Historic Nantucket, Summer 1993, Vol. 41 No. 2

SUMMER 1993

V 0 L U M E 41 No. 1

Summer Gatherings

From

The President S

ummer is here and with the change of seasons have come changes at the N HA. I am one of these! Even though I have been involved with the Historical Association for the twelve years I have lived here, it is only recently that I have stepped into the role as Acting President, filling the remainder of Joe McLaughlin's term. So far I have found the task extremely challenging and rewarding.

It is the nature of an organization to evolve, sometimes with ease, sometimes with pain. We find ourselves in a phase of change now. Maurice Gibbs resigned as Executive Director and Mark Beale has taken the position of Acting Executive Director while a search is being conducted.

Mark Fortenberry and Di Ucci head south to undertake new challenges. Doug Burch and Sybille Andersen take over Historic Nnntucket. To those who arc new we extend a hearty welcome, and we thank those who have moved on for their dedication and caring.

The Board of Trustees is evolving as well. We arc reviewing our mission, forming committees, and redefining our role. As members of this "historic" Nantucket Historical Association, I ask that we salute the efforts of those who have preceded us in the last hundred years, and through a renewed commitment, face this challenging time with energy and involvement. By truly being a "member," together we can create anot her solid block in our foundation from which to build the next hundred years.

Kimberly C. Corkran THE NANTUCKET HI STORICAL ASSOCIATION OFFICERS Ms. Kimberly C. Corkran, Acting President Mr. Paul A. Wolf, Jr., First Vice President and Treasurer Mr. Walter Beinecke, Jr., Vice President Mrs. William B. Macomber, Secretary and As~istantlreasurer Mr. C. Marshall Beale, Acting Executive Director

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Mr. Alan F. Atwood Mrs. Charles Balas Mrs. C. Marshall Beale Mr. Walter Heinecke, j r.

Mr. Max N. Berry Mrs. Richard L. Brecker Mr. Charles C. Butt Miss laney A. Chase Ms. Kimberly C. Corkran Mrs. Thomas H. Gosnell Mr. Erwin L. Greenberg Mrs. William E. Grieder Prof. William A. Hance

Mr. !Judson Holland, Jr. Mr. Gene lloryn Mrs. Sharon Lorenzo Mrs. Earle MacAusland Mrs. William B. Macomber Mrs. Carl M. Mueller Mr. David M. Ogden Mr. !!. Hint Ranney Mrs. William L. Slover Rev . Georgia Ann Snell Mr. Paul A. Wolf, Jr. Mrs. Bracebridge H. Young

ADVISORY BOARD Mrs. Robert Bailey Ms. Patricia A. Butler Mr. Robert C. Caldwell Mrs. Helen Winslow Chase Mr. Michael de Leo Mrs. Herbert Gutterson Mrs. llamilton Heard, Jr. Mrs. Robert Hellman Mrs. john G. W. !lusted

Mrs. Arthur jacobsen Mrs. jane Lamb Mr. Francis D. Lethbridge Mr. Reginald Levine Mrs. john A. Lodge Mrs . Thomas Loring Mr. William 13. Macomber Mr. Paull!. Madden Mr. Robert F. Mooney

Mrs. William Pullman Prof. F. lJiair Reeves Mrs. Frederick Richmond Mr. Alfred F. Sanford Ill Mrs. William A. Scvrens Prof. Susan late Mr. joseph F. Welch Mr. john S. Winter Mrs. joseph C. Woodl e

EDITORIAL BOARD Mrs. D"~ght Beman Mr. Richard L. Brecker Mr. Gene Horyn Mr. Robert F. Mooney

M>. Elizabeth Oldham Mr. athaniel Philbrick Mrs. Susan Beegel Tlffney Mr. David H. Wood

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WHAT'S NEWS AT THE NHA

I

Passing the Baton

D

iane Ucci's role as managing editor of Historic Nantucket concludes with this issue as Douglas K. Burch and Sybille Stillger Andersen join the NHA staff and assume her responsibilities for the publication. Doug, our new editor, is a familiar face at the Whaling Museum, Hadwen House, and the Oldest House, where he has been a docent for the last two years. A graduate of Dartmouth College, he has an extensive background in public relations, advertising, writing, and editing. Locally, he has been marketing consultant to the Nantucket Bank and public relations consu ltant to the Nantucket Conservation

FoWldation . He has contributed articles to Yesterday 's Island, the Nantucket foum al, and Historic Nantucket.

Production management will be handled by Sybille, who ha s been involved in the art of photography since she was twelve. Sybille graduated from Boston Co ll ege and has a Certificate of Proficiency in Industrial and Applied Photography from Franklin Institute of Boston . She worked in the graphic arts department of the Inquirer and Mirror and then went south for a year to work in production for a high-quality offset printing company in Atlanta. In addition to raising

Sybille 5. Andersen and Doug Burch.

By Diane Ucci

two children, Sybille started a nonprofit organization in 1990 designed to raise funds for the environmen t through downhill skiing and windsurfing. Her talents in photography, graphi cs, and design along with Doug's writing and organizational abilities are a creative combination ensuring the future of Historic Nantucket.

,~

ing World War II, and spec ific women such as the unforgettable " Madaket Millie." The presence of people who were descendants of women mentioned made their memories that much more real. The NHA ha s since been contacted by many other women who are eager to participate in future gams.

Men that were in attendance at the women 's gam had their chance to "set the record straight" on April 15 when David Wood mod erated a men 's gam that cons isted of a panel including Arthur Desrocher, Jack Gardner, Bill Grieder, Joe Santos, and Roger Young .

The gam opened with a tribute to Pauline Freeman and the Barrett brother s, Walter and Josiah, and a II the memorie s they s ha red-and th ose unspoken, now lost forLeft to right: Moderator Jacquelille K. Haring, Jane Lnmb, a11d ever. Stories of other Ruth Grieder hnving nlaugh at the wome11's gam. s ignificant characters

By Mich<~el Galvin followed, along with tales of jobs and lifestyles.

Arthur Desrocher worked as an ambulance driver and his first call was from a woman in labor.

Bill Grieder remembered coming to the is land in 1934 when his dad became the lightLeft to right: Jack Gardner, Arthur Oesrocher, and Bill Grieder house keeper at Great recalling past events during the men's gam.

Point. Sixty people

n February 18 a panel composed of Ruthie Grieder, Jane Lamb, Eileen McGrath, Jane Richmond, Lucille Sanguinetti, and moderator Jacque line Kolle Haring gathered at the Whaling Museum to share stories of Nantucket women-their families, lives, businesses, fortunes, and fates. Over nin e ty people attended the gam, a continuation of the winter 1992 issue of Historic Nantucket featuring Nantucket women. Topics that evening included "Petticoat Row, " special holiday memories, life on the is land dur-

filled the Whaling Museum with laughter and memories that won't soon be forgotten.

HA Delegate to uss â&#x20AC;˘ acqueline Haring, Curator of the NHA Research Center, was invited to be a member of a delegation of twenty U.S. curators chosen to take part in the Citizen Ambassador Program of People-to-People International. This program, founded by Dwight D. Eisenhower, arranges visits by U.S. specialists who have been recognized in their fields to meet with similar specialists abroad in order to exchange ideas and discuss methodology. Jackie's delegation traveled to Russia for two weeks in June, meeting with curators and archivists in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and several other art and historical centers. While visiting Russia' s leading museums, schools, churches, and artisans' studios, the group discussed ways to preserve their countries' traditions. Conservation methods and the use of archiva l records in resea rching and interpreting history were studied . Jackie felt this was where she contributed the most useful information. The invitation was an honor and the project was an opportunity to promote international understanding and to share methods of preserving history. It was a lso an enlightening experience. Stop by the Research Center and learn more about Jackie's fascinating journey.

By Michael Galvin

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Over the years an aura of mystery has surrounded the club and despite its apparent dearth of privileges nzembership is eagerly sought and prized.

I

I

No Reserved Seats For the Mighty

By Robert F. Cross

A

little more than three-quarte rs of a century ago, a small group of men gathered around a potbellied stove in an Old North Wharf fishing s hanty and founded Nantucket's now famous Wharf Rat Club. Today, although the founders are gone, the club remains vibrant and strong as a place of equality, fraternity, and good will.

The small cedar-shingled shanty, thought to have been built at the turn of the century for scallop fishermen, became the site of the Nickerson and Perry quahog business in 1915. When Nickerson died, Eugene Perry formed a partnership with Herbert H. Coffin, and they continued to operate the quahog business.

