The curator takes Manhattan

Greetings from New York City (above, a view of Rockefeller Center ice rink from my hotel).  I am currently on a scouting trip to New York during Americana Week - the time in late-January when all the big auction houses have their sales and the major antique shows are running.  After arriving yesterday, I spent the afternoon at the New York Ceramics Fair and today it is the Winter Antiques Show and whatever else I may be able to squeeze in.  We're not bidding on anything at any of the major auctions, so this time it's just the shows for me.

So what exactly do I do at these shows?  Well, I talk to people and I look at things.  Those are the two main activities.  Before I left Virginia, I made a binder of information related to items that I'm looking for, including pictures and information gleaned from Lee family records like inventories.  This trip the focus is on ceramics and specifically items found via archaeology (above - like the rat's nest - or below ground).  If you've been to our new slave quarter exhibits, you know that we have archaeology on display.  Two fragments of white salt-glazed stoneware are on view (above) and I'm looking to find whole examples to display in the slave quarter rooms.

Talking and scouting yesterday led to this plate:  an English white salt-glaze plate with molded rim.  Can you see where these fragments might have fit?

I'm also looking for the more rare finds.  Like the Chinese export porcelain pattern we found in the rat's nest with a pair of crabs on it.  Or the agateware tea bowl found in the West Yard and now on display in our new Southwest Outbuilding exhibits.  No luck so far.  So I give out my card, gather e-mail addresses, and will send dealers pictures of the fragments so they can help keep a lookout for examples in the marketplace.  Keep your fingers crossed for me today and I'll be sure to report back if any interesting finds come my way.

Hands-on History

Most history buffs and museum enthusiasts have a specific memory of being at a museum as a child (sometimes called "sticky memories" because we remember vivid details even as adults). Sometimes it is a story that was told, or a specific room. Often it relates to a game or activity...something that could be touched. Accomplishing this in a historic house like Stratford Hall can be difficult, so this fall the new Hands-On Activity Room was opened. Located in the East Slave Quarters, this room is designed to be family-friendly. We first blogged about the project in April.


The building is located to the south-east of the Great House and furnished with child-sized furniture, a colorful rug, costumes to play dress-up, and building blocks. The centerpiece for this new room is a custom made Discovery Chest. This piece of furniture has nine drawers filled with books, stuffed animals, dolls, fake food, shark teeth, and colonial games. Each drawer has a box that can be lifted out, allowing families to bring the items to the carpet or tables to play.



This area will continue to grow and evolve as we get feedback from our youngest visitors, but a great step forward in providing families with a memorable experience at Stratford Hall!

The new Slave Quarters Exhibit

The past month has been a flurry of activity here at Stratford Hall. All summer we have been updating everyone about our preservation and interpretation projects. Over the next three weeks, we will be highlighting three specific projects: West Slave Quarters, Hands-on Activity Room, and Southwest Outbuilding.

The exhibits in the West Slave Quarters have been updated and are now open to the public. If you would like a refresher on all our activities this summer, please read our posts about Restoration of the Slave Quarters and Furnishing Plan for the Slave Quarters.

The first pieces to go into the new spaces were the new barriers. Andrew and Eric from AK Metal Fabricators spent two days at Stratford Hall to install our new barriers. The design is the same as those used in the Southwest Outbuilding. These barriers will protect the collection, allow visitors a clear view of the exhibit, and stand-up to the elements. They also pivot open, making cleaning and maintenance very easy.



Our next component was the new text panels. Neal and Doug from Gropen spent a day installing text panels and reader-rails (text panels that sit on top of our barriers).

The last installation was the archaeological samples. Built-in to our new reader-rails are archaeological boxes. These plexi-glass boxes contain archaeological finds that were discovered around the Slave Quarters and provide insight into the lives of the slaves who lived here. The final step was for Curator Gretchen Goodell and Collections Manager Sarah Holland to move the artifacts and furniture into the new exhibits.

Below are some more images of the finished exhibit. Next week we will highlight the new Hand-on Activity Room.

