INTRODUCING OUR NEW PRESIDENT, TOM PAGE

 

Dear Society Friends,

As Vice President of the Danvers Historical Society I have recently assumed the responsibilities of President of the Society due to the recent illness and resignation of the former President Mr. Wayne Eisenhauer. The good news is that Wayne is on the mend and is slowly improving; our best wishes go out to him and his family.

I am writing this letter to you today both as an introduction and as a statement of my goals and objectives as your new President. My reasons for this are twofold; my experience in the military and business, and experience as an educator have proven that we seldom succeed without the help and collaboration of others. This will be the first in a series on short narratives with the intent of keeping everyone informed, and at times, to solicit your advice.

I am a descendant of Colonel Jeremiah Page who in the summer of 1722 journeyed from his home in Medford to Old Salem Village to begin his career as a brick maker. His grandfather and grandmother, John and Phoebe Page were among those many courageous souls who fled England in 1630 with the fleet of Governor John Winthrop.

I attended Northeastern University majoring in political science with a minor in Philosophy. I left Northeastern to serve in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam Era. Upon completion of this tour of duty I attended Salem State University on the GI Bill where I was awarded a Bachelor's Degree in History and Philosophy graduating Cum Laude. I later received a Master's Degree in Non-Western History where I was selected for membership in the Phi Alpha Theta National Honor Society. For my support of veteran's affairs at Salem State University, I was awarded the honor of being listed in the National Jaycee's Who's Who in Small College America.

I started my business career in the emerging computer industry by being the founder of Greater Boston Trading Corporation, a technology import/export company. I finished my business career as CEO of TCW Inc. a New England based company providing local and wide area network computer services to Fortune 1000 companies.

For the past 15 years, I served as an adjunct Professor teaching World History and World Religion at Salem State University and North Shore Community College. I currently serve on the Salem State University Alumni Association Board of Directors; Student Veteran's Committee, Strategic Planning Committee and the Multi Faith Council.

Present Reality and Short Term Strategy

In the 21st century, as is the case of many historical societies in New England, we are experiencing a sociological tsunami where the concerns for the preservation of our community history are in peril. Since the American economy is strongly futuristic driven; concerns for the past are often considered an unproductive nostalgic preoccupation. America's social indifference to its historical heritage is disturbing.

This apathetic tendency is apparent when it comes to the financial support of historical societies across the country; the Danvers Historical Society (DHS) is just one example in this trend. DHS, established in 1889, as a community driven society is mainly dependent upon contributions from individuals, families, and local business. For the past ten years the Society has been struggling to overcome financial shortfalls at a rate of over $100,000 per year. These significant shortages over the years have had a disabling effect on our ability to repair, restore, and protect our buildings from destructive decay and deterioration. In so many cases these conditions are in their critical stages.

My first mission as President of the Danvers Historical Society will be to personally visit with other public and private organizations, select business and financial leaders, and academic institutions. I know that our current Board of Trustee members are very enthusiastic to begin this campaign of awareness. This campaign for increased awareness will cultivate and renew the sense of innate pride the Danvers citizenry possesses for its extraordinary contribution to the birth of our nation.

This pride is exemplified by the W. Keith Butler and Joan C. Butler Fund presented to the Danvers Historical in January of 2011 and again in September of 2015. The Butler family bequeathed a total of $100,000 in the form of an Irrevocable Trust.

Additionally, by Peoples United Bank for their recent $10,000 donation to support our program of "Come Grow With Us: Cultivating Unique Horticultural Opportunities for Youth With Disabilities" This project provides for the renovation of the lower greenhouse at Glen Magna Farms to start this very innovative program. We are indebted to Kevin Noyes and Patrick Sullivan of the Peoples United Community Foundation of Eastern Massachusetts.

The entire Board of Trustees is very grateful to the Butler Family and the leadership at Peoples United Bank for their help in allowing the Danvers Historical Society (DHS) to meet its primary mission of 'education' and 'preservation'. These funds provided by the Butler Family and Peoples United Bank are what is referred to as restricted funds; this restriction prohibits their use for daily operations of the Society. For over 125 years, the daily operations of the Society have relied upon the generosity and the devotion of its membership; this is our primary challenge.