First situated on the opposite side of the Jane running down the wharf, the building was moved to its current location around 1915. Its new loca tion, on the water's edge, would be more convenient for fishermen and sailors. Back then, fishermen would stop by each day to talk over recent events. At first, these "gam" sessions were casual, but they took on a more formal nature in the mid-1920s. The Wharf Rat Club had been born.

In 1938, Perry died and Coffin converted the quahog business into a marine outfitting store, which he operated until the m id-1950s, selling oilskins, boots, gloves, and other clothing required by boaters and fishermen. By then, the Wharf Rat Club was in full swing, with members stopping by each day for their morning chat.

Charles G. Coffin, quahog fisherman, harbor pilot, and Herb Coffin's father, along with Austin Strong, commodore of the Nantucket Yacht Club, Bill Doyle, and Karl Adams, Jr., summer residents from Boston, have been credited with founding the club. Charles Coffin became its first commodore.

In the early years, the club consisted of mostly fishermen, sailors, native residents, and a few summer visitors. They would gather each morning, inside the

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Left, Commodore Chnrlcs Snylc, Sr., with fellow member Pete Crn11t circn 1960.

i11 jro11t

of the club,

Courtesy of the Wharf Rat Club

store in the chilly weather or outside on the deck facing Steamboat Wharf in the summer, and talk about local and world issues. Over the years, the living membership has increased to include some 176 men and women, more than one-third of whom are su mmer residents. (The Ind ia Wharf Rats, a similar but older club located in Boston, was established in 1886 and is also still going strong.)

The membership roster has included a U.S. President, a U.S. Supreme Court ju<;tice, ambassadors, admirals, generals, artists, writers, pilots, clamdiggers, scallopers, sailors, craftspeople, scientists, government officials, elected leaders, and captains of industry. All come together to share their ideas and opinions on everything from world and national affairs to whether the Steamship Authority should build a new boat.

Over the years, an aura of mystery and secrecy has developed around the club and, at times, hundreds of individuals have been on its membership waiting list.

Some have waited as long as twenty years before being admitted-others have waited in vain. Although nonmembers often are not quite certain what the mysterious Wharf Rat Club is all about, they do know that they want to be a part of it.

In 1933, one of its early members prepared a short booklet on the club. He wrote, in part: "The Wharf Rat Club has no constitution or bylaws, and no dues or membership fees (the economy finally caught up to the club in 1992, when nominal annual dues were started). Its government is vested in a secret board of directors, whose names are known only to the directors themselves and whose powers are completely autocratic. Its members have no rights except the privilege of associating on terms of equality and fraternity with one another."

The club is "highly exclusive and, in spite of the apparent dearth of privileges, membership is eagerly sought for and correspondingly prized. While the re are no restrictions on account of race, religion,

Tony Sarg, circa 1930, renowned illustrator a11d fellow rnt who designed the club's insignia. color, sex, or previous condition of servitude, summer residents are ordinarily required to undergo a probationary period of three summers under close observation before being eligible for membership," the booklet notes.

"Those who are unfortunate enough to be financiers, bank or corporation presidents, high public officials, artists, or men of great wealth or importance, are further handicapped by the necessity of obtaining a unanimous vote of the Board of Directors, and of exercising the proper amount of humility and self-effacement in their relations with those who are fortunate enough to be members of the club," the writer states.

The club has had eight commodores, the current one being Charles Sayle, Sr. He has been commodore since 1985, after having served as the longest tenured vicecommodore, beginning in 1955. The commodore makes the final decision, after polling the board, as to whether an individual is admitted.

While commodores have come and gone, the club motto has remained the same: "No Reserved Seats for the Mighty."

The motto is carved on a wooden sign hanging over the north door of the clubhouse. More than just a motto, it is a guiding principal that must be followed once one steps across the club's threshold.

"The point of the club motto is that money, or the Social Register, or fame, does not amount to anything in itself for membership," wrote author William 0.

Stevens in his 1936 book Old Nantucket, the Faraway Island. "If the commodore decides that a candidate does not measure up to the standard, that settles it .... To be privi-

leged to fly the Wharf Rat pennant aboard your own boat or hoist it in your quarters at home, is a real patent of nobility. The old Nantucket tradition of democracy, every man on his own merits, flourishes still among the Wharf Rats."

In the 1933 booklet about the club, it is explained this way: "We know of nothing more salutary for the person in authority, accustomed to have his words and opinions not only respected but treated as oracular-in short, 'Yessed to death'than to introduce him into a companionship where he gets no more and no less consideration than the humblest clamdigger, and where he finds his pet theories and dissertations on almost any subject, from fishing and boat-sailing to world finance, not only disputed but oftentinws refuted.

"And unless he can 'stand the gaff,' as the fishermen say, he soon finds that he is not fitted for membership in the Wharf Rat Club, where nothing counts but innate ability and integrity and natural force of character," concludes the booklet.

Most Nantucketers and many island visitors are familiar with the Wharf R<1t flag, which can be seen hoisted above the clubhouse each morning, or on the automobile decals or lapel pins of member;;.

The blue and white triangular pennant depicts a dapper rat, holding a cane and smoking a pipe. Most, however, probably are not so familiar with the identity and accomplishments of its designer, Tony Sarg.

Sarg, who first operated his shop on Centre Street, later moving to Easy Street, was a renowned illustrator for Tile

Saturday Evening Post, and was the designer of the now-famous giant helium balloons for the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. He also directed and operated the country's most successful traveling puppet show. At the urging of his fellow Rats, Sarg drew the Wharf Rat insignia, which was registered in the U.S. Patent Office with patent number 886,913.

The flag has been taken all over the world by club members. In 1933, on one of Admiral Richard E. Byrd's expeditions, Captain W. F. Verleger, a Wharf Rat, hoisted the flag in Antarctica . Byrd himself later became a Wharf Rat. The flag was flown aboard the Effie M. Morrissey on Wharf Rat Robert Bartlett's 1937 North Pole expedition. Years later, Navy Commander Maurice Gibbs, also a club member, Nantucket native, and former executive director of the Nantucket Historical Association, planted the flag at his destination during a 1983 mission to the Geographic South Pole.

On June 19, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt hoisted the Wharf Rat flag on his chartered schooner Amberjack 11, after he had been made an honorary Wharf Rat

by Herbert H. Coffin (the club's second commodore) . FDR stopped over in Nantucket Harbor on his historic cruise along the New England coast, following the completion of his "first hundred days" in office. As the President sailed out of Nantucket Harbor the next day, the Wharf Rat flag was snapping proudly in the breeze aboard the 45-foot schooner.

That same year, the current commodore, Charles Sayle, was inducted into

Whmf Rat gathering circa 1950. Stamfing, left to right: Hugh Srmford, Charlie Sayle. Seated, left to right: Louis S. Om,idson, George "Bunt" Mackay, Richard Deutsch, Alfred ''TcCily" Sanford ll, Pete Grant, and Harry Gordo11.

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He/ell Wilsall Sherman, Austin Strong's niece, became a charter member of the club when she was a teenager in the mid-1920s.

Courtesy of the Wharf Rat Oub

the Wharf Rats by Commodore Herb Coffin. Sayle had first visited Nantucket in 1926 aboard the Eleanor, a fishing vessel from Gloucester. Three years later he decided to make Nantucket his home and moved to the island.

"On November 29, 1929, I took the six o'clock train out of Gloucester," Sayle recalled."! got the boat from New Bedford and it took five hours to get here." He said the boat made stops in Woods Hole, Vineyard Haven, Oak Bluffs, and Edgartown before finally docking in Nantucket. There were no direct Hyannisto-Nantucket runs in those days. During his first winter on-island, Sayle worked on one of his ship models and house-sat for Probate Judge George M. Poland, while the judge worked at his law office in Boston.

Sayle said he spent a lot of time around the waterfront in those early years and became acquainted with Herb Coffin almost as soon as he arrived on island. "I followed the water here," Sayle said. "I went quahogging and scalloping. I was the last one to scallop here under sail."

Sayle, who never had a boat with an engine until1938, used to bay scallop from his sailing dory and his little schooner and quahog from his skiff, using a pair of 14foot-long tongs.

Sayle, 84, has been trading stories of the sea with his fellow Rats for sixty years.

When Herb Coffin, the club's second commodore, died in 1955, Sayle was asked to take Coffin's place. However, Sayle was too busy fishing, building ship models, and carving ivory to spend every morning on the wharf.

