Wednesday, March 19, 2014

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.


Monday, February 3, 2014

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

Sunday, February 2, 2014

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 


Saturday, January 18, 2014


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!!

 

 

Thursday, January 9, 2014

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.....