Mary Frances Berry leads first 2019 Roundtable

Noted activist for civil rights, gender equality and social justice, Mary Frances Berry, kicks off the first 2019 Victoria Woodhull: Phoenix Rising Roundtables on Monday, Jan. 28.

Three roundtables next year focus on women advocates, with focus on humanitarian advocacy in April and child advocacy in September.

January’s program is offered in collaboration with Denison University. The location of the roundtable on the college campus will be forthcoming.

The three-year series began in 2018 with roundtables focusing on the Voices of Women. Attendance was high at all three, paving the way for successful 2019 events. The Robbins Hunter Museum sponsors these events in partnership with Denison University.

Berry’s work as an activist is commendable. Serving as Chairperson of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, Berry demanded equal rights and liberties for all Americans during four Presidential administrations. A pathbreaker, she also became the first woman to head a major research university, serving at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Berry also served as the principal education official in the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, working to improve access and quality education in our schools.

In 2013, she was one of the recipients of the Nelson Mandela award from the South African Government for her work in organizing the Free South Africa Movement (FSAM) which helped to end apartheid. Berry was selected to speak by the South African Government representing FSAM at the national celebration of the life legacy and values of Mandela at the Washington National Cathedral in December, 2013.

As Berry continues her research, writing and activism, she insists that each generation has the responsibility to make a dent in the wall of injustice.

Berry exemplifies the leadership of early activist Victoria Woodhull, whose life passions were driven by the unshakeable desire to bring about equality for all. Her remarkable life and resulting consequences became the basis for the three-year series of roundtables designed to further discussions about causes and reforms that she thought important and that continue to be relevant today.

Gibson honored as 2018 Woman of Achievement Recipient

Each year since its inception in 2011, Robbins Hunter Museum has recognized a local woman for achievement in her field of endeavor. For 2018, Florence R. Gibson, “Flo”, has been named the recipient of The Victoria Woodhull Woman of Achievement award.

Flo will be honored at a luncheon and ceremony on February 14, 2019, at the museum. A brick with her name, her area of achievement, and the year of presentation will be installed in the clock tower walkway at the museum.

Locally, Flo is widely known for her gardening expertise, but it is her care for women at risk that places her in a position of esteem. In the many years she tended at least 16 gardens scattered on her Alexandria, Ohio, farm, her gardening efforts often turned into the regular and anticipated Flo’s Garden Party, a fund raiser to support Action Ohio Coalition for Battered Women and the local Center for New Beginnings, a battered women’s shelter in Newark, which she founded.

It is the founding and operation of Center for New Beginnings that, in particular, earns our respect and admiration for her accomplishments. As reported in the Newark Advocate in 2015, Flo realized that Licking County needed to do more to help women in need of protection.

“So she teamed up with a group of women and a few attorneys to start a shelter for women affected by domestic violence. They didn’t have any money, and at one point considered renting out a storefront downtown and setting up some cots. Eventually, the team was able to get a grant to open a formal shelter and it took off from there,” the article reported.

“Flo’s work with the Center for New Beginnings and Action Ohio certainly has made a huge impact on the lives of so many women and their families in Licking County and beyond,” says Ann Lowder, director of the Robbins Hunter Museum.

This wonderful season of madness

To visitors during the holiday season, it may seem like there is a decorated Christmas tree in every corner of the house museum. Meticulously decorated trees everywhere! But to the curators, each tree is representative and essential to Robbins Hunter Museum theory, practice and mission. In other words, there is method behind the “Christmas tree madness” at RHM.

The mission of the holidays here is to interpret the life and times of the occupants of the house, says Dr. Rebecca Dungan, former program director and board member who continues to love doing Christmas at the museum.

Two mission-driven trees in particular, the 1950s tree in the Octagon Room and the 1870s tree in the Parlor stay essentially the same each year, Dungan says. “They are purposefully designed to further our tour goal for visitors to ‘step into the past to experience the way a family lived.”

The Octagon Room tree interprets the life and times of Robbins Hunter after the war and is also a tree for learning the effects of World War II on the American Christmas tree. The Parlor Room tree is an interpretation of the way families celebrated Christmas in the 1870s and offers an opportunity to gain insights into the custom of the times, she added.

“Putting up these trees each year is the equivalent of our practice of putting netting over the mirrors, slipcovers on the furniture, and a croquet set in the ladies parlor in the summer months,” she said.

Then there are trees that are exhibits and they will change over time. The Suffragette tree and the World War I tree this year are designed to inform and, in these cases, honor. The Suffragette Tree that sits in the Ladies’ Parlor,  speaks to one of the interpretive themes of the parlor, that “women made a difference.” The WWI tree commemorates the 100th anniversary of the end of the war and the sacrifices of Licking Countians. On the tree are the names of the 82 Licking County men who died from disease or on the battle field, she said. A smaller tree honors the Denison men who did not return. “These trees offer a moving participatory experience for our visitors,” Dungan said.