Now, in 2016, we are at a crossroad and we need your help! I and my fellow Trustees will begin this process of awareness; to initiate dialogue of exchange with current membership and community leaders to encourage their participation in preserving their historical heritage.

Please Join Us!

 

Thomas M. Page

President, Danvers Historical Society

Wayne Eisenhauer steps aside as President and Trustee.

The Society is grateful to Wayne for his years of service as a Trustee, Treasurer, Vice President and President over the last ten years. His boundless energies and knowledge on the peoples and places of Danvers made for lively tours and events.

Wayne is actually at a loss for words: "I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed working with all of you, how much I will miss working with you all at the Society, and the immense confidence I have in all of you as stewards of the Danvers Historical Society." He feels he "will not be able to devote to the Society at the level of commitment required as its President or even as one of its Trustees." Wayne will work with Cathy Gareri, Operations Manager, to make the administrative transition to Thomas Page as Society President a smooth one.

Through Wayne's guidance, the Society has evolved its administrative strengths, as demonstrated by the Board's development of effective operating committees and adoption of a corroborative managerial paradigm under Tom's leadership, so that no one individual, even its President, is critical to the Society's operations.

Wayne has always been, and will continue as, a stalwart supporter of the Society and its Trustees. Please do not hesitate to contact him if you think he may have something in his institutional, administrative and non-profit industry memory that could be of help as the Trustees, Staff and Membership work to expand and strengthen the Society's mission.

Wayne, the Trustees and Staff thank the Membership all for your dedicated support of the Society, which we greatly admire and deeply appreciate.

WE NEED YOU FOR THIRD GRADE HISTORY WEEK!!!

 Actually we need contributions of the following for this late Spring program, now in its 29th year,  involving the approximately 300 third graders of the Danvers School system:

-- rotary dial telephone

-- 45 record player

-- baseball bat

-- Hockey stick

-- football

-- Sesame Street puppets

-- Star War toys

The Society has most of these (of course, not the Sesame Street puppets nor the Star War toys) in its collections, but, since they are in the collections they can't be used hands on by the third grader. 

The third graders really get a kick out of handling what are now relics of the past!

If you have any of these and wish to donate them, please call (978-777-1666) or email the office (dhs@danvershistory.org).

We hope you will be able to see the students' exhibit at Tapley Hall on June 25, 4-6 PM.

It's been a long winter....

and the office has been busy catching up after the hugely successful December Designers Holiday Show House that refreshed the Endicott Mansion's stunning and elegant beauty. 

During one of the post Show House committee meetings I took this picture from the Mansion's porch of the Great Lawn, the Gazebo and the Arboretum thinking how fleeting the beauty of winter is.... except, winter hasn't been fleeting!

The Great Lawn in Winter at Glen Magna Farms February 2014

Now that we have caught up from the Show House, it's time to catch up on the blog and what's new at the Society.

OH SPRING, WHERE ART THOU?

The groundhogs weren't any help yesterday when they saw their shadows and foretold another six weeks of winter for the winter weary.

But the Danvers Historical Society has a solution of sort: see springtime past and,  hopefully not to far in the future, but checking out, by clicking below , the new

Glen Magna Farms Gardens Blog

BOSTON GLOBE SUBSCRIBERS: 

PLEASE HELP US!!!!!

     Dear Boston Globe Subscribers who are Danvers Historical Society supporters,

     Have you received your check to support non-profits through the Boston Globe GRANT program?     

     Please consider sending yours in to benefit the Danvers Historical Society. 

     If you're a Boston Globe newspaper or boston.com subscriber, you can help the Society earn free advertising in the Globe. This valuable exposure can help us promote our special places, programs, and events to a whole new audience.

How it works:

• Watch for a silver envelope from the Boston Globe GRANT (Globe Readers and Nonprofits Together) program in your mailbox.
  
• Pull out the voucher "check" for $50 or $100.
  
• Fill out the voucher. Where it asks for the Name of the Certified 501(c)(3) please write in:
    Danvers Historical Society
    11 Page Street, PO Box 381, Danvers, MA 01923
  
• Send it back to the Globe in the envelope provided by March 1.