Slave Quarters Exhibits On The Way

At the beginning of July we officially closed our slave quarters to the public. These two buildings are reconstructions on the site of the late-18th century stone quarters that housed "home farm" slaves (domestic workers and other skilled laborers).

You've heard already about the preservation work currently in progress, and the planning for educational hands-on and classroom space that will open in the east building in the coming months. But remember I mentioned that there are two buildings? What about the west building (the one closest to the Great House, pictured above)? In October 2010 we'll be revealing a brand new exhibit space in this structure. Designers are putting the finishing touches on the text and graphic panels. I'm working feverishly on lists of museum objects and appropriate reproduction objects to furnish the two lower-level rooms (the building is a double quarter for two families, with main living rooms below and attic lofts above). And Sarah, our collections manager, is getting dirty this week as she tries to safely clean and move the historic furnishings out of the spaces and into storage.

What will you see when we reopen the space in October? You will see two separate living spaces. One will house an enslaved gardener named Anthony (he appears in a 1776 inventory) and other skilled male workers. I am hesitant to call this a "bachelor" household, though. Slave women often worked as field laborers, so perhaps the single men living here had wives and children that they visited on Sundays and holidays at outlying farm quarters away from the Stratford home farm.

The other living space will be furnished to represent a female domestic family, specifically a woman named Nelly and her daughter Mary. Nelly and her child Mary appear in a 1776 estate inventory, and we find Mary again in a 1782 slave list with the descriptor "blind" after her name. What was life like for Mary? That's just one topic we'll touch upon in these new exhibits.

You'll also soon see on display fragments found in archeological digs in the area. We've included things like a stoneware and creamware dish fragments, a sewing needle, and a shell button. Artifacts that indicate that slaves were consumers. They purchased fashionable goods using money earned by raising and selling vegetables and other goods, or bartering their skills.

This project has been in the research and development phase for close to two years, drawing upon period documents, archaeology, and current scholarship. Stay tuned for the big reveal in October. We look forward to having you visit and hearing what you think!

Summer Projects and Interpretation

As you can see in the last five blog entries, we have been very busy at Stratford Hall this summer. Projects are underway in the Southwest Outbuilding, Slave Quarters, and Kitchen. Extensive research and investigations are in progress for the Historic Structure Report (HSR) and Cultural Landscape Inventory (CLI).

So, now what? Two areas greatly impacted by the projects are the interpretation and educational programs.

The interpreters at Stratford Hall guide visitors through the Great House seven times a day, seven days a week. This July, almost two thousand people toured the Great House. When you add in bus loads of school children and special events, our staff interacts with thousands of people each year.

I am the Director on Interpretation and Education. My job is to help take all this new information and ensure it is reflected in the interpretation (guided tours, school activities, and programs). Our interpreters are constantly learning more about Stratford Hall and updating their tours. While the investigations and projects are underway, the interpreters must also know how to talk about what the visitor is seeing (construction, restoration, furniture out of place, and open probes in the walls).

After the projects have been completed and the reports submitted for review to the staff here at Stratford Hall, all aspects of the interpretation will be reviewed. Just like the tour we provide today is very different from the tour a decade ago, the current tour will undoubtedly be updated to reflect the changes in scholarship.

We hope you continue to follow our progress and visit Stratford Hall to see for yourself all the work that has been done. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below or on the Facebook Fan Page.

Summer Preservation Interns at Stratford Hall

The interns of the preservation department, under the supervision of Phil Mark, are commencing work on their summer restoration project. Erin White, a graduate student from the Heritage Resources program at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, started the ten-week internship at the end of May. Jess Warren, from Georgia, is a student in the building preservation technology program at Belmont Technical College in St. Clairsville, Ohio, and he started his internship in mid-June.

This is what they have to say:

Our main project for the summer is the restoration of the reconstructed slave quarters near the Great House. Before Jess’ arrival, Phil and Erin started by removing the back window sashes on the east quarters. The sashes were labeled and taken back to the preservation shop. Using environmentally-friendly silent paint remover, which uses infrared heat, Phil and Erin began removing the glaze, glazing points, and paint from the exterior side of the sashes. We then removed the panes of glass, taking much care not to break them. After all of the glass was removed, the interior sides of the sashes were sanded.

