Spring 2005
| Book Corner | ||
| New & Noteworthy |
Calendar
of Events
|
|
| SHS Receives 2 Grants |
Spring Calendar of Events at SHS
February
Saturday, February 26: Denise Magnani, Director and Curator of Landscape,
Winterthur Museum. Ms. Magnani will present an illustrated lecture. 4-5:30
pm, free to members, $5 non-members. Refreshments. Pre-registration required.
March
Sunday, March 6: Hands-On Spinning. Join instructor Janet Lynn of The Wheel
Thing in Lakeville, CT from 3-4:15 pm. Learn about fibers and spinning. Participants
will practice on a spinning wheel and will learn how to use their very own
drop spindle. Materials fee is $10/member, $15/non-member and includes a wooden
drop spindle and wool roving. Ages 8-and up. Limit 15. Pre-registration required.
Saturday, March 26: Beginning Quilting. Explore the art of the quilt and make a simple quilt yourself! 10 am-11:30. Materials fee is $6/member and $8 non-member. All materials are provided. Ages 8 and up. Limit 15. Pre-registration required.
April
Saturday, April 2: Sharon Historical Society Annual Meeting with Lecture to
follow. 10 am to noon, at the SHS. Refreshments.
Sunday, April 10: Hands-On Spinning II. Join instructor Janet Lynn of The Wheel Thing at SHS from 3-4:15 pm. Learn about fibers and spinning. Participants will practice on a spinning wheel and will learn how to use their very own drop spindle. Materials fee is $10/member, $15/non-member and includes a wooden drop spindle and wool roving. Ages 8-and up. Limit 15. Pre-registration required.
Saturday, April 16: Seldom Told Tales Bus Tour of Sharon. Participants will join group leader Ed Kirby for a bus tour exploring Sharon's lesser known history. (See article on page 2 for further details.) Meet at SHS at 10 am, tour will return by 1 pm. Cost is $10/members and $15/non-members. Pre-registration is required by Wednesday, April 6.
Saturday, April 30: Make Your Own Early American Sampler. Explore the world of cross-stitch and beyond by examining the museum's collection of historic samplers and making your own. 10 am-11:30. Materials fee is $5/members and $8/non-members. All materials will be provided. Ages 10 and up. Limit 10. Pre-registration required.
PRE-REGISTRATION FOR ANY OF THESE PROGRAMS MAY BE DONE BY PHONE AT (860) 364-5688 OR E-MAIL TO: director@sharonhist.org.
Protecting Cultural Landscapes by Charles A. Birnbaum
In response to comments elicited from the Sharon community and Sharon Historical Society members during our strategic planning process, the Historical Society will begin to make a greater effort to offer information and resources on historic preservation and preservation planning. What exactly do we mean by Historic Preservation? "Historic preservation revolves around the thoughtful management of the built environment," says preservation planning consultant Jane C. Busch. According to J. Jackson Walter, former president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, historic preservation "means saving architecturally and historically distinguished places, caring for them and putting them to good uses that will enrich all our lives."
Planning for and making informed decisions about our surrounding landscape is only one aspect of historic preservation planning. The following article is excerpted from Protecting Cultural Landscapes: Planning, Treatment and Management of Historic Landscapes, by Charles A. Birnbaum, ASLA. The full article, with illustrations, may be viewed on the National Park Service website at http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/briefs/brief36.htm. This paper is part of a lengthy series published by the NPS by their Technical Preservation Services division entitled Preservation Briefs.
Introduction
The planning, treatment, and maintenance of cultural landscapes
requires a multi-disciplinary approach. In landscapes, such as parks and playgrounds,
battlefields, cemeteries, village greens, and agricultural land preserves
more than any other type of historic resource--communities rightly presume
a sense of stewardship. It is often this grass roots commitment that has been
a catalyst for current research and planning initiatives. Individual residential
properties often do not require the same level of public outreach, yet a systematic
planning process will assist in making educated treatment, management and
maintenance decisions.