Thank you ever so much and if you know of other Boston Globe subscribers, please ask them to consider naming the Danvers Historical Society.

And please remember to vote for the Society in the Cranney Companies monthly giving of $1000 to the local non profit that gets the most votes for the month.  

Here's the link:Cranney Cares for the Community
The Society's web page is: danvershistory.org

THANKS!

PROGRESS ON THE CLEAN UP AROUND THE ENDECOTT BURIAL GROUND

The Saturday (February 1, 2014) edition of the Salem News reported on its front page  "Site Owner Agrees to Pay for Clean Up".

The Endecott Burial Ground, located on the south bank of the Crane River, off of Clinton Avenue, is surrounded by the property of the now defunct Creese & Cook tannery.  


Unfortunately, the Burial Ground's nearest neighboring building was the Creese & Cook beam house that processed the animal hides and, over the years, contaminated pockets of surrounding soil with arsenic, chromium, dioxin and other hazardous chemicals.  Adding to the toxic mix is asbestos contamination resulting from the beam house being demolished without having the asbestos removed before demolition. 

Last year, after a number of years of requests by the Society, which is the steward of this historic Burial ground dating back to 1654 where generations of Endecotts rest, the authorities deemed it safe for the Society's Building and Grounds crew to access the Burial Ground and begin restoring it (which will be the subject of another blog post).

Clean up of the area has been held up for the last 4 and one half years by litigation between the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the present owner of the Creese & Cook land. 

Hopefully, this settlement of the litigation will clear the way for the authorities to clean up the land.


Here's the link to Saturday's Salem News article:
Endecott Burial Ground Cleanup 

CAN YOU HELP THE SOCIETY'S EDUCATION COMMITTEE?

Last year's restructured Third Grade History Week program for all of the Danvers Public School third graders was quite the hit with the kids and their teachers.  

Trustee Sheila Cooke-Kayser's Education Committee ask the third graders to bring in their favorite toys a few weeks before the program.  When the students arrived for the program they found not only their toys but the toy's equivalent from 50 to 150 years ago from the Society's extensive collections.  

Culture shock, amazement and unbounded (unleashed) curiosity!

Alas, the toys from the collection are all part of the cataloged collection and can't be used or touched.

So, if you have any of the following that you could donate to the Society so the children can not only look at but also touch and use, please drop them off at the Page House (M-F, 9 to 1, 11 Page St, Danvers) or call the office at 978-777-1666:

Portable Manual typewriter

Rotary Dial Telephone

Adding Machine

Portable Record Player

Monopoly, Candyland or Risk Board Games

Barbie Doll (prior to 1980) and any Barbie doll accessories

Star War toys (prior to 2000)

Space Toy Rockets

Toys representing the following icons: Superman, Wonder Woman, Mickey Mouse, Flash Gordon, Roy Rogers, Davy Crockett, Captain Kangeroo, Howdy Doody or Shirley Temple.

Football prior to 1970

Sesame Street Puppets

Metal Toy Cars or Trucks

Hope you can join, through your donation, in helping the Society make history even more alive for the third graders!!

 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

From all of us at the Danvers Historical Society best wishes for a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year.

 2014 is going to be a banner year for the Danvers Historical Society as we 

-- continue, after kicking off the celebration with a spectacular December Designer Holiday Show House at the Endicott Mansion,  to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the saving of Glen Magna Farms from demolition....

 -- celebrate the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Society in 1889

 -- celebrate the 100th anniversary of the saving from demolition the Society's Headquarters, the richly historical 1754  Page House, and

-- celebrate the 200th anniversary of the purchase of the then Ingersoll Farm by Salem Maritime Merchant and millionaire, Joseph Peabody, as a refuge for his family and goods from the feared attack on Salem by the British Fleet off of Marblehead in 1814.  More about this later.....

 

 

 

SOCIETY TRUSTEE AND TOWN ARCHIVIST, RICHARD TRASK, TO TALK TONIGHT ON JFK ASSASSINATION.

Yesterday, the Salem Evening News ran a front page article on Richard's talk for this evening at Tapley Hall at 7 PM.

 The full article can be accessed at:
http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1909763908/An-eye-for-history