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Essex  Institute  Annual  Report 
April  1,  1972  -  March  31,  1973 

OFFICERS 

David  P.  Wheatland  (1955),  President 
Charles  S.  Tapley  (1949),  Vice-President 
Albert  Goodhue  (1954),  Secretary 
Edward  H.  Osgood  (1969),  Treasurer 


COUNCIL 


Term  expires  1974 
Mrs.  Bertram  K.  Little  (1959) 
Willoughby  I.  Stuart  (1971) 
Charles  S.  Tapley  (1949) 

Peter  B.  Seamans  (1972) 

Term  expires  197s 
Moses  Alpers  (1970) 

Edward  C.  Johnson,  3rd  (1967) 
Richard  S.  West  (1967) 

David  P.  Wheatland  (1955) 


Term  expires  1976 
Mrs.  W.  Benjamin  Bacon  (1972) 
W.  Hammond  Bowden  (1955) 
Robert  W.  Lovett  (1970) 
Andrew  Oliver  (1971) 

*Robert  S.  Pirie 

Term  expires  1977 
J.  Sanger  Attwill  (1953) 

Sargent  Bradlee  (1970) 

Ernest  S.  Dodge  (1951) 

James  R.  Hammond  (1968) 


Ex  Officio 

Mrs.  James  A.  Marsh,  Chairman,  Ladies  Committee  (October  1971 ) 
Dates  after  names  indicate  original  election  to  the  Council. 


*  Elected  May  15,  1973 


307 


308 


ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 


STANDING  COMMITTEES 


LADIES 

Mrs.  James  A.  Marsh,  Chairman 


FINANCE 

Willoughby  I.  Stuart,  Chairman  Edward  C.  Johnson,  3rd 
Edward  H.  Osgood  David  P.  Wheatland 


MUSEUM 

(June-October  1972) 

J.  Sanger  Attwill,  Chairman 
Moses  Alpers 
Mrs.  John  Hand 
James  R.  Hammond 
Edward  C.  Johnson,  3rd 
Mrs.  B.  K.  Little 
Sargent  Bradlee 
William  B.  Osgood 
Richard  S.  West 

LIBRARY 

Robert  W.  Lovett,  Chairman  Benjamin  W.  Labaree 

W.  Hammond  Bowden  Kenneth  B.  Murdock 

Sargent  Bradlee  Charles  S.  Tapley 

David  P.  Wheatland 


MUSEUM 

(October  1972  -  June  1973) 

J.  Sanger  Attwill,  Chairman 
Sargent  Bradlee 
Albert  Goodhue 
Edward  C.  Johnson,  3rd 
Peter  B.  Seamans 
Edward  H.  Osgood,  ex  officio 
David  B.  Little,  ex  officio 


PUBLICATIONS 

W.  Hammond  Bowden,  Chairman  Kenneth  B.  Murdock 
Ernest  S.  Dodge  Robert  W.  Lovett 

Andrew  Oliver  (September  1972) 


MAINTENANCE 

James  R.  Hammond,  Chairman  Albert  Goodhue 

Ray  K.  Moore 


HONORARY  CURATORS 


Honorary  Curator  of  Silver 
Honorary  Curator  of  Coins 
Honorary  Curator  of  Costumes 
Honorary  Curator  of  Dolls 

Honorary  Curator  of  Essex  County 
History 


Martha  Gandy  Fales 
Lea  S.  Luquer 
John  R.  Burbidge 
Madeline  O.  Merrill 
Samuel  Chamberlain 


ANNUAL  REPORT  1972-1973 


309 


STAFF 


David  B.  Little,  Director  and  Managing  Editor 


LIBRARY 

Mrs.  Charles  A.  Potter 
Librarian 

Miss  Mary  M.  Ritchie 
Assistant  Librarian 
Mrs.  Arthur  R.  Norton 
Reference  Librarian 
Mrs.  Thomas  L.  Haggerty,  Jr. 
Manuscript  Librarian 

*  f  Miss  Judith  F.  Beston 

*  f  Miss  Mary  Elizabeth  Copeland 

Miss  Susan  Frisch 
Library  Assistants 
*j*  Christopher  Hassell 
Library  Page 

EDUCATION 

Miss  Mary  Larsen 

MAINTENANCE 

Ray  K.  Moore 
Superintendent 
Wilfred  J.  Pelletier 

Assistant  to  Superintendent 
Mrs.  Robert  J.  Beechey,  Sr.1 

Housekeeper 
Mrs.  William  Cook2 
Assistant  Housekeeper 
Mrs.  Gregory  Angelopolus3 
Mrs.  Caroline  A.  Gagnon4 
Housekeepers 

*  Leonard  A.  Carr5 

*  George  R.  Crowdis 

*  Wallace  L.  Henshaw6 
Richard  H.  Kiely7 
Edward  G.  Leonard8 

*  Reginald  M.  Mclntire9 

*  Leon  Morency10 
Harold  J.  Shallow11 

Constables 

MUSEUM 

*  Mrs.  Gilbert  R.  Payson 

Curator 

*  Mrs.  John  Hassell 

Registrar 


Robert  Egleston 

*  John  Hardy  Wright 

Assistant  Curators 

*  Mrs.  Emerson  H.  Lalone 

Assistant  to  the  Curator 

*  Miss  Mary  Huntley 

Assistant  to  the  Registrar 

*  Miss  Mary  Silver  Smith 

Museum  Assistant 

*  f  Miss  Anne  Farnam 

Textile  Researcher 
*f  Mrs.  Gerald  R.  Ward 

Boston  University  American 
Studies  Scholar 

*  Mrs.  Montgomery  Merrill 

*  Mrs.  Ray  K.  Moore 

*  f  Miss  Polly  Roberts 

*  j  Miss  Beth  Carver 
*f  Miss  Ellen  Shrigley 
*f  Mrs.  John  Carr 

*f  John  Carr 
*f  David  Gavenda 
*f  Charles  David  Todd 
House  Guides 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  H.  Gibson,  Jr. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Donald  F.  Hunt 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ray  K.  Moore 
House  Custodians 

ADMINISTRATION 

Charles  A.  Steward12 
Administrator 
Miss  Kathryn  Burke 
Assistant  Treasurer 
Mrs.  M.  K.  Cunningham 
Administrative  Secretary 

*  Mrs.  Irving  J.  Duffy 

Office  Manager 

*  Mrs.  Hugh  Nelson 

Mrs.  D.  Randall  Williams 
Administrative  Assistants 

*  Rev.  David  W.  Norton13 

Supervisor  on  weekends 


*  Part-time 
t  Temporary 

1.  Taken  ill  July  3,  1972; 
died,  May  29,  1973 

2.  Resigned  October  1972 

3.  August  8,  1972  -  June  8,  1973 


4.  August  8,  1972 

5.  October  10,  1972 

6.  Resigned  June  1972 

7.  Resigned  September  30,  1972 

8.  Resigned  August  1972 

9.  June  6,  1972 


10.  Resigned  June  10,  1972 

11.  October  3,  1972 

12.  January  1,  1973 

13.  October  1,  1972 


The  following  reports  were  read  at  the  Annual  Meeting,  May  15, 1973.  The  President 
and  the  Curator  illustrated  their  talks  with  slides.  They,  along  with  the  Librarian  and 
Miss  Larsen,  have  revised  their  texts,  but  not  their  messages,  for  publication. 


REPORT  OF  THE  PRESIDENT 

It  has  been  very  active  again  at  the  Institute  this  year;  however,  I 
would  like  to  go  back  a  few  years  and  call  attention  to  the  tremen¬ 
dous  improvements  that  have  been  made  possible  by  the  completion  in 
1967  of  the  new  construction  accomplished  by  the  magnificent  efforts 
of  Dean  Fales  and  Albie  Goodhue.  It  has  been  only  six  years,  yet  the 
library  has  been  thinned  out  and  rearranged,  so  now  everything  is 
readily  accessible,  and  even  many  rare  and  valuable  items  were  uncov¬ 
ered.  From  the  generous  Margaret  H.  Jewell  Bequest,  funds  were  avail¬ 
able  to  make  other  improvements.  For  the  past  two  years  or  so,  the  attic 
in  Daland  House  (the  library  building)  was  being  renovated,  a  mile  of 
bookshelves  installed  and  partly  filled.  Also,  a  booklift  that  runs  from 
the  basement  to  all  five  floors  was  added.  This  device  is  literally  an 
essential  one. 

We  have,  over  the  period,  frequently  referred  to  the  mounting  and 
matting  of  the  3,000  to  4,000  prints;  but  besides  this,  5,000  glass  plate 
negatives  of  New  England  and  vicinity  and  about  7,000  early  broad¬ 
sides  have  also  been  recatalogued  and  carefully  placed  in  large  folders. 
This  monumental  task  has  rescued  these  objects  from  inaccessible  and 
unsafe  storage  and  placed  them  in  surroundings  worthy  of  their  quality. 

In  the  museum  section,  a  great  deal  of  sorting  and  reordering  was 
done.  One  of  the  latest  efforts  was  undoing  quantities  of  packages  of 
textiles,  which  revealed  everything  from  little  pieces  left  by  the  moths 
to  the  most  magnificent  shawls.  Those  worth  preserving  are  now  beau¬ 
tifully  spread  out  in  drawers,  easily  identified  by  their  delightful  cam¬ 
phor  smell.  Military  uniforms  and  associated  equipment  are  just  now  in 
the  works;  and  of  course,  the  new  storage  for  the  marvelous  costumes 
and  dresses,  described  to  you  last  year,  is  now  completed.  Furthermore, 
during  these  few  years  back,  the  Assembly  House  on  Federal  Street  re¬ 
ceived  gifts  of  money  large  enough  to  pay  for  its  restoration  and  open¬ 
ing  as  a  museum.  The  redecorating  and  furnishing  was  done  with  care 
and  taste,  which  took  considerable  planning  and  effort  by  the  museum 
staff  and  the  Museum  Committee. 


310 


ANNUAL  REPORT  1972-1973 


311 


These  are  just  a  few  headlines  of  the  activities  undertaken  by  our 
small  staff  here.  To  me,  the  accomplishment  of  so  much  in  just  these 
six  years  is  nothing  short  of  incredible. 

One  of  the  subjects  mentioned  last  year  was  whether  we  should  con¬ 
sider  the  sale  of  our  large  folio  of  Audubon  Birds.  The  answer  is  not 
easy,  by  any  means,  but  the  problem  did  arouse  enough  concern  to 
create  a  committee,  with  some  members  outside  the  Institute,  to  help 
point  out  and  emphasize  what  our  aims  might  be.  The  Birds,  therefore, 
have  already  accomplished  a  great  deal. 

This  committee,  consisting  of  five  persons  interested  in  collections, 
and  especially  with  these  at  our  Institute,  has  submitted  a  splendid  re¬ 
port.  It  emphasizes  the  strengths  in  our  collections,  and  points  out  fea¬ 
tures  that  are  outstanding  even  nationally.  The  committee  has  taken 
great  pains  to  outline  methods  of  maintaining  our  efforts  to  further 
these  purposes.  I  sincerely  hope  that  we  shall  be  able  to  accomplish  some 
of  their  suggestions  in  the  near  future. 

The  collections  over  the  years  had  accumulated  to  such  an  extent  that 
it  had  become  impossible  to  find  things  easily,  and  besides  much  was 
uncatalogued  as  well.  A  brutal  determination  was,  therefore,  necessary 
to  get  rid  of  a  vast  amount  to  make  the  rest  accessible.  To  even  start  this 
is  a  most  difficult  undertaking,  and  is  so  easy  to  postpone  some  more. 

Such  a  start  was  made  here  at  the  Essex  six  years  ago,  and  many  of  our 
staff  are  still  with  us  who  can  remember  this.  I  think  we  should  all  be 
most  proud  and  grateful  to  them  for  their  tremendous  contribution  to 
the  welfare  of  this  Institute  and  the  preservation  of  our  priceless  objects, 
which  have  made  us  so  outstanding  in  our  field. 

Respectfully  submitted, 
David  P.  Wheatland 

President 


REPORT  OF  THE  DIRECTOR 


Introduction 

As  I  look  back  over  the  Annual  Reports  I  have  delivered  from 
this  podium  for  the  past  several  years,  I  note  that  I  have  begun  each  time 
by  thanking  you  for  your  generous  response  to  our  appeals  for  funds. 
It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  start  off  in  the  same  way  this  evening. 

You  have  given  us  $120,000  between  April  1,  1972,  and  March  31, 
1973.  The  results,  both  visible  and  invisible,  are  all  around  you.  The 
staff,  the  Council,  and  I  thank  you  from  the  bottom  of  our  hearts  for 
your  loyalty  to  this  lovely  old  place.  Its  fragile  Victorian  beauty  has 
survived  over  a  century  of  wars,  depressions,  and  natural  disasters.  In  a 
world  that  many  of  our  citizens  find  bleak  and  harsh,  it  reminds  us  that 
God  gave  man  a  sense  of  beauty,  the  means  to  create  it,  the  ability  to 
transmit  it,  and  the  courage  to  preserve  it. 

Policy 

We  are  taking  steps  to  bring  some  of  our  operations  closer  to  paying 
their  own  way.  We  will  begin  charging  admission  to  nonmembers  at 
the  door  on  June  1,  thus  making  your  membership  cards  more  valuable 
than  ever.  Please  be  sure  to  bring  them  with  you  when  you  come  be¬ 
cause  our  ticket-takers  are  new  members  of  the  staff  and  do  not  know 
any  of  us.  I  hope  that  we  can  avoid  the  confusion  experienced  by  the 
Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston,  during  the  first  few  months  of  paid  ad¬ 
missions  there.  Our  dues  were  increased  on  April  1  this  year.  We  are 
deeply  gratified  that  most  of  our  members  have  stayed  with  us.  The 
cost  of  a  subscription  to  the  Essex  Institute  Historical  Collections  will  rise 
next  January  to  $10  in  an  effort  to  meet  the  rising  costs  of  printing  and 
postage. 

The  Internal  Revenue  Service  is  cracking  down  on  charitable  cor¬ 
porations  whose  charity  is  too  narrowly  distributed.  We  have  success¬ 
fully  passed  an  IRS  audit  and  retain  our  privilege  of  tax  exemption.  At 
our  request,  we  have  also  been  examined  by  a  team  sent  by  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Association  of  Museums  to  see  if  we  conform  to  the  accepted  stan¬ 
dards  of  museum  performance.  We  do,  and  we  have  a  certificate  of 
accreditation  to  prove  it. 

In  order  to  qualify  for  state  and  federal  funding,  whenever  such  funds 
are  available,  we  have  met  the  standards  set  by  the  Massachusetts  His- 


312 


ANNUAL  REPORT  I972-I973 


313 


torical  Commission.  Our  land  and  buildings,  bounded  by  the  State 
Armory,  Washington  Square  West,  Essex  and  Brown  streets,  are  desig¬ 
nated  as  the  Essex  Institute  Historic  District,  a  Massachusetts  Historic 
Landmark.  The  buildings,  except  for  the  Annex,  are  now  listed  on  the 
National  Register  of  Historic  Places. 

Staff 

Performance  means  staff.  Our  staff  is  too  small  to  cope  with  the  de¬ 
mands  placed  upon  it,  and  the  demands  are  increasing.  Our  salaries  al¬ 
ready  exceed  the  total  of  our  unrestricted  income  from  endowment, 
yet  each  rise  in  the  cost  of  living  brings  our  salaries  closer  to  the  federally 
defined  poverty  level.  Our  appeal  this  year  emphasized  our  need  to  in¬ 
crease  staff  salaries.  Your  generous  response  has  enabled  us  to  raise  our 
salaries  by  three  percent  and  to  establish  the  first  pension  plan  in  our 
history.  We  are  deeply  grateful  to  you.  That  we  operate  as  well  as  we 
do  may  be  credited  to  your  gifts  of  money,  of  your  skills,  and  of  your 
time.  Our  house  guides  and  other  volunteers,  especially  the  members  of 
our  Ladies  Committee,  are  essential  members  of  our  staff  today. 

Mrs.  Robert  Beechey,  our  housekeeper  for  twenty-six  hard-working 
years,  suffered  a  stroke  last  July  and  lies  paralyzed  and  speechless  in  a 
nursing  home.  Our  pension  plan  came  too  late  to  help  her  so  we  are 
still  paying  her  full  salary.  Her  niece  Mrs.  William  Cook  retired  last 
fall.  Mrs.  Gregory  Angelopolus  and  Mrs.  Caroline  A.  Gagnon  are  keep¬ 
ing  the  Institute  shining  as  Mrs.  Beechey  and  Mrs.  Cook  did  for  so  long. 
Father  David  W.  Norton,  the  retired  pastor  of  St.  Michael’s  Church,  in 
Marblehead,  stands  in  for  the  Director  on  Saturdays  and  Sundays. 

Crimes  against  museums  are  increasing  as  the  market  value  of  works 
of  art  becomes  more  important  in  the  public  eye  than  their  aesthetic  or 
historic  value.  We  try  to  have  three  guards  on  duty  at  all  times.  Richard 
Kiely,  who  served  us  faithfully  for  four  years,  died  in  late  December 
and  has  been  replaced  by  Harold  J.  Shallow.  Reginald  M.  Mclntire  and 
George  R.  Crowdis  divide  each  day  between  them.  Our  city-supplied 
Constable  Edward  J.  Leonard  has  gone  to  work  at  City  Hall.  The  city 
has  sent  us  Leonard  A.  Carr  in  his  place. 

