 |
Monmouth County Historical Commission Grant Award Ceremony Thank you to the Monmouth County Historical Commission for supporting the restoration of the original smokehouse on the grounds of the Taylor-Butler House. Our new Director of Collections, Bernadette Rogoff, can't wait to start working on the project. |
| | | Phebe Mills (1800-1896), Three Dancing Ladies. Watercolor, pen and ink on wove paper. Barnegat Township, Ocean County, NJ, dated 1812. Gift of Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, 1940 | |
Conservation at the Historical Association This month, The Historical Association welcomed back six newly-conserved works on paper from the Conservation Center for Art and Historical Artifacts in Philadelphia. The group included an 1810 decorative watercolor and ink birth record of the Brown family of Keyport, the 1780 John Mason fracture, an early 1849 watercolor view of Long Branch, a watercolor view of Haddon Hall by John Evans Redman in 1830, a pen and ink drawing of Captain James Lawrence dated 1817, and a watercolor drawing by Barnegat resident Phebe Mills, dated 1812. Conservation is a vital and ongoing part of the Association's care of its vast and varied collections. This particular conservation project was funded by a generous grant given by the New Jersey Historical Commission. One of the most striking and unusual of the six conserved works is Three Dancing Ladies. This watercolor, pen and ink on paper scene depicts three young women sedately dancing in a fanciful floral landscape. Along the bottom of the scene is the inscription "Miss PHEBE MILLS Nov. The 22 Anno. Dommini. 1812." in decorative lettering. Phebe Mills drew this charming and lively scene at the age of twelve. Her parents, James S. Mills (1765 - 1855) and Mary Rolph (Rolfe) (1766 - 1838), lived in Stafford Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey. In 1846, portions of Dover Township (now Toms River) and Stafford Township were incorporated as Union Township while the area was still part of Monmouth County. In February of 1850, the area became part of the newly formed Ocean County. Union Township changed its name to Barnegat Township in 1977. Phebe was one of eight children. Phebe Mills' drawing of Three Dancing Ladies was not a casual sketch done at home, but a carefully executed work created under the watchful eye of an unknown instructor. In addition to embroidery, needlework, and samplers, young girls fortunate enough to attend either a day academy or boarding school were taught drawing and painting. Pencil, watercolor, and inks were considered suitable media for girls, giving female students an artistic outlet as well as a way of exhibiting tasteful accomplishments. Girls were also taught "specimen penmanship," another artistic achievement and one which twelve-year-old Phebe incorporated into her scene. Mills' graceful trio of elegantly-gowned ladies are fashionably garbed, the young artist lavishing much attention to the details of dagged-edge trim, barred ribbon binding on the dancers' flat-heeled slippers, and carefully drawn curls and combs. Phebe gave her figures four fingers on each hand, a charming little flaw in her picture. At one point in its existence, Phebe's drawing was folded up and stored away, the creases still visible on the paper. Three Dancing Ladies will be on view in the upcoming exhibition Fixing Art: Conservation at the Monmouth County Historical Association, opening on April 15 in the Hartshorne Gallery at the main museum in Freehold. Approximately 20 recently-conserved works, including the six works on paper mentioned above, will be displayed, along with before, during and after conservation photographs. |
120th Anniversary Series Surprises At Every Turn: The Sixties
1958-1968 The sixth decade of the Monmouth County Historical Association's existence began with a main museum building filled with collections items, a Library and Archives bursting at the seams, and a popular historic house. Marlpit Hall, fully furnished and gifted to the Association by Mrs. J. Amory Haskell in 1936, was a tourist destination, welcoming between 150 and 200 visitors a month during its open season. The Board also knew that a second historic house - the Allen House, located on the corner of Broad Street and Sycamore Avenue in Shrewsbury - would one day pass to the Association, willed to the organization by its owner Nellie Holmes in 1948. For the time being, Mrs. Holmes' family friend, Lillie Huelson, had life rights to live in the house as long as she wanted. Over the next ten years, the Association would find ways to cope with an ever burgeoning collection and the acquisition of three historic houses within a short space of time. The changing landscape of Monmouth County, coupled with the changing tides of American culture, would offer challenges in the protection of the museum's valuable historic homes and the need to keep history relevant in the era of the 1960s. |
Next Meeting April 13, 2019
|
| | | Tooth extraction key belonging to Dr. Jacobus Hubbard (1744-1807) surgeon of the Continental Army. | |
Tools of the Trade
18th and 19th Century Medical Items of Monmouth County The assorted medical items featured in our new "mini-display" may appear primitive to us now, but they all represented advancements in the field at one time.
Ancient beliefs on disease were often founded in myth and superstition. Even as doctors and scientists eventually began to accept more natural explanations, it would be centuries before the revolutionary discovery of microorganisms. For many years, prominent theories of disease centered on things like poisonous odors in the atmosphere and the imbalance of "humors," or vital body fluids.
| | | 19th century hearing aid, known as an "ear trumpet." |
Theories like these may be laughed off today, but they have all helped shape modern concepts of sickness and health. The basic notion of germs has existed since antiquity, but it took centuries of experimentation and a relentless pursuit of knowledge for the current "germ theory" of disease to become widely accepted. As the old saying goes, failure breeds success. The Monmouth County practitioners depicted along with these objects were among the first in history to employ some of the most innovative and life-saving medical breakthroughs of the 18th and 19th centuries such as vaccinations, the discovery of the x-ray, and sterile surgical techniques. |
If you would like to learn more about your company's matching gift program or leaving MCHA a gift in your will please contact us directly at 732-462-1466 or email dwilson@monmouthhistory.org |
|
There Are Lots of Ways to Support MCHA
|
|
|
Monmouth County Historical Association received an operating support grant from the
New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State. |
|
|
| |