Herb Brown, a local fisherman, was installed as commodore, and Sayle agreed to serve instead as vice-commodore. The club had four more commodores before Sayle finally agreed to take over in 1985, relinquishing the vice-commodore title he had held for thirty years. Sayle tapped island resident AI Silva to fill the vicecommodore post.

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Following Herb Brown's death in 1959, the top job was held successively by Marcus Ramsdell, George "Bunt" Mackay, Arthur McCleave, Peter Grant, and Sayle.

All were year-round Nantucket residents except Mackay, who was said to have tics to the Starbuck family and who only summered on Nantucket. Peter Grant was the son of a well-known Nantucket resident, George Grant, one of the island's last whalemen and the curator of the Whaling Museum at the time.

Although Sayle has been a Wharf Rat for more than half a century, and is regarded as the authority on matters pertaining to the club, he says he does not hold the record as the longest-tenured living member. Sayle says that distinction goes to Helen Wilson Sherman, niece of Austin Strong, one of the club's founders.

Sherman, however, says she shares that honor with at least three other women, two of whom are still alive. She lists Pauline Mackay Freeman, Wilhelmine Kirby Waller, and Leila McKnight as charter members who, along with herself, were admitted as teenagers in the mid-1920s when the club started to take on a more formal character.

Sherman, an artist who has been coming to Nantucket since 1921, taught sailing off the Old North Wharf and once worked in Tony Sarg's Easy Street shop.

She recalls clearly the story of how, in 1926, Sarg first created the Wharf Rat emblem. "My uncle (Austin Strong) went down to the Jetties Beach where Tony was sketching fat people in thin bathing suits and thrust a piece of paper in front of him and said, 'Draw me a rat,' and, so, with a brave whisk of his pencil, he did."

Strong was a Broadway playwright and commodore of the Nantucket Yacht Club. He also was a step-grandson of Robert Louis Stevenson.

"I love the Wharf Rat Club," Sherman says. It has been an integral part of her life since 1926. Sherman docs reca II a period in the late I970s and early 1980s when she thought the club started to lose some of its vibrancy. She said Charlie Sayle changed all that, however.

"When Charlie became commodore, all of a sudden the Wharf Rats bloomed again," she said, crediting Sayle's natural ability to communicate, tell good stories, and make people feel welcome. "The sun rose over the Wharf Rats again."

Members often bring along curious friends to the morning sessions, which are held every day except Sunday, May through October. Gathering on the deck facing the pilings that once held the Skipper restaurant, members chat about happenings in town, on the water, and across the sound in that place they call "America."

In early years, the Club would salute Rats who were arriving on the steamship from America by firing the club's cannon.

Now, the cannon firing is reserved for special events such as the Fourth of July and Labor Day parties.

On chilly mornings, members congregate around the potbellied stove in the clubhouse, which contains a treasure trove of memorabilia from Nantucket's past. In addition to historic quarterboards, a lantern from the old Nantucket Railroad, ship models, and countless photographs, maps, nautical charts, drawings, and souvenirs from club members, the clubhouse boasts the daily logs of the second commodore, Herb Coffin. When club meetings began to become more formal around 1927, Coffin started to record carefully the happenings of each day, along with notations about the weather and other interesting events. Coffin faithfully kept these logs until his death in 1955. Commodore Herb Brown took over then and continued the logs until he died in 1959.

Since Sayle took over in 1985, he has been trying to gather as much Wharf Rat history as possible so that it will be preserved for future generations. That has been no small task. For, although Herb Coffin and Herb Brown did maintain daily logs, subsequent commodores did not, and no comprehensive membership rosters or other records appear to have been maintained either. Commodore Sayle, therefore, continues to collect and compile as much historic information on the club as he can find.

"I've been trying to piece it together,'' Sayle said about his efforts to collect and preserve the club's history. In addition to gathering as much historical information as possible, Sayle has been making his own contribution by maintaining a written record of his tenure as commodore. He is the first commodore to record diligently the date when each new member is admitted.

As a result of Sayle's efforts, the club's colorful and fascinating past, along with the cast of characters that helped to create it, will be preserved for those in future generations who take an interest in this extraordinary piece of Nantucket's living history.

Robert F. Cross has been a regular summer l'isitor to Nantucket since 1976, nud was admitted to the Wlznrf Rat Club in 1990. He is also n member of the Pacific Club. He is n11 nu•nrd-u•in11ing 11ewspnper n11d mngnzi11e writer, and this is his second contributio11 to Historic Nantucket. He also serves ns nn assistant commissio11er i11 New York State's Oepnrtme11t of £11viro111neJitn/ Co11servntio11 in Albany.

After a summer of controversy, the criticism declined into local skepticism over those "strange summer people," and later turned into genuine acceptance of the speakers and artists who enlivened their evenings.

The Sconset School of Opinion

By Lee Rand Burne

S

hortly after World War I, the villa ge of Sconset was s tartl e d to witness changes taking place in an old bam locate d near the firehouse, where Charlie Pitman's livery stab le was being transformed into an a uditorium and lec ture hall, known as the Tavern-on-the-Moors.

On a plaque above th e door, a s ummer resident inscribed the lines: Where o nce fine horses tossed their manes, And champed their oats and hay, Now daily fl ock the fo lk w ith brains, To laugh and work and play.

The Tavern was the brain child of Frederic C. Howe, a well-known economist and political reformer who had settled on Nantu cket and bought several properties in the Sconset area. He had a vision of establishing a summer school for intellectua l di scussion, usin g as a model Emerson's School of Philosophy in Concord. The Tavern was to be the headquarters of the school, with other cottages and tents arranged to house two o r more persons in each room; the founder intended it to be a place wh ere school sessions and lectures wo uld be combined with outdoor recreation in a vacation atmosphere.

In 1922, Howe announced the first season of the Sconset School of Opinion, in a letter to the Inquirer and Mirror: The a im o f the sc hool is to bring together each year men who arc lea ders in their respective rea lms of thought, as well as advanced students from the univers iti es . .

It has gathered together what is probably the most distinguished group of men in the fi eld of opinion that hav e ever been brought together in this country .... Upwards of o ne hundred persons are reg iste red for the course, including many lawyers, editors, and teac hers. The week from September 3 to September 10 opens on Monday at 9 a.m.

The re will be a three-hour sessio n in the morning, with the afternoo n free for recrE'ation and conferences. In the eve ning there will be a roundtable discussion of the lee-

"A good place to get a comj(ntable rig." Clmrlic Pitman 's lhâ&#x20AC;˘ery stable,from Views of Siasconset, by john F. Murmy, 1904. tures of the day .... Prov is ions haw bl'en mad e for golf, tennis, and recreation, as many of those w ho are co ming art\ treating the sc hool as a vaca ti o n period.

Howe's new summer school attrCictcd attention not only in Sconsct but on the mainland , wh ere hi s collection of Mtists Clnd theorists was usually described as a "school of liberal opinion." The Baltimore Sun wrote: This little is land, out in the Atlantic, is having what is almost its first view of political and social nonconformism , and it is no t s ure it likE's it. It is tending to divide people into two ca mps, the pro-sc hoolers and the anti-schoolers and there is s tro ng feeling between them. The orthodoxy of Mr. Fred C. Howe, the creator of the idea, has long been suspected and the latent s uspicion ca me to the surface .... There is undoubtedly a pinkis h tinge in the crowd, but it is apparent more in the s tud ents than in the lecturers who have so far s poken ....

The New Republic welcomed the new school with <m article: Liberals at Sconset. ... A number of educators, writers, etc. of a liberal turn of mind will give informal lectures a nd lea d roundtable discussions on history, l'conomics, labor, art, and literature, with the aim of s timulating thought rather than imparting information .... People who are attracted by such a school arl' asked to write to Mr. Fred eric C. Howe, Siasconset, to whom belongs thâ&#x20AC;˘' greatest share of credit for organizing it.

Fred Howe WCIS an internCitionCII figure and Cl politicCil reformer who predated the New DeCil. After Clll early career as a lawyer, economist, and professor, he served as an expert on WoodrowWilson 's staff at the Versailles Conference. Tile New York Times later summed up his career: A perennial reformer and champion of liberal ca uses, both los t and rea li <'ed , ranging

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Fourth, l would make sure the curriculum of the school and the freedom of opinion were committed to maintain the fundamental principles ofthe American Constitution and to stop Socialism.

