March is women’s history month (though all months should be women’s history month.) At the end of March, I will be hosting a Nantucket women’s history walk so please check our calendar if you are interested in registering.

Maria Mitchell was one of the founders of the Association for the Advancement of Women (AAW), was its president (1875), and founded its Science Committee which she chaired for the remainder of her life.

When the fourth Congress of the AAW met in Philadelphia in October 1876, Julia Ward Howe (also a friend of Maria’s) was serving with Maria on the executive committee. Maria presented a paper, “The Need for Women in Science.” In it she stated,

Does anyone suppose that any woman in all the ages has had a fair chance to show what she could do in science? … The laws of nature are not discovered by accidents; theories do not come by chance, even to the greatest minds; they are not born of the hurry and worry of daily toil; they are diligently sought, they are patiently waited for, they are received with cautious reserve, they are accepted with reverence and awe. And until able women have given their lives to investigation, it is idle to discuss the question of their capacity for original work.

She is not saying that women cannot be scientists – she is saying they need to be given the opportunities.

Maria was incredibly busy with the AAW – it took up a great deal of her time – and at the next meeting in November of that year some aspects of the meeting were wonderful according to her account –“excellent” papers, “newspapers treated us very well. The institutions opened their doors to us, the Centennial gave us a reception. But – we didn’t have a good time!” It appears there was discord among the women. A few opposed the subject of “Woman Suffrage,” but Lucy Stone was able to present her paper on the subject despite this. And, some women felt that the West was not well represented and was overshadowed by New England thus women representing the western states protested the nomination and election of Julia Ward Howe as president of the AAW. But she won. Whew! It was not always easy and controversies constantly abounded with many schisms over time within the women’s rights movement.

I often wonder what Maria might think of the place of women today – how far things have come from her time or would she be surprised that there still can be inequality?

In honor of Women’s History Month, please visit the National Women’s History Project website (http://www.nwhp.org), where you can find a list of this year’s women honorees and nominees for “Women Inspiring Innovation through Imagination” – which includes Maria and three other women associated with the MMA’s astronomy program – Annie Jump Canon, Margaret Harwood, and Dorrit Hoffleit – Harwood and Hoffleit being MMA astronomers and directors of the observatory. You will also find a list of March birthdays and March highlights in U.S. women’s history.

JNLF

Still cleaning books and processing archives … Look what I came across the other day rolled up in a big box with many different plans associated with the MMA’s buildings from across the ages of renovations, additions, and master plans.

This is a chart of North American birds published by the Massachusetts Audubon Society in 1898.  The twenty-six life sized bird images were created by, I believe, Louis Agassiz Fuertes and it was printed by none other than the Milton Bradley Company of Springfield, MA.  Considering how and where it was stored over the last fifty years or so it is in quite good shape except for the dirt and grime of time, a large water stain at the bottom and a small tear over the body of one bird.

Yet another treasure unearthed in my work!

JNLF

Feb. 15, 1853.  I think Dr. Hall (in his “Life of Mary Ware”) does wrong when he attempts to encourage the use of the needle.  It seems to me that the needle is the chain of woman, and has fettered her more than the laws of the country.

Once emancipate her from the “stitch, stitch, stitch,” the industry of which would be commendable if it served any purpose except the gratification of her vanity, and she would have time for studies which would engross as the needle never can.  I would as soon put a girl alone into a closet to meditate as give her only the society of the needle. 

The art of sewing, so far as men learn it, is well enough; that is, to enable a person to take the stitches, and, if necessary, to make her own garments in a strong manner; but the dressmaker should no more be a universal character than the carpenter.

I believe MM’s words are self-explanatory, no commentary needed on my part.

