The Muse
Newsletter of the Slater Memorial Museum Spring 2009
Frances Manwaring Caulkins Historian of Norwich This April, the New London County Historical Society will launch the re-publication of Frances Manwaring Caulkins’ seminal History of Norwich, Connecticut, originally published in 1845 and expanded twenty years later. The full title of the book is History of Norwich, Connecticut: From its Possession by the Indians, to the Year 1866, and the Historical Society is capitalizing on the 350th anniversary of the establishment of Norwich through its purchase from the Mohegan
Frances Manwaring Caulkins, John Denison Crocker (1822-1907), oil on canvas, circa 1830, Collection of the Faith Trumbull Chapter, DAR
Tribe. The Slater Museum is pleased to support the effort by providing the image that will form the book’s new jacket. It is John Denison Crocker’s Norwich Harbor. This will not be the first reprinting or re-issue of Caulkins’ useful book. The daughter of Joshua and Fanny Manwaring Caulkins, Frances Manwaring Caulkins was born in New London in 1795 and died there in 1869. She also wrote a History of New London County. Before her death, she was working on an update to the Norwich history. With the help of information from Norwich City Directory publisher John W. Stedman, the re-release contained additional pages characterized as a memoir of the author. To the contemporary eye, 19th century “memoirs” appear more tributes than pure recollections. Thus, Frances Manwaring Caulkins seems sainted in the memoir. Nevertheless, there is factual gold to be found in the additional pages. Her ancestors had been among the first settlers of the Plimoth Massachusetts Colony. The family name, since its early English origins, has been spelled many different ways, including: Calken, Cauken, Colkin, Gookings Cawking, Calkin and, of course, Caulkins. Her earliest ancestor in South Eastern Connecticut was Hugh Calkin, who, after arriving in New London, settled in what is now Norwich sometime between 1658 and 1660, just about the time the town was targeted for purchase from the Pequots by John Mason. Hugh Calkin is purported to be buried here in the Old Burying Ground. (Continued on page 3)
A Message from the Director Spring is perhaps the most gratifying time of year. You’ve made it through the most challenging time in New England (although there surely are those who would claim summer is even more so). All around, the world is refreshing itself and the City’s historic sites and groups are readying themselves for the celebration of Norwich’s 350th Anniversary. To honor this great event and after the success and overwhelmingly positive reception of Crocker’s Norwich: The Long Nineteenth Century, the Slater Museum staff is working to present The Eleanor’s Grand Tour: Around the World with William and Ellen, a new permanent exhibition in the Sears Gallery. Our hope, also, is to present a new temporary exhibition in autumn to continue the marking of the Semiseptcentennial an more on this will come in another issue. So stay tuned ….
Upcoming Exhibitions, Programs and Events
April 25, 2009 Friends of Slater Museum Annual Spring Bus Trip in Collaboration with the Friends of Otis LIbrary: Travel with us to the New Britain Museum of American Art and see a new exhibition of Hudson River School, paintings on loan from the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Details available on page 6 and at www.slatermuseum.org. April 26, 2009, 11:00 a.m. Friends of Slater Museum Annual Meeting Brunch: Speaker Robert Shure, sculptor and proprietor of Giust Caproni Skylight Studio will speak on the conservation of the Slater’s Cast collection. Look for your invitation in the mail or call 860-425-5563 The Muse is published up to four times yearly for the members of The Friends of the Slater Memorial Museum. The museum is located at 108 Crescent Street, Norwich, CT 06360. It is part of The Norwich Free Academy, 305 Broadway, Norwich, CT 06360. Museum main telephone number: (860) 887-2506. Visit us on the web at www.slatermuseum.org. Museum Director – Vivian F. Zoë Newsletter editor – Geoff Serra Contributing authors: Vivian Zoë, Leigh Smead and Patricia Flahive Photographers: Leigh Smead, Vivian Zoë The president of the Friends of the Slater Memorial Museum: Patricia Flahive The Norwich Free Academy Board of Trustees: Steven L. Bokoff ’72, Chair Jeremy D. Booty ‘74 Richard DesRoches * Abby I. Dolliver ‘71 Lee-Ann Gomes ‘82, Treasurer Thomas M. Griffin ‘70, Secretary Thomas Hammond ‘75 Theodore N. Phillips ’74 Robert A. Staley ’68 Dr. Mark E. Tramontozzi ’76 David A. Whitehead ’78, Vice Chair *Museum collections committee The Norwich Free Academy does not discriminate in its educational programs, services or employment on the basis of race, religion, gender, national origin, color, handicapping condition, age, marital status or sexual orientation. This is in accordance with Title VI, Title VII, Title IX and other civil rights or discrimination issues; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991.
