This newsletter is sent via Blind Copy to
Historical Societies and interested parties from the Association of Historical
Societies of New Hampshire. If you do not wish to
receive this, simply hit Reply and respond, "Please remove."
Recipients are encouraged to participate by posting inquiries and
resources. Archived issues are posted as the E-ssociate
and may be read on-line at http://www.historicalsocietiesnh.org/newslet.htm.
--Linda Day, Association of
Historical Societies of NH
Up
Front:
I hope everyone had a pleasant
summer. (We've got a crock-pot stew simmering, so my nose
has rushed me into fall.) I apologize to those who sponsored events, for
my not having put out this newsletter these past three months. I am back
on-track again and hope to hear from you all on how your summer has progressed
so far.
Our hearts go out to those who
have been experiencing floods. Please let us know how you
are managing and what your societies' needs may be, in case we can
help.
The Directory of
Historical Societies of NH has been updated. We hope
to have it to press & back in time for our annual meeting October
22; if not, we will, of course, send a copy to everyone who has paid-up
dues when it does come out. Non-members are welcome to purchase the 2005
Directory for $10 ($7.50 + $2.50 S/H) or the 2003 edition for $6.50
($4.00 + $2.50 S/H). Write to me.
In conjunction with the
Directory update, we welcome the new e-mail
participants. If this is your first newsletter, please notice
that you can easily un-subscribe. But we hope you will use this avenue to
circulate any questions your Society may have and to share techniques and
information you have learned. (And if you formerly un-subscribed and I
have accidentally put you back on the list, please forgive me and simply remind
me. I have a memory like a steel sieve.)
Now, in loose alphabetical
order, the news:
Contents:
AHSNH Annual
Mtg! NHHS
conducts survey
Web fee
correction
Humanities Council hosts fair
Architects invite
us Stier
with novel funding idea
Bonuses from Arts
Alliance Snowmobile
website
DCR Growth
Forum
Plymouth offers new courses
Jackson shares web
idea
Poore Family Hmstd shares photos
Lk Winni on oral
histories
The Fells' symposium
NEMA
conference Grant
inquiries
New Hampton tour 11/6
from the
Association of H/S of NH:
1) We are
pleased to invite our members (which is to say, members of our member
societies) to our Annual Meeting in Sanbornton at the
Lane Tavern, Saturday, Oct. 22, beginning at 9:30. There
are several attractions--at 10:00
period-costumed docents of the Sanbornton H/S will offer a tour
of the Tavern; at 11:00 our business
meeting; at 12:30 Jeff
Warner will present a musical interlude of folk songs; and at
!:00, Dr. Marcia Schmidt
Blaine will speak to "Liberty and
Lumber: New Hampshire Timbermen and the Rise of
Revolutionary Spirit." Although there is no charge
(brownbag lunch), there is a capacity of 70 and we request that you pre-register
(753-9846; lindaday@historicalsocietiesnh.org).
2) The
Association is extremely grateful to Ben Moore, who has
actually served as Treasurer for a full year passed his resignation! Now
we do need a Treasurer. Please check with your membership to help
us find a volunteer! We have but a week to find someone in this great
State. You'll have fun, I'm sure. (Details available, write to
me.)
from the Association's
Web Master:
Linda, I enjoyed
your latest newsletter. There is one minor error in it, ... You say that the
website we are offering members is $20 per year. This is not correct. It is $20
ONCE (a setup fee). There is no charge after that.
This is
what it says on the website, so it doesn't really matter, but if you have a
chance to fix it before you send any more out, it would be good.
--Rich
(Ed. Note:
Oops)
from the
Architects:
1) Upcoming AIANH meeting: October
20. Come visit Bensonwood in Walpole, NH and find out about Open
Built: Design and Construction Systems. For registration info go to:
http://www.aianh.org/calendar.shtml
2) AIANH previously hosted the Integrated
Design/Integrated Development Conference on a timely, critical subject:
ecologically sound and economically compelling building design and
development, entitled "The Human Face of Green
Design." ...The conference offered an opportunity for people to learn
about valuable energy-efficient, high performance design principles that support
growth and are financially
feasible.
