VSA e-newsletter

205 S. Camac St, Philadelphia, PA 19107 ~ Phone: 215-545-8340 ~ Fax: 215-545-8379
EMAIL NEWSLETTER January/February 2006 Hudson, NY - Fall Tour 2005 Picture: Dorothy Cooper
VSA EVENTS
Reprise Study Tour Mid-Hudson Valley 2006 There is still some space on the proposed repeat in 2006 of the popular Fall study tour – co-sponsored with Wilderstein Preservation - focusing on the Mid-Hudson Valley. The dates are Oct. 13, 14 and 15, 2006. Please contact head office immediately to register.	Mid-Hudson Valley Tour, 2005 Picture: Bruce Davies Named for a treasure-house in ancient Persia, Olana was the home of Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900), one of America's most important artists, a major figure in the Hudson River School of landscape painting. Olana is a NY State Historic Site, a National Historic Landmark, and one of the most popular destinations in upstate New York.
FROM WILDERSTEIN NEWS LINE Autumn 2005, Vol. XX, No.2 [newsletter of Wilderstein Preservation] Wilderstein Hosts Victorian Society Wilderstein hosted the annual study tour of the Victorian Society of America the third weekend in October. This was the first time the Victorian Society had visited the Hudson Valley, and the response was tremendous. The weekend sold out almost immediately! The tour began at Wilderstein on Friday evening with a welcoming reception, house tours, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres on the verandah, as well as opening remarks giving an overview of the area. Participants had the opportunity to explore the rarely open upper floors of the mansion and to admire views of the Hudson from Wilderstein’s fabled 5-story tower. The following morning, the tour headed north, winding along River Road. The group passed gatehouses, chapels, orchards and fields of the great estates built and lived in by families such as the Astors, Beekmans, Livingstons, and Montgomerys. The first stop was Olana, and then in the afternoon the group visited Hudson. After a brief lecture at the Hudson Opera House, participants explored antique shops on Warren Street and visited nearby Victorian neighborhoods. Saturday afternoon ended in Kingston, focusing on the Victorian homes of the Rondout area and Chestnut Street. The highlight was visiting the private home of the well-known contemporary artist, Hunt Slonem. This thirty-room Second Empire house, where President McKinley was entertained, is a treasure trove of the artist’s collection of Nineteenth Century furniture, textiles, and decorative arts, all integrated with the artist’s modern paintings. Saturday’s adventures were capped with dinner at the beautifully restored Victorian home of Wilderstein Board Member Palma Driscoll. The next morning, the group headed south to Poughkeepsie. The first stop was Locust Grove, the home of inventor Samuel F.B. Morse. After lunch, the tour turned north, stopping at F.C. Withers' magnificent Ruskinian Gothic State Hospital (with landscaped grounds by Olmsted & Vaux). In Staatsburg, the group visited The Point, a brick house hidden in the woods near Mills Mansion (The Point is one of Calvert Vaux’s earliest commissions). Returning to Rhinebeck, the weekend concluded with a walking tour of the village, led by local history buff and raconteur Ward Stanley. Hosting the Victorian Society of America was a great honor for Wilderstein - the tour was a success on many levels. Our gratitude goes to event chairman Conrad Hanson and committee members Palma Driscoll, Monique Segarra and Ward Stanley, as well as countless others for helping to bring Wilderstein into the national spotlight. Gregory J. Sokaris & Linda Stanley, Eds.
THE 40th ANNUAL MEETING St. Louis: May 17-22, 2006 Brochures have been mailed giving members the opportunity to sign up for a visit to a city that blends warm Midwestern hospitality with languorous Southern charm. Please note the following proviso when registering: REGISTRATION IS BY FIRST CLASS MAIL ONLY POSTMARKED NO EARLIER THAN FEBRUARY 20th, 2006. For more information and an copy of the brochure, click here.
SUMMER SCHOOLS RECRUITMENT We remind you of the Summer Schools Committee second of two recruitment events in NY City scheduled for 2006: 19th Century Ceramics by Ian Cox Abigail Adams House: February 13th, 2006 FEE REQUIRED [In conjunction with the Royal Oak Foundation]. For more information please contact Summer Schools Administrator Susan McCallum at: vsasummerschools@att.net

MEMBERS

Mark Golding

VSA member, Mark Golding of the UK's Arts & Crafts Home web site is looking for a new American or Canadian correspondent to compile the monthly American and Canadian arts & crafts news.