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for these, she studied and enjoyed the acquisition of languages, teaching herself to read German and Italian. She studied Latin under Reverend Levi Nelson, of Lisbon, originally of the Massachusetts Missionary Society. Miss Caulkins lived in New York for a short time and took advantage of the opportunity to study there under political exile, Piero Maroncelli. As a young woman, Caulkins lived for seven years in New London with her uncle, Christopher Manwaring, at which time she began to write local newspaper articles about historical people and events in the area. The first may have been for the Connecticut Gazette in 1816 about “The Hero of New Orleans,”Andrew Jackson, who, in the previous year had successfully led the American troops against the British during The War of 1812. The death of her stepfather left the family destitute, so Frances became a schoolteacher to help with finances. From 1820 to 1829 and from 1832 to 1834 she ran a girls’ school in Norwichtown under the direction of Reverend Joshua L. Williams of Middletown; from 1830 to 1832 she was a principal in New London. Later, she lived with relatives writing and doing evangelical work.
Norwich Harbor, John Denison Crocker (18221907), oil on canvas, circa 1873 Collection of the Slater Museum
The Manwaring side of Frances’ American ancestry goes back to the New London of around 1664. The name may have had Gallic roots, originating as “Mesnilwarin” and they may have come via Newfoundland to New England. By 1873, there was still family-owned property on Long Island Sound. Frances’ mother, Fanny, was at nineteen a very young widow with two children, and as a result, remained in the home of her father to raise her children. It is fascinating that Frances’ ancestry also made her a distant relative of John Denison Crocker, through both the Crocker and Denison lines. Crocker would paint her portrait, which now graces the parlor walls of the Rockwell House of the Faith Trumbull Chapter of the DAR in Norwich.
Beginning in the 1830s, and continuing for 30 years, she published through the American Tract Society. The Child's Hymn Book (1835), Children of the Bible: as Examples and as Warnings (1842), Eve and Her Daughters of Holy Writ (1861), and The Bible Primer (1854), also issued under the title Youth's Bible Studies, are examples of her religious educational work. Caulkins gave brief practical lessons, using question-and-answer techniques, narrative, and inspirational material, to address the student seeking "self-cultivation." She deliberately omitted "what is bulky, heavy or wearisome" and employed Biblical texts rather than commentaries.
Frances Manwaring Caulkins was the first woman elected to become a member of the oldest historical society in the United States, the Massachusetts Historical Society and was nominated as corresponding secretary of it on March 29, 1849. Even as a schoolgirl, she was fascinated with historical and genealogical research. Beginning at the age of sixteen, she studied under Lydia Huntley (Sigourney) and Nancy M. Hyde. Sigourney was a Norwich native who, after marriage, lived in Hartford and became a noted poet. In her work, Caulkins applied the greatest attention to the religious education of young people and local history. In addition to an early affinity
Caulkins' most notable achievements as a writer, however, came in the area of local history. She wrote first The History of Norwich, Connecticut, from Its Settlement in 1660 to January, 1845 and The History of New London, Connecticut (1852), with a second edition continuing to 1860. As a result of the publication of these and other
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lationships with the English settlers. In her view, "the providence of God" had prepared the way for peaceable settlement, and as she saw it, the tribes, weakened by conflict, eagerly sought new allies in the European settlers. Though sympathetic, her perspective of the Indians is at times condescending, stressing what she viewed as their dependent qualities. She underscores what she sees as the paternalistic concern of Norwich leaders for the Indians, a sort of White Man’s Burden of the colonizing populations. In her writing, Caulkins emphasized the early religious focus of town life, the decline of fervor in the late 17th century, and the impact of the 18thcentury Great Awakening. She stressed the work of William Tennent, John Davenport, and George Whitefield, celebrating revivalism while arguing against church division and separatism. She also noted in New London the role of the Rogerene sect, typical of religious extremists in their "determination to be persecuted." Dr. William Buell Sprague, Samuel Morse (17911872), oil on board, 1834 Collection of the Slater Museum
works, including The Tract Primer (circa 1848); Memoir of the Rev. William Adams, of Dedham, Mass., and of the Rev. Eliphalet Adams, of New London, Conn., and Their Descendants, with the Journal of William Adams, 1666-1682 (1849); Bride Brook, A Legend of New London, Connecticut (1852); Ye Antient Buriall Place of New London, Conn. (1899); and The Stone Records of Groton (edited by E. S. Gilman, 1903, Caulkins gained the respect and friendship of other, mostly male, authors and clergy of the day. An example is her contemporary William Buell Sprague (1795-1876), a Congregational and Presbyterian clergyman and compiler of Annals of the American Pulpit. Coincidentally, Sprague was related to Hannah Dodge, Slater Museum’s director from 1925 to 1963. Uncharacteristic of most European-descended writers and historians, and certainly unlike her male counterparts, Caulkins included penetrating, serious and respectful examination of the local Indian tribes, their leadership conflicts, and their re-
John Davenport, artist unknown, oil on canvas, n.d.