Old stagecoach in jro11t of Tavem-on -tlie Moors. Sinclair Lewis's son sta11ding at right, Patricia Torrey in corner at left, a11d Harrison Smith standi11g i11 rear, circa 1925.

From Reminiscences of My Early Days in Sconset, by Josephine Harvey Torrey. from Henry George's single tax and the La Follette Presid ential campaign of 1924 to the New Deal, Mr. Howe began his career in the reform move ment of the early 1900s in Cleveland. The climax came in the early days of the first Roosevelt administration when Mr. Howe, then consumers counsel in the Agricultural Adjustm ent Administration, was one of the earliest and most criticized members of the Brain Trust.

Howe served as Commissioner of Immigration in New York from 1914 to 1919, resigning to promote a plan for nationalization of the railroads. Clearly a man far ahead of his time, he soon aroused the wrath of Anne Paddock Ford, who wrote to the l11quirer and Mirror in response to Howe's invitation to the School of Opinion: I do not intend to go, but the repeated invitation has made me think what I would do, if I did intend to go. I would look first for the individual in the group who wishes to impose his thought. Second, I would look up his acts and utterances during the war ... those who during the war were pacifists, or evaders of the universal obligation to think straight, act straight and to fight. Third, I would make sure the moving spirit in the school was in no way a part of the perfectly well recognized conspiracy to convert the government of America into an experiment in Socialism; a conspiracy in which radicals of every degree of destructiveness are more or less consciously allied.

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Colonel George A. Dunn, U.S. Army, Retired, responded, "Where are these goups of would-be opinion makers, propagandists, disloyal to our government, mainly to be found and by what sign shall we know them7" To this Mrs . Ford replied, "It was learned that under the very dome of the Capitol at Washington, there was an organi zation made up of 150 secretaries to Senators and Representatives which was completely in the hands of the Reds."

After listing various organizations, she concluded, "It is significant that women 's organizations figure so largely in all pacifist movements."

After the first summer of controversy, the criticism declined into local skepticism over those "strange summer people,"and later turned into genuine acceptance of the speakers and artists who arrived to enliven the summer evenings.

One visitor reported: "In the supposedly radical gathering place they were fairly eating up a lecture on 'The Soul of France.'

On the afternoon of the worst storm in years, a hundred of them were hearing a discussion on 'How We Think,' yes, and paying good money for the privilege!"

One traveler arrived in Sconset to inquire of a native, "Can you direct me to the auditorium where the lectures are held7" The Sconseter pondered a moment, then replied, "Oh, you mean that old barn where they sit and talk?"

They talked, they listened, and they played. After the lectures and conferences they went off on picnics, beach parties, and golf on the Sconsct golf links. One evening the assembled audience waited an hour for the musical event to begin, but no pianist could be found . A public search of Sconset for the missing musician, Raymond Bauman, was conducted with no result. Shortly after nine oclock, he appeared in his bathing suit, accompanied by his wife, the dancer Anita Zahn, carrying fifty pounds of fresh mackerel. [t seems a shoal of mackerel had been caught in the shallow water near Tom Nevers, and the musicians had stayed to catch 135 fish with their bare hands. Their waiting audience gave them a round of applause.

Perhaps the School of Opinion was having an effect on the staid ways of Sconset. Almost every week, the newspaper commented on the latest activities of the "flappers." "Much time is consumed in knocking the flappers .... Perhaps it's because the sweet young things afford

such a good target." The sights of the old town were changing, as the paper reported, "Last Sunday the latest happened. A lady all dressed up in city costume, her skirt reaching to her ankles, was s een walking to church, her pocket book and prayer book much in evidence while she enjoyed the consolation and support of a cigarette. What is next?"

Howe brought more and m o re celebrities to the island each summer, and the crowds continued to fill the old barn to enjoy the events. In 1925, Howe bega n morning and evening sessions . Spea ki ng of the purpose of the scho o l, he said, "While all America is watching the Scopes trial in Tennessee on the question of evolution and the origin of man, the discussion of man himself, how he came to be, what arc the influences that mad e h im what he is, why he acts as he acts, and is what he is, is extremely timely."

Noted personalities like Eu ge n e O'Neill and Sinclair Lewis became pa rt of the Sconset scene. Lewis reported he had "never been more agreeably and profitably lazy than here, in this island of sea bree zes and moors." He and hi s wife spent two months there in 1927, noting the School of Opinion had "a certain a rtin ess, along with leaking roofs, indifferent food, and superb lectures."

Eugene O'Neill had a harder tim e of it in Nantucket. Arriving grog gy and shaky from New York, he found the rented house on Mill Street too small and lacking in privacy, while the beach at th e Jetties was too crowded. He res um ed drinking with his friends on a yacht in the harbor and managed to fall overboard , fully dressed and roaring drunk. His wife, Agnes, arrived in a rowboat and rowed him home. His performance at the Tavern on the Moors was unremarkable.

Accompanying O'Neill and his wife was

'Sconset School of Opinion Siasconset, Nant ucket Island, Mass.

SEPTEMBER 3 to 24, 1922 The World We Live in The American Mind.

The Political and Economic State.

The Outside World. Our International Relations.

SPEAKERS : Prof. James Hnrvev Robinson G:~tzC\ 1 Bo1·glur.1 .

Oswald Gnrri5on Villard Albert .Jay Nock £·,•erett Dean Martin E. G. Conklin Llr." James P. Warbasse Lewis W. Gannett Alvin Johnson Victor Clark .Tames G. McDonald

Frederic C. Howe Hobert Morss Lo,·ett Miss Mary Sheep!:hanks, E ng la nd Norman Tho mas Harry W. Da na Harry W. Laidle r Miss Louise Fargo Brown I!on. Roger Nielson Agnes D. Wnrbasse Roger Baldwin Frank Stephens

Address t ( Frederic C. HoVOle, Director; 'Sconset Moors, SiaMassachusetts.

~::onset,

their young daughter, Oona, later the wife of Charlie Chaplin.

In the summer of 1928, one of Sconset's mysterious fires started after midnight on the outside wall of the Tavern-on-the-Moors, after the guests and employees had left the building. This fire also threatened the Sconset Fire House next door, and its loss would have left Sconset with no means to fight the fire .

Fortunately, Frank Holdgate was awakened by the crackling flames and aroused his numerous sons to get the fire engine from the smoke-filled building. Oscar Folger, George Rogers, and all the Coffin boys turned out and saved the fire house and the Tavern from complete destruction .

The cause of the fire was never learned.

The School of Opinion had nine successful seasons, but the fire of 1928 seemed to be a warning of hard times ahead. The coming of the Depression cut deeply into the tradition of the leisurely three-month summer vacation and made it difficult for many of Howe's celebrities to justify their stay in Nantucket. Howe himself had badly overextended himself with this school venture, which came to include several cottages and other buildings beside the Tavern. The Moby Dick building, converted from the old Sconset railroad station, was purchased and used as a restaurant for his guests. However, all his properties were heavily mortgaged, and Howe did not have the income to support them.

With the coming of the New Deal in 1932, Frederic Howe returned to the pol itical wars, supported President Roosevelt, and subsequently won a post as consumers counsel in the Agricultural

Adjustment Administration . This post he held until 1935, when he was removf'd from the office but kept on as an adviser in the office of the Secretary of Agriculture.

These years kept him largely inactive in Nantucket, and the School of Opinion ceased to operate. It finally disappearcod when Howe's property was foreclosed for mortgage defaults and unpaid taxes, and a colorful era of Sconset history disappeared with it.

Frederic Howe wrote an autobiography entitled The Co11jessio11s of n Reformer.

The last chapter contains these words: I knew very well what my reveries were about ... . They were always of ao old fishing village on the far end of Nantucket Island, where I had spent many summers; ... I wanted to live on the "Jantucket moors, to be quit of conflict; to live content with simple, friendly contacts, with horses and dogs, with a fire on the hearth .... A plan surged up from somewhere in me that I would build a community; would plant and beautify it, make a free and happy place for me and my friends .... people who also wanted to escape other herds and be themselves. I am committed to such beauty as I can find, to harmony within and without, to friends and the things I love. I have more to learn than the time that is left suffices for. Yt'll reali/C that only a beginning is possible to any man.

Frederic Howe died of heart failure on August 3, 1940, and with him died the last of the early reformers, a man with a dream that came true, for a while.

Although he left no permanent mark on the Nantucket scene, his memory shines through those years of the 1920s like the bright stars over the moors of Sconset.