Please email him if you would like to help.

Richard Guy Wilson

For generations, rumor had it that the Nelson County Courthouse in Lovingston was designed by Thomas Jefferson. So what else is new? As UVA architecture professor Richard Guy Wilson jokes, "There are similar rumors about almost every building around with red brick and white trim."

VSA member Richard Guy Wilson quoted in this article at The Hook, Charlottesville's home page.

ANNUAL APPEAL 2006
The VSA makes its annual appeal to members, associates, affiliates and like-minded people to help support its commitment to historic preservation, protection, understanding, education, and enjoyment of our nineteenth century heritage.

Read the President's appeal letter.

Please give as generously as possible or at our recommended levels:

□ $35 □ $50 □ $100 □ $250 □ $500 □ $1,000

The full amount of any donation is tax-deductible.

Send checks payable to
'The Victorian Society in America' to:

THE VICTORIAN SOCIETY IN AMERICA

205 South Camac Street

Philadelphia, PA 19107

or use our online Payment Screen.

MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS

Under the direction of its new President, Beverly Offen, the latest VSA Chapter to design its own web site is the Greater Chicago Chapter. The web site is under construction at the moment at: www.chicagovictorian.org

Other Chapters web sites: NY Metropolitan Chapter New England Chapter VSA Chapters

Glessner House Museum
The Chronicle of Catherine Eddy Beveridge: An American Girl Travels into the Twentieth Century

Book signing and discussion with the author
Thursday, February 23, 2006 at 7 pm
Friend of the the Greater Chicago Chapter and national VSA member is the Glessner House Museum. On Thursday, February 23, 2006 at 7 pm, they welcome Albert J. Beveridge III for a special discussion and book signing, followed by a reception.

Catherine Eddy Beveridge grew up in Chicago at at the turn of the 20^th century. In her diary, she detailed the events experienced by a young woman born into wealth and privilege in Chicago’s elite Prairie Avenue neighborhood. The Chronicle of Catherine Eddy Beveridge, written by her grandson Albert J. Beveridge III and Chicago writer Susan Radomksy, reveals the period of Catherine’s life from 1902 to 1908 through her own words, supplemented by numerous photographs and fascinating details on the people and places.

For more visit: http://www.glessnerhouse.org/programs.html

The Victorian Society in America Washington Metropolitan Chapter

The Washington Metropolitan Chapter’s annual Twelfth Night party, held on Saturday January 7, 2006, was a unique opportunity to experience two 1890s homes on Capitol Hill.

More than 90 members and guests began at the home of Dan and Nancy Mattausch on East Capitol Street where wine and heavy hors d’oeuvres were enjoyed. This grand home is in the final stages of a three-year renovation that utilized many elements of architectural salvage. After an introduction by Dan, shuttle service was provided through the evening to the Cortelyou House, roughly six blocks away on Maryland Ave. NE.

For the past decade Dan and Nancy have been restoring the Cortelyou House. George Bruce Cortelyou, secretary to Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, held several cabinet level positions including Secretary of the Treasury. The Cortelyou House is a sophisticated restoration with period furnishings and has been featured in several movies, television programs, and magazine articles. For the Victorian Society visit, the home was lit exclusively by gaslight.

The evening was a double treat experience of 19^th century ambience and fine food.

Port Townsend, National Historic Landmark, celebrates Heritage with 10th Annual Victorian Festival

Have you ever dreamed of taking a trip in a time machine, back to an era of Victoriana, a time when the tall ships covered the bay? This is your opportunity…The Jefferson County Historical Society will present the 10^th Annual Victorian Festival, March 16^th to 19^th, 2006. Come celebrate Port Townsend and Washington State’s Historical Heritage.