There  are  now  two  members  of  our  staff  whose  services  are  paid  for 
by  special  funds  outside  our  budget.  In  her  second  year  Mary  Larsen  has 
provided  increased  educational  services  to  the  schools  at  the  Institute  as 
well  as  in  the  school  classrooms.  More  and  more  schools  are  asking  us  to 


3  H 


ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 


tie  our  “authentic  memorials”  into  their  teaching  of  history.  We  can 
meet  their  requests  only  with  the  help  of  someone  like  Miss  Larsen  and 
her  few,  but  highly  skilled,  volunteers.  Miss  Larsen’s  salary  is  paid  en¬ 
tirely  by  private  gift.  We  hope  that  these  gifts  will  be  continued. 

Charles  A.  Steward  joined  us  in  January,  and  already  I  cannot  imagine 
continuing  our  work  without  him.  He  has  taken  over  the  staff  responsi¬ 
bility  for  the  maintenance  and  repair  of  our  twelve  buildings,  for  the 
establishment  of  our  budget,  and  our  conformity  to  it.  Spared  some  of 
the  distractions  that  boggle  the  Director’s  mind,  he  can  keep  a  project 
under  firm  control  from  start  to  finish.  His  salary,  too,  is  a  most  im¬ 
portant  gift  to  the  Institute. 

We  have  had  another  successful  year  of  cooperation  with  the  Boston 
University  American  and  New  England  Studies  Program.  Mrs.  Gerald 
R.  Ward  has  continued  the  work  begun  by  Anne  Farnam  to  put  our 
costumes  and  textiles  in  order.  The  Council  voted  funds  to  keep  Miss 
Farnam  working  on  a  part-time  basis,  thus  providing  valuable  con¬ 
tinuity  to  the  uncovering  of  those  long-hidden  collections.  We  will  have 
both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gerald  R.  Ward  on  our  staff  this  summer,  thanks  to 
a  National  Endowment  for  the  Humanities  grant  to  Boston  University 
which  will  provide  his  services. 

Maintenance 

Money  is  the  key  to  survival.  Some  institutions  try  too  hard  to  raise 
it;  others  do  not  try  hard  enough.  Either  way  the  collections  suffer.  As 
most  works  of  art  are  one  of  a  kind,  when  one  is  lost  the  loss  cannot  be 
made  up.  The  collections  suffer  when  funds  are  lacking  either  to  house 
them  properly  or  to  care  for  them  properly*  Your  gifts  have  enabled  us 
to  make  tremendous  improvements  in  the  housing  of  our  collections. 

Following  the  completion  of  new  construction  in  1967,  it  soon  be¬ 
came  clear  that  we  could  not  fit  everything  we  had  in  the  space  we  have. 
Disposal  or  destruction  were  the  only  alternatives  for  much  of  the  ma¬ 
terial  in  the  unsatisfactory  storage  areas.  Destruction  by  the  age-old 
forces  of  “wear  and  tear,  gradual  deterioration,  moths,  vermin,  insects, 
and  inherent  vice”  was  proceeding  swiftly,  and  this  destruction  had  to 
be  stopped.  We  have  sold,  given  away,  and  sent  to  the  dump,  therefore, 
those  objects  we  could  neither  use  nor  even  preserve.  Money  received 
from  the  sale  of  objects  is  used  to  preserve  the  objects  we  want  to  keep. 
All  of  these  actions  have  been  carefully  reviewed  by  the  staff  and  voted 


ANNUAL  REPORT  1972-1973 


315 


by  the  Council.  We  have  made  mistakes,  I  am  sure,  but  the  worst  mis¬ 
take  would  have  been  to  do  nothing,  thus  permitting  natural  forces  to 
clear  our  storages  for  us. 

We  are  rebuilding  the  spaces  once  so  hostile  to  the  survival  of  their 
contents  into  safe,  uncrowded,  and  accessible  storerooms,  a  program  far 
less  expensive  than  the  construction  of  new  spaces.  The  bequest  of  Mar¬ 
garet  H.  Jewell  enabled  us,  several  years  ago,  to  put  a  new  roof  on 
Daland  House  and  to  transform  the  attic  beneath  it  into  a  good  book- 
stack  containing  over  a  mile  of  shelving.  During  the  past  year  her  be¬ 
quest  has  paid  for  an  electric  booklift,  installed  in  the  old  dumbwaiter 
shaft,  which  connects  all  five  floors  of  the  old  library  building. 

Ceilings  rendered  deciduous  by  old  leaks  have  fallen,  one  by  one,  and 
are  still  falling.  We  are  replacing  them  as  they  go.  The  iniquities  of  the 
fathers  are  visited  upon  the  children,  even  unto  the  third  and  fourth 
generations,  the  Bible  tells  us.  God’s  understanding  of  the  frailties  of 
mankind  clearly  includes  knowledge  of  the  roofer’s  trade. 

Our  chief  project  during  this  reporting  period  has  been  the  rebuilding 
of  the  basement  room  in  the  southwest  corner  of  the  museum.  This  has 
taken  longer  than  expected  because  there  have  been  other,  more  press¬ 
ing,  demands  upon  staff  time.  This  storeroom  will  contain  our  military 
uniforms,  newly  rescued  from  soiled  and  tattered  paper  parcels,  our 
clocks,  and  our  firebuckets,  an  unlikely  combination  of  objects  which 
may  include  even  odder  combinations  before  we  are  through  with  it. 

Our  stone  steps  leading  from  the  museum  hall  to  the  garden  sur¬ 
rendered  to  the  forces  of  nature  in  six  short  years.  James  R.  Hammond, 
Chairman  of  our  Maintenance  Committee,  and  James  H.  Ballou,  archi¬ 
tect,  wisely  decided  to  replace  the  stone  with  the  redwood  planking  you 
see  today.  We  did  not  expect  this  expense.  Your  gifts  have  enabled  us 
to  meet  it. 

We  have  also  freshened  up  several  of  our  offices.  The  central  office  on 
the  Essex  Street  side  of  the  museum  has  been  painted  and  lighting  equal 
to  modern  standards  installed.  As  that  room  is  home  base  for  our  Copy 
Editor,  Mary  Kay  Cunningham,  for  our  Ladies  Committee,  and  for  our 
Shop  Committee,  this  improvement  was  long  overdue.  We  have  also 
shone  new  light  into  some  of  the  dark  areas  of  the  southwest  corner 
office. 

The  roof  protecting  our  fireproof  bookstack,  the  very  heart  of  the 
Essex  Institute,  has  proved  unworthy  of  its  trust  and  will  be  replaced 


31 6  ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 

this  summer.  Despite  expensive  patching  it  admits  water  during  north¬ 
east  storms.  So  far  the  water  has  run  down  the  inside  walls,  damaging 
only  a  few  books,  but  the  damage  to  the  nervous  systems  of  the  librari¬ 
ans  and  the  Director  has  been  substantial. 

We  had  a  concert  of  thanksgiving  last  Sunday,  played  on  George 
Hook’s  first  organ,  newly  restored  by  your  generosity  to  what  it  was  in 
1827. 1  hope  that  we  can  persuade  local  organists  to  play  this  instrument 
for  their  own  pleasure,  and  ours,  not  only  in  formal  concert  but  espe¬ 
cially  during  our  normal  open  hours  for  the  enjoyment  of  visitors  in 
the  galleries  and  of  staff  members  at  their  posts  of  duty. 

Museum 

Our  more  than  life-size  seated  figure  of  King  Saul  modeled  in  plaster 
by  William  Wetmore  Story,  a  Salem  sculptor  resident  in  Rome,  has 
been  given  to  the  National  Collection  of  Fine  Arts  in  Washington,  D.C. 
As  the  work  of  the  artist’s  hand,  not  a  marble  copy  made  by  a  Roman 
technician,  it  has  great  importance  in  the  study  of  American  sculpture. 
Story’s  daughter,  the  Marchese  Edith  Peruzzi  dei  Medici,  gave  it  to  us 
in  1914.  We  have  never  been  able  to  show  it  properly.  It  rested  for 
years  in  the  museum  basement  and  was  then  moved  to  the  Annex  where 
it  was  visible  during  the  summer  months  in  the  company  of  tools,  archi¬ 
tectural  fragments,  Rogers  groups,  and  other  unrelated  objects.  Many 
treated  it  with  contempt,  believing  it  to  be  merely  a  plaster  copy  of 
something  else  instead  of  a  plaster  original.  Now  it  has  a  splendid  show¬ 
case  in  the  nation’s  capital.  We  have  kept  faith  with  William  Wetmore 
Story. 

Houses 

I  am  happy  to  report  that  we  have  received  welcome  additions  to  the 
endowment  funds  of  the  Pingree,  Peirce-Nichols,  and  Assembly  houses 
this  year.  The  need  for  such  funds  is  critical  as  maintenance  costs  increase. 

The  furnace  of  the  Crowninshield-Bentley  House  collapsed  last  No¬ 
vember  spewing  oil  soot  over  all  of  the  rooms  and  their  contents.  We 
have  to  keep  some  heat  in  that  house,  we  have  discovered,  in  order  to 
combat  the  dampness  so  injurious  to  its  contents.  Cleaning  up  the  mess 
has  occupied  the  museum  staff  all  winter.  We  have  a  new  furnace  now, 
with  more  hot-air  outlets  than  the  old  one  had,  and  hope  that  this  disas- 


ANNUAL  REPORT  I972-I973 


317 


ter  will  not  be  repeated.  Insurance  has  paid  for  the  repair  of  much  of  the 
physical  damage,  but  the  loss  of  staff  time  cannot  be  recovered. 

The  increasing  incidence  of  burglary  and  vandalism  along  Federal 
Street,  and  other  sections  of  the  city  as  well,  has  obliged  us  to  install 
electronic  protective  devices  in  the  Peirce-Nichols  and  Assembly  houses. 
Fortunately  the  income  from  the  house  endowments  has  enabled  us  to 
pay  for  them. 

Publications 

This  has  been  a  banner  year  for  our  publications.  Our  Historical  Col¬ 
lections,  under  the  skillful  guidance  of  Mrs.  Cunningham,  are  more  than 
a  credit  to  the  Institute;  they  are  a  distinction.  Authors  groan  as  they 
respond  to  Mrs.  Cunningham’s  meticulous  editing,  but  they  send  her 
grateful  letters  after  seeing  their  work  in  print.  Various  special  gifts  have 
made  it  possible  for  us  to  include  more  illustrations,  adding  greatly  to 
the  usefulness  and  interest  of  the  magazine.  The  Historical  Collections 
have  been  indexed  from  1859  through  1949.  We  are  working  on  an¬ 
other  volume  to  carry  the  index  through  1969. 

The  Journal  of  Samuel  Curwen,  Loyalist,  published  by  Harvard  Uni¬ 
versity  Press  for  the  Essex  Institute  in  late  1972,  is  the  first  fruit  of  the 
James  Duncan  Phillips  Fund  for  the  Essex  Institute.  Edited  by  Andrew 
Oliver,  a  member  of  the  Institute  Council,  it  is  a  distinguished  piece  of 
scholarship,  very  entertaining  reading,  and  a  handsome  book  in  two 
volumes. 

John  A.  Wells  of  Peabody  has  spent  years  assembling  the  materials 
for  a  history  of  his  city.  The  Essex  Institute  published  it  in  1972  with  the 
aid  of  a  generous  gift  from  John  F.  Winchester.  The  Peabody  Story: 
Events  in  Peabody's  History,  1626-1972  will  serve  as  the  major  source  of 
information  about  the  city  for  years  to  come. 

Volume  ix  of  the  Records  and  Files  of  the  Quarterly  Courts  of  Essex 
County,  Massachusetts  ( 1683-86 )  was  delivered  to  the  printer  a  few 
weeks  ago.  Edited  by  Mrs.  Ralph  L.  Thresher,  it  carries  on  the  task  of 
publishing  these  records  begun  in  1911  by  George  Francis  Dow. 

The  first  volume  of  the  First  Church,  Salem,  Records  [1629-1747)  con¬ 
tinues  its  slow  passage  through  the  press  under  the  editorship  of  the 
Reverend  Richard  D.  Pierce. 

None  of  these  books  will  ever  be  best  sellers,  nor  did  James  Duncan 
Phillips,  whose  bequest  has  made  possible  the  publication  of  two  of 


318  ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 

them,  expect  them  to  be.  Scholarly  publication  is  the  responsibility  of 
a  scholarly  institution. 

Summary 

Just  as  the  activities  of  Essex  County,  Massachusetts,  men  were  of 
national  and  international  significance  during  the  colonial  period  and 
the  early  years  of  the  republic,  so  are  the  collections  of  the  Essex  Insti¬ 
tute,  which  consist  of  the  “authentic  memorials”  of  these  men,  of  equal 
significance  today.  The  Essex  Institute  is  not  merely  a  local  historical 
society  of  interest  only  to  persons  living  in  the  vicinity  of  Salem. 

The  new  construction  completed  by  your  generosity  in  1967,  just 
before  I  came  to  Salem,  has  made  possible  a  substantial  improvement  in 
the  quality  of  our  stewardship  over  the  objects  entrusted  during  the  past 
125  years  to  our  care.  We  still  have  a  long  way  to  go.  Our  carriages, 
sleighs,  and  fire  apparatus  still  lack  a  carriage  house  in  which  to  care  for 
them  and  show  them.  Our  storerooms  are  still  too  small  to  house  all  of 
the  objects  we  wish  to  keep.  Our  educational  program  for  the  schools, 
sponsored  by  a  generous  donor  and  operated  by  Mary  Larsen,  has 
brought  a  greater  response  from  the  schools  than  we  are  able  to  meet. 
Our  need  for  classroom  space  is  acute.  Our  librarians  and  museum  staff 
are  still  too  few  in  number  to  cope  with  the  growing  demand  for  their 
services. 

But  as  I  look  back  I  am  grateful  for  all  that  has  been  done.  We  can  do 
just  as  good  a  job  as  our  friends  are  willing  to  support.  We  are  indeed 
fortunate  in  our  friends. 

Respectfully  submitted, 
David  B.  Little 
Director 


MASSACHUSETTS  HISTORIC  LANDMARK 


Certificate  Presentation  to  the  Essex  Institute,  Salem, 
by  Elizabeth  R.  Amadon,  State  Survey  Director, 
Massachusetts  Historical  Commission,  on  May  15,  1973 

The  Massachusetts  Historical  Commission,  established  in 
1963,  is  charged  by  law  with  the  responsibility  of  certifying  as  Land¬ 
marks  sites  of  unique  quality  which  have  historical  significance  for  the 
Commonwealth.  This  procedure  insures  a  certain  measure  of  protection 
from  demolition  and  deterioration.  Massachusetts  Historic  Landmarks 
may  not  be  taken  by  eminent  domain  “without  leave  of  the  General 
Court  specially  obtained.” 

Certification  of  Landmarks  is  accomplished  with  the  consent  of  the 
owner  of  the  property  and  is  recorded  with  the  register  of  deeds  in  the 
county  in  which  the  Landmark  is  located.  Standards  for  the  care  and 
management  of  the  property  have  been  adopted  by  the  Commission 
and  these  must  be  complied  with  in  order  to  preserve  the  property’s 
certified  status. 

An  Evaluation  documenting  the  property’s  architectural  and  historic 
importance  is  made  to  accompany  the  legal  instruments  of  certification. 
The  Essex  Institute’s  Evaluation  describes  the  valuable  research  collec¬ 
tions  of  Essex  County  materials  and  the  period  buildings  owned  by  the 
Institute  which  exemplify  a  wide  variety  of  architectural  and  decorative 
styles.  Landmark  certification  thus  recognizes  and  helps  protect  the  im¬ 
portant  role  the  Essex  Institute  plays  in  interpreting  essential  aspects  of 
the  history  of  the  Commonwealth. 


319 


REPORT  OF  THE  LIBRARY 


It  is  a  rare  occasion  when  nothing  extraordinary  happens  in  the 
James  Duncan  Phillips  Library.  Each  day  brings  an  interesting  visitor  on 
an  unusual  mission,  a  gift  of  some  item  that  enriches  our  already  out¬ 
standing  collection,  or  a  challenging  question  to  be  answered. 

On  March  20th  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chester  V.  Shea  of  Peabody  brought  to 
us  as  a  gift  a  leather-bound  account  book  which  once  belonged  to  An¬ 
drew  Riggs  of  Gloucester,  who  was  born  in  1681.  It  contains  personal 
accounts  from  1719  to  1750,  written  in  ink.  On  the  front  page  is  in¬ 
scribed,  “Andrew  Riggs  his  book,  whear  in  he  doth  set  his  a  count  for 
the  year  1719.  If  it  be  lost  and  it  be  found  return  it  to  him.” 

