Davenport House Year of Generosity, Chance, Continuity, Opportunity, and Planning
The Museum is responsive to opportunities and always weighs carefully the benefits (new audiences and income) and consequences (to the building, facility, staff and existing partnerships) of any new endeavor. Among many opportunities of which the DH availed itself in 2016-2017, there are two worthy of note – the exterior filming (which impacted the Museum interior) of the TV series “Underground” and a photo shoot by the retailer Vera Bradley. The Museum is fortunate that new staff member Rebecca Bustinduy has experience managing professional photo shoots. Taking care of our historic buildings remains the DH’s first priority, because it cannot do anything without well-maintained resources. At the beginning of our fiscal year in October, as the DH was finishing up a series of repairs, Hurricane Matthew rolled in. Led by Maintenance Technician Raleigh Marcell, the Museum prepared the site, as good stewards should, and weathered the Category 1 hurricane with little damage. The DH was the first local museum of resume business following the storm.
Every house has a story. We at the Davenport House are just lucky that we can flesh out ours and tell it to interested people. This past year in particular has been one of fleshing out. As the DH and HSF embark on an important expansion of the Museum campus, two committees have formed to inform and develop expansive ways to tell our shared story, and in so doing, reach and inspire more people. An Urban Slavery Exhibit Committee, which is led by designer Doug Mund of dmdg2, is comprised of staff, scholars and museum leaders. They are focused on creating an exhibit and an experience which brings the lives of the enslaved workers, Ned, Davy, Bella, Jack, Isaac, Jacob, Polly, Nancy and Peggy, who lived and worked in the Davenport household in the 1820s, into clarity. Through shared reading, research and visiting other sites, the Committee’s work continues. A second committee, the Community Engagement Committee, is equally committed to the Museum’s expansion and is strategizing ways to reach out beyond the Museum’s door to educators and to the local community for
12
The past year has been one of profound generosity to the DH. The passing of leaders Betty Butler, Elizabeth Muller and Lib Yingling brought remembrances, which will have a lasting effect on the Museum. The Museum community came together for a new type of fundraising to take the place of its successful Oyster Roast for a year. Davenport Soiree, chaired by Diane Kaufman and her crew of volunteers worked on the DH’s behalf in creating a fantastic event which is allowing the Museum to address needed maintenance projects, including repairing the northeast corner of the Kennedy Pharmacy building, upgrading computers and acquiring its first ever computer server. We are grateful that staff member Jeff Freeman has technical expertise to facilitate the acquiring and managing of the equipment upgrades. The bedrock of all things DH is it people - be they event volunteers, DH Committee and Endowment leaders, docents, living history performers, dancers, interns, Junior Interpreters and shop volunteers – they are ready to aid the Museum and put their best face forward of the multitude for visitors every day!
input and validation. As part of the process during the summer, Nobis Project, managed by Savannah State University professor Christian Clougherty, used the DH’s story as a community involvement project for educators who participated in two summer workshops. In addition to story development, 2016-2017 was one of change and opportunity for the DH. With staff retirements the previous year, a new wind of excitement and energy has enveloped the Museum. The new Shop Manager, Gaye Kurmas, engaged 19 new ventures for shop merchandise, creating what we believe is the most appealing Museum shop in Savannah. Our first ever Tour Coordinator, Rebecca Bustinduy, who began work in September 2016, has facilitated a whole new way of doing business with tour companies and scheduling staff to manage our bustling tour business. We expect by the end of the fiscal year to have seen 43,000 visitors, a total the DH has not seen since the halcyon days following the publication of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
13