Wise stewardship protects the character, and/or spirit of a place by recognizing
history as change over time. Often, this also involves our own respectful
changes through treatment. The potential benefits from the preservation of
cultural landscapes are enormous. Landscapes provide scenic, economic, ecological,
social, recreational and educational opportunities that help us understand
ourselves as individuals, communities and as a nation. Their ongoing preservation
can yield an improved quality of life for all, and, above all, a sense of
place or identity for future generations.
Cultural landscapes can range from thousands of acres of rural tracts of land
to a small homestead with a front yard of less than one acre. Like historic
buildings and districts, these special places reveal aspects of our country's
origins and development through their form and features and the ways they
were used. A cultural landscape is defined as "a geographic area, including
both cultural and natural resources and the wildlife or domestic animals therein,
associated with a historic event, activity, or person or exhibiting other
cultural or aesthetic values." There are four general types of cultural
landscapes, not mutually exclusive: historic sites, historic designed landscapes,
historic vernacular landscapes, and ethnographic landscapes.
Historic landscapes include residential gardens and community parks, scenic
highways, rural communities, institutional grounds, cemeteries, battlefields
and zoological gardens. They are composed of a number of character-defining
features which, individually or collectively contribute to the landscape's
physical appearance as they have evolved over time. In addition to vegetation
and topography, cultural landscapes may include water features, such as ponds,
streams, and fountains; circulation features, such as roads, paths, steps,
and walls; buildings; and furnishings, including fences, benches, lights and
sculptural objects.
Most historic properties have a cultural landscape component that is integral
to the significance of the resource. Imagine a residential district without
sidewalks, lawns and trees or a plantation with buildings but no adjacent
lands. A historic property consists of all its cultural resources--landscapes,
buildings, archeological sites and collections. In some cultural landscapes,
there may be a total absence of buildings.
DEFINITIONS
Historic Designed Landscape--a landscape that was consciously designed
or laid out by a landscape architect, master gardener, architect, or horticulturist
according to design principles, or an amateur gardener working in a recognized
style or tradition. The landscape may be associated with a significant person(s),
trend, or event in landscape architecture; or illustrate an important development
in the theory and practice of landscape architecture. Aesthetic values play
a significant role in designed landscapes. Examples include parks, campuses,
and estates.
Historic Vernacular Landscape--a landscape that evolved through use
by the people whose activities or occupancy shaped that landscape. Through
social or cultural attitudes of an individual, family or a community, the
landscape reflects the physical, biological, and cultural character of those
everyday lives. Function plays a significant role in vernacular landscapes.
They can be a single property such as a farm or a collection of properties
such as a district of historic farms along a river valley. Examples include
rural villages, industrial complexes, and agricultural landscapes.
Historic Site--a landscape significant for its association with a historic
event, activity, or person. Examples include battlefields and president's
house properties.
Ethnographic Landscape--a landscape containing a variety of natural
and cultural resources that associated people define as heritage resources.
Examples are contemporary settlements, religious sacred sites and massive
geological structures. Small plant communities, animals, subsistence and ceremonial
grounds are often components.
Preservation Planning for Cultural Landscapes
Careful planning prior to undertaking work can help prevent irrevocable damage
to a cultural landscape. Professional techniques for identifying, documenting,
evaluating and preserving cultural landscapes have advanced during the past
25 years and are continually being refined. Preservation planning generally
involves the following steps: historical research; inventory and documentation
of existing conditions; site analysis and evaluation of integrity and significance;
development of a cultural landscape preservation approach and treatment plan;
development of a cultural landscape management plan and management philosophy;
the development of a strategy for ongoing maintenance; and preparation of
a record of treatment and future research recommendations.
The steps in this process are not independent of each other, nor are they
always sequential. In fact, information gathered in one step may lead to a
re-examination or refinement of previous steps. For example, field inventory
and historical research are likely to occur simultaneously, and may reveal
unnoticed cultural resources that should be protected.
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORTS
A Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) is the primary report that documents the
history, significance and treatment of a cultural landscape. A CLR evaluates
the history and integrity of the landscape including any changes to its geographical
context, features, materials, and use. CLWs are often prepared when a change
(e.g. a new parking area added to a landscape) is proposed. In such instances,
a CLR can be a useful tool to protect the landscape's character-defining features
from undue wear, alteration or loss. A CLR can provide managers, town planners,
curators and others with information needed to make management decisions.
