The Marblehead Historical Commission has created a booklet of Town-Owned Artwork, including artwork in Abbot Hall, Abbot Public Library and the Mary Alley Office Building. The booklet was created by summer intern Melissa Duffy.
The booklet is available as a PDF on the Historical Commission’s web site, using the “Museums” Tab, or by clicking on this link: The Town of Marblehead Artwork.
On July 4th, 2019, members of the Orne family, including Frank Orne, Stephen Orne, Ted Peach and Standley Goodwin, gave Jonathan Orne’s original Revolutionary War cartridge box, dating to 1776, to the Marblehead Historical Commission. Bryan Ruocco and his son Andrew also gave the Commission a replica of the original cartridge box that they created. Presentation of the boxes was made on July 4th, 2019 at historic Ft. Sewall, with members of Marblehead’s Glover’s Regiment in attendance. Click on the link to see a video of the presentation.
The Marblehead Historical Commission is leading a planning project for the future Town-wide Marblehead Archival Facility. Initiated in July 2017, the planning project will culminate in late 2019 with a Master Plan for creation of the Archival Facility. The project is being assisted by well-known archival consultant Michele Pacifico. An Archives Advisory Committee has been established by the Selectmen to provide direction to the project.
In the first phase of the project, local organizations that wished to participate in the planning project, along with Town Departments, were identified; these organizations provided Letters of Intent to verify their willingness to participate. The second phase, establishing the facility requirements, is now underway.
A draft of the Marblehead Archival Facility Requirements Document was presented to the Archival Advisory Committee on June 13th by consultant Michele Pacifico. The requirements are expected to be finalized this Fall, following completion of archival holdings size measurements at a number of Town Departments and other participating organizations in town. The Advisory Committee also will establish types of spaces to be included in the Archival Facility, number of archival workers, volunteers, and researchers to be accommodated. Outlines of many of the archive’s policies and procedures will also need to be completed by the Committee.
We are fortunate to have a Master’s Degree candidate intern from Simmons College, Ariana Fiorello, who is taking the lead, in conjunction with consultant Pacifico, on measurements and recommendations for the other needed items. She is also developing a cataloging tool for the participating organizations to use as well as a list of preferred archival storage materials.
More information is available on the Historical Commission web site at: http://marbleheadhistory.org/preservation-planning/marblehead-archive/
In early March, 2017, the Historical Commission received an interesting e-mail from Teresa Simpson, a woman living near Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. She had seen a local Moncton auction company’s ad for an upcoming auction, which included a framed print of “Marblehead Harbor in 1840”, originally painted by well-known marine artist John F. Leavitt. Her thought was that the print really ought to go back to Marblehead – although she had no idea where Marblehead was. After some research, she found the Historical Commission’s web site and e-mail address, and sent a message about the print coming up at auction in just a couple of days – quick action was needed if the Commission was to try to bid on this.
After checking the auction web site, Chris Johnston agreed that the print would be a valuable addition to the Commission’s collection and called the auctioneer to be sure they could accept US funds and could send the print to us if we successfully bid on it. With yes answers to both concerns, the Commission put in a bid and was successful in buying the print. By late March, the print was in Marblehead.
Marblehead Harbor in 1840
This is one of a number of prints of Marblehead-related scenes made for the National Grand Bank, and distributed by the Bank to customers. Two other prints from this series are in the Commission’s collection. One is of the “Engagement of U.S. Frigate Chesapeake and HMS Shannon off Marblehead, June 1, 1813”, which was hanging in the Selectmen’s office in Abbot Hall in a rather sad looking frame. The other, “Old Ironsides Entering Marblehead Harbor, April 3, 1814”, was unframed in the Commission’s archives. The Historical Commission had the two existing prints framed, and “Marblehead Harbor in 1840” reglazed with UV protective glass. All three prints are now hanging in the Selectmen’s Office in Abbot Hall. Next time you are in Abbot Hall, stop in the Selectmen’s Office and admire these beautiful prints.
U.S. Frigate Chesapeake and HMS Shannon
Old Ironsides Entering Marblehead Harbor, April 3, 1814
Marblehead’s early history was formed by the shoe industry almost as much as it was by its fishing fleet and revolutionary spirit. Between voyages, many fishermen would hand-make shoes in small shops, called “Ten-Footers”. Later in the 1800’s this led to the creation of a full-fledged shoe industry in Town.
Several “Ten-Footers” still survive in Marblehead, although most have been modified over the years and are now barely recognizable as such. However, one excellent example of a “Ten-Footer”, located at the foot of Fountain Park on Orne St., is owned by the Town. This shoe shop can reveal much about the local economy before the industrial era. Thanks to a grant application by Town Planner Rebecca Cutting, the Town has received a 2016 Essex Heritage Partnership Matching Grant Award that will allow this “Ten-Footer” to become a museum of the early pre-industrial shoe industry in Marblehead. The Town has awarded a Contract to Larson Fisher Associates, of Woodstock, NY to research and design an interpretative program for this “small” museum (after all, it is called a “Ten-Footer” for a reason). The primary goal of the project is to design, fabricate and install interpretative panels at the site. The project work scope will entail researching and creating story boards, the exhibit’s visual elements, and its physical specifications. The displays will use information and possibly artifacts from the Marblehead Historical Commission and other sources. It is expected that this project will be completed in mid-2017. In a separate project, the Town will renovate and restore the shoe shop.
The Marblehead Historical Commission has installed archival quality copies of four key historical documents related to Marblehead in the Selectmen’s Room in Abbot Hall.
The documents are signed letters from Paul Revere (1787), president George Washington (1789) and Elbridge Gerry (1769) as well as a Massachusetts General Court Resolution (1784) signed by governor John Hancock and state Senate president Samuel Adams.
The Historical Commission recently restored, digitized and copied these documents at the Northeast Document Conservation Center, with cooperation from Town Clerk Robin Michaud.
Washington’s Nov. 1, 1789 letter “To the Inhabitants of the Town of Marblehead” was written days after he visited Marblehead during a month long New England tour. Marblehead was not on the president’s itinerary, yet he insisted on visiting the hometown of his trusted General, John Glover, before landing in Salem.
Paul Revere’s letter was discovered by former Commission Collections Manager Wayne Butler in 2009 hidden away in a file cabinet in the basement of Abbot Hall and long forgotten. Revere’s letter was an attempt to purchase old cannons belonging to the Town for use in his new foundry in Boston.
Elbridge Gerry’s letter was written to the Selectmen accepting a Town Meeting appointment to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. It was obviously written quickly and is almost a scrawl. It was also found in the Abbot Hall basement files.
The Massachusetts General Court Resolution was signed by both signed by John Hancock and Samuel Adams and dealt with Marblehead’s longstanding poverty issues and back taxes owed but the Collector of Taxes, but withheld taxes from the Selectmen, who required the funds to fulfill their duties as “Overseers of the Poor.”