School of Opinion "They a ll came to Sconset." A few of the celebri ties invited to Fred Howe's School of Opinion, 1922-37: Harry Overstreet Robert Lovett E. G. Conklin Harlow Shapley Robert Benchley Gutzon Borgl u m Everett Dean Martin Herbert Cross Dudley Diggs Fannie Hurst Mark Van Doren Horace Kallen John Watson Eugene O'Neill Harold Rugg Joseph Auslander Andre Siegfried Kenneth MacGowen Arthur Sch lesinger, Sr. Ernest 13oyd Sinclair Lewis Pau l de Kruif Anita Zahn Mortimer Adler Will Durant Felix Frankfurter Edgar Lee Masters Allen Temple Jesse Lee Williams George V. Denny Silas Bent Paul Robeson Ric hard Simon 13ruce 131i ven Floyd Dell Channing Pollock 131anche Yurka Harry Hunt Henry A. Garfield Walter Lippman Louise Fargo 13rown Carl Van Doren James G. MacDonald Lester M. Wilson Albert Wigg<Jm H iram Reede Ira S. Wile Emory R. Buckner Harry Payne Willystine Goodsell Frederick C. Nelson Alexander Mieklejohn Harry Elmer Barnes

Lee f~nnd Bume first en me to Nantucket in 1942. She is currwtly nssocintcd with the Nm1tuckct Atheneum.

29

Crowd gathers on Centre Street in 1912 to witness the arrival of Nantucket's first fire truck.

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he modernization of Nantucket's fire protection began in 1882 when promoter of the water works, Moses Joy, used a borrowed hose to prove that water could be made to "run uphill." Subsequently, fire hydrants were installed around town. In 1907 the "tower watch" system was discontinued and replaced by an electric fire alarm. In May 1912 the "auto-chemical" arrived on the island.

30

31

The story began in 1960 when the Town of Nantucket decided to sell its only ladder truck, an American LaFrance Quadruple, serial number 6079.

Where's the Fire?

H. Flint Ranney " Hey! Are you two going to Nantucket on your honeymoon?

Just got married in California? We heard it on the radio!"

This was shouted from a passing car as Corky, my bride of three days, and I stood beside a shiny red fire engine at the Cape Cod side of the Bourne Bridge. We were parked at the edge of the circle waiting for the brakes to cool off so we could proceed to Woods Hole. My wife was spattered with water and sand, her honeymoon outfit drenched, her hair windblown from the lack of a windshield, and she had yet to meet my family. She was beginning to wonder what she had gotten into.

This story started back in 1960, when the Town of Nantucket decided to sell its only ladder truck, an American LaFrance Quadruple Combination City Service Ladder Truck, serial number 6079. For $12,500, the Elmira, New York, manufacturer had sold the vehicle to the town in 1927, and it had been operated by the Nantucket Fire Department ever since.

But the mechanical brakes had become worn and ineffective, and the motor-vehicle inspector, Arthur Davis, had ordered the truck off the road. There has been at least one suggestion that he was encouraged to do so by the fire chief, Irving Bartlett, who preferred a new truck with modern equipment such as hydrnulic brakes and an aerial ladder that did not require four strong men to remove it from the truck and then totter around trying to stand it up beside a (presumably) burning building. The truck was put up for auction by sealed bid.

Living a carefree bachelor life in California at the time, but keeping informed about Nantucket matters by the Inquirer and Mirror (each weekly edition arriving some two weeks late) and recalling the chugga-chugga sound of the old ladder truck as it churned up Cliff Road on occasion, I foolishly sent in a bid of $510. In June of 1961, selectman secretary James K. Glidden wrote thnt I had submitted the high bid and could pick up the truck anytime.

It was being stored in a barn out at

32

i\U photos courteâ&#x20AC;˘y of II. Hint Ranney

The Hew fire truck, JIOW owned by H. Fli11t Rn1111ey,fentured i11 7927 011 Ce11trc Street cuith, left to nght: Red Haddo11, Hnrdi11g Smith, Chief Blair, Tom Curley, n11d nltullidclltified ~e11tlcmnll. the cranberry bog- to the amazement of Arthur Davis, who could never figure out how it got there, being inoperable and all.

Donny Allen and I went out to the bog and towed the truck back to his father 's repair garage on Sparks Avenue (subsequently Denny's and now Egnn Brothers).

There the truck sat-lonely, rusting, and neglected- w1til Don Senior could find the time to install a vacuum-booster system on the brakes to make them pass inspection.

At the appointed hour, lacking a truck driver's license, I stood on the running board, Don Senior took the driver's scat, and Inspector Davis climbed into the passenger seat with some sort of inertia meter device that he placed on the floorboards to measure how long it took the truck to stop. Don Senior wound her up to nbout 25 m.p.h. along Sparks Avenue, and when nudged by the inspector, jnmmed down on the brake pedal. The truck coasted to a stop in a hundred feet or so, but the meter didn't budge! Arthur said, "That's no good." "Wait," said Don, "I'll just tighten them up a bit." He climbed under the truck with some pliers and a wrench, turned some turnbuckles, and banged around here and there . On the ne x t attempt, we stopped so quickly that we almost left skid marks. Arthur looked <lt

the meter, which apparently gave a satisfactory reading . He grunted, nodded his head, and handed over an inspection sticker on the spot. The truck has been on the road legally ever since.

For two summers that old truck wns a plensure vehicle during my short summer vacations on island, but it didn't look so good. It wns rusting bndly and the wooden lndders were dccnying . Still, children's rides around Main Street to raise funds for the Boys and Girls Club were popular.

At the end of the summer of 1963 l persuaded my lifelong friend, C. Rollin Manville, to accompnny me to New Bedford, where l had nrranged with a service garage, Levesque and Rodrigues, to work on the truck over the winter while I returned to California. Ench month I received a report of what work had been done-sa ndblasting, priming, fresh red pnint, new upholstery-along with a bill.

The regional American LaFrance service e ngineer took nn interest in the project, finding nnd instnlling a number of nuthentic parts, including original headlights from n firechi ef in Horse Head s, New York ($50), proper bumper and hendlight brackets, and a brass wnter tank. In 1964, for my nnnual two-week vncntion, l picked up

the truck in New Bedford and drove over the road to Woods Hole, bringing it back to the island as a sort of test. But the restoration work had not been completed, so it was back to New Bedford for another winter of monthly reports and bills.

In late 1964, at a typical Hollywood Hills party, I met Charron (Corky) McPherson. A Canadian, she had been trained in London, Ontario, as a nurse and was then working at the UCLA Medical Center as an operating-room scrub nurse.

We took an interest in each other that blossomed over the next few months and led to marriage in July 1965 in Covina, California. The timing was perfect for our annual vacations to coincide with our honeymoon . She had never been to Nantucket and looked forward to going there without worrying too much about transportation details. I just told her I had this old fire truck that I had for some reason named "Grover" and that we would be driving it to the island.

After th e ceremony we flew to Boston and took a taxi to NewBedford, arriving in time to spend one night at the New Bedford Hotel, which I believe is now a nursing home. The next morning we arrived at Levesque's garage and were amazed to see how beautiful a job they had done on Grover. Mr. Levesque himself (I never met Rodrigues) was so excited by the news that this truck he had restored was to be used as a honeymoon vehicle for a couple going to Nantucket that he had called in a tel evision reporter. This one had two cameras. Twice I helped Corky up onto the seat, loaded our luggage into

the rack, and drove away from the curb and around the block, stopping to do it L---t"~91tj:=tl again : once for Channel 4 and once for Channel 5' W ith trepidation, Corky made herself comfortable as we finally """"'""'' -

set off down the toward road Woods Hole.

~=l~===~:=~~~~~~,f~ri~~~

Unbeknownst to t us, the story went from the camera- H. Flint Ranney, Corky, andfiz•e little Ranneys in1980: Back ro7l', lejt to man to the AP riglzt, Jamie and Ro/1; front row, left to right, William, Libby, and Kate wire and onto aboard the American LnFrnnce Quadruple. radio. On our way to Woods Hole along Route 6 cars the pressure was stronger than she expectkept passing us with the drivers honking ed and the hose bucked and water went and the passengers waving and laughing everywhere, churning up sand that spattered her honeymoon -greet-the-family and shouting to us,"Whcre's the fire?"