The  entries  throughout  the  book  exhibit  phonetic  spelling.  “Won 
yard  of  linnen  cloath”  cost  twelve  shillings  and  Mr.  Riggs  earned  about 
-£3  for  “won  daes  worke  holing  wod”  at  the  age  of  seventy.  Inter¬ 
esting  from  the  standpoint  of  comparing  the  eighteenth-century  living 
costs  and  wages  with  those  of  today  are  the  following  entries  by  Mr. 
Riggs:  ten  shillings  for  a  bushel  of  “carits”;  three  shillings  and  fifteen 
pence  for  “three  daes  washin  out  fish”;  five  shillings  for  “won  pound  of 
honey”;  and  four  pence  for  “ciling  [killing]  a  calf.”  The  versatility  of 
the  early  Essex  County  citizen  is  shown  in  the  following  entries:  “cot- 
ing  [cutting]  fish”;  “holing  [hauling]  a  lod  of  hay”;  “taping  Bens  shows 
[shoes]”;  “hoeing  com”;  “shelling  corn”;  “mending  toys  and  salting 
fish.”  He  also  mentions  “going  to  boston.”  Historians  and  genealogists 
will  be  interested  in  the  thirty  persons  mentioned.  It  is  a  remarkable 
addition  to  our  library. 

Along  with  this  gift  came  a  Family  Record  Commencing  with  Thomas 
Riggs  Sr .,  who  was  the  father  of  Andrew.  He  came  from  England  in 
1658  and  settled  in  Goose  Cove,  Gloucester,  Massachusetts,  where  he 
built  a  home.  Part  of  it  still  stands  today.  He  was  educated  in  England  as 
a  professional  or  public  writer  and  consequently  held  various  clerical 
positions.  His  education  and  ability  made  him  welcome  to  a  community 
where  only  half  of  the  men  were  able  to  write.  It  is  understandable  that 
he  became  the  town  clerk  and  remained  in  that  position  from  1665  to 
1716,  a  record  of  fifty-one  years.  He  was  a  selectman  in  Gloucester  for 
twenty  years,  a  representative  in  1700,  and  he  served  on  many  com¬ 
mittees  besides  acting  temporarily  as  a  schoolmaster. 

Thomas  Riggs,  Sr.,  married  Mary  Millet,  the  daughter  of  Thomas 


320 


ANNUAL  REPORT  1972-1973 


321 


Millet,  on  June  7,  1658.  She  died  on  January  23,  1695,  and  on  October 
30,  1695,  he  married  Elizabeth  Frese,  who  lived  to  be  eighty  years  old 
and  died  June  16,  1722.  Thomas  died  a  few  months  before  at  the  age  of 
ninety,  February  26,  1722.  He  had  nine  children  and  left  numerous  de¬ 
scendants  who  perpetuate  his  name  in  the  town  today. 

Still  in  the  family’s  possession  is  a  unique  little  seventeenth-century 
account  book  which  belonged  to  Thomas  Riggs,  Sr.  It  measures  3Kby 
63^  by  1  inches  and  is  bound  in  pigskin.  On  the  title  page  is  the  auto¬ 
graph  of  “Thomas  Riggs,  his  Booke,  1656.”  Interesting  entries  in  1680 
are:  tobacco  at  a  little  less  than  two  shillings  a  pound  . . .  and  Indian  corn 
at  two  shillings  sixpence  a  bushel.  We  hope  this  unique  item  will  also 
find  its  way  to  our  library  to  rejoin  our  other  Riggs  material. 

We  received  from  the  Herb  Society  of  America  a  collection  of  cor¬ 
respondence  once  belonging  to  Frances  Ropes  Williams  (1883-1969), 
deposited  there  by  Mrs.  Williams’  daughter  Constance.  A  large  part  of 
this  correspondence  consists  of  letters  exchanged  by  Mrs.  Williams  and 
Mrs.  Edward  B.  Cole  of  Wenham  between  the  years  1935  and  1957. 

Adeline  P.  (Dodge)  Cole  was  born  in  Wenham  and  devoted  her  long 
life  to  good  causes.  She  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-three  after,  among 
other  ventures,  founding  the  Herb  Society  of  America,  helping  to  or¬ 
ganize  the  Visiting  Nurse  Association  of  Hamilton  and  Wenham,  and 
serving  as  a  prime  mover  in  the  creation  of  the  Wenham  Museum.  Her 
acquaintance  with  Mrs.  Williams  apparently  started  when  Mrs.  Cole, 
widely  known  as  “Granny,”  invited  Mrs.  Williams  to  join  the  Herb 
Society. 

Mrs.  Williams  did  join  and  remained  a  member  for  thirty  years.  She 
was  its  corresponding  secretary,  curator  of  its  Herbarium,  and  she  re¬ 
ceived  its  first  award  of  merit  in  1952.  She  was  an  active  grower  of 
Hosta  Lilies,  donating  eighty  varieties  of  the  plant  to  the  Arnold  Ar¬ 
boretum;  an  honorary  member  of  Winchester’s  Home  and  Garden 
Club;  a  member  of  the  Appalachian  Mountain  Club,  the  Massachusetts 
Horticultural  Society,  the  New  York  Botanical  Garden  in  Brooklyn, 
the  Essex  Institute  and  the  Peabody  Museum  in  Salem,  the  Winchester 
Unitarian  Society,  and  the  Winchester  Hospital  School  of  Nursing 
Committee,  1915-1925. 

Mrs.  Aaron  Richmond  sent  us  material  on  her  husband  for  our  library 
files:  newspaper  clippings,  photographs,  and  programs.  We  were  happy 
to  receive  the  material  since  Mr.  Richmond  was  a  native  of  Salem,  born 


322 


ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 


in  1895.  I  think  that  the  following  citation  will  describe  the  talent  and 
importance  of  Mr.  Richmond: 

The  Trustees  of  Boston  University  -  Citation  presented  to 
Mr.  Aaron  Richmond  by  President  Harold  C.  Case  on  Novem¬ 
ber  26,  1961: 

Aaron  Richmond,  Director  of  the  Boston  University  Celeb¬ 
rity  Series  since  1953;  concert  pianist;  consultant  and  adviser  to 
many  community  and  collegiate  musical  organizations;  impre¬ 
sario,  whose  sensitive  awareness  of  the  artistic  interests  of  Boston 
people  has  been  signally  rewarded  by  a  successful  career  of  more 
than  four  decades,  during  which  the  world’s  foremost  artists  in 
solo  performance,  ballet,  ensemble,  and  orchestra  have  appeared 
under  his  aegis,  and  whose  association  with  Boston  University 
during  the  past  eight  years  has  established  a  new  level  of  student 
and  faculty  experience  and  appreciation  of  the  arts.  This  citation 
reflects  the  affection  and  esteem  in  which  you  are  held  by  your 
associates  in  Boston  University  and  the  entire  metropolitan  com¬ 
munity  and  by  the  world’s  foremost  artists. 

Eleanor  and  Elizabeth  Broadhead  presented  to  the  library  their  great¬ 
grandfather  Thomas  Perkins’  account  book  dated  1817-1831.  He  was  a 
maker  of  “Fancy”  chairs  on  Essex  Street,  four  doors  west  of  North 
Street,  from  September  22,  1826,  to  March  8,  1831,  when  he  sold  the 
business. 

The  mail  brought  an  inquiry  from  California  about  Professor  Moses 
Gerrish  Farmer  from  a  relation  of  his.  This  letter  interested  me  very 
much  because  of  my  interest  in  this  man  who  lived  in  Salem  at  11  Pearl 
Street.  The  query:  “Does  his  house  still  stand?”  It  does. 

Moses  Gerrish  Farmer  was  bom  February  9, 1820,  at  Boscawen,  New 
Hampshire.  He  attended  Dartmouth  College  but  just  before  graduation 
he  became  ill  with  typhoid  fever  and  never  entirely  recovered  his  health. 
A  student  of  music,  particularly  piano,  he  gave  piano  lessons  to  aug¬ 
ment  his  limited  income  while  a  student.  School  teaching  seemed  the 
least  exacting  occupation,  so  teaching,  tuning  pianos,  and  playing  the 
church  organ  became  his  work.  Due  to  his  inventive  mind  and  interest 
in  electricity  he  took  a  job  with  the  New  York  and  Boston  Magnetic 
Telegraph  Association  in  the  Framingham,  Massachusetts,  office.  As  an 
employee  he  invented  an  electromagnetic  engine  as  early  as  1846.  He 


ANNUAL  REPORT  I972-I973 


323 


showed  how  the  electric  current  could  be  used  for  torpedoes  and  under¬ 
water  blasting;  he  tried  the  experiment  of  telegraphing  by  means  of  in¬ 
duced  currents;  he  also  contrived  and  constructed  models  of  apparatus 
for  striking  fire  alarm  bells;  he  engaged  in  other  scientific  pursuits  ex¬ 
perimenting  with  electricity,  improving  the  telegraph  and  making 
other  changes  along  electrical  lines.  His  many  more  experiments  are  too 
lengthy  a  list  to  record  here. 

In  1848  Farmer  came  to  Salem  to  live  and  took  charge  of  the  Salem 
office  of  the  telegraph  company  and  of  temporary  repairs  between  Bos¬ 
ton  and  Newburyport.  During  his  residence  in  Salem  Farmer  lighted 
the  front  room  in  his  house  by  electricity  with  incandescent  lamps,  using 
platinum  wires  encased  in  glass  globes.  The  filaments  were  heated  by 
electricity  generated  from  gravity  (wet  batteries).  This  occurred  in  1859 
and  predated  by  many  years  Thomas  A.  Edison’s  invention  of  a  practi¬ 
cal  incandescent  light.  It  is  believed  that  the  first  house  in  the  world 
lighted  by  electricity  was  Mr.  Farmer’s  house  at  11  Pearl  Street  in  1859 
where  he  gave  an  exhibition  of  the  electric  incandescent  lamp.  There 
were  many  Salem  citizens  present  at  the  exhibition,  among  them  Eben 
Nelson  Walton,  editor  of  the  Salem  Register.  At  that  time  Mr.  Farmer 
said  to  Mr.  Walton,  “Eben,  if  you  live  half  a  century  longer  you  will  be 
able  to  stand  in  Salem  and  talk  to  a  person  in  Philadelphia  and  you  two 
will  understand  each  other  readily.”  Before  the  half  century  had  elapsed, 
Farmer’s  prophecy  had  come  true. 

Mr.  Farmer  took  his  invention  to  the  World’s  Fair  in  Chicago  in  1893 
for  exhibition  and  stirred  up  a  great  deal  of  interest.  He  died  there  on 
May  25,  1893,  during  the  course  of  the  exhibition.  Governor  William 
Claflin  of  Massachusetts  said  of  Farmer,  “He  was  deserving  of  more 
honor  than  he  ever  received.”  He  was  always  interested  in  charitable 
and  philanthropic  movements  and  late  in  his  lifetime  established  a  pub¬ 
lic  library  at  Eliot,  Maine.  Professor  Moses  Gerrish  Farmer  was  an  in¬ 
ventor  and  an  American  pioneer  in  electricity.  His  house  at  11  Pearl 
Street,  Salem,  Massachusetts,  still  stands.  A  move  should  be  initiated  to 
make  this  historic  house  a  historic  landmark. 

Michael  J.  Cummings,  the  nation’s  foremost  authority  on  Patrick 
Sarsfield  Gilmore,  visited  our  library  recently  in  search  of  Gilmore  ma¬ 
terial.  Gilmore,  known  as  the  “Peace  Bandmaster,”  came  to  Salem  at 
the  age  of  twenty-six  and  lived  here  from  1855  to  1859  when  he  was  the 
conductor  of  the  Salem  Brass  Band.  Mr.  Cummings  has  the  largest  col- 


324 


ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 


lection  of  Gilmore  material  extant,  but  he  saw  Gilmore  items  here  he 
had  never  seen  before. 

Patrick  Sarsfield  Gilmore  was  “the  father  of  the  American  Concert 
Band”  and  was  considered  by  many  “the  greatest  bandmaster  of  all 
time.”  A  composer  of  note,  a  conductor,  and  a  cornet  player,  he  was 
called  “the  Orpheus  of  the  New  World.”  He  composed  a  great  reper¬ 
tory  of  band  music  and  supplied  the  music  for  the  marching  song  John 
Brown  s  Body. 

Our  library  has  over  fifty  pieces  of  his  music,  including  polkas,  bal¬ 
lads,  and  marches.  Mr.  Gilmore  was  born  on  December  25,  1829,  in 
Ireland,  the  son  of  Patrick  and  Mary  (Sharkey)  Gilmore.  When  a  child 
his  toys  were  fiddles,  fifes,  and  drums  made  by  his  own  hands,  showing 
at  an  early  age  his  love  for  band  music.  His  brother  followed  in  his 
father’s  trade  and  became  a  skilled  stonecutter.  Patrick  showed  no  in¬ 
terest  in  the  family  business  and  at  one  time  had  thought  seriously  of 
entering  the  priesthood.  At  thirteen  years  of  age  he  was  already  consid¬ 
ered  a  musical  prodigy.  His  first  encounter  with  a  military  band  while 
viewing  a  parade  had  a  profound  effect  upon  him.  At  the  age  of  four¬ 
teen  he  played  in  the  town  band  and  at  fifteen  he  began  to  write  music. 
He  came  to  Boston  in  1848.  As  a  member  of  Ordway’s  Minstrels  he  was 
hired  by  P.  T.  Barnum  to  boost  the  merits  of  Barnum’s  latest  acquisi¬ 
tion,  the  Swedish  Nightingale,  Jenny  Lind. 

It  was  at  Salem  that  he  incurred  the  enmity  of  the  Know-Nothing 
party,  then  at  its  peak.  Having  been  cautioned  by  them  to  change  his 
name  if  he  expected  regular  bookings,  he  astonished  them  by  the  change 
he  made.  He  dropped  “Stephen”  and  took  instead  one  of  the  proudest 
names  in  Irish  annals,  Sarsfield.  It  is  recorded  that  his  bookings  did  in¬ 
deed  suffer,  but  his  star  was  on  the  ascendant  and  his  band  was  invited  to 
Washington  for  the  inauguration  of  President  James  Buchanan  in  1857. 
While  living  in  Salem  he  met  and  married  Ellen  O’Neil  of  Lowell,  the 
organist  and  choir  director  of  St.  Patrick’s  Church  in  Lowell.  During  his 
courtship  he  composed  the  music  for  While  Seeing  Nellie  Home ,  or  The 
Quilting  Party.  After  his  marriage  he  went  to  Boston,  where  he  enjoyed 
a  long  and  colorful  career. 

In  1861  Mr.  Gilmore  and  his  band  enlisted  as  a  unit  of  the  Twenty- 
fourth  Massachusetts  Regiment  and  accompanied  the  regiment  to  the 
front  in  the  Civil  War.  He  saw  action  in  the  Carolinas.  He  was  invited 
to  play  at  the  inauguration  of  Louisiana’s  Governor  Georg  Michael 


ANNUAL  REPORT  1972-1973 


325 


Decker  Hahn.  When  the  governor  wrote  a  personal  letter  to  President 
Lincoln,  he  mentioned  Mr.  Gilmore  as  one  who  had  “done  great  good 
to  the  cause  of  the  Union”  by  his  faithful  and  patriotic  services,  “a  musi¬ 
cian  of  the  highest  ability”  and  a  “true  gentleman.”  Just  before  the  end 
of  the  war  Gilmore  wrote  When  Johnny  Comes  Marching  Home  under 
the  pseudonym  of  Louis  Lambert. 

Saddened  by  the  Civil  War  because  he  had  seen  its  horrors,  Gilmore 
wanted  to  lighten  the  hearts  and  heal  the  wounds  of  a  shattered  nation. 
From  this  mood  came  the  idea  of  his  National  Peace  Jubilee  to  “com¬ 
memorate  the  restoration  of  peace  throughout  the  land.”  In  1868  Gil¬ 
more  went  to  Washington  and  New  York  to  solicit  help  for  his  plan 
and  was  rebuffed.  He  returned  to  Boston  and  vowed  to  “do  it  myself.” 
After  gaining  support  from  millionaires,  bankers,  and  music  lovers,  he 
built  an  auditorium  500  feet  long  by  300  feet  wide  to  accommodate  a 
chorus  of  10,000  singers  and  an  orchestra  of  1,300  instruments,  and  with 
a  seating  capacity  of  30,000  persons.  It  took  less  than  three  months  to 
set  it  up  in  St.  James  Park  on  the  present  site  of  both  the  Copley  Plaza 
Hotel  and  Trinity  Church. 

The  coliseum  exterior  was  crowned  with  these  words  in  large  gold 
letters:  “Glory  to  God  on  High,  Peace  on  Earth.”  President  Ulysses  S. 
Grant  and  the  members  of  his  cabinet  attended.  Soprano  Parepa-Rosa, 
the  darling  of  the  public  at  this  time,  was  the  soloist.  The  first  jubilee 
lasted  five  days  and  was  an  enormous  success. 

Looking  at  the  havoc  of  the  Franco-Prussian  conflict,  Gilmore 
planned  a  World  Peace  Jubilee  for  1872  in  Boston.  The  first  coliseum 
having  been  totally  destroyed  in  the  devastating  gale  of  October  1869,  a 
new  and  larger  coliseum  was  built  near  the  same  site  with  even  larger 
dimensions,  capable  of  holding  50,000  people,  as  well  as  a  chorus  of 
20,000  voices  and  an  orchestra  of  2,000  musicians.  It  featured  many 
singers  and  musical  ensembles  and  bands  from  Great  Britain,  Belgium, 
France,  and  Germany.  Mr.  Gilmore  persuaded  Johann  Strauss,  the 
waltz  king,  to  make  his  first  and  only  trip  to  America,  and  he  wrote 
Jubilee  Waltz  and  Boston  Dreams  for  the  affair.  The  celebration  ran  from 
June  17th  through  July  4th,  1872.  President  Grant  attended  again.  It  was 
not  as  great  a  financial  success  as  the  first  Jubilee  because  of  the  many 
gate-crashers,  but  it  was  considered  the  greatest  extravaganza  of  its  day. 