The festival will feature a myriad of wonderful events using the entire town as a venue, all occurring in the diverse historical structures that make up this unique and special town. Port Townsend is a VSA member and one of a select few Historic Victorian Seaports on the National Historic Registry.

Web site: http://www.victorianfestival.org/

MISCELLANY

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR PRESERVATION AWARDS

Nominations are invited from VSA members and chapters for the Society’s 2006 preservation awards.

The requirements for awards and the nomination form may be found on HERE. Paper copies may be obtained by calling Charles Robertson, Chair of the Preservation Committee, at 202-265-6669.

Nominations are due no later than February 15, 2006.

CALL FOR PAPERS - VISAWUS 2006

THE PRESENCE OF THE PAST IN THE VICTORIAN AGE
Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA - Oct. 26-28, 2006

The Victorian Interdisciplinary Studies Association of the Western United States (VISAWUS) announces its eleventh annual conference:

Proposals are invited for 20 minute papers or full panels (three papers) addressing any aspect of the theme topic, including discussions in both Victorian and contemporary contexts. Favored are proposals that take an interdisciplinary approach or center on issues that may be addressed by more than one discipline. The focus of this year’s conference is “The Presence of the Past in the Victorian Age.” Suggested topics include but are not limited to:

The Arthurian Revival

Neo-Gothic style

The revival of classical art and literature

Aestheticism and antiquity

Classical philosophy and history and the Victorian political economy of art

Pre-Raphaelites and the “Primitives”

Victorian concepts of history and the writing of history

The Italian Renaissance in Victorian culture

Dante among the Victorians

The Victorians and Anglo-Saxon history

Victorian “heroizing” of such figures as Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, etc.

The persistence of Romanticism into the later 19th century

The historical novel after Scott

The presence of the history of the novel in the novel

Victorian psychology of memory

Religious history and its impacts

Biblical allusions in Victorian culture

Historicism in the 19th century

Empire in India and the Victorian mythic ties to the Moguls

Archaeology, artifacts, and digging up the past

Historical appropriation of other cultures

Victorian portraiture and 17th- and 18th-century portraiture conventions

Late-19th-century critiques of the Victorian period as past and passed

The deadline for proposals is 2 June, 2006. Paper proposals, a maximum of the equivalent of two double-spaced pages, should be emailed to:

J. Jeffrey Franklin, University of Colorado at Denver, Jeff.Franklin@cudenver.edu

Cherry Creek Inn, NY

VSA members Sharon and Lester Sweeting run this delightful bed & breakfast inn in Cherry Creek, NY. George N. Frost, a well-known race horse breeder and one of Cherry Creek’s founding Fathers built this splendid Italian Villa in the 1860s., now lovingly restored. Great for Winter being only two miles from Cockaigne Ski Area.

Cherry Creek Inn
1022 West Road (Cr-68)
Cherry Creek , NY 14723
innkeeper@cherrycreekinn.net
716-296-5105

Can you help?

VSA member The Delaware Art Museum is organizing an exhibition entitled 'Anatomy of a Painting: John Everett Millais' The White Cockade' under the direction of Dr. Margaretta Frederick, curator of the Bancroft Pre-Raphaelite collection.

Several versions of the subject (also know as 'The Fair Jacobite') have not been located: a small oil on panel dated 1862, a Thomas Annan photograph of the painting dated 1862, a small watercolor dated 1863 and a George Zobel mezzotint published 1878.

Can any members offer information or the whereabouts of these works?

Contact: mwinslow@delart.org

PANED EXPRESSIONS STUDIOS

Fine Art in Stained Glass

VSA members - Paned Expressions - are glass artists specializing in the design, and fabrication of stained, etched & carved glass for home and office applications. All pieces are unique creations signed by the artists.