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from Captain Mason and those who had fought the Pequots, they came south. George Whitefield was born at the Bell Inn, Southgate Street, Gloucester, England. Famous for his preaching in America, Whitefield became an influential figure in the establishment of Methodism contributed greatly to the widespread 18th century movement of Christian revivals in New England, sometimes called “The Great Awakening.” While her primary focus is on political and religious history, Caulkins also has a sound grasp of local, social, and economic history. She noted the close hold on town leadership by descendants of the early town fathers, a topic that could be argued today. Her history of New London concentrated on the pre-1815 period, including the expansion of the whaling industry in the 19th century. The Norwich history focuses heavily on her own era and 19th century events, including the expansion of manufacturing in Norwich and surrounding towns. Caulkins elaborates on Norwich’s roles in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. George Whitefield, Elisha Gallaudet, Sculptor, 1770
Her history of New London has been described as being of more local interest, than that of Norwich, which is seen as more global in perspective. In both, however, Caulkins takes the view that events of local history "illustrate classes of men and ages of time." Her work is infused with the sensibility of her era and, some might say, her
William Tennent was a pious evangelical preacher who nevertheless owned three slaves at the time of his death. The Reverend John Davenport was a founder of the town of New Haven and had been the Vicar of Saint Stephen's in London. He had left England for Holland in 1633, but the fear that his parishioners would stray from their beliefs and his communications with Reverend John Cotton, whose accounts of New England were exciting, provoked Davenport to return to England. He joined Theophilus Eaton on a business venture to establish a plantation with a good harbor for shipping and at the same time to allow the unrestricted practice of their religious beliefs. Many of his parishioners came with him and are consider by some scholars to have been the wealthiest group of merchants to come to any New England settlement before 1660. Attempting to avoid raging scandals in Boston, and having learned of southern Connecticut, probably
Cedar Grove Cemetary entrance, New London
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Cast Conservation Updaate Robert Shure’s work has progressed apace on the conservation of the priority casts. Recently, Bob returned Eros, whose broken parts were seamlessly repaired and new pedestal base was fabricated to ensure enough barrier space between viewers and the piece. Standing Youth received a back brace to support his weight and keep his ankles from fracturing. In addition, he received 1/4” steel threaded rods in his ankles. The Boxer’s toes were re-created and attached as well. Perhaps most exciting was the repair of the miniature
Bob Shure’s team reinstalls the Slater Museum’s model of the pediment of the Parthenon. The original miniature model of the pediment of the Parthenon. craftsmen who built the wooden pedestals and exhibitry
clearly never dreamed their work would need to be deinstalled. They had built the triangular wooden pediment frame and bolted it to the front of the larger pedestal for the full-sized Parthenon cast figures. They then assembled the miniature figures and glued them into the pediment frame. In order to remove the assemblage, Bob and his crew had to carefully remove fragile figures and unbolt the frame. Next, they wrapped the tiny pieces and frame and whisked them to the studio in Woburn, Massachusetts. There, they re-created lost and damaged heads and limbs, re-patinated the entire group and re-installed them into the repaired and restored frame. Bob created a new system for hanging the model on the front of the large base. One half of a two-part “z”cleat, like those used to install kitchen cabinets, was bolted to the front of the pedestal, the other was attached to the solid back of the model’s frame. Thus, it was easy to “hang” the model in its original place and will be relatively easy to remove it should it be needed in the future. Funded in part by the Langrock Foundation, the work continues and is nearly complete.