Mr.  Gilmore  was  admired  by  another  outstanding  bandmaster,  Jean 
Missud,  who  came  to  Salem  in  1870  to  play  with  the  Salem  Brass 


326  ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 

Band  and  was  later  chosen  as  the  leader  of  the  Salem  Cadet  Band. 
Throughout  Missud’s  career,  he  often  featured  Mr.  Gilmore’s  composi¬ 
tions  in  his  concerts. 

Patrick  Sarsfield  Gilmore  died  in  St.  Louis  in  1892,  leaving  his  wife 
and  one  daughter.  He  is  buried  under  a  small  Army  stone  in  Calvary 
Cemetery  on  Long  Island,  New  York. 

*  *  * 

One-hundred-thirty  serious  researchers  used  our  manuscript  collec¬ 
tions,  an  increase  of  fourteen  over  last  year.  Each  year  the  number 
grows.  The  following  list  indicates  the  variety  of  subjects  involved: 
Mary  Abigail  Dodge;  economic  impact  of  Louisbourg  on  New  En¬ 
gland,  1713-1758;  changing  roles  of  American  women,  1780-1830; 
Canadian  and  United  States  boundaries  and  Indians;  dependent  poor  of 
Newburyport,  1800-1850;  theology  of  witchcraft;  study  of  smallpox 
and  other  diseases;  Northern  planters  in  the  lower  South,  1864-1880; 
health  care  in  Salem,  Massachusetts,  1750-1825;  social  and  political  mo¬ 
bility  in  Salem,  1759-1816.  Most  of  the  researchers  were  Ph.D.  and 
M.A.  candidates. 

The  universities  from  which  some  of  these  scholars  came  are  George 
Washington  University,  University  of  Ottawa,  University  of  Wiscon¬ 
sin,  University  of  the  Pacific,  State  University  of  New  York  at  Buffalo, 
Harvard  University,  University  of  Massachusetts. 

Emily  Haggerty,  Manuscript  Librarian,  has  catalogued  396  items  and 
45  volumes  to  our  manuscript  collections.  Most  of  the  foregoing  are  of 
this  year’s  deposit.  The  societies  making  substantial  deposits  are:  Chil¬ 
dren’s  Friend  and  Family  Service  Society  of  the  North  Shore,  Inc.; 
Salem  Female  Charitable  Society;  Thought  and  Work  Club,  Salem; 
Father  Mathew  Total  Abstinence  Society.  We  have  also  had  valuable 
additions  to  our  Jewett,  Derby,  and  Pingree  family  collections.  Besides 
these  manuscript  gifts  we  purchased:  a  Robert  Rantoul  letter;  the  jour¬ 
nal  (1876-1886)  of  Joseph  W.  Clark  of  Georgetown;  an  unidentified 
carpenter’s  accounts  for  labor  and  supplies,  1871-1873;  a  Gloucester 
painter’s  account  book;  and  some  Lucy  Larcom  letters. 

We  have  bound  and  repaired  214  volumes.  Mary  Ritchie,  Assistant 
Librarian,  has  catalogued  372  regular  items  and  97  cartoons.  We  have 
added  2,589  cards  to  the  catalogue. 

Irene  Norton,  Reference  Librarian,  has  completed  the  Essex  County 


ANNUAL  REPORT  1972-1973 


327 


project  to  the  letter  R  and  as  of  date  has  handled,  checked,  and  put  in 
order  28,906  items.  She  has  been  in  full  charge  of  our  microfilm  proj¬ 
ects.  We  have  been  able  to  get  many  of  our  important  collections  on 
film  at  the  expense  of  the  requesting  scholars.  Our  Savin  duplicating 
machine  has  been  kept  busy.  Our  researchers  are  pleased  to  have  com¬ 
plicated  genealogies  copied  for  them.  We  are  continually  working  on 
shelving,  repairing,  arranging,  and  the  many  duties  of  keeping  our  col¬ 
lection  in  order.  During  the  Christmas  holidays  and  the  summer  we 
have  carried  out  the  major  projects  of  cleaning  and  moving  that  have  to 
be  left  until  extra  hands  are  available. 

We  continue  to  have  special  exhibits  for  visiting  groups.  This  year, 
Hawthorne,  witchcraft,  and  early  American  literature  were  popular.  In 
April  ten  women  interested  in  genealogical  research  came  from  the 
Concord  Genealogical  Round  Table  for  instructions  on  tracing  their 
ancestors.  I  introduced  them  to  the  sources  and  demonstrated  the  tech¬ 
niques  of  using  them.  We  continue  to  assist  Essex  County  authors. 

Interested  people  from  local  historical  societies  have  come  to  us  for 
help  in  handling  their  valuable  holdings,  especially  manuscript.  They 
have  turned  to  us  knowing  our  methods  are  efficient  and  time-tested. 

Miss  Ritchie  and  I  have  attended  North  Shore  Library  Club  meetings. 
On  January  20th  I  went  to  a  Conference  on  Planning  and  Preservation 
at  Boston  University,  and  in  February  I  accompanied  Mrs.  Payson  and 
W.  Hammond  Bowden  to  the  Merrimack  Valley  Textile  Museum  for  a 
meeting  concerning  the  new  regional  conservation  center.  Our  work¬ 
shop  on  Essex  County  was  held  again  in  June,  making  us  aware  of  our 
usefulness  to  historians. 

Library  statistics  show  that  we  had  3,963  visitors.  In  all  by  gift  and 
purchase  we  added  seventeen  collections,  plus  212  items,  plus  approxi¬ 
mately  1,100  issues  of  periodicals.  Correspondence  numbered  729. 

Miss  Elizabeth  R.  Jacoby  of  Newburyport,  who  is  a  retired  librarian 
and  a  Simmons  graduate,  volunteered  to  identify  the  items  in  our  col¬ 
lection  of  Newburyport  photographs.  She  has  given  us  many  hours  of 
her  valuable  time  and  we  are  extremely  grateful  to  have  this  collection 
put  in  such  good  order. 

As  a  volunteer  Sargent  Bradlee  continues  with  us  in  the  preservation 
of  our  leather-bound  books.  We  also  enjoy  the  services  of  Miss  Eleanor 
Broadhead,  Mrs.  Ralf  P.  Emerson,  Mrs.  Ralph  L.  Thresher,  and  Mrs. 
James  Brown  whose  help  means  so  much  to  the  organizing  and  running 


328  ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 

of  our  library.  Gilbert  R.  Payson  continues  to  work  in  the  Photographic 
Department. 

Our  part-time  helpers  have  been  Judith  Beston,  Christopher  Hassell, 
Susan  Frisch,  John  Wheeler,  Elizabeth  Beston,  and  Mary  Elizabeth 
Copeland. 

I  pay  tribute  to  our  staff  members,  Miss  Mary  M.  Ritchie,  Assistant 
Librarian,  Mrs.  Irene  Norton,  Reference  Librarian,  and  Mrs.  Emily 
Haggerty,  Manuscript  Librarian,  for  this  year’s  achievements  and  for 
their  continuing  our  work  while  I  was  called  away  for  service  on  the 
Grand  Jury.  They  continue  to  symbolize  the  high  standards  set  forth 
when  the  library  was  founded.  I  am  grateful  and  do  thank  them.  I  also 
want  to  thank  the  staff  members  of  the  Publications  Department  and 
the  museum  for  their  cooperation  and  help,  especially  John  Wright  and 
Robert  Egleston  who  come  to  our  aid  so  often  when  we  need  muscle 
and  mechanical  ability.  Robert  Egleston  also  operates  the  microfilm 
camera. 

Ray  Moore  and  Wilfred  Pelletier  are  also  a  constant  source  of  support. 

Respectfully  submitted, 
Dorothy  M.  Potter 

Librarian 


Dressing  table,  kneehole  type,  lacquered.  Brought  back  from  China  for  William  Gray  of  Salem 
on  one  of  his  ships  before  1809.  Based  on  English  design,  Chippendale  style,  serpentine  front, 
bracket  feet.  h.  35"  w.  3 8  y2"  d.  23" 

Donor:  Miss  Hope  Gray,  June  2,  1972. 


William  Gray’s  dressing  table 


REPORT  OF  THE  MUSEUM 


Between  April  1, 1972,  and  March  31, 1973,  our  museum  and  historic 
house  attendance  increased  at  Essex  Institute,  as  it  did  elsewhere  in 
Salem. 


Museum,  front  door 
Museum  second-floor  galleries 
Gardner-Pingree  House 
Crowninshield-Bentley  House 
John  Ward  House 
Peirce-Nichols  House 
Assembly  House 


1 972-73 

1971-72 

Increase 

74,941 

65,298 

9,643 

67,807 

59,213 

8,594 

6,348 

5,503 

845 

2,737 

2,281 

456 

5,719 

5,413 

306 

1,642 

1,086 

556 

569 

246 

323 

We  are  the  grateful  recipients  of  247  gifts  this  year.  Loans,  purchases, 
and  previously  uncatalogued  items  brought  the  total  accession  list  up  to 
316.  Among  the  generous  gifts  is  a  looking  glass,  a  Massachusetts  ver¬ 
sion  of  the  Chippendale  style,  which  came  from  James  B.  Ames.  This 
handsome  piece,  its  mahogany  veneer  set  off  with  gilded  scrolls  and 
laurel  leaves,  bears  a  handwritten  label:  “This  mirror  was  given  by 
Christopher  Osgood  of  Salem  to  his  sister  Mehitable  on  the  occasion  of 
her  marriage  with  William  Marston  in  1778.”  From  Richard  Northey 
came  a  series  of  eighteenth-century  silver  spoons,  some  made  by  Wil¬ 
liam  Northey,  Salem  silversmith,  perhaps  for  himself  and  his  bride 
Rebecca  Collins.  They  were  married  in  1765. 

Salem’s  trade  with  the  Orient  was  well  represented  in  gifts  this  year, 
among  them  a  pair  of  Chinese  export  rose  medallion  bough-pots,  the 
bequest  of  Helen  S.  Driver,  now  exhibited  in  the  Assembly  House.  Miss 
Hope  Gray  gave  us  a  very  beautiful  dressing  table.  It  had  been  brought 
from  China  for  the  donor’s  great-great-grandfather,  the  Salem  merchant 
“Billy”  Gray,  who  moved  to  Boston  in  1809.  Based  on  an  English  de¬ 
sign,  it  is  a  kneehole  type  with  folding  top.  A  mirror  at  center  back  can 
be  pushed  down  into  a  slot  for  its  protection  when  the  table  is  moved.  It 
has  many  small  storage  areas  and  a  serpentine-curved  front.  The  whole 
piece  is  lacquered  black  with  gold  decorations,  a  perfect  blend  of  west¬ 
ern  form,  and  eastern  technique,  a  splendid  addition  to  our  collections. 

Still  another  superb  example  of  our  trade  with  the  East  came  as  the 
gift  of  Mrs.  E.  C.  Plow  of  Nova  Scotia.  It  is  one  of  the  rare  examples 


329 


330  ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 

brought  not  from  China  but  from  Japan,  and  it  came  on  the  Salem  ship 
Margaret.  This  is  a  tilt-top  lacquered  tea  table  with  mother-of-pearl  and 
gilded  decoration,  brought  for  Benjamin  Pickman,  Jr.,  in  whose  family 
it  descended.  A  label  under  the  “birdcage”  pedestal  gives  its  history,  and 
the  Salem  Custom  House  Records,  listing  the  Margaret's  cargo  as  de¬ 
livered  in  Salem  on  June  4, 1802,  include  “Ten  boxes  contg.  ea.  a  round 
table.” 

Our  charter  directs  us  to  preserve  as  well  as  to  collect  the  authentic 
memorials  relating  to  the  civil  history  of  Essex  County,  Massachusetts, 
so  this  year,  thanks  to  a  matching  grant  from  the  Massachusetts  Council 
on  the  Arts  and  Humanities,  our  seventeenth-century  portrait  of  Gov¬ 
ernor  John  Leverett  was  given  much-needed  care.  Two  of  our  eigh¬ 
teenth-century  prints  were  also  treated  and  restored  by  the  Print  Con¬ 
servation  Laboratory  at  the  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston. 

Your  generous  gifts  enabled  us  to  have  C.  B.  Fisk,  Inc.,  of  Gloucester 
rebuild  the  little  organ  in  our  auditorium  and  restore  it  to  full  playing 
condition.  George  Hook  of  Salem  built  this  organ  in  1827,  the  first  one, 
we  believe,  that  he  ever  built.  A  third  important  item  of  Essex  County 
interest  to  be  restored  is  our  rare  baroque  bed-rug,  made  by  Mary  Avery 
of  North  Andover,  bearing  her  initials  and  the  date  1722.  Badly  in  need 
of  cleaning,  this  rug,  decorated  with  hearts  and  flowers  in  blues  and 
browns,  was  in  fragile  condition  before  it  came  to  us.  It  had  been 
strengthened  by  sewing  on  its  back  a  man’s  sweater,  a  sock,  and  a  coal 
bag  made  of  burlap.  The  Wadsworth  Atheneum  in  Hartford,  Connec¬ 
ticut,  asked  to  borrow  our  Avery  rug,  the  oldest  known  dated  example 
of  its  kind,  for  a  special  exhibition  of  early  American  “bed-ruggs.”  If 
ever  we  were  to  have  this  rug  restored,  this  was  the  fittest  occasion.  We 
did,  and  we  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  it  prominently  displayed  in 
Hartford. 

Another  way  of  preserving  our  holdings  is  to  store  them  properly. 
This  year  our  textile  collections  have  been  gathered  together  from 
musty  trunks,  old  boxes,  paper-wrapped  parcels,  or  retrieved  from 
chests  of  drawers  in  which  of  necessity  they  had  been  stuffed  for  years. 
Our  new  textile  storeroom  in  the  basement,  with  shelves  and  proper 
boxes  and  plenty  of  tissue  paper,  with  cases  generously  provided  by  the 
Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston,  now  contains  a  fairly  good  proportion  of 
our  early  bedspreads,  window  hangings,  and  smaller  objects  such  as 
purses  and  fans,  samplers  and  other  embroideries.  The  third-floor  front 


ANNUAL  REPORT  1972-1973 


331 


of  Safford  House  is  now  as  good  a  storage  area  for  costumes  as  we  might 
wish. 

Our  past  and  present  Boston  University  American  Studies  Scholars 
Anne  Farnam  and  Mrs.  Gerald  Ward,  volunteers  Mrs.  David  Cole, 
Mrs.  John  Hand,  and  Jean  Harrison  have  worked  harmoniously  with 
our  Registrar  Mrs.  John  Hassell  on  the  task  of  storing  and  recording  our 
costume  and  textile  collections  in  such  a  way  as  to  keep  them  safe  and 
accessible.  Nancy  Paige  Ryan  has  generously  given  of  her  talent  and 
time  to  catalogue  more  of  our  print  collection.  Volunteers  William  M. 
Houghton  and  H.  Sherman  Holcomb  have  combined  their  talents  with 
those  of  our  Superintendent  Ray  K.  Moore  to  do  skilled  carpentry  and 
cabinet  work  we  could  never  afford  to  have  done  for  us  by  outside  con¬ 
tractors. 

We  have  uncovered  an  extraordinary  uniform  collection  from  the 
tattered  and  anonymous  paper  parcels  we  had  walked  around  for  years. 
Assistant  Curators  John  H.  Wright  and  Robert  Egleston,  volunteer 
Malcolm  Johnson,  and  John  O.  Curtis,  Director  of  the  Curatorial  De¬ 
partment,  Old  Sturbridge  Village,  have  selected  the  best  of  it,  had  it 
dry-cleaned  and  pressed,  and  placed  it  on  hanging  racks  in  the  southwest 
corner  basement  room  newly  transformed  into  a  splendid  storeroom. 
Robert  Egleston  planned  the  organization  of  this  room  and  did  much  of 
the  shelf  and  case  construction  in  it  himself. 

The  quality  of  our  stewardship  is  steadily  improving,  thanks  to  the 
efforts  of  staff  and  volunteers.  The  cost  of  these  improvements  is  paid 
for  from  the  proceeds  of  sales  of  discarded  materials  and  from  the  gifts 
of  members  and  friends.  The  transformation  of  one  dismal  hole  after 
another  into  bright,  clean,  and  orderly  storerooms  is  a  great  joy  to  the 
members  of  the  staff,  all  of  whom  take  literally  the  commitment  to 
preserve  written  in  our  charter. 

