| View this edition online»» | October 2006 | |||
| Society Acquires Edward Hill Collection | The Society has recently acquired a collection of papers and works of art documenting the life of the noted White Mountain artist Edward Hill (1843-1923). The collection, numbering 80 items, is comprised of letters, photographs, ephemera, watercolors, and pencil drawings. This new acquisition is an important addition to the collection of Edward Hill papers the Society acquired in 1990. Edward Hill and his brother Thomas were both accomplished 19th-century artists who painted scenes of the White Mountains. From 1877-1892, Edward Hill served as artist-in-residence at the Profile House in Franconia Notch as well as at other hotels. One of his significant paintings is “Franconia Notch, White Mts. – Echo Lake and Profile House,” which is currently on display in the exhibition Consuming Views: Art and Tourism in the White Mountains, 1850-1900, at the Society’s Museum of New Hampshire History.
Much of the collection consists of Hill’s letters, written while he was in Hood River, Oregon, one of the places he resided after leaving New Hampshire permanently in 1906. The collection also includes Hill’s letters and sketches documenting a trip he took through Italy, France, and England in 1893. One of the most interesting letters in the collection is one Hill wrote in 1885 from the Waumbek House, a hotel in Jefferson, NH. In writing to his son, Hill talks about the July landslide of trees, mud, and rocks on Cherry Mountain — an event well-known in White Mountain lore — which would have been visible from the Waumbek. Hill writes, “I must tell you about the great slide on Cherry Mountain it began near the top of the Mt. as you will see by the sketch and ran down the whole length clear down to the foreground carrying great logs trees and Rocks and piling them up in some places twenty feet deep.” Researchers interested in the life of Edward Hill are encouraged to visit the library and consult these materials. Hours are Tuesday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please contact Librarian Bill Copeley at 603/856-0641 or bcopeley@nhhistory.org in advance of your visit. | |||
| Halloween Cards | ||||
Halloween’s pagan origins can be traced to the Celtic festival of Samhain, celebrated in ancient England and Ireland on November 1, to mark the beginning of the season of cold, darkness, and death. The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on Samhain eve, and witches, goblins, black cats, and ghosts were said to roam about. The pagan observances influenced the Christian festival of All Hallows' Eve, the night before All Saints’ Day, still celebrated on November 1. The holiday was gradually secularized and was introduced into the United States by the late 19th century. The custom of sending greeting cards coincided with advances in printing technology and the rise in middle class prosperity and leisure time in the mid 1800s. Sending Halloween cards became customary in the United States during the early 20th century when greeting cards for many holidays became widely available. These early Halloween cards included images of witches, pumpkins, and black cats, not unlike the cards we have today. Patrons interested in the Society’s Halloween card collection, and our greeting card collection in general, are encouraged to visit the library. Hours are Tuesday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. | ||||
| Panoramic Scroll of White Mountain Visit | ||||
"Day Dreams," a panoramic scroll in the Society's collection, documents how colorful fall leaves have attracted visitors to New Hampshire for over a century. Drawn and colored by an unidentified woman, the scroll illustrates a two-week holiday to the White Mountains taken by Jennie A. Sprague of New York, and Lillie, Louie, Ida, Lulu, Ned, George, and Cousin Hellen in September 1875. The scroll chronicles their vacation, from their first carriage outing (with someone on the porch waving good-bye and a barking dog at the horses' feet) to their departure for home — possibly New York City — at the "India Point" railroad station. In one of the last frames pictured, Ned climbs out of the touring carriage to break a branch off a tree. The caption below reads: "Ned getting autumn leaves..." While 19th-century diaries recount visits to the White Mountains, stereoviews document resort hotel interiors, and paintings illustrate artists' perceptions of the mountains during this period, this scroll is the only illustrated log of a late 19th-century visit to the White Mountains known to Society staff. Humorous notations scrawled in pencil at the bottom of each of the scroll's twenty-one frames provide details that bring the people and their trip to life, and help to establish where and when this group traveled. After unpacking their trunks, the group heads for the woods to read leisurely, listen to the flute, and dally around a waterfall. At a picnic, a gent stands on a stump (with a sandwich in one hand) proclaiming "100 years ago this was a howling wilderness." Later the group ascends Mt. Kearsarge North on horseback and then travels the road to Echo Lake. During this second excursion one of the young women is pictured on the ground with her riding crop before her, having been thrown off her horse. Fortunately she is not hurt, as the caption reads: "Ned, I'm all right." Other adventures include a lunch on Carter Mountain and a campfire before a large boulder in the woods. While the characters depicted on the scroll are known by first names only, and the artist can only be identified (by process of elimination) as "Lillie" or "Lulu," the scroll has yielded much valuable information about what 19th-century tourists did during their visits to the White Mountains. The scroll is featured in both the Society's museum and online exhibition Consuming Views: Art and Tourism in the White Mountains, 1850-1900. | ||||
| New Hampshire Then & Now | ||||
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| Exhibition Compares New Hampshire Past & Present Nineteenth-century stagecoaches and twenty-first-century Segways come together in the New Hampshire Historical Society's exhibition New Hampshire Then & Now, on view at the Society's library through March 31, 2007. The exhibition features 40 pairs of photographs of unique places, people, and events that depict the character and culture of New Hampshire, past and present. Based on the book of the same title by photographer, author, and publisher Peter E. Randall, the exhibition provides visitors with a diverse visual overview of New Hampshire, comparing sites and people across the state, between the late 19th century and today. After its introduction at the New Hampshire Historical Society the exhibition will travel to museums and galleries around New Hampshire including the Historical Society of Cheshire County, Keene, April 2007 – September 2007; the Mount Washington Hotel and Resort, Bretton Woods, October 2007 – May 2008; and the New Hampshire Technical College Library, Berlin, February 2009 – July 2009. In conjunction with the exhibition, the Society will present public lectures in Concord, featuring well-known New Hampshire residents including John Clayton, John Harrigan, Fritz Wetherbee, Jack Lecza, Peter Randall, and Steve Taylor. Go to Programs & Events for dates and details. The book New Hampshire Then & Now is available for purchase at the Society's museum and library, by calling 603/856-0625, and online. | ||||
| Volunteer at the Society! | ||||
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Do you have a few hours a week to help an organization that you love? The Society is looking for a few volunteers to perform light office duties, such as assembling new member packets, collating mailings, and photocopying. We are looking for a commitment of around 3 hours per week from each volunteer. Applicants will be asked to complete an application, meet with staff, and agree to a criminal background check. Interested individuals are encouraged to contact Director of Development Kathy Traynor at 603/856-0608 or ktraynor@nhhistory.org. | ||||
| Cursed in New England | ||||
Can words kill? Can they wreak harm and havoc? Can a curse be used as a weapon? Cursed in New England: Stories of Damned Yankees by Joseph A. Citro features stories about curses that were followed by mysterious afflictions in Massachusetts, a ghostly presence in a church in Rhode Island, a river death in Maine, an unaccountable blight in New Hampshire, unexplained madness in Connecticut, and other eerie happenings from New England's colorful history. Joe Citro recounts seventeen tales of genuine maledictions intended to invoke evil, injury, or total destruction against others. Citro vividly brings these stories to life, letting you decide whether the resulting tragedies were simply bad luck, coincidences...or something far more sinister. Cursed in New England is available at the Society's museum store or online. | ||||
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