End of Semester Invite

Greetings-

For those available, please drop by the Three Chimneys Inn from 5:00-6:00 for some end of semester chat and wrap up -- and paper/project drop off if you like.  I have talked with several of you and the due date for your final project is now officially May 16th.

Although our class is ending, please check these pages from time to time for new postings from your colleagues, job and intern opportunities, museum openings, new publications and so on.

A few views....

Guest Lecturer: Dr. Rick Schubart

Dr. Rick Schubart, Bates-Russell Distinguished Faculty Professor, Phillips Exeter Academy and scholar of early American and Civil War history will speak on

“Abraham Lincoln in New Hampshire”

His recent essay "The New Hampshire Seacoast and the American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln in Exeter and Fitz John Porter in Portsmouth" in Hero or Coward: The Story of General Fitz John Porter (with Drs. Alexander & Morrison) is available at www.thebluetree.com

Shoe Research, Lynn Museum

http://zephyrs10.blogspot.com/2012/04/shoe-files-mrs-elisebath-johnsons-shoe.html

A Reflection on Louis I. Kahn's Exeter Library at 40

For those of you interested in architecture.

http://zephyrs10.blogspot.com/2012/04/reflection-on-louis-i-kahns-exeter.html

Guest Speakers: Astrida Schaeffer and Sonya Spongberg

This week's speakers will discuss two significant UNH based historic garment projects: Embellishments: Constructing Victorian Detail and the New Hampshire Historic Dress project.

Costume Historian, Astrida Schaeffer a UNH graduate and past assistant director of the UNH Art Gallery, will discuss her field, training, work with historic sites and museums, as well as current exhibition. (Astrida is the Guest Curator of Embellishments which will open September 2012 in the UNH Museum Gallery, with Dale Valena, Curator, at Diamond Library.)

Museum Studies MA Candidate (May 2012), Sonya Spongberg, will discuss her past and current internships, work on the New Hampshire Historic Dress project and her final paper.

Please feel free to bring in one or two garments or examples of textiles for a hands on discussion, time permitting.

For information, see:


http://unh.edu/unhtoday/2012/02/museum-quality-astrida-schaeffer-99g

www.schaefferarts.com

Celebrating General Montgomery's Georgian House, c. 1790s

Recent research.
http://zephyrs10.blogspot.com/2012/03/celebrating-general-montgomerys.html

Updates for 3/21

Greetings! I hope you are all enjoying this fabulous weather.

While we do not have a formal lecture scheduled for tomorrow 3/21, I will hold office hours and return papers from 4:30-5:30. Please let me know if you would like to schedule an appointment.

Dr. Jim Garvin's lecture notes are now available on Black Board.

Dr. James Garvin Lecture Notes to Follow & Reminder

Dr. James Garvin has kindly supplied his lecture materials but I am currently unable to post them as Black Board is down.

Williams tavern, entry detail, Haverhill, NH

Please note that we do not have a scheduled class this week, March 22, so you can make your second museum/historic site visit for your critiques.

Egg Brandy: The Influence of Weather on 1793 Purchases

The Montgomery Store, Haverhill, NH

http://zephyrs10.blogspot.com/2012/03/egg-rum-and-egg-brandy-influence-of.html

Intern & Job Postings from NEMA

Page from Sam Lane's Almanac for 1757.
See earlier posts for further information

Dear All-

If you are looking for summer and fall intern positions, part-time museum education, archival and docent work, make sure you check out the most recent New England Museum Association Online Jobs.

http://www.nemanet.org/nemajobsonline.htm

Guest Lecturer: James L. Garvin "What Buildings Tell Us"

James L. Garvin, Ph.D. served as the New Hampshire State Architectural Historian from 1987-2011 and has also served as Curator of the New Hampshire Historical Society, the Portsmouth Athenaeum and Strawbery Banke Museum.  He brings unparalleled expertise in the history of American architecture and engineering, building assessments and a deep understanding of New England traditional construction methods and materials to our classroom. This is a rare opportunity.

Dr. Garvin summarizes his career:

My work experience has focused on an understanding of material culture, especially that of New England.  Working as the curator of a historic preservation organization, as a museum curator, and as an architectural historian and building investigator, I have attempted to understand historical methods and materials of fabrication, the evolution of style, and the most effective means of preserving and interpreting the legacy of the past. My work experience has focused on an understanding of material culture, especially that of New England.  Working as the curator of a historic preservation organization, as a museum curator, and as an architectural historian and building investigator, I have attempted to understand historical methods and materials of fabrication, the evolution of style, and the most effective means of preserving and interpreting the legacy of the past. My work experience has focused on an understanding of material culture, especially that of New England.  Working as the curator of a historic preservation organization, as a museum curator, and as an architectural historian and building investigator, I have attempted to understand historical methods and materials of fabrication, the evolution of style, and the most effective means of preserving and interpreting the legacy of the past.

Selected publications:

Historic Portsmouth: Early Photographs from the Collections of Strawbery Banke (Somersworth, N. H.: New Hampshire Publishing Co., 1974; second edition, with revisions by Susan Grigg, Portsmouth, N. H.: Peter E. Randall for Strawbery Banke Museum, 1995).

Co-author with Donna-Belle Garvin and John F. Page, Plain & Elegant, Rich & Common: D0cumented New Hampshire Furniture, 1750-1850 (Concord, N. H.: New Hampshire Historical Society, 1979).

Co-author with Donna-Belle Garvin, Instruments of Change: New Hampshire Hand Tools and Their Makers, 1800-1900 (Concord, N. H.: New Hampshire Historical Society, 1985).