We  have  disposed  of  some  baskets,  duplicate  tools,  household  uten¬ 
sils,  uniforms,  and  weapons  during  the  year,  all  of  them  recovered  from 
unsatisfactory  storage  areas.  In  every  category  we  are  doing  our  best  to 
maintain  a  well-rounded  collection  in  each  category  of  objects  relating 
to  Essex  County.  Objects  of  little  monetary  value  but  of  historic  value 
to  others  have  been  given  to  institutions  where  they  have  meaning.  We 
have  given  uniforms  to  the  Veterans  Association  of  the  First  Corps  Ca¬ 
dets,  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Company,  and  the  museums 
of  the  military  academies  at  Annapolis  and  West  Point.  'Cj 


332 


ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 


Many  of  our  museum  objects  have  been  published  during  the  year; 
for  example,  Dean  A.  Fales,  Jr.’s  book  on  early  American  painted  furni¬ 
ture  illustrated  examples  from  this  collection.  Other  institutions  have 
borrowed  objects  for  special  exhibitions.  We  lent  eight  embroideries  to 
the  Colorado  Springs  Fine  Arts  Center;  thirteen  paintings,  drawings, 
watercolors,  and  objects  to  the  Peabody  Museum  of  Salem  for  the  spe¬ 
cial  exhibition  last  summer  on  the  work  of  Michele  Felice  Corne.  Our 
1722  bed-rug  went  to  Hartford’s  Wadsworth  Atheneum;  Chinese  porce¬ 
lain  to  the  Museum  of  the  China  Trade  in  Milton,  Massachusetts,  for 
their  show  of  Boston-owned  porcelain;  and  toys  at  Christmas  time  to 
both  the  Wenham  Historical  Association  and  Museum,  Inc.,  and  the 
Museum  of  Transportation  in  Larz  Anderson  Park  in  Brookline.  The 
office  of  the  Mayor  of  Salem  and  Marblehead  Junior  High  School  have 
also  received  loans  of  art  objects  this  year. 

In  our  exhibition  houses,  an  old  Victorian-style  carpet  found  during 
our  sortings  of  textiles  has  been  cut  to  size  to  fit  the  second-floor  Vic¬ 
torian  parlor  of  the  Assembly  House,  and  the  room  has  been  improved 
by  the  addition  of  long  window-hangings.  We  expect  to  have  more  of 
them  made  for  the  bedroom.  A  chair  in  the  first  floor  west  parlor  of  the 
Peirce-Nichols  House  has  been  reupholstered;  and  much  of  the  spinning 
and  weaving  equipment  in  the  John  Ward  House  has  been  recondi¬ 
tioned  by  Mrs.  Peter  Seamans  for  use  with  school  classes.  In  the  Crown- 
inshield-Bentley  House  during  the  winter  a  disaster  occurred;  the  fur¬ 
nace  “blew,”  filling  the  house  and  covering  the  contents  with  an  oily 
soot.  All  walls,  ceilings,  and  floors  had  to  be  thoroughly  cleaned  and 
washed.  All  furniture  was  cleaned,  all  textiles  removed  for  laundering 
or  dry  cleaning,  and  all  small  objects  were  brought  over  to  our  main 
building  to  be  cleaned  by  hand  by  the  staff  and  volunteers.  We  have  had 
a  very  busy  winter  cleaning  up  after  this  catastrophe,  and  have  been 
thankful  that  the  most  precious  objects  had  been  removed  from  the 
house  beforehand.  We  have  also  been  thankful  for  the  help  given  us  by 
the  new  Administrator,  Charles  Steward,  who  came  just  in  time  to 
arrange  and  oversee  the  professional  cleaning  of  the  house. 

A  major  event  this  year  was  the  accreditation  of  our  museum  by  the 
American  Association  of  Museums.  We  have  always  known  that  our 
museum  collections  are  admired  by  scholars  and  enjoyed  by  the  general 
public,  but  we  are  glad  to  have  official  recognition  of  the  recent  im¬ 
provements  we  have  made.  The  two  examiners  summed  us  up  well,  de- 


ANNUAL  REPORT  1972-1973 


333 


scribing  Essex  Institute  as  “an  old  and  venerable  institution  with  all  of 
the  problems  which  accompany  years  of  collecting  objects  and  accumu¬ 
lating  traditions.”  They  took  note  of  the  accomplishments  of  the  past 
few  years:  fresh  paint,  improved  lighting,  good  labels  in  most  areas, 
new  and  better  storage  areas,  and  fuller  cataloguing.  We  are  trying  to 
bring  up  to  standard  the  areas  which  they  found  not  quite  up  to  basic 
good  museum  practices.  The  examiners  took  further  note  of  the  Insti¬ 
tute’s  fine  historical  library,  our  new  educational  program,  and  the 
many  events  handled  by  our  Ladies  Committee. 

This  volunteer  group  does  more  for  us  than  we  can  say.  Besides  run¬ 
ning  an  annual  Spring  Lecture  Series  and  May  Festival,  they  head  the 
important  work  done  by  our  volunteer  guides  who  show  our  houses 
during  the  summer;  they  provide  and  serve  refreshments  at  various 
functions;  they  act  as  hostesses  and  plan  programs  for  special  visiting 
groups;  they  fill  our  houses  with  fresh  flowers  during  the  summer  sea¬ 
son  and  throughout  the  year  provide  them  for  our  front  hall  and  mu¬ 
seum  functions  in  the  auditorium.  They  work  on  mailing  lists  for  our 
office  staff,  and  they  stock  and  run  a  gift  shop  which  this  year  has  added 
some  pewter  reproductions  of  objects  in  the  museum  collection.  This 
year  they  contributed  new  lighting  for  our  Bessie  (Lincoln)  Potter  doll 
house,  and  decorated  its  tiny  rooms  with  Christmas  trees  and  greens  for 
a  Christmas  party  for  children.  We  are  having  a  Christmas  card  made 
showing  the  doll  house  with  its  decorations,  and  this  will  be  available 
for  Christmas  this  coming  season. 

The  Ladies  Committee  Spring  Lecture  Series  in  1972  featured  the 
subject  of  tea,  the  tea  trade,  and  accessories  for  the  tea  table.  The  lectures 
(listed  elsewhere)  were  a  great  success,  and  the  auditorium  was  hung 
with  banners  of  the  countries  which  took  part  in  the  China  trade.  These 
beautiful  flags  were  designed  and  made  by  Mrs.  Frederick  Dike  Mason. 
Mrs.  Paul  Haskell  arranged  exhibitions  relating  to  the  subject  of  each 
lecture.  We  cannot  possibly  thank  our  lady  volunteers  enough  for  all 
the  things  they  do,  the  contributions  of  their  time  and  energy  and  good¬ 
will,  as  well  as  for  the  money  they  raise  and  the  gifts  they  have  made  to 
us.  Their  value  to  the  Institute  cannot  be  overstated. 

The  museum  staff  has  had  more  time  for  museum  objects  this  year 
since  the  formation  of  the  new  educational  division.  Mary  Larsen’s  ex¬ 
cellent  handling  of  school  classes,  combined  with  the  limitation  of  the 
number  of  school  children  allowed  in  the  building  at  a  time,  and  the 


334  ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 

requirement  that  schools  must  now  make  appointments  a  week  in  ad¬ 
vance,  have  been  a  great  help  to  us.  We  feel  also  that  the  school  visitors 
get  much  more  out  of  the  museum  through  having  a  definite  program. 
We  had,  as  usual,  a  number  of  very  interesting  adult  groups.  Two  hun¬ 
dred  members  of  the  National  Herb  Society  of  America  met  at  the  In¬ 
stitute  and  visited  our  houses;  the  Decorative  Arts  Society  of  the  City 
Art  Museum  of  St.  Louis,  the  Young  Collectors’  Group  from  the 
Museum  of  Fine  Arts  in  Boston,  the  Doric  Dames  from  the  Boston 
State  House,  and  one  hundred  members  of  the  American  Retina  Foun¬ 
dation  were  others.  Among  those  most  interested  in  Essex  Institute  was 
the  group  from  England  last  fall,  members  of  the  American  Museum  in 
Bath,  who  delighted  in  seeing  the  colonial  furniture  of  Essex  County 
made  in  traditional  English  styles.  With  42  special  adult  groups  and  254 
children’s  groups  the  museum  collections  have  been  widely  enjoyed. 

We  simply  could  not  show  our  houses  without  our  volunteer  guides. 
Much  of  the  Institute’s  reputation  as  a  rewarding  and  pleasant  place  to 
visit  is  due  to  their  knowledge,  grace,  and  charm.  Visitors  feel  correctly 
that  the  lady  of  the  house  has  bestowed  her  hospitality  upon  them.  New 
guides  learn  the  houses  and  experienced  guides  refresh  their  knowledge 
in  the  Guides’  Course  we  give  each  spring.  In  the  spring  of  1972  two  of 
the  Adjunct  Lecturers  at  the  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston,  Mrs.  Charles 
A.  Butts,  Jr.,  and  Mrs.  Warner  B.  Hartford,  each  gave  a  comprehensive 
lecture  on  New  England  architecture  and  furniture.  Staff  and  experi¬ 
enced  guides  supplied  the  in-house  training.  Before  the  summer  was 
over,  58  volunteer  guides  had  given  us  2,157  hours  of  expert  guiding. 
Our  warmest  thanks  go  to  them  all  for  their  responsible,  competent, 
and  attractive  approach  to  making  our  houses  live  for  their  visitors. 

Our  regular  staff  guides,  Mrs.  Ray  K.  Moore  and  Mrs.  Montgomery 
Merrill  in  the  Gardner-Pingree  House,  Mrs.  H.  H.  Gibson,  Jr.,  in  the 
Peirce-Nichols  House,  and  Mrs.  Donald  F.  Hunt  in  the  Assembly  House, 
and  our  two  full-time  summer  guides  Ellen  Shrigley  and  Beth  Carver 
found  little  leisure  time  as  they  coped  with  our  many  visitors. 

The  work  loads  of  our  regular,  part-time,  and  volunteer  staff  mem¬ 
bers  are  increasing  steadily.  Mrs.  Emerson  H.  Lalone  has  had  more 
guides  to  schedule,  Mrs.  Hassell  more  objects  coming  and  going,  more 
cataloguing  to  be  done.  Mary  Silver  Smith  has  performed  invaluable 
services  in  coping  with  quantities  of  correspondence.  Some  of  us  have 
visited  other  museums  in  this  country  and  abroad;  some  of  us  have 


ANNUAL  REPORT  I972-I973 


335 


lectured  here  and  elsewhere;  all  of  us  have  performed  hours  of  research 
to  answer  telephoned  and  written  requests  for  information.  A  good  deal 
of  time  has  been  spent  by  the  museum  staff  assisting  the  Ladies  Com¬ 
mittee  in  putting  on  exhibitions  tied  in  with  the  lecture  series.  We  have 
also  had  several  special  exhibitions  of  our  own.  We  are  often  called 
upon  to  arrange  for  special  photography  of  objects  in  our  collections  at 
the  request  of  scholars  either  for  study  or  for  publication. 

We  hope  that  someday  we  will  have  a  full-time  department  secretary 
so  that  less  of  our  time  may  be  spent  typing  letters  and  cards  and  more 
of  our  time  spent  on  the  research,  preparation  of  exhibitions,  and  publi¬ 
cation  which  should  normally  be  a  part  of  curatorial  work. 

The  maintenance  staff  has,  as  always,  kept  our  buildings  and  period 
houses  in  pristine  condition.  Our  beloved  Housekeeper  Mrs.  Robert  J. 
Beechey  suffered  a  stroke  on  July  3, 1972,  and  is  still  in  the  hospital.  She 
served  the  Institute  faithfully  and  far  beyond  the  call  of  duty  for  twenty- 
six  years.  Her  niece  Mrs.  William  Cook  retired  from  our  housekeeping 
department  last  fall.  We  shall  not  see  two  such  competent,  dependable, 
and  utterly  delightful  people  soon  again. 

We  thank  the  President,  the  Council  and  Museum  Committee,  the 
Director,  and  the  staff  members  of  the  Institute’s  other  departments  for 
their  understanding  and  cooperation  during  this  very  busy  year.  I  am 
especially  grateful  to  the  members  of  the  museum  staff  for  their  profes¬ 
sional  and  responsible  approach  to  the  many  aspects  of  our  work.  Our 
purposes  are  serious,  but  good  humor  and  teamwork  help  to  lighten  the 
ever-increasing  load.  We  all  take  pride  in  the  accomplishments  of  this 
past  year. 

Respectfully  submitted, 
Huldah  M.  Payson 
Curator  of  the  Museum 


REPORT  OF  THE  DIVISION  OF  EDUCATION 


The  education  division  spent  its  first  year  in  exploration  and  experi¬ 
mentation  based  on  the  belief  that  a  firm  knowledge  of  the  needs  and 
capabilities  of  both  the  Institute  and  the  people  it  serves  is  absolutely 
necessary  before  any  permanent  commitment  can  or  should  be  made. 
The  importance  of  planning  and  organization  cannot  be  overempha¬ 
sized.  An  education  department  places  new  demands  on  the  Institute 
and  its  staff.  It  adds  a  new  dimension  to  the  Institute’s  implicit  educa¬ 
tional  functions  and,  therefore,  not  only  attracts  a  greater  audience  but 
augments  activities  for  persons  already  supporting  and  using  its  facilities. 
The  nature  of  such  an  addition  deserves  careful  consideration. 

What  kinds  of  educational  experiences  does  the  Institute  now  pro¬ 
vide?  In  what  ways  can  these  programs  be  augmented?  Toward  whom 
should  the  Institute  direct  new  programs  and  why?  How  will  the  com¬ 
munity  respond  to  these  programs?  These  are  the  questions  which  de¬ 
manded  attention  in  the  first  year.  Many  of  them  now  have  answers. 

The  first  event  of  the  year  1972-1973  was  a  two-day  film  festival  for 
teachers  of  social  studies.  The  idea  was  to  encourage  the  teaching  of  cul¬ 
tural  and  local  history  through  the  use  of  films  and  museums  such  as 
ours.  During  the  winter  a  lecture  on  “Abolition  in  Essex  County”  was 
researched  and  photographed.  It  has  been  shown  to  hundreds  of  high 
school  students  in  Salem  and  surrounding  areas.  Another  show  was 
made  from  James  Duncan  Phillips’  “Salem  in  the  Nineties”  which  has 
also  been  shown  to  schools. 

Probably  the  most  important  activity  of  the  summer  was  a  six-week 
course  in  the  history  of  Salem  offered  to  any  interested  adult.  Our  class 
attracted  high  school  students,  house  guides,  local  teachers,  even  retired 
businessmen,  and  together  we  had  a  grand  time  not  only  reading  and 
exploring  Salem’s  political  history,  but  also  investigating  many  of  its 
old  houses  and  historic  sites.  Several  of  the  class  continued  their  interest 
in  Salem  history  by  teaching  it  themselves  during  the  school  year. 

Also  during  the  summer  the  education  department  held  a  workshop 
for  house  guides  on  spinning  and  weaving.  Using  film  and  actual  dem¬ 
onstration,  these  important  seventeenth-  and  eighteenth-century  house¬ 
hold  crafts  were  explained  to  the  guides  with  the  help  of  Mrs.  Peter 
Seamans.  Earlier  in  the  spring,  groups  of  school  children  came  to  the 
museum  for  a  discussion  of  colonial  cooking,  using  the  period  kitchen 

336 


ANNUAL  REPORT  1972-1973 


337 


and  old  recipes  from  our  library.  The  spinning  program  and  cooking 
lesson  were  combined  for  several  groups  and  expanded  to  the  Crown- 
inshield-Bentley  House.  This  expanded  program  was  so  successful  that 
it  became  the  basis  for  the  school  program  in  the  fall. 

In  September  nearly  400  brochures  were  sent  to  schools  in  Essex 
County  describing  the  programs  available  to  them  at  the  Essex  Institute. 
The  major  program  was  held  in  the  Ward  House  after  it  closed  to  the 
public.  With  the  help  of  Mrs.  Peter  Seamans  and  Mrs.  Laura  Hersey, 
students  learned  about  herbs  and  cooking  in  a  seventeenth-century  kit¬ 
chen  and  also  had  an  opportunity  to  spin  wool  into  yarn.  A  total  of  542 
children,  their  teachers,  and  chaperons  participated  in  the  three  weeks 
before  inclement  weather  forced  us  to  close  the  house  for  the  winter. 
They  came  from  Salem,  Essex,  Newbury,  Swampscott,  Beverly,  Ips¬ 
wich,  and  Danvers.  They  ranged  in  age  from  third  grade  to  high  school 
seniors  and  represented  a  variety  of  interests  from  home  economics  to 
cultural  history.  It  was  especially  satisfying  to  learn  that  this  program 
exactly  corresponded  with  what  the  students  were  studying  and  that  we 
were  giving  them  the  opportunity  to  experience  what  they  had  hereto¬ 
fore  only  been  able  to  read  about.  Their  reactions  ranged  from  wonder 
to  gratitude  to  excitement. 

Other  activities  described  in  our  brochure  were  the  slide  lectures 
“Abolition  in  Essex  County”  and  “Salem  in  the  Nineties”  already  men¬ 
tioned.  Also  several  classes  came  to  hear  a  brief  talk  on  the  political 
campaign  show  before  viewing  the  prints.  To  my  knowledge,  this  was 
the  first  time  schools  had  been  notified  of  a  special  museum  exhibit  that 
would  be  interpreted  for  them.  The  students’  and  teachers’  appreciation 
brought  us  a  small  but  meaningful  donation. 