3) Nov. 9: Tour the
Hillsboro-Deering Middle School and learn about high- performance design
and construction. Join us! Complete details on our calendar page: http://www.aianh.org/calendar.shtml
from the
Arts Alliance of Northern NH:
Biweekly Cultural Events
Newsletter/Calendar
The Arts Alliance, as part of
our mission to promote our members--and arts and culture in our region--will be
launching a biweekly cultural events newsletter/calendar that will be
sent to lodging properties and visitor centers throughout our region by
email and/or fax. We will also be working with these properties to try to ensure
that the newsletter is readily available for guests and front-line staff, so
that visitors to the area can be informed of both one-time events and ongoing
cultural attractions.
Each week we will highlight several
special events being presented by our member organizations. Our first edition
will go out in time for the first weekend in Oct.
To help
us in this endeavor we ask that you:
* send us emails about major or
unusual events you are presenting or hosting (events@aannh.org) ;
* be sure to keep us informed of all your upcoming events, and to send us
updates and details for our web calendar as well as the newsletter;
* be
sure we are on your press list; and,
* let us know if you have other ideas of
how we can work with you on marketing.
NH Division of Travel & Tourism
Events Brochure
The New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism
Development (DTTD) is soliciting information about upcoming events for
free listings in its Events Guide, consumer web site http://www.visitnh.gov,
and press releases. The division is specifically looking for events from
December 1, 2005 through February 28, 2006, and is encouraging all organizations
and chambers to submit any upcoming events. The Events Guide is designed to
present information on statewide events to New Hampshire visitors. Events can be
submitted by registering for an account on the NHDTTD's industry site, http://www.resourcenh.org.
We need your help: Please Complete
Marketing Support Survey
As part of the creation of a
marketing plan for our region's arts, culture, and heritage
offerings, we are conducting a survey of cultural
organizations, arts-producing and arts-presenting businesses as well as
individual artists and craftspeople. The survey has been prepared for
AANNH by the Executive Service Corps of Northern New England. All replies
will be confidential. We strongly encourage you to
participate. Please go to
http://www.aannh.org to learn more and to complete
the survey online. Thanks!
NH Center for Nonprofits Regional
Meeting October 4 in Gorham
In an effort to reach out to members and friends
to gain their insights and involvement in the new capacity-building
initiatives (Ed. Note: I think that means
"marketing") being developed at NHCN, Executive Director Mary Ellen
Sheffield will host a series of regional roundtable discussions throughout the
state. One meeting was held October 4 at 9 a.m. at the Family Resource Center,
Gorham. For more information, please contact Shelley Roy at SRoy@nhnonprofits.org
Winter/Spring Arts, Culture &
Heritage Brochure for the North Country We
know that many of you present your programs and exhibits primarily (or
exclusively) in the summer, but that there is still significant cultural
activity throughout our region during the late fall, winter, and spring. If your
organization or business is interested in participating in "A Guide to Arts,
Culture & Heritage in the White Mountains/ Winter-Spring"
brochure, please let us know. Email us at info@aannh.org with
questions, ideas, etc.
| Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire
Frumie Selchen
Executive Director
phone: 323-7302 |
Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire
Kelly Bryer
Membership Services
Coordinator
phone: 726-8843
|
from the Division
of Cultural Resources:
Linda Wilson hosted the
Growth Forum in the Capitol area Oct. 13 - 15, to give us
a voice to impact land-use, development,
transportation, and other growth
decisions. Anyone who was able to go is invited to submit a summary for us
to publish.
from
Jackson:
A
group of volunteers and contributors are managing and paying for the town site
for Jackson, NH (jacksonvillage.net). If you go to the site and click on
"About Jackson," you'll see that we do have a historic section. The site
is hosted by Virtual Town Hall which specializes in municipal web sites but I
see no reason that they could not host a historical society site. In fact,
we discussed having them host the Jackson Historical Site. The software to
manage the site is remarkably easy to use and the service from VTH has been
excellent. It may be a little expensive, however. We are paying
about $1,000 a year for the service and it could cost a historical society about
$1200. We got a break in the price though the NH Municipal
Association. --Phil
from Lake
Winnipesaukee:
1) National
Public Radio has a great information re conducting oral
histories. Visit their web site at www.npr.org and check out the
detailed info found within the StoryCorps part of the
site. It provides pointers on how to interview, what equipment to use,
etc. LWHS is starting our "journey" in this endeavor and anticipate
this info will prove helpful. Too bad the NPR mobile team isn't
coming to New England!