JNLF

This is the front door latch of the Mitchell House.  The mahogany used to make it came from a shipwreck; specifically the Queen, and the wood is from cargo items found on the ship.  The Queen was a vessel that was broken in two when it came ashore in the area of Nobadeer on January 4, 1813.  An English ship, this was certainly a prize.  The Queen came into action with the American privateer, General Armstrong and the cargo of the Queen was supposedly strewn about the shore from Siasconset to Miacomet – quite a large distance.  Her cargo was invoiced at about 100,000 British pounds.  New Englanders – and certainly Nantucketers – were very good at creating something useful out of something else and of salvage – they were the original recyclers.  In fact, something that was repaired and made into a new use or repaired using materials other than what the item was originally made from were referred to as “make-dos.”  This door latch was installed in the Mitchell House before the Mitchells inhabited it but think of all the times it was opened and closed by the family, including Maria.   

Do you know what this is and where it is located?

JNLF

Greetings! 

For those of you who read this blog on TUMBLR, I would like to alert you that it is now moving to the Maria Mitchell Association’s new website and will be through WordPress.  I will try to still use TUMBLR but at some point, it may be removed.

So, from now on, you will be able to find Maria Mitchell’s Attic at www.mmo.org.

Hope to see you there and thanks for reading!

JNLF

Maybe the work life of other curators can be glamorous but such is not the way of the world for a historic house museum curator among others.  This is me as I appeared on January 22, 2013.  What’s that you say?  Where are the pearls?  The glamorous outfits?  The media wanting to know about the recent finds?  A camera following me through exhibit halls looking at the latest exhibition of work by some great master?  Alas, no.  My fine clothes collect dust and moths in my closet. 

I wear many hats and glamour girl is not one of them.  As many of us in the historic house museum world (and in other venues within the museum world) will attest, we do many things and wear many, many hats.  Thus, this is what I am typically wearing – my delightfully snazzy and very flattering 3M Niosh respirator with hot pink filters (the hot pink makes it hard to color coordinate my outfits).  You have been spared my white cotton gloves, white Tyvek suit, and safety glasses (though I cannot SEE ANYTHING with them on!)

Why do I dress like this?  It is required.  I am protecting myself from dirt, dust, and any possible mold that might be on the Special Collection books that I am cleaning.  Not much mold thankfully, but unfortunately still lots of dust that has escaped the “wrath” of dusting.  But this is something you don’t want to breathe in too much of and if I did not wear this respirator in particular I would find myself with some nice respiratory problem.  It’s not like dusting or vacuuming in your home – it’s incredibly concentrated and literally in your face.

I brush the cover, spine, and the text block of the book first with a brush.  Then I wipe those same areas with a vulcanized rubber sponge.  At all times I am working away from the spine so that I am not depositing dust or other particles into the spine.  Then, I vacuum those same areas with a HEPA vacuum that keeps all of those particles inside.  I do this for each and every book.  Sometimes, I need to tie the book up because the cover or spine is in rough shape.  Othertimes, I have to build a small box enclosure with special acid free board or cardboard or encapsulate it in a Tyvek envelope because of the condition of the book or cover.  Once I have a box full, I move the books to our new climate-controlled storage area and place the books on special enameled shelves made just for the storage of Special Collection books.  No off gassing here – books must be protected as best as we can from all sorts of elements.  And then, I return to the Wing and clean more.  I do spare my colleagues my mask when I move the books over to the other  building – but I do give them a fright when they come in to see me and I am in my mask.  Today, I am going for the preppy look – green sweater to go with my hot pink filters!

I say (some of) this in jest.  What I am doing is crucial to the preservation of these books.  And, being able to handle and look at each book helps me to better understand the extent of our amazing collection and also its condition.  And in some cases, as you have seen in the past on this blog, I share some of the amazing finds with you.

JNLF

Overnight, Nantucket received about six inches of snow.  Mitchell House sparkles this morning and there is a hush on Vestal Street that only snow brings.

It makes me wonder what is must have been like for the Mitchells.  Being inside Mitchell House while the snow is falling transports me to another time and I like to think about what it must have been like for them.  Cold I am sure but even quieter than a normal day.  William Mitchell was what one might call a mischievous Quaker – his children got away with things that most Quaker children did not.  So I wonder if there were snowmen built in the backyard.  Or what about snowballs being flung about by Andrew or Henry or snow angels or eating fresh crisp snow maybe with molasses or syrup on it?  I am sure just as children of today, the snow provided the opportunity for expanded play albeit quietly and discreetly for the Quaker Mitchells.