In  the  winter  our  attention  turned  to  interpreting  the  museum  itself. 
Each  spring  the  museum  has  been  deluged  with  groups  of  school  chil¬ 
dren  who  often  come  unprepared  and  undisciplined  and  usually  leave  as 
confused  and  disorderly  as  when  they  arrived.  The  museum  does  not 
have  the  staff  time  to  organize,  schedule,  and  greet  these  groups  who 
often  arrive  unannounced  anyway. 

Since  December,  I  have  had  the  much  appreciated  volunteer  help  of 
Mrs.  Phyllis  Shutzer.  Together  we  planned  a  slide  introduction  to  the 
museum  for  school  groups.  After  organizing  and  photographing,  we 
created  a  show  which  tells  the  story  of  Salem  and  the  Institute  with  illus¬ 
trations  from  the  museum  collection.  At  the  same  time  we  helped  the 


338  ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 

museum  organize  its  school  group  appointments.  This  spring  we  have 
required  schools  to  make  reservations  and  limit  the  size  of  their  group. 
Now  each  one  sees  our  slide  introduction  before  going  into  the  mu¬ 
seum.  By  the  end  of  the  school  year  we  will  have  shown  this  program 
to  over  3,000  students.  Their  visit  has  been  made  more  enjoyable  and 
educational  for  all.  The  introduction  is  now  being  rewritten  so  that  it 
will  be  a  suitable  introduction  for  tourists  this  summer  and  will  be 
taped  and  shown  on  a  regular  schedule. 

Along  with  the  announcement  of  our  slide  introduction,  we  notified 
schools  of  our  special  spring  programs.  Our  regular  morning  film  series 
was  made  available  to  students  in  the  afternoon  with  an  introduction 
and  discussion  after  the  viewing.  For  smaller  groups,  John  Wright  and 
I  have  been  telling  children  about  colonial  furniture  construction  and 
decoration.  It  is  not  often  that  students  have  actual  seventeenth-century 
examples  to  illustrate  their  studies.  Their  enthusiasm  has  made  the  pro¬ 
gram  a  treat  for  us  all. 

Now  that  summer  is  nearly  here,  our  Phillips  School  gardeners  are 
again  preparing  the  kitchen  garden  for  the  Ward  House.  Eight  garden¬ 
ers  have  come  once  a  week  to  research  and  plan  their  garden  which 
they  have  planted  and  will  tend  over  the  summer.  Once  school  is  out  I 
shall  again  be  busy  with  the  summer  course  in  Salem  history  and  prep¬ 
arations  for  the  fall. 

In  deciding  the  direction  of  our  educational  programs  in  the  future, 
we  should  consider  the  most  important  audience  to  be  the  school  chil¬ 
dren.  The  overwhelming  response  to  the  Ward  House  adventure  and 
other  special  programs  indicates  that  the  schools  have  the  money  and 
interest  to  seek  out  and  participate  in  such  projects.  Conversations  with 
teachers  and  curriculum  coordinators  in  Essex  County  confirm  my  be¬ 
lief  that  schools  are  rediscovering  the  history  which  surrounds  them. 
They  are  amazed  to  find  such  appropriate  materials  so  close  to  them. 
They  look  forward  to  more  programs  and  with  good  reason.  The  Essex 
Institute  is  a  treasure  house  of  history,  crafts,  folkways,  decorative  arts, 
even  industry,  not  only  of  Essex  County  but  of  New  England.  Surely 
it  is  our  concern  to  make  these  things  available  to  the  children  who 
live  here. 

How  can  the  Institute  best  realize  its  educational  potential?  Based  on 
the  assumption  that  school  children  are  our  primary  concern,  the  fol¬ 
lowing  are  three  possible  plans  for  the  future.  Once  a  decision  has  been 


ANNUAL  REPORT  I972-I973 


339 


made  and  a  plan  adopted,  we  shall  be  able  to  focus  our  energies  and 
establish  a  department  with  specific  goals  and  purpose. 

The  first  plan  is  to  do  little  more  than  is  already  being  done.  This 
means  establishing  last  year’s  successful  experiments  as  permanent  pro¬ 
grams.  These  would  include  the  kitchen  garden,  Salem  history  class, 
colonial  cooking  and  spinning  for  a  month  in  the  fall,  slide  lectures  for 
schools  and  the  introductory  slide  show  for  visiting  school  groups. 
These  are  exciting  projects,  but  they  hardly  tap  the  educational  po¬ 
tential  of  the  Institute.  These  programs  serve  small  numbers  of  different 
people  very  well.  (We  have  had  about  4,500  people  participate  in  the 
various  activities  of  the  education  department.)  But  it  is  inefficient  be¬ 
cause  it  does  not  serve  the  audience  it  could  and  because  it  is  makeshift. 

The  second  alternative  would  solve  the  problem  of  the  growing 
number  of  school  visits.  It  calls  for  the  elimination  of  the  education  de¬ 
partment  as  such  and  suggests  that  the  museum  add  another  member  to 
its  staff  whose  job  would  be  to  schedule  school  groups  and  provide  them 
with  a  program.  We  have  made  a  step  in  this  direction  with  the  slide 
introduction.  But  this  spring  it  has  taken  three  people  a  great  deal  of 
time  to  handle  the  scheduling  and  greeting  of  hundreds  of  school 
groups.  During  the  months  of  greatest  visitation  (September-Novem- 
ber  and  March-June)  this  would  indeed  be  a  full-time  job  for  one  per¬ 
son.  The  rest  of  the  time  could  be  spent  on  musuem  projects  in  a  cura¬ 
torial  or  secretarial  capacity  as  well  as  with  guide-training  or  other  edu¬ 
cational  projects  as  time  permitted.  This  plan  is  more  efficient  than  the 
first  because  it  meets  needs  the  Institute  already  has.  It  can  handle  the 
demands  of  the  school  groups  and  provide  help  in  the  museum  but  it 
does  not  serve  school  children  in  the  best  way  and  it  eliminates  the 
effectiveness  of  a  separate  department. 

I  believe  the  Institute  is  in  a  position  to  make  new  and  exciting  use  of 
its  collections  in  programs  for  all  types  of  school  audiences.  The  first 
requirement  for  a  successful  educational  program  is  a  belief  in  its  pur¬ 
pose  and  commitment  to  it.  A  year  of  experimentation  has  passed;  it  is 
no  longer  wise  to  work  in  a  vacuum.  Explicit  education  should  become 
part  of  the  Institute’s  policy. 

Plan  three  calls  for  the  development  of  a  number  of  different  lecture- 
demonstrations  which  use  material  from  the  library  and  museum  col¬ 
lections,  both  on  display  and  in  storage.  These  demonstrations  would 
concentrate  on  one  part  of  the  Essex  County  past  which  has  been  pre- 


340  ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 

served  at  the  Essex  Institute.  Carding,  spinning,  dying,  and  weaving 
wool  is  one  example.  Furniture  styles  and  construction  is  another.  Tools, 
printing,  herbs  and  colonial  cooking,  toys  are  parts  of  an  endless  list  of 
objects  which  could  be  used  in  this  way.  Four,  perhaps  more  of  these 
programs,  should  be  developed  as  soon  as  possible.  During  the  school 
year,  they  would  run  in  a  series,  each  one  lasting  a  week  or  more  at  a 
time  and  then  rotating  to  the  next.  Each  program  would  be  set  up  and 
presented  for  an  allotted  time,  then  dismantled  so  that  next  could  be  set 
up.  Schools  could  plan  to  participate  in  only  one  or  all  of  the  programs. 
Each  program  would  try  to  relate  to  the  museum  displays  so  that  the 
students  would  begin  to  learn  that  a  museum,  like  a  library,  can  be 
visited  and  revisited  with  renewed  interest. 

An  important  corollary  of  this  program  would  be  a  series  of  work¬ 
shops  and  open  houses  for  teachers  and  curriculum  directors  in  the  area 
to  show  what  our  programs  are  and  expose  them  to  the  possibilities  of 
making  our  facilities  part  of  their  curriculum.  Several  school  systems 
have  already  expressed  interest  in  such  cooperation.  Our  experimental 
programs  have  already  shown  that  schools  are  interested  in  spending 
time  and  money  on  such  programs.  Schools  would  soon  make  the  Es¬ 
sex  Institute  a  regular  part  of  the  field  trip  schedule.  Such  a  series  would 
give  an  organization  and  form  to  the  education  department  which 
would  still  be  flexible.  Within  such  a  framework  more  programs  could 
be  developed  and  many  talents  employed;  already  both  museum  staff 
and  volunteers  from  the  community  have  demonstrated  their  interest 
and  ability  in  teaching.  With  help  there  would  be  time  for  slide  lectures, 
summer  courses,  even  the  kitchen  garden.  And  once  we  begin,  a  mini¬ 
mal  fee  could  make  the  rotating  programs  self-supporting. 

Flaving  been  given  the  opportunity  to  explore  the  Institute’s  educa¬ 
tional  potential,  I  conclude  that  it  could  offer  school  children  an  ex¬ 
posure  to  the  history  of  their  surroundings  in  ways  that  no  other  muse¬ 
um  in  Essex  County  could  provide.  The  Institute  has  always  had  an  im¬ 
plicit  educational  function,  but  its  emphasis  has  been  scholarly.  We  have 
neglected  the  young  people  to  whom  we  have  so  much  to  offer. 

But  we  cannot  begin  without  space.  Thus  far  our  activities  have  taken 
place  in  makeshift  quarters  on  temporary  chairs  with  little  or  no  equip¬ 
ment.  (We  have  had  classes  in  the  auditorium,  the  print  room,  various 
hallways,  the  Crowninshield-Bentley  House,  the  second  floor  of  the 
library,  the  Ward  House,  the  museum  gallery,  even  the  gardens.)  We 


ANNUAL  REPORT  I972-I973 


341 


need  a  space  where  thirty  students  can  sit  or  work  without  disturbing 
other  visitors.  Here  we  could  give  school  groups  the  introduction  on  a 
regular  schedule.  Here  we  could  store  our  objects  which  are  already 
crowding  museum  storage  space.  Classes  could  be  held  here  as  well  as 
special  lectures.  And  of  course  the  series  of  programs  cannot  begin 
without  a  space.  More  important,  this  series  cannot  begin  without 
decision.  Plan  three  describes  an  education  department  as  it  could  exist 
at  the  Essex  Institute.  By  making  a  commitment  to  the  goals  of  this 
plan,  the  education  department  could  help  the  Essex  Institute  become 
important  and  meaningful  to  the  children  of  Essex  County  and  beyond. 

The  education  department  is  happy  to  report  that  since  January  1, 
1972,  it  has  been  able  to  pay  the  bulk  of  its  expenses.  The  following  is  a 
brief  summary  of  its  earnings  and  spendings  from  January  1,  1972,  to 
May  l,  1973. 


EXPENSES 


Long  distance  phone  calls 

$  5-55 

Postage 

6.24 

Film  developing 

79.56 

Materials  and  expenses  of 

Salem  history  class 

37-40 

Brochures 

136.50 

Fall  program  (expenses  of  volunteers) 

111.30 

Miscellaneous 

51-72 

CASH  RECEIVED 

Film  festival 

24.75 

Salem  history  class 

60.00 

Salem  through  Multi-Media 

219.50 

Fall  program  admissions 

135.50 

Lecture  fees 

75.00 

TOTAL  SPENDINGS  $428.27 
TOTAL  EARNINGS  $514-75 


Respectfully  submitted, 
Mary  Larsen 
Director  of  Education 


REPORT  OF  THE  TREASURER 


Accompanying  this  report  are  audited  statements  of  account  for 
the  fiscal  year  ending  March  31,  1973,  reported  upon  by  our  auditors, 
Coopers  &Lybrand. 

The  accounts  are  presented  in  a  substantially  different  format  than 
heretofore  and,  therefore,  a  comparison  with  last  year’s  report  is  diffi¬ 
cult  to  present.  There  are  two  principal  changes.  First,  expenses  have 
been  stated  by  department — that  is  to  say,  the  museum,  houses,  publica¬ 
tions,  library,  and  education — and  all  applicable  expenses,  including 
salaries,  have  been  charged  to  these  accounts.  Second,  the  accounting 
has  been  placed  on  an  accrual  rather  than  a  cash  basis. 

The  market  value  of  endowment  funds  as  of  March  31,  1973,  was 
$2,792,000  as  compared  with  $2,720,000  a  year  ago. 

The  books  of  the  Institute  are  available  in  the  treasurer’s  office  for 
examination  by  any  member  who  wishes  to  see  them. 

Respectfully  submitted, 
Edward  H.  Osgood 

Treasurer 


AUDITORS’  REPORT 
To  the  Council  of  the  Essex  Institute: 

W e  have  examined  the  balance  sheet  of  the  Essex  Institute  as  of  March 
31,  1973,  and  the  statement  of  sources  of  revenues  and  funds  used  to 
meet  expenses  of  current  operations  and  the  summary  of  changes  in 
funds  for  the  year  then  ended.  Our  examination  was  made  in  accor¬ 
dance  with  generally  accepted  auditing  standards,  and  accordingly  in¬ 
cluded  such  tests  of  the  accounting  records  and  such  other  auditing  pro¬ 
cedures  as  we  considered  necessary  in  the  circumstances. 

In  our  opinion,  the  aforementioned  statements  present  fairly  the 
financial  position  of  the  Essex  Institute  at  March  31,  1973,  and  the  re¬ 
sults  of  its  operations  and  changes  in  funds  for  the  year  then  ended,  in 
conformity  with  generally  accepted  accounting  principles. 

Boston,  Massachusetts  Coopers  &  Lybrand 

May  8,  1973  certified  public  accountants 


342 


ANNUAL  REPORT  1972-1973 


343 


ESSEX  INSTITUTE 
Balance  Sheet,  March  31,  1973 
Current  fund  assets: 

Cash 

Accrued  dividends  and  interest 
Advance  to  author 
Publications  in  process 
Prepaid  expenses 
Insurance  proceeds  receivable 

Endowment  fund  assets  (Note  A): 

Investments,  at  cost: 

Fixed  income  (market  quotations  $769,000) 
Equities  (market  quotations  $2,023,000) 

Cash 

Plant  fund  assets  (Note  A): 

Land 

Institute  buildings  and  improvements 

Period  houses 

Cash 


Current  funds  and  liabilities: 

Accrued  expenses 

1973  membership  dues  received  in  advance 

Unexpended  balance  of  gifts,  investment  income, 
and  other  receipts  for  designated  purposes 

Endowment  funds: 

Restricted  as  to  income 

Unrestricted  as  to  income 

Accumulated  net  gain  from  sales  of  securities 

Plant  funds: 

Expended  for  plant 

Unexpended 


$  82,842 

20,208 
3,000 
42,549 
2,630 
2,834 
154,063 


843,659 

884,260 

35,4iQ 

1,763,329 

101,288 

756,138 

223,029 

9,514 

1,089,969 

$3,007,361 


$  11,179 

6,090 

136,794 

154,063 

501,216 

814,698 

447,4U 

1,763,329 

1,080,455 

9,5H 

1,089,969 

$3,007,361 


The  accompanying  notes  are  an  integral  part  of  the  financial  statements. 


344 


ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 


ESSEX  INSTITUTE 

Statement  of  Sources  of  Revenues  and  Funds  Used 
to  Meet  Expenses  of  Current  Operations 
for  the  year  ended  March  31,  1973 

OPERATING  EXPENSES: 


Direct  expenses: 


Museum 

$  49,277 

Houses 

22,728 

Publications 

19,443 

Library 

36,058 

Education 

15,249 

Costs  attributable  to  all  Institute  activities: 

Administration  and  general 

77,888 

Operation  and  maintenance 

47,960 

$268,603 

REVENUES  AND  FUNDS  USED: 

Operating  income: 

Admissions 

$  8,152 

Membership  dues 

15,400 

Publications 

9,520 

Other  income 

2,343 

35,415 

James  D.  Phillips  Trust 

17,588 

Endowment  fund  unrestricted  income 

82,544 

Gifts,  investment  income,  and  other  receipts  for 

designated  purposes  availed  of 

63,585 

Unrestricted  funds  used  to  meet  operating  expenses 

69,471 

$268,603 

The  accompanying  notes  are  an  integral  part  of  the  financial  statements. 


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346 


ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 


ESSEX  INSTITUTE 
Notes  to  Financial  Statements 

A.  Summary  of  Significant  Accounting  Policies: 

The  Institute  maintains  its  accounts  on  the  accrual  basis.  Land,  Institute  buildings, 
period  houses  and  major  improvements  are  reflected  on  the  balance  sheet  at  cost.  No 
provision  for  depreciation  has  been  charged  to  operations.  The  cost  of  works  of  art, 
furniture  and  equipment  and  minor  renovations  are  charged  to  funds  established  for 
such  purposes. 

Investments  are  carried  at  cost  or,  if  donated,  at  market  value  at  the  date  of  donation. 
Gains  and  losses  from  sales  are  reflected  in  the  period  in  which  realized.  Investment 
income  is  distributed  on  a  unit  basis  which  reflects  the  ratio  of  the  related  funds  in¬ 
vested  in  the  pooled  portfolio  at  market  value. 