During the second winter of restora- outfit. Adding this to her hair blown tion the brakes had been relined and fur- asunder by the windy ride in an open ther adjustments made so that they were truck, she was seriously wondering why quite good . Too good. As we drove she had ever attended the Hollywood After a few moments of consolaacross the Bourne bridge, the brakebands party. heated up and tightened, causing the truck tion, with brakes and bride cooled down, to go more and more slowly. We just we proceeded leisurely on down the road barely made it to the rotary on the Cape to Woods Hole, backed the truck onto the Cod side and managed to get off to the Naus/wn, and enjoyed a pleasant cruise to edge of the road, where we stopped. Nantucket. Some good friends who were Handing Corky a hose, 1 asked her to hold on the boat cheerfully tied beer cans to the the nozzle over the rear wheels while I back of the truck while we weren't paying turned on the pump and sent watt•r attention, so as we drove off at Nantucket through to cool off the brakes. Of course there was a great clatter behind us.

Thus ended my wife's first arrival on Nantucket and Grover's third. It was during the next year's vacation that Corky learned how to drive Grover, passed the test, and was awarded a commercial truck driver's license by Inspector Davis. In subsequent years she has developed a tolerance for my interest in this historic fire engine and even participated to a limited extent in the annual Fourth of July Main Street water fight with the Nantucket Fire Department.

But 1 still owe her a proper honeymoon for putting up with my motto, "Love me, love my fire engine."

Shown here with his latest acquisition, Mr. Rm111ey stands before a 1957 American LnFrnnce pumper that he purchased last December. The Nantucket Fire Departme11t had retired it as their last truck without automatic transmission and bought a new $185,000 pumper. Rather than take it off island to a junJ..:yard, the vendor sold the old truck to Mr. Rmlllet) for $350. When asked why he would want a second antique fire truck, Mr.Ran11ey said, "Listen. Whatez•er kind of motor vehicle can you buy that costs 23% of its mlue to fill up the gas tank? Besides, life is short. 1'7•e got a lot of collecting to do to mtch up with Bruce Watts."

H. Fli11t Ranney was president of the Nantucket Historical Association for eight years and currently ser7>es on the Board of Trustees. He first came to Nantucket when he was three months old and summered in lzis grandparents' home on the cliff where he and Corky now make their summer residence.

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!wE coULDN'T Do rr wiTHoUT You. . ¡I Hadwen House Angels

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he NHA's Hadwen House, at the corner of Main and Pleasant streets, has undergone dramatic renovation in the last year, thanks to the contributions of severa l friends. Laurie and Robert Champion generously donated funds for decorating the double parlors. If you have not visited the house lately, be sure to drop by this season and see the wallpaper, carpet, gas chandeliers, and upholstery that Laurie and Robert have given in honor of Marilyn and John Whitney. Another one of the Hadwen House angels, NHA trustee and

--

faux-finish artist Dorothy Slover, volunteered her talents to make a reproduction floor cloth for the front entry hall.

Using original techniques, Dorothy painted the heavy canvas in a pattern simulating marble tile-just as the 1864 inventory of the

Hadwen House described it. It is well worth the stroll up Main Street to see the dramatic improvements made possible by these generous donors.

Above: Assistn11t Curator of Collectio11s Mnuree11 Dwyer putti11g the firebonrd in place i11 the jro11t parlor .

Left: Dorothy working 011 the reproductio11 jloor cloth for the front e11try hnll of the Hndwen House.

By Diane Ucd

Are You a Gardner, Swain, Winslow, Hussey, Wyer, or Joy?

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his summer the Curatorial Department is hard at work putting together next year's exhibition on Nantucket and the China Trade. They have had some wonderful luck uncovering rare paintings, furniture, and porcelains for the show, but their work is far from over. If you or your family arc descendants of any of the China traders listed below and have any information such as letters, journals, log books, etc., that describe contact with China between 1800 and 1870, or if you have any Chinese artifacts that came to Nantucket during that period, perhaps aboard the ships listed here, please contact Mike Jehle, Curator of Collections at (508) 228-1894. Next year's exhibition and catalogue-which will be traveling to off-island museums-can be enhanced with your help. Please spend an afternoon digging through that old trw1k in the attic and let us know what treasures you find.

Nantucket's China Traders: Joseph Winslow (1775-1829) Reuben Joy (1769-1853) Daniel Jones (1778-1848) Valentine Swain (1763-1812) John Swain (1781-1807) Jonathan Paddack (1770-1808) Daniel Whitney (1764-1814)

34

Ships to China Joseph Wyer (1764-1811) Amaziah Gardner (1763-1834) Paul Gardner (1755-1835) Francis Hussey (1781-1821) Louisa Cobb Thompson (1827-1858) Mary Coffin Nichols (1815-?)

Brig, Hope, 1790 Ship, Mnrs, 1800 Ship, Minerm, 1802 Ship, Lndy Adnms, 1802 Ship, Rose, 1803 Ship, Favorite, 1804 Brig, Elizn Ship, Ruby Ship, Limn

President's Report to the Membership I recently flew back to Nantucket, and as the clouds parted I peered out the window at our tiny island . I was struck with an overwhelming sense of pride and responsibility. The pride I felt was because this little spit of land holds so much history within her shores, has endured so much, and still holds steady, allowing us to create tomorrow's history. The responsibility I feel is our guardianship of the precious gifts Nantucket has bestowed upon us, and the knowledge that I am one of those guardians .... We all are.

As members of the Nantucket Historical Association we have a unique opportunity to truly feel involved in our past, present, and future. Our collections are magnificent, and thanks to dedicated

staff and generous members we have built the Museum Support Center to properly house these treasures. Now, we must make sure that we endow this project so that the future of the Museum Support Center will be secure.

Our properties are also important.

Some arc individually endowed, some are not. Through the hard work of Mike Jehle the Hadwen House is a must-see this year.

Through grants, generous individuals, and the help of the Friends, he was able to create a spectacular showcase. It can be done.

However, three other historical houses arc still to be considered.

We have four museums, no small number considering the size of our island' They are all important, for they help tell our story; but it takes money to keep them operational. By any definition, 1993 is a financially tight year. In order to balance this year's budget we had to defer maintenance on our buildings. Fortunately, trustees have come forward with "special

donMions" to help.

The Research Center has also been receiving grants, but I'm sure Jackie has a wish list! lf you haven't been there recently, stop by and discover its treasures.

If you agree with me that all these facets of the NHA are important, please pause and consider how you might help.

There are so many ways. I'm sure Laurie Champion, this year's Antiques Show chairperson, would gladly accept volunteers. You could encourage a friend to become a member, or suggest guests go through our properties. l could go on and on, but the message is clear: we the members are the backbone of this organization.

Nineteen-ninety four is our centennial year, and it is my hope that we will be on firm ground. With greater membership participation we can all seile the responsibility of guardianship and enter our next hundred years with pride. We must begin now.

NHA Financial Statement for 1992 (with comparative figures for 1990 and 1991) "In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Nantucket Historical Association as of December 31, 1992, and the results of its operations and

changes in fund balances and cash for the year then ended, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles."

Rodriques, Guckin & Tobojka, P.C.

OPERATING REVENUE & EXPENSES Public support and revenue: Public support: 1990 Gifts, grants & bequests $332,588 Annual appeal 69,708 Admissions and tours 259,932

1991

1992

$57,772 49,248 291,099

$49,066 59,642 341,557

398,119

450,265

80,825 76,895

70,765 67,902

2,395 28,033 88,586

(97) 55,373 108,755

324,369

276,734

302,698

Total support and re1.>enue 986,597 Expenses: Program services: Exhibition/Collections $198,830 Research Ccn ter 96,381 Property maintenance 403,642 Publications 26,308 Development 120,463 Interpretation Registrar Admin./ Unallocated 114,413 Depreciation 16,931 Interest expense 10,426

674,853

752,963

139,702 50,929 220,051 21,747 85,393 39,248 12,434 210,572 13,673 12,767

152,870 85,375 289,550 18,660 88,009 40,931 14,706 228,137 14,625 13,395

806,516

946,258

(797) (131,663)

(193,295)

Total public support 662,228 Revenue: Memberships dues $64,595 Investment income 98,024 Realized gain on investment transactions 1,355 Museum shop, net income 61,810 Miscellaneous 98,585 Toral Revemte

Total Surplus (deficit)

987,394

This year we are showing the operating fund accounts rather than the over-all total for all accounts. This gives a more accurate indication of the problems we are facing in the day-today business of running the Nantucket

Historical Association. Our biggest expense is for salaries. Salaries are included in many expense categories but the trend has been downward (from $597,955 in 1989 to $477,146 in 1992). The other major expense is for building maintenance. In the last three years, the NHA staff, with the help of many subcontractors, has completed major restoration projects (Oldest House, Hadwen House, Old Mill, etc.) But as one project is completed, two more appear. Nantucket's environment is hard on structures, and the need to properly maintain our 16 buildings is ongoing.