But I go back to the snug, quiet, hushed calm of the Mitchell House in winter.  Snow falling and piling up quietly outside, fire in the 1825 Kitchen as Lydia cooks the noonday meal, fire in the Sitting Room where the family spends much of its time in winter, and the calm and peace over Vestal Street as Mother Nature makes a wondrous quilt of white.

JNLF

I first remember her standing at the entry to Loines Observatory with a small metal clicker in her hand.  It was summer and it was dark.  Mosquitoes were swarming and we all smelled like bug spray.  It was a Wednesday night and we had just made the long – or so it seemed in those days – journey from Tom Nevers for an Open Night – the event of the week for my family.  She was sort of quiet and reserved but she reached out to my brother each Wednesday night when we arrived at the top of the stairs by saying, “Want to press the clicker?”  Sounds like not much but to a nine year old budding astronomer, my brother was very excited to “click” his family members into the open night.

I got to know her a little more as I began to volunteer at the Mitchell House.  I think she probably saw me as a pesky kid, but she seemed to warm up to me over time.  Maybe I proved to her that I had some staying power – that I was not just a kid who got pushed into doing some summer volunteering.  (Twenty-five plus years later I am still here and curator – really?!  Time flies!)  She was an interesting person, an incredibly intelligent woman who had a deep love and respect for Maria Mitchell, but she did not reveal too much about herself.

When I completed my masters’ degree in 2010, the MMA very nicely congratulated me via our monthly “eComet.”  A week or so later, I went into my email and saw a sender with a familiar name, one I was completely shocked to see as I had never received an email from this person.  The sender was “emiliab.”  I was surprised, worried, and wondered what it was.  I saved it.  It reads: 

“Congratulations on your degree.  I am hoping you have a computer-readable copy of your thesis you can send me by email … I’ll do without the pictures if I can read {your} paper that way.  Thanks!  Lee (Emilia) Belserene.” 

Wow!  I practically burst my buttons – I was so proud and honored that she wanted to read my research.    

I am so lucky to have worked for the MMA for all these years and to now serve as the Mitchell House curator.  I have been fortunate to have such amazing people in my life – and so many of them tied to the MMA.  What inspirations and mentors – what an incredible place and people to have grown up around and to be involved with today.  Not many can be surrounded by such inspiring people – and such incredible women like Lee. 

This is just one small memory of Lee Belserene.  She served as the MMA’s astronomer and director of the Observatory from September 1978 through September 1991.  She was a Life Member of the MMA.  Emilia Pisano Belserene, Ph.D. passed away in Washington State on December 11, 1012 just one day shy of her 90^th birthday.  She leaves a daughter, Rita.

(Lee is on the left in this image and the MMA’s Librarian, Jane Stroup, is in the middle.  The image was taken at Jane’s home.)

JNLF

January 26, 1857 (Nantucket)

Jan 26.  We left the mercury 1 deg. below zero when we went to bed last night and it was zero when we rose this morning.  But it rises rapidly and now at 11 a.m. it is as high as 15.  The weather is still and beautiful … Our little club met last night each with a sonnet on a subject drawn by lot from a basket full.  I did the best I could with a very bad subject … We kept the house warm all evening with the mercury steadily at +3.  Our crambo playing was rather dull all of us having exhausted ourselves on our sonnets.  We seem to have settled ourselves quietly into a tone of resignation in regard to the weather.

The winter of 1857 was a hard one for Nantucket and her people.  The mercury seldom rose above zero for many weeks on end – often going below zero.  Maria recorded it at 6 ½ below zero at 7 a.m. on the 23^rd of January 1857 and it never made it passed zero that day.  The harbor was of course frozen solid and issues arose concerning fuel for heating homes and a scarcity of food.

JNLF