2) Linda - recently
checked out your web site and I want to say congrats! It's really being
expanded - with the retail directory and with the forum in
which we can "discuss" various contacts. (Of course, now I have
familiarize myself with how to communicate in the forum, but that will come
soon.) --Ann Sprague
3) The Lake
Winnipesaukee Historical Society recently hosted a Book
Signing, which included refreshments and a raffle of some nice
prizes. It sounded like a well-organized event and I hope they will drop
us a line to let us know how it went and if others should consider a similar
event. --Editor.
from the New England Museum Assoc. Curators’
PAG:
UNIVERSITY PRODUCTS CURATORIAL
FELLOWSHIP
New
England Museum Association Annual
Conference
Application Deadline:
September 23, 2005
NEMA’s Curators’ Professional
Affinity Group, with support from University Products will provide a $200
stipend to attend the three-day conference to be held in Burlington, Massachusetts on November 16-18, 2005.
The stipend will cover the registration fee. Any curator who has worked in
the field five years or less, and works for an institution with an annual budget
of $200,000 or less, may apply for the award.
By September 23, 2005,
please send a letter of application describing the curator’s background,
responsibilities at his/her institution, the institution’s current activities,
how the curator and institution will benefit from the conference, and why the
scholarship will be helpful.
Mail letters of application to the
New England Museum Association, Attn: Sheri Leahan, Curators’ PAG Scholarship Coordinator,
22 Mill Street, Suite
409, Arlington, MA 02476. The recipients will be notified by early October and
will receive a specially-marked conference registration form which he/she will
use to register for the 3-day conference at the member's rate and sign-up for
any off-site sessions he/she wishes to attend. The recipients are responsible
for paying for any off-site events.
For more information about the
conference, visit the NEMA website, www.nemanet.org, or call NEMA (781) 641-0013. A special thank-you to
University Products for sponsoring this
fellowship.
from
New Hampton:
Historic New
Hampton Tour Planned, Sunday, Nov. 6
In 1775,
Samuel Kelley, carpenter, of Exeter, was granted all of “Pinnacle Hill” in “the
Moultonborough Addition,” present-day New Hampton. He and his family made
the 75-mile trip into the wilderness in mid-winter, overland with all their
belongings, crossing the ice of Kelley Pond, today known as Pemigewasset Lake,
to then climb the hill and spend the night on a huge boulder. They were
New Hampton’s first settlers.
The New Hampton Historical Society is
inviting New Hampton residents and the general public to enjoy a bus tour on
Sunday afternoon, November 6, to visit Kelley Hill and the earliest settled
parts of the town. The tour will take participants to the original Samuel
Kelley homestead; the William B. Kelley Tavern and town’s first post office; the
New Hampton Town House, built in 1798 by Samuel Kelley for town meeting and
church services; the original location of New Hampton School; and the Dana
Meeting House, with its unique “sheep-pen” pews, completed in 1802. New
residents of the area are especially encouraged to tour these historical homes
and meeting places and get a taste of life as it was lived 200 years
ago.
Space is limited so interested persons should call
744-9961 to make reservation and obtain further tour information.
--Lyn O'Callaghan <locallaghan@newhampton.org>, www.newhampton.org
from NH Historical Society
(NHHS), Concord:
Ed.
Note: In response to requests from 3 of our member societies, I
called Bill Veillette, new Dir. of NHHS. As you know, NHHS at one
time offered numerous workshops for town historical societies, but in recent
years had discontinued those services. Since Bill's tenure he has received
many requests for NHHS to rekindle services for town historical
societies.
Consequently,
Bill has organized a two-pronged survey. One phase is designed to contact
participants in historical societies, to discover what they would like to
have from NHHS to supplement offerings of their town h/s. The other phase
is aimed at officers of the historical societies. NHHS
anticipates that officers will want more technical/training services, whereas
that members may prefer more education (i.e., re: NH history), as, e.g.,
traveling exhibitions. The Survey Center at UNH-Durham has been contracted
to conduct the survey.
Those of you
who contacted me were concerned that you were being asked to give your
membership contact data to the membership department of NHHS, anticipating that
NHHS would subsequently solicit membership from your people. I broached
this concern openly with Bill, who was concerned in return. The
explanation is simple: Bill, of course, delegated supervision of
the survey. NHHS has 3 divisions: museum, library, and
"development." Since the survey does not theoretically belong to either
the museum or the library, it fell to Jack Callaghan, Development
Mgr.