The richness and beauty of ever changing light streaming through the texture and color of stained glass is a wonderfully satisfying medium in which to work and create. Every window captures the essence of subject without compromising to technical difficulties of line and cut.

It's like painting in stained glass.

Visit them at: www.panedexpressions.com

THE VICTORIAN ONLINE

The printed newsletter, the sister publication to the email newsletter, is also available to members online.

CLICK HERE.

UNCOMMON CENSUS

For the genealogically inclined the 1880 U.S. Census is available on the Internet, for example at:

Columbia Census 1880

For light relief, consider British eccentricity in their census of 1881. Residents were asked to furnish their "rank, profession or occupation".

Some of the more puzzling responses, as preserved by the London Genealogical Society, included:

Maker of sand views
Invisible net maker
Colourist of artificial fish
Knight of the Thimble
Disinfector of railways
Carrot and mangle salesman
Boy for general purposes
Electric bath attendant
Count as female
Scarecrow
Drowner
Fish-bender
Cow-banger
Running about
Goldfish-catcher
Grape-dryer

NEW VSA TOTE BAG
The perfect gift!

Roomy and fashionable, the VSA tote bag features pictures of Her Majesty on one side, and information about the VSA on the other, both rendered in burgundy on natural cotton canvas. The spacious tote is 18" wide and 15" high with 12" handles. Guaranteed to go with any outfit, and a bargain at just $14 plus $2 shipping and handling.

Contact head office at 215-545-8340 to order.

WEBSITE OF THE MONTH

January/February 2006
http://wintercounts.si.edu/index.html

COUNTING BY WINTERS

Lakota winter counts — pictographic calendars of a community's history — provide a unique look into the history of the Lakota Sioux people during the 18th and 19th centuries. Unlike historical accounts recorded by European settlers and explorers, winter counts represent a rich Lakota tradition of oral history and storytelling. Community historians, known as winter count keepers, maintained and used these pictographic records as mnemonic devices to remember the sequence of events that marked each year. By referring to the winter count, members of a Lakota community could mark events in their own lives.

The Smithsonian's collection of winter counts documents the history of several Lakota communities over a 200-year period, and is represented in this award winning web site:

http://wintercounts.si.edu/index.html

PREVIOUS WEB SITES OF THE MONTH

OBITUARY - Charles F. Cummings, VSA member

We regret to report that VSA friend and member Charles F. Cummings, Assistant Director of Special Collections at Newark Public Library, passed away on December 21 after a brief illness.

Mr. Cummings was an Adjunct Professor at Rutgers University and a much sought-after speaker on topics relating to Newark.

For the press release obituary click here: Charles F. Cummings

And finally, your staff of one at the email newsletter risks to venture off-topic, to wit: Ben Franklin. He wasn't Victorian - but he's certainly history here in Philadelphia, especially this year.

It's his 300th birthday and there is a national celebration honoring one of America's most remarkable founding fathers.

The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary project has been established as a private, non-profit alliance to mark the anniversary with a celebration dedicated to educating the public about Franklin’s enduring legacy and inspiring renewed appreciation of the values he embodied.

The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary represents a consortium created in 2000 by the American Philosophical Society, The Franklin Institute, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the University of Pennsylvania. The consortium is supported by a $4 million gift to the nation from The Pew Charitable Trusts. The Tercentenary’s projects will form the official national celebration for America’s first founding father to reach 300.

Visit the tercentenary web site at: http://www.benfranklin300.org/

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UNTIL NEXT TIME
visit us on the web at www.victoriansociety.org

The Victorian Society in America
205 S. Camac Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
info@victoriansociety.org

OBITUARY - Charles F. Cummings, VSA member We regret to report that VSA friend and member Charles F. Cummings, Assistant Director of Special Collections at Newark Public Library, passed away on December 21 after a brief illness.

OBITUARY - Charles F. Cummings, VSA member

We regret to report that VSA friend and member Charles F. Cummings, Assistant Director of Special Collections at Newark Public Library, passed away on December 21 after a brief illness.