A CLR will often yield new information about a landscape's historic significance
and integrity, even for those already listed on the National Register. Where
appropriate, National Register files should be amended to reflect the new
findings.
Historical Research
Research is essential before undertaking any treatment. Findings will help
identify a landscape's historic period(s) of ownership, occupancy and development,
and bring greater understanding of the associations and characteristics that
make the landscape or history significant. Research findings provide a foundation
to make educated decisions for work, and can also facilitate ongoing maintenance
and management operations, interpretation and eventual compliance requirements.
Preparing Period Plans
In the case of designed landscapes, even though a historic design plan exists,
it does not necessarily mean that it was realized fully, or even in part.
Based on a review of the archival resources outlined above, and the extant
landscape today, an as-built period plan may be delineated. For all successive
tenures of ownership, occupancy and landscape change, period plans should
be generated. Period plans can document to the greatest extent possible the
historic appearance during a particular period of ownership, occupancy, or
development. Period plans should be based on primary archival sources and
should avoid conjecture.
Inventorying and Documenting Existing Conditions
Both physical evidence in the landscape and historic documentation guide the
historic preservation plan and treatments. To document existing conditions,
intensive field investigation and reconnaissance should be conducted at the
same time that documentary research is being gathered. Information should
be exchanged among preservation professionals, historians, technicians, local
residents, managers and visitors.
Although there are several ways to inventory and document a landscape, the
goal is to create a baseline from a detailed record of the landscape and its
features as they exist at the present (considering seasonal variations). Each
landscape inventory should address issues of boundary delineation, documentation
methodologies and techniques, the limitations of the inventory, and the scope
of inventory efforts.
Preparing Existing Condition Plans
Inventory and documentation may be recorded in plans, sections, photographs,
aerial photographs, axonometric perspectives, narratives, video-or any combination
of techniques. Existing conditions should generally be documented to scale,
drawn by hand or generated by computer. The scale of the drawings is often
determined by the size and complexity of the landscape.
When landscapes are documented in photographs, registration points can be
set to indicate the precise location and orientation of features. Registration
points should correspond to significant forms, features and spatial relationships
within the landscape and its surrounds. The points may also correspond to
historic views to illustrate the change in the landscape to date. These locations
may also be used as a management tool to document the landscape's evolution,
and to ensure that its character-defining features are preserved over time
through informed maintenance operations and later treatment and management
decisions.
All features that contribute to the landscape's historic character should
be recorded. These include the physical features described above (e.g. topography,
circulation), and the visual and spatial relationships that are character
defining.
READING THE LANDSCAPE
Landscapes can be read on many levels--landscape as nature, habitat, artifact,
system, problem, wealth, ideology, history, place and aesthetic. When developing
a strategy to document a cultural landscape, it is important to attempt to
read the landscape in its context of place and time. There are many ways to
read a landscape--whatever approach is taken should provide a broad overview.
This may be achieved by combining on-the-ground observations with a bird's-eye
perspective. To begin this process, aerial photographs should be reviewed
to gain an orientation to the landscape and its setting. Aerial photographs
come in different sizes and scales, and can thus portray different levels
of detail in the landscape. For example, the on-site investigation of an abandoned
turn-of-the-century farm complex reveals the remnant of a native oak and pine
forest which was cut and burned in the mid-nineteenth century. This previous
use is confirmed by a small stand of mature oaks and the presence of these
plants in the emerging secondary woodland growth that is overtaking this farm
complex in decline. A ring count of the trees can establish a more accurate
age. By reading other character-defining features, such as the traces of old
roads, remnant hedgerows, ornamental trees along boundary roads, foundation
plantings, the terracing of grades and remnant fences--the visual, spatial
and contextual relationships of the property as it existed a century ago may
be understood and its present condition and integrity evaluated.
Site Analysis: Evaluating Integrity and Significance
By analyzing the landscape, its change over time can be understood. This may
be accomplished by overlaying the various period plans with the existing conditions
plan. Based on these findings, individual features may be attributed to the
particular period when they were introduced, and the various periods when
they were present.
