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The Curatorial Staff of the Museum has been busy at the
Welles-Shipman-Ward House this summer.
The project of re-doing the displays in both the house and barns.
In the house, the process of re-creating the displays
according to the probate will of Jerusha Edwards Welles has been
begun. It is the plan to complete
this project in the Kitchen, Kitchen Chamber, and Pewter Room this year,
before it is too cold to work at the House.
The Facilities Committee has provided improved lighting
in the Eastbury Barn, which enhances the exhibits. Objects have been relocated and collected
according to usage. They have also
created a workbench on which will be displayed carpenters’ tools of
the 18th and early 19th centuries.
At the Museum on the Green, there are two current
projects. The first is the
cataloguing of account books. In the
Museum’s collection are account books from the businesses of John
Hollister, Ebenezer Plummer, Joseph Welles, and many more Glastonbury business men. Some of these ledgers date back to the
1760’s. Each one is being
looked over and logged. We acquired
a database made specifically for museum collections and when the logging
has been completed, each book will be entered into the database for easy
reference.
Part of this project includes purchasing archival boxes
for the account books. These boxes
will be acid-free to prevent further deterioration of these important
documents. Boxes will hold one
account book each to minimize handling.
There are boxes sold for this purpose and when boxes may be
purchased of the size required by a given account book, a standardized box
will be purchased. Others will
require custom made boxes.
The second project is the preservation of the Museum’s
collection of samplers. These
examples of needlework were created by young girls in the 18th and
early 19th centuries.
Some of them are not framed and some are incorrectly framed, having
been glued to a piece of wood before framing, possibly by the woman who
stitched the work. Some are not
glued to wood but neither are they framed with acid-free backing and
protective glass.
To view the Sampler Collection, or to be shown the
Account Book collection, please visit the Museum on the Green. To contribute to either the Account Book
Fund or to the Sampler Preservation Fund, please contact the Museum.
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