ADMISSION TOTALS Whaling Museum T. Macy Warehouse Hadwen House Oldest House Old Mill Greater Light 1800 House Research Center Peter Foulger Museum Macy-Christian House Fair Street Museum

Totals

1990

1991

1992

$48,696 23,324 11,707 10,849 7,032 5,041 3,776 567 closed closed #

49,906 19,912 11,014 9,028 5,262 3,017 2,875 1,017 4,183 closed #

54,205 20,907 9,707 11,321 6,894 closed closed 1134 5099 5707 N/A

110,992

106,214

114,974

Fair Street Museum reopened in 1992 with Artists Association of Nantucket's permanent collection on exhibit.

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In Recognition of Our Committed Supporters

FRIENDS OF THE NANTUCKET HISTO RICAL ASSOCIATION Mrs. Thomas H. Gosnell, President Mrs. Dwight E. Beman, Treasurer Mr. Earle M. Craig, Jr. Chair of Acquisitions Mr. & Mrs. Dwight E. Beman Mr. & Mrs. Max N . Berry Mr. Charles C. Butt Mr. & Mrs. Earle M. Craig, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. John W. Eckman Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Gosnell Mrs. Roy E. Larsen Mr. & Mrs. Seymour G. Mandell Mr. & Mrs. Richard L. Menschel Mr. & Mrs. Scott Newquist Mr. & Mrs. William B. Packer Dr. & Mrs. Frederic W. Pullen II Mr. & Mrs. H. Flint Ranney Mr. & Mrs. Thomas L. Rhodes Mr. & Mrs. Robert M. Rosenthal Mr. & Mrs. Richard M. Scaife Mrs. Gordon Smith Mr. & Mrs. Richard F. Tucker Mr. & Mrs. Joseph F. Welch Mr. & Mrs. John K. Whitney Mr. & Mrs. Bracebridge H. Young, Jr. The frimd s of the Nantucket Historical Association was (on11ei1 in 1986. Its purpose is to acquire, throug1, a poolins offinallnnl resources tmd caordillated effort, significnllthistoric artifacts, pernlitting the /lffiA to 5etter record mrd port my the isla11d's histon;. Recent acquisitions of the frimds call be viewed i11 the exhibition of the Peter foulger Museum, the Whali11g Museum, a11d the recently renovated Hadweu I louse ..

NHA LIFE BENEFACTORS

T HOMAS MACY ASSOCI ATES

Mrs. Loaine C. Arnold Mr. MichaelS. Bachman Mr. & Mrs. Dwight E. Beman Mr. & Mrs. Max N. Berry Mr. Charles C. Butt Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Champion Mr. Bruce A. Courson Mr. & Mrs. Earle M. Craig, Jr. Mr. Jerry Daub Ms. Suzanne Daub Mrs. Paul H. Dujardin Mr. Richard K. Earle Ms. Catherine G. Ebert Mr. Rober t 0. Ebert Mr. John W. Eckman Mrs. Charles E. Englehard Ms. Nancy A. Martin Evans Mr. Mark W. Fortenberry Mr. Fred Gardner Mr. & Mrs. CarlS. Gewirz Mrs. Lee B. Gillespie Mr. & Mrs. James K. Glidden Mr. & Mrs. Richard J. Glidden Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Gosnell Mr. & Mrs. Hudson Holland, Jr. Mr. Kris Larsen Mr. Joseph J. McLaughlin Mr. & Mrs. Alan Newhouse Mr. & Mrs. David M. Ogden Mr. & Mrs. H. Flint Ranney Mrs. Edgar Y. Seeler Mr. & Mrs. John K. Whitney Andrew E. Wise, M.D. Mr. Kenneth A. Wise Mrs. Bracebridgc H. Young Mr. 13racebridge H. Yow1g, Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. C. Marshall Beale Mrs. Evelyn E. Bromley Mr. Earle M. Craig, Jr. Mr. John H. Davis Mr. & Mrs. Richard A. Drucker Mr. & Mrs . John W. Eckman Mr. Robert A. Gambee CDR & Mrs. Maurice E. Gibbs Mr. & Mrs. Hamilton Heard, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. GeorgeS. Heyer Mr. & Mrs. Hudson Holland, Jr. Mr. Amos B. Hostetter, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. David Lilly Mrs. Edward W. Lombard Mr. & Mrs. H.ichard Lowry Mr. Edwin D. Meader Mrs. Carl M. Mueller Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce Nantucket Electric Company Pacific National Bank The Rotary Club of Nantucket Mr. & Mrs. William L. Slover Mr. & Mrs. George A. Snell Rev . Georgia Ann Snell Sun Island Delivery Mr. & Mrs. Richard F. Tucker Mr. Gregory Whitehead Mr. & Mrs. Roger A. Young

The members w/10 hnve supported the NliA with unsolicited C011tributio11s of$2,500 or greater.

36

Cmrtributed $1 ,000 or more duri11g the period frolll Apri/1992-Apri/1993.

Each of Nantucket Historical Association Is members is important to the Association and its commitment to preserve Nantucket Is precious heritage.

We wish to recognize those who have been particularly generous in their giving.

HADWEN CIRCLE Mr. & Mrs. W. S. Archibald Mrs. Deborah J. Bryan Congdon & Coleman Mr. & Mrs. Theodore L. Cross Mr. & Mrs. Gardiner Dutton Mr. & Mrs. James L. Dunlap Mr. & Mrs. George B. Gibbons Mr. & Mrs. Robert M. Haft Mr. & Mrs. James J. Hagan Mr. & Mrs. Robert B. Knutson Mrs. Roy Larsen Mr. & Mrs. Francisco A. Lorenzo Mr. & Mrs. John Lynch Mr. & Mrs. William B. Macomber Mr. & Mrs. Richard L. Menschel Mr. F. Bartlett Moore Mr. & Mrs. David P. Mosher Mr. & Mrs. T. Peter Pappas Mr. & Mrs. Charles W. Phillips Dr. & Mrs. Frederic W. Pullen II Mrs. L. William Seidman Mr. L. Dennis Shapiro Ms. Susan R. Shapiro Mr. Richard F. Smith Mr. & Mrs. James M. Stewart Mr. & Mrs. John Sussek Mr. & Mrs. E. K. Thrower Mr. & Mrs. F. Helmut Weymar Mr. & Mrs. Arnold A. Willcox Mrs. Bracebridge H. Young Contn.buted $500 to $999 during the period Apri/1992-Apri/1993.

CONTRIBUTORS Mr & Mrs. John F. Akers Mrs. Loaine C. Arnold Mr. Alan Atwood Mr. Alfred Bornemann Mr. & Mrs. Thomas R. Brome Mr. Colin Brown Mr. Charles C. Butt Mrs. Martha Carr Mr. & Mrs. James Chase Mr. & Mrs. Richard R. Congdon Mr. & Mrs. Granville E. Conway Mr. Joseph P. Donelan II Mrs. Paul H . Dujardin Mr. & Mrs. Otis W. Erisman Mr. Stuart Feld Mrs. J.R. Fletcher Mr. & Mrs. Frank B. Gilbreth Harbor Fuel Oil Corporation Mr. & Mrs. William H. Hays III Mrs. Nina S. Hellman Mr. & Mrs. Richard H. Hoff Mr. & Mrs. Brainerd Holmes Mr. Gene Horyn Mr. Thomas Kennelly Mr. & Mrs. Robert B. Knutson Dr. & Mrs. Jack M. Layton Mrs. Jill L. Leinback

Mr. & Mrs. Francis D. Lethbridge Mr . & Mrs. William R.J. Lothian Mr. & Mrs. Ian R. MacKenzie Mr. & Mrs. Allen Macomber Mrs. Barbara Malcolm W.B. Marden Co. Mr. & Mrs. Macdonald Mathey Mr. & Mrs. Donald F. McCullough Mr. & Mrs. Martin McKerrow Mr. Marlin Miller, Jr. Mr. Leeds Mitchell, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Robert F. Mooney Mrs. Henry A. Murray Mr. Peter W. Nash Mr. & Mrs. Scott Newquist Mr. & Mrs. John O'Connor Mr. C. Hardy Oliver Mr. & Mrs. Robert Patterson Mr. David B. Poor Mr. & Mrs. William M. Silverman Mr. & Mrs. Gilbert Snyder Mr. & Mrs. W.D. Stevens Mr. Richard Toohey Mr. & Mrs. William F. Wallace Mr. & Mrs. F. Jay Ward Mr . & Mrs. Henry A. Willard II Mrs. Joseph C. Woodle Mr. & Mrs. Robert C. Wright

Contributed $250 to $499 during tl1e period April1992 -Apri/1993.

