Historic Cherry Hill
Contents -- July 2007
- Hitting the Trail
- National Endowment Puts Forth A Challenge
- Save The Date!
- Parrots, Patriots & Masons
- Awarding Excellence
- Caring for Our Past
- Special Gifts
- Naming Historic Cherry Hill In Your Will
Hitting the Trail
Historic Cherry Hill was among 22 sites named to the New York State Women's Heritage Trail in March. The trail was designed to highlight the significant contributions of women in the history of New York State. Established by Heritage New York, the program resides within the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
Things are moving! Fourth generation
Cherry Hill owner Catherine Rankin and
unidentified friend.
The five generations of Cherry Hill Van Rensselaers were largely comprised of women. They left an amazingly intact collection reflecting domestic life and broader subjects that document more than two centuries of American women's history. Materials include clothing and other textiles, needlework, jewelry, cookbooks, food preparation and service technology, manuscripts, artwork, photographs, decorative arts, books and ephemera. Subjects range from childrearing and housekeeping, to women's suffrage and female missionary service in China. Today, Historic Cherry Hill's tours and programs explore many of these topics, including last Cherry Hill owner Emily Rankin's active role as Recording Secretary in Albany's Anti-Suffrage Society.
With support from the Heritage Trail Program, the Cohoes Savings Foundation, and Technical Assistance funding from the Architecture, Planning and Design Program at the New York State Council on the Arts, the museum recently completed an Existing Conditions Survey with Stephen Tilly, Architect, of Dobbs Ferry. The process is critical to understanding surviving historic fabric throughout the structure and to planning for needed interior repair and restoration work.
[contents]National Endowment Puts Forth A Challenge
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced in June that Historic Cherry Hill is among seven national awardees of its prestigious Challenge Grants. The grant and associated challenge will enable the museum to 1) undertake repairs to and restoration of its 1787 historic structure; and 2) endow its Curatorial and Research Department.This initiative has been designated as a We the People project, a special recognition by NEH for model projects that advance the study, teaching, and understanding of American history and culture.
"Today's NEH grant recipients are illuminating the human condition through rigorous scholarly research, vital efforts to preserve our cultural heritage, and innovative public programs that engage our minds and deepen our understanding of human history," said NEH Chairman Bruce Cole in announcing the grants.
The $575,000 grant will launch Historic Cherry Hill's unprecedented $2.3 million "Telling a Bigger Story" capital campaign. The museum must raise three dollars from non-federal sources for every NEH dollar. "Board, staff and volunteers are extremely proud of this accomplishment. NEH support affirms the important work that we do in telling a nationally significant story through a personal family lens. Community support will be vital to securing these federal funds and to the ultimate success of this ambitious campaign," said Director Liselle LaFrance.
[contents]Save The Date!
Saturday, October 20, 2007 at 1:00 p.m.
Behind-the-Scenes Murder Investigation Tour
Join us for this special tour highlighting the 1827 murder at Cherry Hill which resulted in Albany's last public hanging.
Pre-registration required; members receive discount admission. Call Becky at (518) 434-4791.
[contents]Parrots, Patriots & Masons
A Trip to the National Heritage Museum
in Lexington, Massachusetts
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Join Historic Cherry Hill for a day-trip to the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, where there are three fascinating exhibits on display:
Pets in America: The Story of Our Lives with Animals at Home features more than 200 objects and photographs including pet portraits from the 1800s, early veterinary medicines, vintage pet food packaging, antique collars, aquariums, birdcages, and a "mouse theater" and other objects from Historic Cherry Hill's collection. The exhibition explores American love of the company of animals, and how this relationship has changed as our country and culture have evolved.
Sowing the Seeds of Liberty is the National Heritage Museum's new cornerstone exhibition on Lexington and the American Revolution. It is designed to stimulate new ways of thinking about the battle at Lexington on April 19, 1775, a conflict that has long sparked the American imagination. The story is told through the eyes and voices of the people who shaped our nation's struggle for independence, including two of Lexington's main leaders, John Parker and Jonas Clarke.
Unlocking the Code is a new exhibition on Masonic and fraternal aprons, drawing from the museum's preeminent collection to explore the symbols of Freemasonry, as well as the techniques used to make this ceremonial garb from the 1700s to the 1900s, and the influence of Masonic aprons on the design of those used by other fraternal groups. A selection from the collection of the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts will be featured. The Grand Lodge holds one of the top apron collections in the country, and includes pieces from around the world over a period of two centuries.
The trip includes round-trip travel from Albany to Lexington by Yankee Trails motor coach, a delectable bagged lunch at the museum, time to tour all exhibits on your own, and a New England dinner at the Publick House in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.
All-inclusive Cost: $75 for Historic Cherry Hill members/$85 for non-members
[click here for a printable form]
Name______________________________________________________
Address____________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
Phone______________________ Email________________________
1) Lunch Choice(s):
- [ ] Roast Beef & Boursin Cheese
- [ ] Chicken Curry
- [ ] Mozzarella/Tomato/Pesto
- [ ] Sprouts/Avocado/Hummus
2) Dinner Choice(s):
- [ ] Yankee Pot Roast
- [ ] Native Roast Turkey
Amount Enclosed $_________
Reservation confirmation and itinerary details will be sent upon receipt of payment. Contact Historic Cherry Hill at (518) 434-4791 or info@historiccherryhill.org. with any questions.