Bill has given
me several assurances: 1) There will be no effort to draw members
from town historical societies to NHHS. 2) If you want
to participate but do not want to share your list with NHHS, you may send
contact information directly to Andrew Smith, Director, The
Survey Center, Thompson Hall, UNH, Durham, 03824. 3) If you prefer
your society not be included in either part of the survey you may notify
Bill(bveillette@nhhistory.org) and he will see to it that your society is removed from
the list. And finally, 4) If you originally declined to participate but
now would like to, you may communicate either with The Survey Center or with
Jack Callaghan (jcallaghan@nhhistory.org).
Are there any
other comments or questions?
from the NH Humanities
Council:
Dear Program
Directors, Come one, come all! …
to the Humanities
Fair coming up Saturday November 12th at Pleasant
View in Concord.
Attached is a copy of the
invitation. The deadline for registering is next Friday, October
21st. We hope to
see you all there for a sneak preview of 40 new
programs presented by scholars from around the
state. Also featured will be Jere Daniel, Judith
Moyer, Becky Rule, and David Watters together in a
lunch time humanities show that is sure to make you laugh and
reflect.
from NH Landmarks
Program:
Maggie Stier, former director of The Fells in Newbury, has
received funding to assess the feasibility of starting a program in New
Hampshire modeled after the National Trust in England.
There, buildings in suitable locations and with significant architectural merit
or history are restored and maintained with funds generated by
a program of short-term holiday
rentals.
Stier is working with New
Hampshire State Parks and the Division of Historical Resources in the first
phase of her project. In addition to identifying one or two
pilot projects for vacation rentals, she is developing a menu
of other options that includes corporate meetings, private events,
specialized tours, and joint marketing programs.
The
overnight rental idea seems to be increasing in popularity with preservation
groups throughout the United States, from lighthouses on both coasts to a Frank
Lloyd Wright cottage in Wisconsin. In southern Vermont, Landmarks USA
operates the Rudyard Kipling House and three other properties in this
manner.
Stier and her board of advisors believe
that New Hampshire is an ideal location for this type program given the
state's history of tourism, its strong historical resources, and the
relative scarcity of public funding for preservation of cultural and heritage
sites.
Stier would like to hear from
privately-owned historic sites with an interest in this evolving
project. For more information, or to share your ideas, please contact
Maggie Stier at 271-3483, or email her at landmarks@dcr.nh.gov. The Landmarks Feasibility Study office is at 19
Pillsbury Street, 2nd floor, Concord, NH 03301, and is supported by grants from
the NH Conservation License Plate Fund, Public Service of New Hampshire, and
private donations.
from
the NH Snowmobile Museum:
Dear Antique and Vintage
Snowmobile Enthusiast, I would like to invite you to check out the ALL NEW NH
Snowmobile Museum Antique & Vintage Snowmobile Classifieds at
www.nhsnowmobilemuseum.com Click on NHSMA Web
Classifieds. This new site will load quicker, without server errors, and will just be
an all-around BETTER system then previous versions we have
used.
One of the highlights is, with this new
classifieds you can search
the entire database of ads for a single word or phrase. Meaning if you are only interested in
ads with “ski doo” in the ad, then type in “ski doo” in
the search line and press the GO button.
If you want to see ALL the ads, just leave the search ad
blank and hit the GO button.
from
Plymouth State
University:
The following two graduate courses are now
offered at PSU. If anyone wants further
information on these or other course offerings, they are welcome to
contact Dr. Marcia Schmidt Blaine (603 535-2347) or Prof. Stacey Yap
(staceyy@mail.plymouth.edu).
Mondays,
September 12- December 5: 4pm-6pm
During the 21st century, the impulse to be immersed in
nature and to observe artifacts of culture and history will continue to be
satisfied by the traveling public. The purpose of the course is to
expand students’ awareness of how conservation of natural features, as well as
preservation of historic sites and cultural landscapes, have important
consequences for the tourism industry and those locales that host visitors. This course will accomplish its
purpose by utilizing a range of educational vehicles: students will read and
discuss works of fiction and nonfiction, participate in field work, design and
implement surveys, and explore Internet sites.
