

Since anyone who remembers the hurricane is at least 80 years old, there was some urgency to do the project now.

After putting out a call to local residents, Hutchinson found eight people who were willing to share their memories of the storm. She also got ORR history teacher Colin Everett on board.

Four of Everett’s students are helping with the project – conducting interviews, writing up transcripts, and helping Hutchinson put together the exhibit on the hurricane.

On Wednesday, Aug. 7, soon-to-be senior Lizzie MacLellan sat down with Ann Briggs to hear her story.

Briggs was just eight when her family picked her up from a Brownies meeting at Center School, saying a hurricane was coming. She’d never even heard the word before.

“It could have been a circus. It could have been a parade,” said Briggs, née Perkins.

Briggs walked with her family down Water Street to see what was happening. “It was so windy our parents were holding on to us,” she recalled.

After seeing a building blown over by the wind, the Perkins family quickly headed home to North Street where they holed up while the storm raged. Every thud was the sound of another elm on the tree lined street crashing to the ground. Two chimneys on the Perkins’ house also fell.

“We heard something on the roof, but it was not Santa Claus,” said Briggs.

Only her father, a volunteer firefighter, left during the hurricane.

“They were calling all the firemen down to the beaches because people were being lost,” Briggs remembered.

In the end, eight people in Mattapoisett died as a result of the storm, innumerable houses were destroyed, and countless trees fell down.

“When trees are down, all the sap is running,” said Briggs. “The yellow jackets were horrendous. They came in swarms.”

When they felt it was safe to go outside, the Perkins, like everyone else, walked around surveying the damage.

“It didn’t look like our town,” Briggs said. Many, if not most, of the cottages where “summer people” lived were decimated. Pico Beach was “just pieces of cottages.”

Even now, Briggs is disinclined to look at photos from the hurricane, but for MacLellan, the project connects her with her own family history.

MacLellan, a Wareham resident, said, “My mom told me that my grandfather used to talk about it, so I had to do it. I didn’t know anything about the hurricane.”

The historical society will compile the interviews for the upcoming exhibit. Hutchinson said there will also be several events planned around the anniversary, including a lecture in Shipyard Park.