The Tupancy-Harris Foundation of 1986 generously provides total support of the Thomas Macy House (99 Main Street).

The Foundation also provides curatorial housing and additional funding assistance to the NHA.

We believe the above lists of significant donors to the NHA to be accurate for the period 4/92 through 4/93. We apologize for any errors of omission or spelling. Please report discrepancies to the Executive Director.

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MUSEUM SUPPORT CENTER CAPITAL CAMPAIGN The Nantucket Historical Association wishes to recognize the extremely generous pledges or gifts we have received to build and endow the Museum Support Center as Phase One of its 1991-93 Capital Campaign. $300,000 or more Mrs. Thomas H. Gosnell $100,000 to $299,999 Allegheny Foundation* $50,000 to $99,999

$25,000 to $49,000

$5,000 to $9,999

Friends of the NHA Osceola FoundationTrustees: Mrs. C. Marshall Beale Mrs. C. Hardy Oliver Mrs. Barbara Beinecke Mr. Walter Beinecke III

Mr. Charles C. Butt Mr. and Mrs. Max N. Berry Mr. & Mrs. Hudson Holland, Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. William B. Macomber Mr. & Mrs. H. Flint Ranney Mrs. Edgar V. Seeler, Jr.

$10,000 to $24,000 $1,000 to $4,999 Mr. & Mrs. John W. Eckman Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Welch Tupancy-Harris Foundation of 1986 Mr. & Mrs. Richard F. Tucker

Gifts of $250 to $999 Mr. & Mrs. John F. Akers Mr. & Mrs. W. S. Archibald Mr. Bruce B. Bates Mr. & Mrs. C. Marshall Beale Mr. & Mrs. Robert H. Bolling Mrs. Martha A. Carr Congdon & Coleman Ins. Agency M.J. Levy-Dickson Mrs. Edgar G. Feder Mr. Joseph Starbuck Freeman CDR Maurice E. Gibbs Mr. Walter Hayes Mr. & Mrs. Richard H. Hoff Mr. & Mrs. Robert B. Knutson Mrs. J. C. Lathrop Mr. & Mrs. Francisco A. Lorenzo Mr. Joseph J. McLaughlin Mrs. Barbara H. Malcolm

Mr. Edwin E. Meader Mrs. Paul Mellon Mr. Leeds Mitchell, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Norman Lac Olsen Ms. Karen C. Schwenk Mr. & Mrs. Robert M. Scott Mr. L. William Seidman Mr. & Mrs. Thomas F. Shannon Mr. L. Dennis Shapiro Mr. & Mrs. Robert B. Shetterly Mr. & Mrs. Gordon Smith Mr. & Mrs. James M. Stewart Mr. Stephen Swift Tonkins of Nantucket Thomas Turner Chapter, S.A.R. Mrs. John H. Wallace Mrs. Richard J. Walsh

Mr. Walter Beinecke, Jr. Mr. Earle M. Craig, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Peter A. Goldstein Mr. & Mrs. Arthur Gosnell Mr. & Mrs. Walker Groetzinger Mr. & Mrs. William H. Hays III Nina and Robert Hellman Mr. & Mrs. David S. Howe Nantucket Rotary Club Mr. & Mrs. Scott C. Newquist Mr. & Mrs. V. Henry O'Neill Mrs. Richard A. Prate!

Mr. & Mrs. Daniel M . Reid Mr. & Mrs. Robert M. Rosenthal Mr. & Mrs. Thomas M. Taylor Mr. & Mrs. F. Helmut Weymar Mr. & Mrs. Paul A. Wolf, Jr. Mrs. Bracebridge H. Young Mr. Roger A. Young

*The Allegheny Foundation has generously provided funds for all interior storage equipment.

We believe the above listed donor record to be accurate through April1993. Please report any discrepancies for update in future issues. For more information on this important effort to correct the serious problems of collection, preservation, and storage, please contact the Executive Director.

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Survey Results A word of gratitude to all those who took the time and paid for the postage to return the readership survey that appeared in ou r spring issue. By the time we wen t to press, which was late May, almost ha lf of our membership had responded. Each questionnaire was read by Diane Ucci and results were tabulated by our faithful vo lunteer, Billie Barrows. The purpose of the survey was to ascertain the level of satisfaction with Historic Nantucket and how we could better meet your needs and interests. It was exhilarating to find that almost half our membership reads a ll or most of the magazine to learn more about Nantucket's history, and finds the design, content, and writing of consistent ly high quality. Varying issues both with and without themes was favored by the majority, which were people over fifty who have been receiving the publication for five years or more. There was an even distribution of gender response, and the primary reason for becoming a memb er was to support the mission of the Association.

Overall, there was a high degree of sa tisfaction with the publication. One reader said,"Yours is a most interesting and truthful account of Nantucket's fascinating history, especially her whalin g years.

More power to yo u! " A more detailed report on the survey will appear in the fall issue when the remainder of th e results has been compiled.

For the completi011 of Bobby Mnlnmse's sen>ice project for the Engle Scout ranking, Boy Scout Troop 97 came out this spring and spruced up the grou nds at the Old Mill. Featured in the foreground is parent Polunteer Dr. Timothy Lepore, then Bobby Mn/apnse mtd Assistant Scout Lender Rick Hillger, all hard at work.

By Diane Ucci

Up &Coming July 2 Open House and Reception for the public at the Hadwen House from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., prese nted by th e NHA and the Nantucket Garden Club.

Whales' Teeth Sitting Pretty When you visit the scrimshaw room at the Whaling Museum this summer be sure to take a closer look at the whales ' teeth.

They are newly secured in mahogany and walnut stands that were donated by trustee Nancy A. Chase. Nancy, a talented scrimshaw artist, had the stands made

by Scott Marks, who has worked with her for over twenty years. The new, finely crafted stands allow the whales' teeth to be displayed more prominently, and we appreciate Nancy's generosity in making this possible.

August 12

Annual August Antiques Show Preview Party, from 5 p.m. to 8 p .m. at the Nantucket High School.

July 13 Annual Meeting and Recognition Event at 4 p .m. at the Museum Support Center on Bartlett Road, followed by the Summer Party.

August 13-15 Annual Augu st Antiques Show

September 6 Hours at historic sites change: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. ; no more evening hours at the Thomas Macy Warehouse

August 9

Annual Antiques Show lecture by John Wilmerding, Sarofin Professor of Art and Chairman of the Department of Art and Archeology at Princeton University and Visiting Curator at the Henry R. Luce Center for the Study of American Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Time and place to be announced.

Corrigenda In the spring issue, H. Flint Ranney was inadvertently omitted from the NHA Board of Trustees list. Mrs. John A. Lodge was incorrectly listed as a trustee; she is an advisor.

39

THE MUSEUM SHOP

The 1993summer season marks the fifth anniversary of the Thomas Macy Warehouse, a museum that provides an introduction to Nantucket's history. Located just where Straight Wharf begins, the old brick facade and massive doors pique the interest of the passerby, and curiosity is satisfied with the first display-a relief map that shows the formation of the island by the glacier and the intense erosion patterns that constantly beset its shores. Elsewhere in the museum, by means of a diorama, photographs, and crafts demonstrations, the journey from Nantucket's whaling days to the glories of summering unfolds.

This year the Museum Shop will set up a small display of items for sale at the Thomas Macy Warehouse that will coincide with the museum's theme of Nantucket history. Stoneground cornmeal from the windmill, candles dipped on island, beach plum and cranberry jams and jellies are among the items that will be available to visitors at the Museum of Nantucket History. If you haven't had a chance to visit the Thomas Macy Warehouse, we hope to see you there. If you have been in recently, come by again and bring a friend to share the museum's treasures.

The Museum Shop Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-century Reproductions and Adaptations Featuring Fine China, Furniture, Brass, and Silver Adjacent to the Whaling Museum, Nantucket (508)-228-5785 Members of the Historical Association are entitled to a 10% discount upon presenting their membership card .