Jess cut the Restoration Glass to replace the broken panes. Restoration Glass is cylinder glass made in Germany in the manner of early glass production before the invention of float glass in the 20th century. Restoration Glass is appropriate to the period of the main house. After the panes were checked to ensure a proper fit, Jess used Sarco glazing to set the glass, which requires a very steady hand.

Currently, we are removing paint and sanding the eaves and window frames of the quarters. We then use Boracare, a non-toxic insecticide, to protect the wood. After this dries, primer, then paint, is applied. If you come by the slave quarters and see us on scaffolding, this is probably what we are doing, so feel free to ask any questions. We’re there Monday through Friday, 9:00-5:00!

Update from the Preservation Department

Hello, all! It's time again for an update from your friendly Preservation Department. With the Southwest Outbuilding and Northwest Stairs opened to the public, we're moving on to our summer projects. The big project of the summer is the restoration of the two slave quarters that will be reinterpreted and used for educational space. We also have some preventative maintenance projects that we need to address in the coming monthes. The good news is that my two summer interns have arrived and are at work now. It will be nice to have some help for the next couple of months! As work really gets going this summer, I will be back with a detailed update on the Slave Quarters Restoration and the work of the interns.

In the meantime, I did want to share a recent trip I took to Vermont for a Timber Framing workshop held at Shelburne Farms, a few miles south of Burlington. The workshop was held by the Preservation Trades Network and the Timber Framers Guild at the Shelburne Farm's Breeding Barn. The workshop focused on restoration and in-situ repairs of timber framed structures.

The participants of the workshop were able to learn various techniques by repairing the 1891 Victorian Breeding Barn. Most participants split into groups and worked on repairing large support posts. This was accomplished by using lap joints to install new timbers at the bottom of the posts. I was part of a group that replaced a section of rotten gert between the first floor and the hay loft and six rotten floor joists of the hay loft. Of course this was the messiest job of the week, but I enjoyed it. All in all, the workshop was a great experience--I was able to learn some techniques that I will be able to use here at Stratford Hall, I met some great people, and I helped out another historic site. All the instructors for the workshop were incredibly helpful and passed along a lot of great information to us.

Coming Up Next: The Slave Quarters

Now that we've mostly completed the Southwest Outbuilding and Northwest Stair Passage restoration and reinterpretation, staff is moving on to the next project on our list. This project is restoring and reinterpreting the slave quarters. The slave quarters were built in 1939, supposedly on original foundations (though archaeological work has not discovered those foundations). These buildings are the types that house slaves and skilled slaves might have lived in--they are much closer to the Great House and made of stronger materials (stone, instead of wood) than those lived in by field slaves. Thus, we are using what we know to help us tell the story of the enslaved people working in and around the house at Stratford Hall.

Phil Mark will begin restoration on the buildings in May, and Gretchen Goodell is hard at work researching the people's stories that we are going to include in these buildings (you'll hear more about these parts of the projects in the coming months). We have two slave quarters--one will continue as an interpreted space, where visitors can learn about the enslaved people who would have lived here, their relationships, and their lives. The other slave quarters building is going to become a hands-on history area for families to use. This is where my work comes in.

I'm currently researching hands-on history areas at various historic sites and deciding what kinds of activities we will be including in our own. This space will be open during the same time as the Great House, and parents will be able to take their children there to do activities throughout the day. We will have fun activities available for young children--like building blocks--and we'll also provide 18th-century costumes that children can dress up in, a discovery chest for learning about some of the items that can be found at Stratford Hall, and colonial games that children will be able to play with throughout the day. These are just a few of the activities we'll be providing once this space opens in October.

We're hoping that having this hands-on space will give parents more activities to do with their children at Stratford Hall. Coupling the hands-on area with our Signers' Club program that's already available (this program is similar to the Junior Ranger program with the National Park Service) will provide a number of activities for children of all ages.

We'll be updating you throughout the summer on the progress on the slave quarters project!