[contents]Awarding Excellence
Historic Cherry Hill was honored with two awards from the Upstate History Alliance at its Annual Meeting in Syracuse, which was held April 15-17.
Education Director Rebecca Watrous accepted a Certificate of Commendation for "Voices from the Hill: 1787–1963", an on-site education program for grades 3-5 that uses an innovative teaching model called "Reader's Theater". The program addresses issues such as social class, entitlement, refinement and prejudice. Students participate in skits using primary sources that give voice to the Cherry Hill Van Rensselaer family and others, including servants, slaves and an immigrant from the neighborhood. By participating in the program, students understand that viewpoints are shaped by social position.
Curator Erin Crissman was recognized with an Award of Merit for undertaking the monumental task of relocating and reorganizing the museum's thousands of artifacts, manuscripts and other materials in the site's new facility, The Edward Frisbee Center for Collections & Research. Her efforts have enhanced the long-term preservation of the 1787 Georgian-style home, the professional care of the collections, and access to them by internal and outside researchers.
The Upstate History Alliance, established in 1971, is a non-profit organization that provides support, advice and training to historical societies, museums, historians and others interested in history in upstate New York. Its Awards of Merit program recognizes outstanding work in the regional history and museum community, rewards staff and volunteers, and provides encouragement for development of new and innovative projects.
[contents]Caring for Our Past
Historic Cherry Hill Director Liselle LaFrance was invited to participate in Connecting to Collections: The National Conservation Summit, which was held June 27–28, 2007 in Washington, DC. Only four representatives, two from museums and two from libraries, from each state and the District of Columbia were selected to attend this invitation-only national conference sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The event underscores the risks that endanger America's books, works of art, documents, and other treasures and promote solutions for saving them.
"Those who have been selected to attend the summit have a strong commitment to conservation and are among the best people in the country to spearhead a national conservation initiative," said IMLS Director Anne-Imelda Radice, Ph.D. "After the summit, we hope that the conversation about saving invaluable collections will continue in communities across the U.S."
A source of water entry, the windows
throughout Cherry Hill have been
identified as a major restoration priority.
Participants in the meeting represent small and medium-sized museums, libraries, and historic organizations with a proven dedication and commitment to conservation. They were joined at the meeting by national leaders in conservation, government officials, and leaders in private sector support for conservation.
In 2003, Historic Cherry Hill opened The Edward Frisbee Center for Collections & Research, and has since been relocating thousands of artifacts formerly stored in the 1787 historic structure into the new state-of-the art, climate-controlled facility. With grant support from a variety of sources, including IMLS, the museum has made great strides in providing better care for its diverse historical collections, and eliminated a primary source of deterioration to the structure—the weight of those items.
Heritage Preservation, the national organization devoted to preserving America's heritage, worked in cooperation with IMLS to organize the summit. Heritage Preservation's 2005 report, A Public Trust at Risk: the Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America's Collections, revealed that there are 4.8 billion artifacts held in this country's archives, libraries, museums, and historical societies, many of these in small to medium sized towns and cities. The report said that 26 percent of collecting institutions have no controls by which to protect their valuable artifacts from temperature, humidity, and light; 59 percent have had their collections damaged by light and 53 percent have had damage by moisture. In addition the report showed that 65 percent of the country's collecting institutions have experienced damage due to improper storage.
The conservation summit was also supported by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation and by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. The summit was hosted by the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Future issues of this newsletter will report on initiatives that develop as a result of the summit.
[contents]Special Gifts
A strong Annual Fund is essential as Historic Cherry Hill embarks upon its "Telling A Bigger Story" campaign. Since January, numerous individuals and others have come forward to support the museum's educational mission. A group of women from throughout the region, which identifies itself as "Friends of the Council Luncheon Group", gathers several times throughout the year, and collectively makes a donation to a non-profit organization. This spring, group members Margaret Eighmey (also a Historic Cherry Hill volunteer) and Pat Kenton organized a luncheon and gathered contributions totaling more than $500 for the museum. Also, HCH volunteer Anna Welter has underwritten an advertisement for the museum in Capital Repertory Theatre's program. Other special contributions to the Annual Fund have included:
- IBM Matching Funds (in support of gifts from David Joslin) , $4,750
- City of Albany Arts Grant. $1,000
- Hal Connolly, $500
- Stewart's, $250
News of the NEH Challenge Grant has also generated excitement. After reading about the award in the Times Union, Miss Janet Walker of Albany sent in a $500 donation, making hers the first official gift to the campaign!
[contents]Naming Historic Cherry Hill In Your Will
Emily Rankin's 1963 bequest established Cherry Hill as a museum, and bequests today can continue to play an important role in supporting the museum for generations to come. For many donors, gifts made through their wills are the best way to make substantial, lasting contributions to Historic Cherry Hill. Donors may leave specific dollar amounts or a percentage of their estates. Through a bequest you can:
- Make a substantial gift to Historic Cherry Hill upon your death while retaining your assets during your lifetime;
- Eliminate or reduce federal estate taxes;
- Become a member of The Cherry Hill Bequest Society, a society formed to honor donors who have made a planned gift to the museum.
Establishing a bequest is an easy process to complete with your lawyer. For more information, contact Director Liselle LaFrance at (518) 434-4791; liselle@ historiccherryhill.org.
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