Mondays,
September 12 – December 12 4pm –
7pm
This course traces the history of native
cultures in North America with an accent on the
northeastern region for teachers and other educators. Various Indian cultures will be
described in traditional anthropological categories such as language, kinship,
religion, politics, and subsistence. Cultural change, relativism,
ethnocentrism and social conflict are some of the topics used to understand
their culture from the past into the
present.
from the
Poore Family Homestead,
Stewartstown:
To manage photos: click on the thumbnail
size photos to enlarge, then
click on the enlarged photo to isolate it for
downloading. One-click access is free and easy. --Richard Johnsen,
Executive Director
The Poore Farm
Museum is a historic homestead/settlement documenting one family's life from the
1830's to the 1980s. The house, barn and outbuildings are all in original
condition and reflect their use and era. The feeling one gets when you
enter the homestead is to step back in time, to a time that existed prior to
rural electrification of the northern most regions of NH.
from
The Fells:
The Fells historic estate on Lake Sunapee sponsored a
symposium Saturday, August 27, on “The Legacy of John Milton
Hay.” Hay (1838-1905) was
President Lincoln’s private secretary and biographer and served as Secretary of
State under Presidents McKinley and Roosevelt.
Keynote speaker was the lively Patricia
O’Toole, whose biography, The
Five of Hearts, explores the friendship between Hay and his wife Clara,
Henry and Clover Adams, and Clarence King. Historians Randy Hanson and Joseph
Cronin offered additional presentations on Hay’s achievements in
foreign policy, politics and literature.
The Fells was Hay’s summer home, and the Main House,
on the National Register of Historic Places, and the extensive gardens are now
open to the public. For more information, please
contact The Fells: (603) 763-4789,
fells@tds.net or
www.thefells.org.
Finally,
a few inquiries and notes regarding
Grants:
from
Westmoreland:
Hi Linda, Speaking of grants - would you or anyone be able to share information
regarding possible grant for publishing a book on the history
of all houses/properties in a town? We would greatly appreciate any
assistance. --Jan Carpenter, Secretary
What is the name of
the company that publishes town histories? I wonder if they can offer
ideas. Also, don't overlook your town's "old-timers," families which can
trace their lines back several generations in the same town. They often
have some money socked away that you may convince them to donate if their roots
will be immortalized by your project. Mock-up a few of your ideas for the
book & then organize a series of teas with hand-written invitations.
(it's called "courting" in the fund-raising biz.)
~Editor
from
Walpole:
Hello, Does the AHSNH have a list of
grants available for preservation etc.? We are launching into fundraising
mode to replace a big roof and fix some previous construction
errors that impact the roof. I have the Institute (thanks) for Museums and
Libraries web site and know of NH Charitable
Fund. Are there any others you could suggest? I listed
our needs on the "dreamers" L Chip request for funds but
that hasn't passed into law, or has it? Any help you can give us will be
appreciated. Regards, Sue Vose, President
AHSNH does not keep
a list of grant sources. (There is a place on the Forum at our
website for people to list grant sources they have found.) Also check with
the NH Preservation Society and with the State
Division of Historical Resources. In fact, check with your
town's library; I know there is a wealth (to turn a phrase) of grant
information available at the Concord Library and at UNH.
~Editor
The National Endowment for the Humanities announces
one annual deadline for Consultation Grants for Museums, Libraries and Special
Projects. Beginning in 2006,
applications for NEH Consultation Grants will be accepted at an annual
September deadline. (The 2005
deadline is September 16.)
There will no longer be a March deadline. Consultation Grants are awards of up
to $10,000 that support consultation with scholars and other advisors in the
very early stages of project development. Projects should be grounded in
humanities themes and scholarship, and should be of interest to broad
audiences. For more information
about these grants and complete application guidelines, please consult the NEH
website at http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/public-consult.html.
The NEH also announces two new grant opportunities as part
of the “We the People” initiative, promoting the study of American history and
culture.
“Family and Youth Programs in
American History”
grants support substantive public humanities programs that encourage
intergenerational learning about significant topics in U.S. history and
culture, or that engage young people in reflection and discussion of defining
events, eras, individuals or ideas in our nation’s past. Projects should be
grounded in humanities scholarship and should have a broad reach (beyond a
single site or museum). More
information is available at http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/familyyouthprograms.html.
“Interpreting America’s Historic
Places” grants
support public humanities programs that use one or more historic sites to
address themes and issues central to American History. Projects can interpret a single
historic site, a series of sites, whole neighborhoods, communities or towns,
or larger geographic regions.
More information is available at http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/historicplaces.html.
To contact a program officer who can discuss project ideas and review a
draft of your proposal, please contact the Division of Public Programs at NEH:
202-606-8267 or publicpgms@neh.gov.
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