It is during this step that the historic significance of the landscape component
of a historic property and its integrity are determined. Historic significance
is the recognized importance a property displays when it has been evaluated,
including when it has been found to meet National Register Criteria. A landscape
may have several areas of historical significance. An understanding of the
landscape as a continuum through history is critical in assessing its cultural
and historic value. In order for the landscape to have integrity, these character-defining
features or qualities that contribute to its significance must be present.
Integrity is a property's historic identity evidenced by the survival of physical
characteristics from the property's historic or pre-historic period. The seven
qualities of integrity are location, setting, feeling, association, design,
workmanship and materials.
Developing a Historic Preservation Approach and Treatment Plan
Treatment may be defined as work carried out to achieve a historic preservation
goal--it cannot be considered in a vacuum. There are many practical and philosophical
factors that may influence the selection of a treatment for a landscape. These
include the relative historic value of the property, the level of historic
documentation, existing physical conditions, its historic significance and
integrity, historic and proposed use (e.g. educational, interpretive, passive,
active public, institutional or private), long-and short-term objectives,
operational and code requirements (e.g. accessibility, fire, security) and
costs for anticipated capital improvement, staffing and maintenance. The value
of any significant archeological and natural resources should also be considered
in the decision-making process. Therefore, a cultural landscape's preservation
plan and the treatment selected will consider a broad array of dynamic and
inter-related considerations. It will often take the form of a plan with detailed
guidelines or specifications.
TREATMENTS FOR CULTURAL LANDSCAPES
Prior to undertaking work on a landscape, a treatment plan or similar document
should be developed. The four primary treatments identified in the Secretary
of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, are:
Preservation is defined as the act or process of applying measures
necessary to sustain the existing form, integrity, and materials of an historic
property. Work, including preliminary measures to protect and stabilize the
property, generally focuses upon the ongoing maintenance and repair of historic
materials and features rather than extensive replacement and new construction.
New additions are not within the scope of this treatment; however, the limited
and sensitive upgrading of mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems and
other code-required work to make properties functional is appropriate within
a preservation project.
Rehabilitation is defined as the act or process of making possible
a compatible use for a property through repair, alterations, and additions
while preserving those portions or features which convey its historical or
cultural values.
Restoration is defined as the act or process of accurately depicting
the form, features, and character of a property as it appeared at a particular
period of time by means of the removal of features from other periods in its
history and reconstruction of missing features from the restoration period.
The limited and sensitive upgrading of mechanical, electrical and plumbing
systems and other code-required work to make properties functional is appropriate
within a restoration project.
Reconstruction is defined as the act or process of depicting, by means
of new construction, the form, features, and detailing of a non-surviving
site, landscape, building, structure, or object for the purpose of replicating
its appearance at a specific period of time and in its historic location.
Adopting such a plan, in concert with a preservation maintenance plan, acknowledges
a cultural landscape's ever-changing existence and the inter-relationship
of treatment and ongoing maintenance. Performance standards, scheduling and
record keeping of maintenance activities on a day-to-day or month-to-month
basis, may then be planned for. Treatment, management, and maintenance proposals
can be developed by a broad range of professionals and with expertise in such
fields as landscape preservation, horticulture, ecology, and landscape maintenance.
Developing a Preservation Maintenance Plan and Implementation Strategy
Throughout the preservation planning process, it is important to ensure that
existing landscape features are retained. Preservation maintenance is the
practice of monitoring and controlling change in the landscape to ensure that
its historic integrity is not altered and features are not lost. This is particularly
important during the research and long-term treatment planning process. To
be effective, the maintenance program must have a guiding philosophy, approach
or strategy; an understanding of preservation maintenance techniques; and
a system for documenting changes in the landscape.
Recording Treatment Work and Future Research Recommendations
The last and ongoing step in the preservation planning process records the
treatment work as carried out. It may include a series of as-built drawings,
supporting photographic materials, specifications and a summary assessment.
New technologies that have been successfully used should be highlighted. Ideally,
this information should be shared with interested national organizations for
further dissemination and evaluation.