Collections Assessment Grant Received The Slater Museum received a grant from Heritage Preservation in collaboration with the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a private/federal partnership, to engage a consultant to review work done by staff on a collections policy for the museum. In addition, the consultant will review and help develop procedures for emergency planning, mitigation and response. The collections assessment looks at ten preservation risks that affect all types of collections including light, temperature, relative humidity, security, custodial oversight, pests, pollutants, physical risks, recognizing and applauding good practices and providing recommendations to strengthen areas that are ready to reach to the next level of professional standards of practice. A collections policy is a standard document that all museums must adopt to guide its acquisitions and care of objects. Issues that are treated in such a document include the types of objects the museum will seek and retain and by what standards and through what processes it will both acquire and de-accession objects. The Slater has been in need of such a guiding document for some time. This effort will bring the museum closer to its goal of becoming accredited by the American Association of Museums. We are grateful to heritage preservation and IMLS for its continued support. For the consultancy, the Slater has engaged Alexandra Allardt of ArtCare Resources of Newport, Rhode Island. Alexandra completed the monumental and very productive condition assessment of the Slater’s cast collection as well as other conservation treatment projects, so she is very familiar with the museum and will be a welcome sight back on site for a few days in April.
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Friends of Slater Spring Bus Trip The New Britain Museum of American Art Saturday, April 25, 2009 10:45 am - Norwich: Depart Commuter Parking Lot at Exit 80 off I-395 We plan to arrive in New Britain at 11:45 am and will depart promptly at 3:45 pm. The bus will deliver passengers to Norwich by 4:45 pm. The Parthenon, Frederic Edwin Church, 1871, oil on canvas, collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, now on view at the New Britain Museum of American Art
RESERVATIONS MUST BE MADE NO LATER THAN APRIL 12, 2009
Now on View at the NBMAA Hudson River School Paintings from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Large-scale and dynamic describe the selections from the Met’s American collections and include masterpieces by Hudson River School artists Frederic Church (1826-1900), Asher B. Durand (1796-1886), George Inness (1825-1894) and John Frederick Kensett (1816-1872). The exhibition includes Church’s The Parthenon, Durand’s High Point: Shandaken Mountains, Inness’s Delaware Water Gap, and Kensett’s Sunset on the Sea, Hudson River Scene and Eaton’s Neck, Long Island, all of which impeccably capture the veracity of American landscapes. Accompanying the selection of Hudson River School paintings is the masterpiece Harvest Scene, by Winslow Homer (1836-1910), the leading 19th-century genre painter. Also on view are the exhibitions The Eight and American Modernisms and NEW/NOW The Amalgamate: Nicole Duennebier. Please visit www.slatermuseum.org for full details. Yes! Please reserve my seat: Number of Museum & Library Members: ________ x $70 per person = $_______________ Number of Non-Museum & Library Members: ________ x $80 per person = $_______________ Total Enclosed = $_______________ Fee includes transportation, admission to museums, and a box lunch. Please indicate lunch preferences for each participant: ___ Vegetarian ___ Roast Beef
___ Tuna
___ Tuna
___ Ham & Swiss
NAME(s)________________________________________________________________________ ADDRESS_______________________________________________________________________ *For our records and to confirm the reservation, please list one address and contact phone number. CITY___________________________________________________________________________ STATE/ZIP_________________________TELEPHONE: (DAY)_________________________ Detach completed form and mail to: Friends of Slater • 108 Crescent Street • Norwich, CT 06360 Please make checks payable to “Friends of Slater Museum”
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gender, is evident in the occasional romanticizing of history. Her piety and interest in youth and education are examples of her frequently described, particularly in the “Memoir” written by Henry P. Haven, generosity and “accountability to God.”
of Norwich Connecticut From its possession by the Indians to 1866, Friends of the Author, Norwich CT, 1874 McCormick, Meaghan S., The Great Awakening and Its Effect on the Society and Religion of the Connecticut River Valley, Longmeadow Historical Society (date?)
Frances Manwaring Caulkins’ funeral was an event attended by hundreds, and she was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in New London. She had written a poem nearly two decades earlier for its consecration.
____________ Norwich Bulletin, Norwich, February 4, 1869 Scanlon, Jennifer, Sharon Cosner, American Women Historians, 1700s - 1900s, A Biographical Dictionary, Greenwood Publishing Group, Santa Barbara, 1996
Sources: Caulkins, Frances Manwaring, The History of New London, Connecticut, New London, 1860
www.Ancestry.com www.calkin.co.uk
Haven, Henry P. A Brief Sketch of the Life of the Author in Caulkins, Frances Manwaring; History
Annual Juried Show Pleases
the artist’s handling of materials, subject and presentation. One of the most difficult concepts to deal with in jurying an exhibition of this type, is the reality of paring 300 or so works down to a manageable exhibition of 130. It was not my job to select only high quality mature artworks representative of every medium, but my task as a juror is to create, as much as is possible, a cohesive exhibition that hangs well together. Inevitably, in this process, high quality, deserving works of art will be juried out. I chose those works that I felt made the best exhibition as a whole.”