B.  Retirement  Plan: 

During  1973,  the  Institute  initiated  a  contributory  retirement  plan  which  covers  sub¬ 
stantially  all  full-time  employees.  The  plan  is  administered  by  the  Teachers  Insurance 
and  Annuity  Association.  Plan  assets  are  not  included  in  the  Institute’s  financial  state¬ 
ments.  Total  pension  expense  for  the  year  charged  to  operations  was  $3,134.  The  plan 
is  a  defined  contribution  type  plan  wherein  benefits  are  based  on  accumulated  con¬ 
tributions. 

C.  James  D.  Phillips  Trust: 

The  Institute  is  a  beneficiary  of  the  James  D.  Phillips  Trust.  The  assets  of  the  Trust  are 
managed  by  its  trustees  and  are  not  included  in  the  assets  of  the  Institute.  Under  the 
terms  of  the  Trust,  ten  percent  of  the  investment  income  is  annually  added  to  principal 
until  such  time  as  $100,000  has  accumulated.  At  the  discretion  of  the  Institute’s  Coun¬ 
cil,  such  amount  may  then  be  used  for  building  purposes.  As  of  September  30,  1972, 
$27,833  had  been  accumulated  in  the  Trust. 


ANNUAL  REPORT  I972-I973 


347 


CALENDAR  OF  EVENTS 
April  1,  1972  -  March  31,  1973 

Spring  Lecture  Series 

April  13.  “The  Opening  of  the  Oriental  Tea  Trade”  by  Henry  Ash¬ 
ton  Crosby  Forbes,  Director  of  the  Museum  of  American  China 
Trade  and  of  the  Captain  Robert  Bennet  Forbes  House  at  Milton. 
April  20.  “Thoughts  on  Tea  in  England  and  the  Colonies  in  the  Eigh¬ 
teenth  Century”  by  Gertrude  Z.  Thomas,  book  author  and  con¬ 
tributor  to  Antiques  and  Connoisseur. 

April  27.  “The  Changing  Shapes  of  Ceramics  and  Furniture  for  Tea” 
by  Margaret  B.  Munier  Babcock,  consultant,  researcher,  and  lec¬ 
turer  in  the  field  of  American  decorative  arts. 

May  4.  “Silver  and  Pewter  Tea  Accouterments”  by  Raymond  Shep¬ 
herd,  Jr.,  Assistant  Curator  of  Decorative  Arts  after  1700,  Phila¬ 
delphia  Museum  of  Art. 

May  4.  A  May  Basket  Lunch  served  following  the  lecture;  a  special 
exhibition  of  furniture,  ceramics,  and  costumes  of  the  different 
periods  from  private  collections  and  that  of  the  Essex  Institute, 
showing  the  evolution  of  the  tea  table  through  the  centuries. 

Training  Course  for  House  Guides 
May  11,  18,  and  25. 

May  25.  George  S.  Parker  Memorial  Lecture:  James  Reston,  Vice- 
President  of  the  New  York  Times ,  on  “The  Emergence  of  China.” 

June  20-21.  Working  Conference  on  Essex  County  History. 

July  1  -  September  16.  An  exhibition  of  evening  dresses,  “One  En¬ 
chanted  Evening,”  arranged  by  the  Honorary  Curator  of  Costumes, 
John  Burbidge. 

August  15  -  November  12.  An  exhibition  of  political  cartoons  and 
broadsides,  “Electing  a  President  in  the  Nineteenth  Century.” 

October  3 .  Fall  Outing,  a  tour  of  Andover  and  North  Andover  visiting 
the  Merrimack  Valley  Textile  Museum,  the  Johnson  Cottage,  the 
North  Andover  Historical  Society,  the  Parson  Barnard  House,  the 
Addison  Gallery  of  American  Art,  and  the  Andover  Inn. 


348  ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 

October  8.  Concert  by  the  Collegium  Musicum,  Dennis  M.  Michaud, 
Director. 

October  18.  Lyceum  Lecture:  “Emily  Dickinson’s  Affair  with  her 
‘Sweet  Salem’,”  by  Joseph  Williams,  Professor  of  English,  Salem 
State  College. 

December  9.  “Christmas  at  the  Dolls’  House,”  a  party  for  children. 

December  10.  A  concert  given  by  the  North  Shore  Community  Music 
School. 

December  15,  1972  -  April  13,  1973.  Exhibition  of  Early  American 
Glass  (S.  Prescott  Fay  Collection). 

January  21  -  March  4,  1973.  A  loan  exhibition  of  sculpture  by  Beverly 
Benson  Seamans. 

Film  Series:  Three  Faces  of  Art 

January  23,  24,  25.  “Buddhism  in  China.” 

February  20,  21,  22.  “Art  of  the  Conservator.” 

March  20,  21,  22.  “Hawthorne’s  ‘Young  Goodman  Brown’.” 

February  16.  An  illustrated  lecture  on  “The  Influence  of  the  Far  East  on 
English  Furniture,”  by  Helena  Hayward,  a  Director  of  the  Atting- 
ham  Summer  School,  Shropshire,  England. 

Lectures  and  Courses  by  the  Division  of  Education 

Summer  1972.  A  six-week  course  on  the  five  periods  of  Salem  his¬ 
tory: 

Puritans  in  New  England,  1626-1662 
Colonial  Days  and  the  Revolution,  1662-1790 
The  Federal  Period,  1790-1845 
The  Late  19th  Century,  1845-1900 
The  20th  Century,  Community  in  Crisis 
June  28,  August  14,  16,  19,  and  21.  “Salem  through  Multi-Media,” 
a  panorama  of  Salem’s  history  told  through  film,  slides,  and  tapes, 
by  the  Media  Workshop,  Inc. 

July  24.  Workshop  in  spinning  and  weaving. 

October  16  -  November  3.  Demonstration  class,  “Colonial  Food  and 
Clothing  Production.” 


ANNUAL  REPORT  1972-1973 


349 


March  1  -  June  15,  1973.  Daily  demonstration  and  talk  on  American 
furniture  using  museum  pieces. 

March  13.  Film  presentation,  “The  Islands  Nobody  Wanted,”  with 
a  talk  by  Chester  E.  Frost  on  Bermuda. 

March  20, 21,  and  22.  “An  Afternoon  with  Hawthorne,”  a  short  talk 
introducing  the  film  dramatization  of  Hawthorne’s  story  “Young 
Goodman  Brown.” 

Slide  lectures  offered  to  schools:  “Abolition  in  Essex  County,”  “Sa¬ 
lem  in  the  Nineties.” 

Meetings  Sponsored  by  Outside  Institutions 

Historic  Salem:  April  12,  May  9,  1972;  January  23,  March  27,  1973. 

Children’s  Friend  and  Family  Service  Society  Annual  Meeting: 
April  18,  1972. 

Arts  Accessibility  Conference,  Massachusetts  Council  on  the  Arts  and 
Humanities:  May  26,  1972. 

Doric  Dames  Annual  Meeting:  November  30,  1972. 

Salem  State  College  Convocation:  December  8,  1972. 

Mayor’s  Reception  following  Old  Town  Hall  ceremony,  in  Essex 
Institute  garden:  July  17,  1972. 


350 


ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 


DONORS  TO  THE  ESSEX  INSTITUTE  FUND 
April  1,  1972  -  March  31,  1973 


Abbott,  Lilly  S. 

Adams,  Mrs.  E.  Gerald  (in  memory  of 
J.  Andrew  Heath) 

Ames,  James  B.  (in  memory  of  Jessie 
Landreth  Osgood  Peirce) 

Anonymous 

Bachorowski,  Mrs.  Joseph  A.  (in  memory 
of  J.  Andrew  Heath) 

Bacon,  Dr.  William  Benjamin 
Barker,  Elizabeth  G. 

Barnett,  Eleanor  G. 

Bartlett,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Philip  W.,  Jr.  (in 
memory  of  J.  Andrew  Heath) 
Batchelder,  Mrs.  Roland  B. 

Beard,  Frank  A. 

Benson,  Mrs.  George  E. 

Bird,  Charles  Sumner 
Bissell,  Mrs.  Alfred  E. 

Boulger,  James  H.,  Jr. 

Bourgoin,  Mrs.  Alice  Smith 
Bourne,  Philip  W. 

Bowden,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  W.  Hammond 
Bradlee,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Sargent  (in  memory 
of  Ross  Whittier) 

Broadhead,  Eleanor 

Brown,  Mrs.  A.  Shirley  (in  memory  of 
J.  Andrew  Heath) 

Brown,  Slater 
Buhler,  Mrs.  Yves  Henry 
Butler,  Warren  H. 

Butterfield,  Roger 

Carpenter,  William  T.  (in  memory  of 
J.  Andrew  Heath) 

Carroll,  Mrs.  Henry  G. 

Carroll,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Richard  S. 

Chick,  Mrs.  W.  C.  (in  memory  of 
J.  Andrew  Heath) 

Chenery,  Augustine  J. 

Chisholm,  Mrs.  William 
Clark,  C.  E.  Frazer,  Jr. 

Clement,  Mrs.  George  K. 

Clough,  Mrs.  Micajah  P.,  Jr.  (in  memory 
of  J.  Andrew  Heath) 


Conley,  Mrs.  Patrick 
Connolly,  John  B. 

Cook,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Wallace  C. 

Cooke,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Theodore  C.  (in 
memory  of  J.  Andrew  Heath) 
Coolidge,  Laurence 
Copeland,  Mrs.  Charles  H.  P. 

Crocker,  Mrs.  U.  Haskell 

Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution, 
Col.  Timothy  Pickering  Chapter 
Davis,  Dr.  &  Mrs.  Stilman  G.,  Jr. 

De  Blois,  Dr.  Elizabeth 
Dimond,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Lee  A. 

Doering,  Mrs.  Ralph  H.,  Jr. 

Durnin,  Richard  G. 

Dyer,  Mrs.  John  R. 

Eilts,  Hon.  Hermann  F. 

Emerson,  Mrs.  Ralf  P.  (in  memory  of 
J.  Andrew  Heath) 

English,  Mrs.  William  D. 

Ervin,  Mrs.  Robert  Gilpin 
Essex  County  Newspapers,  Inc. 

Fales,  Mrs.  Dean  A. 

Farnham,  Elizabeth  R. 

Farnham,  Ruth  R. 

Fellows,  Joseph  E.,  Jr. 

Felton,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Cornelius  C. 

Fonda,  Douglass  C.,  Jr. 

Forbes,  H.  A.  Crosby 

Freeman,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  William  W.  K. 

(in  memory  of  J.  Andrew  Heath) 
Friends  of  the  St.  Louis  Art  Museum 
Frothingham,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Theodore,  m 
Fulton,  Mrs.  John  F. 

Gamage,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Peter 
Gardner,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  G.  Peabody 
Garland,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Joseph  E. 

Glover,  George 
Goodhue,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Albert 
Goodspeed,  George  T. 

Gray,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Francis  C. 


ANNUAL  REPORT  I972-I973 


351 


Gray,  Hope 

Gray,  Mrs.  Robert  J.  (in  memory  of 
J.  Andrew  Heath) 

Gring,  Mrs.  Paul 

Hammond,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Roland  B. 

Hand,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  John 
Haskell,  Mrs.  Paul  T.  (in  memory  of 
Paul  T.  Haskell) 

Hayes,  Donald  P.,  Jr. 

Heath,  Mrs.  J.  Andrew 
Herb  Society  of  America 
Hixon,  Frederick  W. 

Holcomb,  H.  Sherman 
Homans,  George  C. 

Houghton,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  William  M. 
Howard,  Mrs.  Charles  P.  (in  memory  of 
J.  Andrew  Heath) 

Howson,  Mrs.  Hubert  A. 

Hunneman,  Eleanor  S. 

Hunt,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Donald  F. 

Jainschigg,  Mrs.  Janet  G. 

Jaques,  Mrs.  Rupert  Ward 
Johnson,  Malcolm 
Johnson,  Richard  B. 

Jones,  Mrs.  Homer 

Kauders,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Erick 
Keene,  Mrs.  Gerry  &  family  (in  memory 
of  J.  Andrew  Heath) 

Kent,  Mrs.  Gertrude  B. 

Kieman,  Russell  W. 

Knight,  Russell  W. 

Larrabee,  Helen  Gardner 
Lee,  Helene  G. 

Lee,  Joseph 

Little,  Mrs.  Bertram  K. 

Little,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  David  B.  (in  memory 
of  J.  Andrew  Heath) 

Lord,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Philip  H.  (in  memory 
of  J.  Andrew  Heath) 

Loring,  Augustus  P. 

Loring,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Caleb,  Jr. 

Lovett,  Robert  W. 

Lunt,  Daniel  B. 

McCrea,  Vice  Adm.  &  Mrs.  John  L. 
McKean,  Mrs.  Henry  P. 


Macomber,  Harold  G. 

Mahoney,  Nancy 
Mason,  Mrs.  Henry  L. 

Merriam,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Frederic  C. 
Murdock,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Kenneth  B. 
Murray,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Albert  C. 
Museum  Contribution  Box 

Nash,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Nathaniel  C.  (in 
memory  of  J.  Andrew  Heath) 
Nichols,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Henry  C. 
Nutting,  Donald  E. 

Odell,  Mrs.  Raymond  H. 

Oliver,  Andrew 
Osgood,  Edward  H. 

Osgood,  Mrs.  Edward  H.,  Sr. 

Peirson,  Mrs.  Edward  L. 

Perley,  Eleanor  Spofford 
Phillips,  Charlotte  Palmer,  Foundation, 
Inc. 

Phillips,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Drayton 
Phillips,  Edward  Hake 
Phillips,  Stephen  (u/w) 

Pickering  Oil  Heat,  Inc. 

Pingree,  Mrs.  Sumner 
Pratt,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Oliver  G. 

Proctor,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Thomas  E. 
Pulsifer,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Frank 

Rantoul,  Harriet  C. 

Reader’s  Digest  Association,  Inc. 
Riches,  Mrs.  George  E. 

Robb,  J.  Hampden 
Robinson,  Mrs.  William  H.,  Jr. 

Rogers,  Bertha  F. 

Ropes,  Mrs.  Lawrence  G. 

Ross,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Clifford 
Rotundo,  Mrs.  Barbara 
Russell,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Renouf 
Russell,  Mrs.  Richard  S. 

St.  Michael’s  Church 
Salem  Glass  Co. 

Sargent,  Mrs.  Fred  Carroll 
Sawtelle,  Chester  M. 

Seamans,  Mrs.  Richard  D. 

Sedgwick,  Mrs.  Ellery 


352 


ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 


Setze,  Josephine 

Shepard,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Frederick  J.,  Jr. 
Shulman,  Dr.  Maurice  H. 

Small,  Edwin  W. 

Smith,  C.  Fred,  Jr. 

Smith,  Peter 

Smith,  Mrs.  Philip  Horton 
Smith,  S.  Abbot 

Sprague,  Mrs.  Charles  Francis  (in 
memory  of  J.  Andrew  Heath) 

Stage,  John  Lewis 
Stenberg,  Henry  G.,  Jr. 

Stevens,  Adelia  R.  (in  memory  of 
J.  Andrew  Heath) 

Stevens,  Ezra  F. 

Steward,  Charles  A. 

Steward,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Gilbert  L. 
Steward,  Gilbert  L.,  Jr. 

Storrow,  James  J. 

Stuart,  Willoughby  I. 

Sutton,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Gardner 
Sutton,  Harry,  Jr. 

Swope,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  William  A. 

Tapley,  Charles  S. 

Taylor,  Helen  P. 

Thompson,  Mrs.  Francis  J.  (in  memory 
of  J.  Andrew  Heath) 

Thompson,  Dr.  &  Mrs.  Richard  H. 
Thorndike,  Mrs.  Richard  K. 

Topsfield  Historical  Society 
Townsend,  Gertrude 
Trask,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Richard  B. 


Usher,  Mrs.  Abbott  P.  (in  memory  of 
J.  Andrew  Heath) 

Vogel,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Frederick,  III  (in 
memory  of  Ross  Whittier) 

Vose,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  S.  Morton 

Wallace,  William  &  Co.,  Inc. 

Waller,  Mrs.  J.  B.  W. 

Warner,  Mrs.  Frederick  L.  (in  memory 
of  Mrs.  Alexander  Hutchins) 

Wendt,  Mrs.  Henry  O. 

West,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Richard  S. 
Weyburn,  Mrs.  Lyon 
Wheatland,  Barbara 
Wheatland,  Mrs.  David  P. 

Wheatland,  Stephen 
Wheeler,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Howard  (in 
memory  of  J.  Andrew  Heath) 
Whittier,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Ross 
Williams,  Mrs.  Osgood 
Wilmerding,  John 

Winthrop,  Clara  B.,  Charitable  Fund 
Wong,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  David  F.  (in 
memory  of  J.  Andrew  Heath) 
Woods,  Charles  A.,  Jr.  (in  memory  of 
J.  Andrew  Heath) 

Xanthaky,  Mrs.  Nicholas 

Young,  Mrs.  Charles  M. 


DONORS  TO  THE  MUSEUM  AND  HISTORIC  HOUSES 


Alpers,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moses 
Ames,  James  B. 

Bevins,  Mrs.  Wesley  E.,  Jr. 
Broadbridge,  Mrs.  Leslie 
Broadhead,  Eleanor 
Broadhead,  Elizabeth 
Cate,  Mary  R. 