DEVELOPING A PRESERVATION MAINTENANCE GUIDE
In the past, there was rarely adequate record keeping to fully understand
the ways a landscape was maintained. This creates gaps in our research findings.
Today, we recognize that planning for ongoing maintenance and onsite applications
should be documented--both routinely and comprehensively. An annual work program
or calendar records the frequency of maintenance work on built or natural
landscape features. It can also monitor the age, health and vigor of vegetation.
For example, onsite assessments may document the presence of weeds, pests,
dead leaves, pale color, wilting, soil compaction--all of which signal particular
maintenance needs. For built elements, the deterioration of paving or drainage
systems may be noted and the need for repair or replacement indicated before
hazards develop. An overall maintenance program can assist in routine and
cyclic maintenance of the landscape and can also guide long-term treatment
projects.
Selected Reading
Birnbaum, Charles A., guest editor. Preservation Forum. "Focus on Landscape
Preservation". Washington, D.C.: National Trustfor Historic Preservation,
Volume 7, No. 3, May/June 1992.
Buggey Susan, guest editor. APT Bulletin. Special Issue: Conserving Historic
Landscapes. Fredericksburg, VA: Association for PreservationTechnology International,
Volume XXIV, No. 3-4, 1992.
Burns, John A, and the Staff of HABS/HAER. Recording Historic Structures.
American Institute of Architects Press, 1989.(Includes chapter on the documentation
of Meridian Hill Park,pp. 206-219.)
Diehl, Janet and Thomas S. Barrett, et al. The Conservation Easement Handbook.
Managing Land Conservation and Historic Preservation Easement Programs, The
Land Trust Exchange (now Alliance) and the Trust for Public Land, 1988.
International Committee of Historic Gardens and Sites, ICOMOS-IFLA.Jardins
et Sites Historiques, Scientific Journal. ICOMOS1993. Compilation of papers
on the subject, in both English andFrench.
Kelso, William M., and Rachel Most. Earth Patterns: Essays in Landscape Archaeology.
Charlottesville, VA. University Press of Virginia, 1990.
Stokes, Samuel, N., et al. Saving America's Countryside: A Guide to Rural
Conservation. Baltimore and London: John Hopkins University Press, 1989.
Tishler, William, editor. American Landscape Architecture: Designers and Places.
Washington, DC: The Preservation Press,1989.
In the last month and a half, the Sharon Historical Society has been the proud recipient of two grants which will enable the museum to make great strides in fulfilling the goals set out in our 2004 strategic plan.
In December, the SHS received a grant for $15,000 from the Mary A. and John M. McCarthy Foundation to fund continued staff hours and the cost of conservation supplies for our project to clean, catalog and photograph the museum's collections. Begun with gusto in 2004, museum staff and volunteers were able to move all collections materials out of the attic (unimproved) storage area of the museum; move all cataloged textile collections (approximately 500 objects) into climate-controlled storage; catalog and photograph the majority of the museum's tool collection; purchase and use the Past Perfect database to computerize collections records (including the scanning of photographs); catalog over 350 images in the museum's photograph collection, and computerize approximately 2/3 of those records; train a collections committee to process collections material; and update and adopt an institutional Collections Management Policy.
The Sharon Historical Society has been the recipient of generous funding from the Mary A. & John M. McCarthy Foundation for the past five years. In 2000, the foundation funded the project, "Bringing An Archives to Life" which enabled the SHS to hire a consultant to organize its large collection of historic paper materials. In 2001, the McCarthy foundation funded a grant proposal to design and construct a permanent "hands-on" exhibit for young visitors exploring the history of the iron industry in Sharon. In 2002 and 2003, the foundation funded projects to expand and augment staff positions at the SHS, enabling staff and volunteers to advance our collections work and to cement a permanent relationship with the Sharon Center School. Over the years the McCarthy Foundation has supported the Sharon Historical Society in it's long-term goal of capacity and services building. There is little doubt that much of the museum's success, revitalization and forward momentum is due to the continued generosity of the McCarthy Foundation. Indeed, the Sharon Historical Society has become an example of a "small museum success story", serving as an inspiration to local history organizations throughout Connecticut.