The 66th Annual Connecticut Artists Juried Exhibition opened Sunday, February 22, attracting record crowds. At least 300 people were counted, with most staying for the entire two-hour event … and several beyond! The show was juried by Ron Crusan, a Waterford resident who served as director of the Lyman Allyn Museum in New London and is himself a working artist. Ron studied Humanities at Old Dominion University in Virginia and photography and studio art, with a minor in Art History at St. Vincent College in Pennsylvania.
The opening reception also produced several sales for the artists; unprecedented in the past decade.
His choices for prizes were Harvee Riggs of Guilford, first place for Show Time; Lori Warner of Lyme, second place for A Tender Craft; Terry Lennox of Hamden, third place for Lucia in May. In addition, Ron Crusan awarded three honorable mentions as follow: Garnet Wrigley of Norwich for American Family; Barbara Scavotto-Early of Enfield for Yesterday and Arthur Guagliumi of Northford for Laceration. About his work selecting work for the show, Ron said “First, let me tell all of those who entered work for the exhibition, how impressed I was with the overall quality of the work. In every medium, there were excellent examples of proficiency in
Visitors enjoy the opening reception of the 66th Annual Connecticut Artists Juried Show
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The Capture of Miantonomo is Returned Feuding between the Pequots, Narragansetts and Mohegans had preceded European settlement, but was complicated and exacerbated by the presence of the English. Some accounts of this encounter credit the Mohegan brave Tantaguidgin with the capture of Miantonomo, some the Pequot Sachem Uncas. The Capture of Miantonomo is inspired by the American narrative paintings of the West, reminiscent of Albert Bierstadt. In its historical The Capture of Miantonomo, John Denison Crocker (1822-1907), oil on canvas, circa 1873 value to southeastern Collection of the Slater Museum Connecticut, the state and the region, Crocker’s work John Denison Crocker’s The Capture of Miantonomo, can be likened to that of Benjamin West, Thomas Cole originally planned to be installed and on display for and Frederic Church. William Slater was a collector the opening of the new Crocker’s Norwich exhibition, of Native American artifacts and his interest in this was damaged during installation. It was immediately aboriginal history of Connecticut may have led him sent to conservators in New Haven for repair and the to commission this work by Crocker. restoration work is brilliant. The painting now graces the largest wall in a central and appropriate position Conservators Patty Garland and Steven Kornhauser in the exhibition. of the Yale Art Gallery and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, respectively, performed the work. In The painting, an oil on canvas, was from the estate of order to ensure complete restoration of the image, they William A. Slater and depicts an historical legend of removed old, yellowed varnish and lined the fragile great significance to several Native American tribes canvas to support it. In addition, the frame needed of Eastern Connecticut and Rhode Island. restoration and was sent to another conservator for that work. Painted more than two hundred years after the event of 1643, the picture tells a great deal about the nineteenth century image of native peoples. Our Members are our Friends! Miantonomo, the Narragansett Sachem (chieftain) is If you have a question, comment or suggesdepicted armored or padded to protect him from his tion, we want to hear from you! ultimate fate of murder by members of the Mohegan tribe. His costume may also reflect a 17th century Please call 425-5561 or email English perception of American Indians and the smeadl@norwichfreeacademy.com and tell manner in which they were represented in English us how we can serve you better. books and journals.
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THE NORWICH ART SCHOOL’S 115TH CHILDREN’S EXHIBTION April 11 - May 6, 2009 Opening Reception: April 19, 1 - 3 p.m. THE 119TH NORWICH ART SCHOOL STUDENT EXHIBITION May 15 - June 7 Opening Reception: May 15, 7 - 9 p.m.
Self Portrait, Meghan Norica, 7th grade
These seperate exhibits will features art works by Academy students who were enrolled in the numerous art courses that were offered during the academic school year. Paintings, drawings, prints and mixed media pieces, photography and graphic designs, sculpture, clay objects, metal and jewelry creations, and wood working projects are displayed in conjunction with pieces that feature works by students who major in the school’s Fine Arts Program.