Co-author with Donna-Belle Garvin, On the Road North of Boston: New Hampshire Taverns and Turnpikes, 1700-1900 (Concord, N. H.: New Hampshire Historical Society, 1988; second edition, Hanover, N. H.: University Press of New England, 2003).

A Building History of Northern New England (Hanover, N. H.: University Press of New England, 2001).


http://james-garvin.com/

Interested in 18th Century Garments?

Dressing the Part:

Creating an 18th Century Wardrobe

Thursday, March 8th 7:00 - 9:00 pm

 Historic role players, re-enactors, home sewers, and anyone else interested in period clothing are invited to attend "Dressing the Part: Creating an 18^th Century Wardrobe" at the historic Colonel Paul Wentworth House in Rollinsford.

Demonstration and workshop presented by Tara Vose and Julia Roberts.

www.paulwentworthhouse.org

paulwentworthhouse@gmail.com

Lecture: James L. Garvin, NH State Historic Preservation Officer (ret.)

In preparation for James L. Garvin's lecture on Wednesday 7 March 2012, "What Buildings Tell Us," three reports have been posted to Blackboard for your review.

Entry, Pearson Hall, Haverhill, NH
Note fan and sidelights; stylized triglyph and rosette details
c. 1814-1818

Professor Morrison's Lecture Now Available

Please see Blackboard for a PDF version of Professor Morrison's lecture on the "The Material Culture of the Early American Book."

Guest Lecturer: Ron Raiselis, Cooper

Mr. Ron Raiselis began his career as a cooper at Old Sturbridge Village from 1976 to 1985, where he worked under master cooper Lenny Julian.  While at OSV, Mr. Raiselis also trained in the Cabinet Shop.  While at OSV, he also trained others in both the cooper’s and cabinet shops, and completed curatorial department furniture conservation work. Since 1985, he has been the resident cooper at Strawbery Banke Museum and master cooper/sole proprietor of the R. P. Raiselis Cooperage.

Raiselis has produced a wide variety of reproduction (representing forms produced from the 17^th-19^th centuries) barrels, buckets, and other types of specialized containers for museums all over the country, including:

Monticello, Charolottesville,VA

Montpelier, VA

Jamestown Festival Park, Jamestown, VA

Historic St. Mary’s City, MD
Smithsonian American History Museum, Washington, DC

Old Fort Western, Augusta, ME

Colvin Run Mill, Fairfax, VA

Frontier Culture Museum, Staunton, VA

Fort Vancouver, WA

Sutter’s Fort, Sacramento, CA

Fort Ross, CA

Hyde Park, NY (FDR’s home)

Conner Prairie, Indianapolis, IN

Plimoth Plantation, MA
High Desert Museum, Bend OR

Harper’s Ferry National Historic Site, WV

Fort Ontario, Oswego, NY

Fort Snelling, Minn-St. Paul

Church of Latter Day Saints sites at Kirtland, OH and Palmyra, NY

Salem Maritime Museum, Salem MA (also the Friendship, where Ron has not only crafted barrels, but also several Quaker cannons and a repro. ship carpenter’s tool box complete with faux tools).

Mr. Raiselis is listed on the NH Traditional Arts and Folklife directory as a master of a traditional craft.  He has trained two apprentices in coopering (grant funded) through the Arts Council Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grants.  

Suggestions for writing an exhibition review/critique

When writing your critique, assume your audience knows little to nothing about the subject you will be presenting.

^ Start with an introduction/overview – the who, what, where, when and WHY

            What is the overarching message the artist/curator/creator is trying to communicate?  Is it successful? Why or why not?

            How is the message conveyed? Objects, labels, panels, multimedia, manipulatives?

            What is the objective? Commemorative, celebratory, biography, oeuvre, community outreach

^ Consider the intended audience: families, adults, special interest groups, children, those with college or advanced degrees, etc.

^ Select a few key items to illustrate your points

^ Assess the layout & lighting, soundproofing. Is the atmosphere conducive to a solitary or shared experience? Was there a natural path through the material? Was the text readable, too short, too long?

^ Was there a dominant narrative voice or perceived bias or agenda?

^ Use examples to highlight methodology used from class lectures and your text books (what method is employed in telling the “story:” labor, economic, gender, craft, connoisseurship, political, etc.

^ Conclude with your assessment

Specifications

Single space

3-5 pages (undergrads)

5-7 pages (graduate students)

Minimum of three references to course texts and lectures

At least one illustration

Footnotes

Sample Exhibit Review from the Washington Post

E-mail

'Civil War,' touching on new aspects of technology

By Philip Kennicott

With Friday's opening of "Discovering the Civil War," the National Archives launches what will be a long and potentially transformative era of Civil War commemorations. As the nation prepares for a string of 150th anniversaries -- of every important battle, every political event, every proclamation...

Here is a good review to read for your critiques.  I will post specifics by end of the day. Feel free to get in touch with any questions.

New Hampshire Preservation Alliance: Old House and Barn Expo

This is a great event and a good way to meet practitioners in the historic preservation field.
www.nhpreservation.org

See also NHPA internship program on their website.

http://www.nhpreservation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=38:old-house-and-barn-expo&catid=2&Itemid=160

Object of the Week for February 22

What is it?

Dig Into the Past Photo Gallery

Thank you to Sheila Charles and Tara Vose for their lecture/workshop last week.  A few photos (objects courtesy Tara Vose):

Dutch tile with biblical reference to Kings