In January of 2005, the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation selected the museum to participate in its first Nonprofit Learning Center. The Learning Center is designed to allow nonprofit organizations the opportunity to review and strengthen their operational infrastructure-from fund development, to board governance, to organizational structure to planning for the future.
The Nonprofit Learning Center includes three components, a five-part training program for executive staff and selected board members; a one-day training session for the entire organization; and a grant of $2,000. The opportunity to participate in the Nonprofit Learning Center comes at a pivotal point for the SHS, and dovetails perfectly with those governance goals articulated in our strategic plan.
The Sharon Historical Society expresses its gratitude to the McCarthy Foundation and to the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation for their continued support.
The Sharon Historical Society is delighted to welcome Janet Nickson to our staff in the role of school program coordinator. Born in the Bronx, New York, Janet moved from New Milford to Sharon in April of 1979, having been "hooked" on the village since visiting the town in the 1960s.
A teacher for 34 years in the New Milford public schools, Janet taught a variety of grades. "With each grade I learned that I had so much to learn. The rewards were great," says Janet, "many of my students are still in touch with me."
Janet is active in a large number of community organizations. As is crystal clear to those who have had the pleasure of working with her, Janet is a woman full of both ideas, and ways to put them into action. "I am here, there and everywhere because I believe in networking and bringing out the best in each group to best enhance our lovely Sharon," she says.
When asked about her favorite things, Janet replies that she has few favorites, because she wants to be open to new experiences and possibilities. "I do like chocolate, jazz, orchids, watching the seasonal patterns and photo ops," she admits. Home is where her heart is, but kayaking in Alaska with husband, Bob, back in 1993 was a real adventure. Remind her to tell you about her up "close and personal" with a bear!
Janet brings a zest for life and years of teaching experience to her position at the SHS. As school program coordinator Janet will be working to develop curriculum units for all grades at the Sharon Center School, maintaining communication between the museum and the teachers at SCS, and generally supporting the educational mission of the historical society.
If you'd like to help Janet and the rest of the staff work with students in our community, we'd love to have you. Call or e-mail the SHS at 364-5688 or director@sharonhist.org.
Winter Winterthur Lecture Set
Join us at SHS as we present guest lecturer Denise Magnani, Director and Curator
of Landscape at the Winterthur Museum and Gardens in Delaware. The presentation
will take place on Saturday, February 26, at 4 pm at the Historical Society.
Wine and light refreshments will be served. Space is limited, so please reserve
early by calling the museum at (860) 364-5688 or e-mailing to director@sharonhist.org.
The cost is free to members, $5 non-members.
Mouthwatering Responses to Food History Article
Thank you to all who responded with such enthusiasm to the Archives article
on the history of food. Millie Rick sent in a recipe for a Wassail Bowl, reprinted
in 1983 from an 1828 issue of the British periodical called, The Extractor.
Francoise Kelz shared a book entitled, Food, Drink, and Recipes of Early New
England, published by Old Sturbridge Village. Bob Respond, a restaurant owner
and self-proclaimed "foodie" has added a few classics to the bibliography.
Salt: A World History, by Mark Kurlansky (the only rock we eat, and once used
as a currency), Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World, by Mark
Kurlansky, The True History of Chocolate, by Sophie Coe, Dangerous Tastes:
The Story of Spices, by Andrew Dalby, and The Potato: How the Humble Spud
Rescued the Western World, by Larry Zuckerman. Thank you to Bob, Millie and
Francoise.
Happy reading!
Congratulations to Meg Szalewicz
It is with great regret that we at SHS send Archivist and Program coordinator,
Meg Szalewicz, onto her new position working with Ella Clark and the CHORE
service. Meg has been invaluable both as volunteer and in her professional
capacity at the SHS, and all who have worked with her will miss her sunny
smiles and willing assistance...not to mention her cookie-making abilities!
The best thing about small towns is that Meg's new job is just across the
street. Good luck Meg!
Sterling Silver Clock Tower
The sterling silver clock tower pendants were such a big hit with the Sharon
community before the holidays, that we sold out in record time. In response
to those who expressed disappointment, we've placed and received a second
order. Still that perfect gift for the Sharon resident who has everything-and
Valentine's Day is approaching! Handmade by New York State artisan Norman
Dann, the pendant measures approximately 2" long and a quarter-inch wide.