Clements,  Roland 
Dexter,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  F. 
Driver,  Helen  S.,  Bequest  of 
Dunn,  Elinor  L. 


Estabrook,  June  M. 

Fenno,  Hazel  G.,  Bequest  of 
Foley,  Daniel  J. 

Gray,  Hope 
Hamblet,  Newman 
Hammond,  Roland 
Hardenbergh,  Mrs.  Clarence 
Harford,  Mrs.  C.  Gordon 
Harriman,  Joan  Frye,  Estate  of 
Harriman,  Mrs.  Roger  L. 
Ingraham,  Mrs.  Franc  D. 


ANNUAL  REPORT  1972-1973 


353 


Jenkins,  Mrs.  Paul 
Jorgensen,  Torkil 
Little,  Ellen  W. 

Low,  Mrs.  Roswell  B. 
Murphy,  Mrs.  Ray  D. 
Nichols,  Mary  S.,  Estate  of 
Northey,  Richard  P. 
Norton,  Arthur  R. 

Norton,  David  W. 

Payson,  Gilbert  R. 

Peabody  Museum 
Pierce,  John  F. 

Plow,  Mrs.  E.  C. 

Rice,  Mrs.  Thomas  G. 


Ropes,  Mrs.  Lawrence 

Ross,  Katherine  Wellman,  Estate  of 

Salem  Fire  Department 

Stacey,  Hazel  Felt 

Sturtevant,  Mrs.  Theodore 

Syle,  Irene  M. 

Taylor,  Mrs.  Charles  H. 

Vamey,  Gladys  U. 

Watts,  Mrs.  Albert  E. 

Webster,  Mrs.  Peter  T. 

Wendt,  Mrs.  H.  O. 

Wheatland,  David  P. 

Williams,  Mrs.  Osgood 
Wright,  John  H. 


DONORS  TO  THE  JAMES  DUNCAN  PHILLIPS  LIBRARY 


Allen,  Thomas  J. 

Alpers,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Moses 
American  Antiquarian  Society 
American  Association  for  State  &  Local 
History 

Appleton,  Janet 

Association  of  American  Railroads 
Australian  National  University,  Research 
School  of  Pacific  Studies 
Bailey,  Parker 
Ballou,  James  H. 

Barry,  Mrs.  Thomas  H. 

Bevins,  Mrs.  Wesley  E.,  Jr. 

Bishop,  Robert 
Boucher,  Ronald  L. 

Bradford  Junior  College 
Bradlee,  Sargent 
Broadhead,  Eleanor 
Broadhead,  Elizabeth 
Brown,  Robert  F. 

California,  University  of,  at  Davis; 

Agricultural  History  Center 
Callahan,  Theodore  J. 

Cascio,  Robert  J. 

Cate,  Mary  Ropes 
Chalfin,  Samuel  F. 

Chamberlain,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Samuel 
Children’s  Friend  and  Family  Service 
Society  of  the  North  Shore,  Inc. 
Chung  Wu  Pub.  Co. 


Clark,  C.  E.  Frazer,  Jr. 

Clark,  James  W.,  Jr. 

Collins,  Richard  A.,  Jr. 
Congdon,  Marion  Parker 
Connelly,  Mrs.  Charles  J. 
Copeland,  Mrs.  Charles  H.  P. 
Crossman,  Carl  L. 

Cummings,  Michael  J. 
Curwen,  Elinor  E. 

Davis,  Judith 
Dawes,  C.  Burr 
Derby,  Mrs.  Richard 
Detroit  Public  Library 
Dixon,  Joseph  L. 

Donnelley,  R.  R.,  &  Sons  Co. 
Drucksache 
Ducharme,  Arthur 
Duffy,  Mrs.  Irving 
Dummer,  William 
Dunne,  Elizabeth  Kellogg 
Durnin,  Richard  G. 

Easley,  Peter 

Ebsco  Subscription  Services 
Ellis,  Mrs.  Raymond  W. 
Emerson,  Mrs.  Ralf  P. 
Endicott  Junior  College 
Evans,  Mrs.  Nancy  Goyne 
Farber,  Bernard 
Fawcett,  Mrs.  Frederick  J.,  n 
Fearon,  Sheppard  Percy 


354 


ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 


Fenno,  Hazel  G.,  Estate  of 
Fergusson,  Sir  James 
Fitzsimmons,  James 
Foley,  Daniel  J. 

Fonda,  Douglass  C.,  Jr. 

Fox,  Carl 

Framingham  Public  Library 

Freedman,  Alexander 

Friends  of  the  Newburyport  Waterfront 

Frisch,  Susan 

Frost,  Chester  E. 

Gavenda,  David  T. 

Gibson,  Harold  H.,  Jr. 

Gildrie,  Richard  P. 

Goodale,  Marion  P. 

Greater  Lawrence  Chamber  of  Commerce 
Grilley,  Virginia 
Hagar,  Helen 
Hall,  Mrs.  John  B. 

Hamlyn  Group 
Hanners,  Roger 
Harriman,  Mrs.  Roger  L. 

Harris,  John 

Hastings  House,  Publishers,  Inc. 

Head,  Mrs.  H.  C. 

Herb  Society  of  America 
Historical  Survey  Associates,  Inc., 
Newburyport,  Mass. 

Hoerder,  Dirk 
Holberg,  Mrs.  Richard  A. 

Holcomb,  H.  Sherman 
Holt,  Mrs.  Carlisle  H. 

Hooper,  Edwin  B. 

Huntington,  Lester 
Hutchinson,  William  R. 

Ingraham,  Mrs.  Franc  D. 

Jewett,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Everett  D. 

Johns  Hopkins  University 
Jones,  Alice  Hanson 
Kasabian,  Robert  J. 

Kebabian,  John  S. 

Kemble,  Mrs.  Parker 
Landshoff,  H. 

Lawrence,  A.  C.,  Leather  Co. 

Leavitt,  Thomas  W. 

Lefavour,  Mrs.  Edgar  L. 

Lippincott,  J.  B.,  Co. 

Little,  Benjamin 
Little,  Mrs.  Bertram  K. 


Little,  David  B. 

London,  University  of;  Institute  of 
Historical  Research 
MacFarland,  Mrs.  Evelyn 
Maine  Historical  Society 
Marblehead  Historical  Commission 
Marchand,  Mrs.  Wilfred 
Marion,  Frieda 
Mason,  Raymond  G. 

Massachusetts  Historical  Society 
McCann,  Kenneth  S.,  Sr. 

Mclntire,  Reginald  M. 

Merrimack  Valley  Textile  Museum 
Mlot-Mroz,  Jozef 
Murdock,  Kenneth  B. 

National  Gallery  of  Art 
National  Housewares  Manufactures 
Association 
Nelson,  Cyril  I. 

New  England  Press  Association 
Newman,  Harold 
Nissenbaum,  Stephen 
Noble,  Mrs.  Harry 
North  Andover  Historical  Society 
Norton,  Mrs.  Arthur  R. 

Norton,  Rev.  David 
O’Keefe,  Joseph  A. 

Old  Sturbridge  Village  Library 
Payson,  Gilbert  R. 

Payson,  Mrs.  Gilbert  R. 

Peabody  Museum  of  Salem,  Trustees  of 
Perley,  Eleanor  S. 

Peter  Smith,  Publisher,  Inc. 

Phillips,  Mrs.  Stephen 
Pierce,  John  F. 

The  Pilgrim  Society 
Pitkin,  Anne  de  Forest 
Porter,  Dorothy  B. 

Post,  Robert  C. 

Potter,  Mrs.  Charles  A. 

Powers,  John  C. 

Prescott,  Worrall  D. 

Procopio,  Mary  A. 

Proctor,  Joseph  R. 

Proper,  David  R. 

Putnam,  Alfred  P. 

Raddin,  George  Gates,  Jr. 

Rantoul,  Harriet  C. 

Raymond,  Samuel  E. 


ANNUAL  REPORT  1972-1973 


355 


Rice,  Mrs.  Thomas  G. 

Rice  University,  Department  of  History 
Richmond,  Mrs.  Aaron 
Rome  Historical  Society,  Rome,  New 
York 

SafFord,  Carleton  L. 

Salem  Chamber  of  Commerce 
Salem,  City  of 

Salem  Female  Charitable  Society 
Salem  High  School 
Sanderson,  Page 
Sandston,  M.  Dow 
Scholarly  Resources,  Inc. 

Seamans,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Peter  B. 

Seamans,  Mrs.  Richard  D. 

Seeler,  Edgar 
Seeler,  Katherine 
Semler,  George  H.,  Jr. 

Seward,  Deborah 

Shea,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Chester  V. 

Sherman,  Mrs.  Robert  M. 

Silverman,  Arnold 
Smith,  Mrs.  A.  W. 

Smith,  Mrs.  M.  Ritchie 
Smithsonian  Institution,  Archives  of 
American  Art 

The  Springfield  Library  and  Museums 
Association 
Taylor,  Davis 
Thought  and  Work  Club 


Throop,  Beryl  Estelle  Burch 
Throop,  Walter  Fay 
Toomey,  Augustine  J. 

Townsend,  Samuel  J.  C. 

Trask,  Richard 

Tupper,  Dr.  Eleanor 

Tupper  Family  Association  of  America 

Twiss,  Chester 

Tyler,  Mrs.  Myra  J. 

University  of  Massachusetts  Press 
University  of  Missouri  Press 
University  Press  of  Virginia 
Upton,  Eleanor  S. 

Vinovskis,  Maris  A. 

Wadsworth  Atheneum 
Walker,  Harold  S. 

Waterfield  Free  School 
Wellman,  Alice  N. 

Wetherbee,  David 

Whaling  and  Marine  Manuscript  Archives 
Wheatland,  David  P. 

Wheatland,  Richard 
Wheatland,  Stephen 
Whipple,  Henry  B. 

Williams,  Constance 
Williams,  George  E. 

Wires,  Dorothy  H. 

Wiswall,  Richard  H.,  Jr. 

Zoll,  Samuel  E. 


DONORS  TO  SPECIAL  PROJECTS 


Anonymous:  lighting  maintenance, 
Stephen  Phillips  Educational  Program, 
Peirce-Nichols  House 

Assembly  House  Endowment  Fund: 
Aldrich,  Mrs.  Talbot 
Coolidge,  Mrs.  Usher  P. 
de  Laittre,  Mrs.  Karl 
Smith,  Mary  Silver 

Biographical  research  on  Elias  C. 
Larrabee  for  the  museum: 

Larrabee,  Helen  Gardner 

Dried  floral  arrangements: 

Nelson,  Mrs.  Bruce 


Essex  County  Economic  History  Project: 
Davisson,  William  I. 

Illustrations  for  Essex  Institute  Historical 
Collections : 

Phillips,  Charlotte  Palmer,  Foundation, 
Inc. 

Library  purposes: 

Jewell,  Margaret  H.,  Bequest  of 
Rosa,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Alfred  F. 

Lighting  decorations  for  doll  house, 
Christmas  1972: 

Ladies  Committee  of  the  Essex  Institute 


ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 


356 

Louise  du  Pont  Crowninshield  Gardens: 
Foley,  Daniel  J. 

Harrison,  Mrs.  Alfred  C. 

Matching  funds  for  the  cleaning  of  the 
portrait  of  John  Leverett: 

Massachusetts  Council  on  the  Arts  and 
Humanities 

Museum  Objects  Fund: 

Boyer,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  William  F. 

Peirce-Nichols  House: 

Berube,  A.  &  Son,  Inc. 

Dodge,  Alice  L.  C. 

Hardenbergh,  Mrs.  Clarence 
Nichols,  Mrs.  George 
Nichols,  Dr.  George,  Jr. 

Pingree  House  Endowment  Fund: 
Fulton,  Mrs.  John  F. 

Wheatland,  David  P. 

Wheatland,  Stephen 

Safford  House: 

Little,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  David  B. 

Transportation  charges  for  portrait  to 
Essex  Institute: 

Syle,  Irene  M. 

Repair  of  clocks  in  Pingree  House: 
Bradlee,  Sargent 

Collating  Byfield  Parish  papers: 

Jewett,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Everett  D. 

Program  for  the  Beverly  B.  Seamans 
sculpture  exhibition: 

Seamans,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Donald  C. 


Toward  publication  of  Vol.  ix  of  the 
Records  and  Files  of  the  Quarterly  Courts  of 
Essex  County: 

Threlfall,  John  B. 

Study  of  creating  classroom  space  at 
Essex  Institute: 

Wheatland,  Mrs.  David  P. 

1972  Spring  Lecture  Series: 

Alpers,  Mrs.  Moses 
Barton,  Mrs.  Richard  M. 

Bourne,  Mrs.  Philip  W. 

Follett,  William  S. 

Goodhue,  Mrs.  Albert 
Halvorson,  Mrs.  Cromwell  A.  B. 
Hinds,  Mrs.  E.  Sturgis 
Mason,  Mrs.  Henry  L. 

Putnam,  Mrs.  Alfred  P. 

Rasiel,  Mrs.  Amram 
Wheatland,  Mrs.  David  P. 

Set  of  blueprints  of  the  Narbonne  House 
on  Essex  St.,  Salem,  Mass.: 

Callahan,  Theodore  J. 

Photographs  and  slides: 

Baldwin,  James  C. 

Congress  of  the  United  States,  House 
of  Representatives 
Curwen,  Elinor  E. 

Daggett,  Richard  V. 

Devoe,  Emile 
Frost,  Chester  E. 

Goodhue,  Albert 
Haskell,  Mrs.  Paul  T. 

Lynn  Historical  Society 
Norton,  Mrs.  Arthur  R. 

Norton,  Rev.  David  W. 

Rice,  Mrs.  Thomas  G. 

Wheatland,  David  P. 

Furniture: 

Steward,  Charles  A. 


ANNUAL  REPORT  I972-I973 


357 


STATEMENT  OF  OWNERSHIP,  MANAGEMENT, 

AND  CIRCULATION 

1.  Date  of  Filing:  October  6,  1972. 

2.  Title  of  Publication:  Essex  Institute  Historical  Collections. 

3.  Frequency  of  Issue:  Quarterly. 

4.  Location  of  Office  of  Publication:  Essex  Institute,  132  Essex  St.,  Salem,  Mass. 

5.  Location  of  General  Business  Offices  of  the  Publishers: 

Essex  Institute,  132  Essex  St.,  Salem,  Mass.  01970. 

6.  Names  and  Addresses  of  Publisher  and  Editor: 

Essex  Institute,  132  Essex  St.,  Salem,  Mass. 

David  B.  Little,  132  Essex  St.,  Salem,  Mass. 

7.  The  owner  is  the  Essex  Institute. 

8.  Known  Bondholders,  Mortgagees,  and  other  Security  Holders  Owning  or  Hold¬ 
ing  1  Percent  or  More  of  Total  Amount  of  Bonds,  Mortgages,  or  Other  Securities: 
None. 

9.  The  purpose,  function,  and  nonprofit  status  of  this  organization  and  the  exempt 
status  for  federal  income  tax  purposes  have  not  changed  during  preceding  12  months. 

10.  Extent  and  Nature  of  Circulation: 

Average  No.  Copies  Actual  Number  of  Copies 
Each  Issue  During  of  Single  Issue  Published 
Preceding  12  Months  Nearest  to  Filing  Date 


Total  No.  Copies  Printed 

1,383 

1,350 

Mail  Subscriptions 

1,152 

1,105 

Total  Paid  Circulation 

1,152 

1,105 

Total  Distribution 

Office  Use,  Left-Over,  Unaccounted, 

1,152 

1,105 

Spoiled  after  Printing 

231 

245 

Total 

1,383 

1,350 

I  certify  that  the  statements  made  by  me  above  are  correct  and  complete. 

David  B.  Little,  Editor 


358 


ESSEX  INSTITUTE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS 


NECROLOGY  1972-1973 


Date  elected 

Barker,  B.  Devereux  December  1,  1919 
Cruttenden,  Miss  Florence  May  1,  1922 
Barnes 


Currier,  Dudley  S. 
D’Entremont,  Henry 
William 

Emilio,  S.  Gilbert 
Gring,  Mrs.  Paul 
Heath,  J.  Andrew 
HefFernan,  Raymond  L. 
Landolphi,  Michael 
Lunt,  Mrs.  Daniel  B. 
McKay,  Hunter  B. 

Rider,  Albert  L. 

Rogers,  Dudley  Pickman 
Ross,  Miss  Katherine  W. 
Waller,  Adm.  J.  B.  W. 
Wales,  Mr.  John  W. 
Whittier,  Ross 


June  2,  1970 
February  13,  1945 

June  3,  1929 
December  4,  1962 
July  7,  1933 
December  13,  1949 
January  8,  1957 
June  12,  1945 
September  11,  1962 
June  11,  1946 
February  2,  1920 
June  9,  1954 
June  8,  1971 
June  2,  1970 
March  6,  1962 


Date  deceased 

October  27,  1972 
January  6,  1973 

March  13,  1973 
October  5,  1972 

February  20,  1973 
February  12,  1973 
September  11,  1972 
August  23,  1972 
December  19,  1972 
February  3,  1973 
September  3,  1972 
October  17,  1972 
October  4,  1972 
July  22,  I972 
February  23,  1973 
February  27,  1973 
February  13,  1973 


WELLS  BINDERY,  INC. 

SEP  1979 

WALTHAM,  MASS.  02154 


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