The pendants retail for $40 each.
Bus Tour to Highlight Sites in Kirby's Newest Book
Ed Kirby will lead a bus tour of historic Sharon, stopping at sites associated
with the "tales" in his new book, Seldom Told Tales of Sharon, expected
from the publisher in the next six weeks. The tour will take place on Saturday,
April 16, leaving the Sharon Historical Society at 10 a.m. and returning at
1 p.m. Participants will travel by motor coach stopping at sites in historic
Calkinstown associated with local industrialist Hiram Weed; view the kaolin
beds in Sharon's northeast corner, (weather and rattlesnakes permitting);
and the proposed Sharon terminus of the New York to Sharon canal. Pre-registration
is necessary by April 6 and participation is limited. The cost is $10/members,
$15/non-members to cover the cost of the bus.
Seldom Told Tales of Sharon Coming Soon!
Finally! Just when you suspected that you knew all there was to know about Sharon history, out of the woodwork comes a new book by resident expert, Ed Kirby. On the printing press as the Archives goes to press, Seldom Told Tales of Sharon offers the reader a little bit of this and a little bit of that-all designed to whet your curiosity and perhaps, to delve into some little known aspect of local history that you've always wished to explore.
Three "tales" make up the book's content. The first offers both new insight (judiciously combined with a little humor) into Sharon's legendary entrepreneur Hiram Weed. Hiram Weed (1809-1889) was one of Sharon's golden boys and Renaissance men. He was interested early on in land acquisition-over the course of 44 years to 1876, land records show that Weed acquired a total of fifty-four properties in Sharon. Included in the acquisitions are timbering and charcoaling sites, mining rights, carbonate rock deposits, and water rights. His business empire straddled the New York/ Connecticut border, and modern evidence of his imprint may be seen in road signs throughout the area bearing his name.
The ill-fated New York to Sharon canal is the intriguing topic of the second chapter. Although it might be difficult to conceive of today, transportation of goods to and from the area prior to the arrival of the railroad was critical to the success of local industry. Several canal systems were visualized throughout Connecticut, with the Farmington canal being the most notable that ever came to fruition. The incredible success of New York state's Erie canal was a catalyst to the exploration and chartering of canal ventures throughout Connecticut and beyond. The proposed Sharon to New York canal came awfully close to fruition-the reader will find the cost estimates to prove it!
The final tale of the three delves into the multi-layered history of Sharon northeast corner where the women were strong and the rattlesnakes were many! Jesse Stanton's laments on "the singer, the fiddler and the drunken lawyer" will make even the hard-hearted weep, while the courage and success of "Charcoal Annie" (otherwise known as Augusta Malcuit) will engender pride in womankind everywhere. There's even information on those splendid boys in uniform, the Civilian Conservation Corps!
If your interest is piqued, join us for Ed's bus tour of "Seldom
Seen Sites of Sharon" which will visit some of the hot spots mentioned
in the book. (See page two of the Archives for more information.) And, be
sure to tell all your friends, the second volume of Seldom Told Tales in officially
in the works!
Collections Connection by Marge McAvoy
Perched on the windowsill in the stairway up to the new collections room is a grubby, forlorn little high heeled shoe. While not a part of our collection, it has been a reminder to me to research the mysterious custom most likely responsible for its existence. It is known as a Concealment Shoe, and we do have some packed away in our collection, brought to us, no doubt, by well meaning folk who found the shoes in the walls of their old houses and wanted to know why.
Human beings seem to have an odd weakness for superstition. Some of these superstitions are rather bizarre, lacking any rational explanation. Concealment shoes definitely fall into this category. The custom dates back to possibly 14th century Western Europe, and is rooted in the ever-present need to ward off evil spirits. Somewhere, sometime long ago, someone was building or renovating his home, ripping out windows, maybe removing doors. Afraid that wandering wraiths from the underworld would waft into his home through these openings, he quickly hid a shoe in the nearby wall and felt better, safe from the impending danger. Others must have heard about it, because the custom caught on, reaching its peak in 18th and 19th century Great Britain and the northern United States.
Over the years since then, these long forgotten shoes are once again seeing the light of day as our old houses are being remodeled or restored. Most people have no idea what they have stumbled across when they rip the plaster from the wall and find an old shoe tucked into a hidden cavity. No doubt hundreds of these treasures have been thrown away, without being given a second thought beyond the often strange assumption that a child must have lost the shoe in the wall. Incredibly, however, enough have been documented that there is an international index of concealment shoes at the Northampton Museum in England, where over 2000 shoes are listed!
Children's shoes are the most common, followed by women's. They are almost always well worn, probably because shoes were much more expensive treasures then - one simply didn't have a closet full of shoes with plenty to spare (not a time when Imelda Marcos would have been happy!). Usually, there is just a single shoe, but occasionally members of a whole family each contributed a shoe in order to better protect their home.
While there is no documentation of when any individual shoe was placed in a wall, the consensus seems to be that it was usually done during renovation rather than original construction. According to Jennifer Swope at the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, no one has ever photographed a concealment shoe in its discovered location. But increasingly, people have been savvy enough to realize that there is a reason for the shoes to be where they were found, and so they have been saved.
One Sharon family has decided to revive the custom. When Malcolm and Louise Brown were renovating their old house in town, they found at least three shoes tucked together in a wall. The shoes were all old, all small, and accompanied by a 1911 newspaper. Realizing that they were on to something, Louise researched the mystery, eventually exploring the internet for information on concealment shoes. What she found made her feel that not only did the Browns have to return the shoes to the wall, but they also had to add some of their own. This they did, and now a 20th century sneaker and high heel are helping to guard against any evil spirit lurking around outside the Brown home.
So, if you own an old house, chances are there are shoes standing guard within your walls. If someday you decide to make changes in the house and are lucky enough to find a concealment shoe or two, leave them where they are-you don' t want evil spirits in the house, do you?
But do take a picture, and please do let us know. Even historians love a good superstition.
A Book for Children of ALL ages!
The Cartwright family, of Enfield Kentucky was sitting around the kitchen table looking at Sears Roebuck catalogues. They had $2,500 to spend and were making selections as prudently as possible. Pa, Ma, Grand Pa, Grand Ma, Emily, and younger brother Homer were intent upon choosing a style that would suit everyone. Would it be the Carlisle, the Jefferson, or perhaps the Beckford??? What were they buying?
The House in the Mail, written by Rosemary and Tom Wells and illustrated by Dan Andreasen is the story of a family in 1927 who were about to use their entire life savings to purchase a house in a package! It would arrive in a railroad car having everything needed to construct a new home large enough for them and for a new baby on the way. Pa, with some neighborly help, used a draft horse to create the hole for the foundation. On the day the train pulled in to the station with the wonderful package, half the town was in attendance to cheer and assist with the proceedings.
Dan Andreasen’s gentle illustrations move the reader nostalgically through the events and the construction. Emily’s comments, and pictures from her scrapbook, garnish the story from beginning to end. Upon completion of the tale, a wonderful secret compartment for Emily’s treasures (needing much protection from her brother’s curiosity) is presented to her by her father.
In order to satisfy my own curiosity regarding Sears Roebuck houses, I called some of my senior friends and asked if they recalled such wonders. One friend said that a whole community of homes on Montauk Point in Long Island had been summer bungalows bought from catalogues. There are many scattered throughout the country and today have appreciably increased in value, as much for their age as for their initial business intentions. About 100,000 mail order houses were constructed between 1908 and 1941. The quality of materials was considered excellent.
Could there be a wonderful Sears Roebuck house in Sharon CT? Here’s an opportunity to do a little sleuthing. First, stop at the Hotchkiss Library of Sharon and borrow the book. Then, stop in at the Gay-Hoyt House to see what literature and pictures are available on houses. Next, and this is the fun part, talk to the senior members of your community and see if they remember hearing about a house that came in the mail? Enjoy reading, learning, and talking to friends whose memories go way back to some very special times.
Janet Nickson