Another tree with programming potential is the dried botanical tree. “This tree is unique in that we are just beginning to recognize its potential to further our mission by bringing the gardens into the house,” she said. Programming is possible, for example, when we explore how to properly dry flowers and choose which varieties are best for this purpose. And best of all, she says, when we experience how to connect the interior and exterior by using the museum’s garden botanicals on this tree, thus also placing it in the category of exhibit trees.

The Beaded Styrofoam Ornament tree is also an exhibit, representing America’s fascination with the elegance and perceived sophistication and glamor of the 1960s. “Housewives created millions of these ornaments to bring elegance into their homes, Dungan said. “Visitors enjoy and identify with this tree,” she added.

All aspects of house decoration during the holiday season is mission and goal driven, Dungan maintains, and a result of careful consideration of how best to immerse visitors in the tour experience.

“The intense research and the hours spent to insure the accuracy and beauty of these trees are a source of pride, a notable example of best practice and the careful work of interested volunteers.”

Yes, this wonderful madness is real!

A souvenir for your collection

We are excited to offer for the first time, a keepsake ornament that depicts the Avery-Downer House, home to Robbins Hunter Museum. As captured by Gary Chisolm in the photo to the left, it is crafted in brass and features the house with its fine details etched in the metal. It is framed with a Greek key motif representing the iron fence fronting the Jill Griesse Historic Garden. 

Hand crafted in heart of America, the house is the first in a collection celebrating the museums extraordinary architectural features. Proceeds from sales of the ornament benefit the programs at the Robbins Hunter Museum.

The ornament comes packaged with a brief history of the house. These make an excellent corporate gift or addition to your personal collection of Granville related memorabilia. They are offered for sale in Just Write, adjacent to the museum. Or click HERE to purchase online.

Don't miss this!

If you’ve ever been awed by the four massive columns supporting the roof over the front porch of the 1842 Avery Downer House, an exhibit at The Works in Newark might interest you.

For there, as part of a celebration of Licking County’s rich architectural history, a piece of one of the original columns is on display.

“Purpose. Pride. Style, Our Living Art,” Blueprints from Licking County’s Architectural History, runs now through the end of the year in the main gallery at The Works in downtown Newark, Ohio. For more information about visiting the exhibit, click HERE.

The exhibition features nine celebrated local architects and their incredible vision and talents that gifted the county with a sense of purpose, pride, and style. The column piece is part of the rare architecture artifacts on display.

The remnant of the original Greek Revival column is fashioned from a single walnut tree. When discovered, it retained the original gray paint that led to the repainting of the house to what is believed to be its original color, says Ann Lowder, director of the Robbins Hunter Museum.

“Another section is in the study collection at the School of Classical Architecture at Notre Dame University,” she added.

From the Director

An Investment in the Village of Granville

 Because of our generous friends and donors like you, the Robbins Hunter Museum has been able to build a welcoming, entertaining, and educational experience for visitors and residents to the Village of Granville. 

·       “Phoenix Rising,” a series of three exciting round tables presented in partnership with Denison University, was the highlight of the 2018 season.  Beginning in February, experts from around the nation gathered for civil discourse regarding issues that Victoria Woodhull dared to voice in the 19th century and that continue to be relevant today.

·       Looking ahead, discussions will build on the events of 2018 and broaden into national level speakers, reaching a crescendo in 2020.  Your support will ensure lively discussion with well-known experts, beginning with Mary Frances Berry on January 28, 2019.

·       Victoria Woodhull, Continue the Legacy: Join the Conversation,  promotes the Phoenix Rising roundtables as well as women’s disenfranchisement  and features a replica dress and famous quotations by and about Woodhull.

·       Our current exhibit, “Ordinary & Extraordinary,” would have raised eyebrows in earlier times as it features “unmentionables,” underwear worn by 19th century Granville ladies.  The exhibit ties in beautifully with the new Woodhull exhibit by illustrating some of the disadvantages women faced in their expected daily wardrobe. Curated by Elizabeth Miller, Parsons School of Design, the well-researched exhibit includes letters and other primary documents.  It will remain through December, 2019.

·       A new website www.woodhullandclaflin.org features primary resources for students and scholars to learn first hand the facts of Woodhull’s life.

·       Visitors refresh and reflect in the Jill Griesse Historic Garden, now an official American Daffodil Society display garden.  Coming on April 27:  Granville Garden Tour featuring Spring gardens.

As we look ahead to our 38th season, we anticipate an exciting future that will include programs for school children as well as their parents and grandparents.  With your help, the Robbins Hunter Museum and  Jill Griesse Historic Garden will continue to be a vibrant part of the Heart of the Village. 

Stop in to see us Wednesday-Saturday from 1-4PM.  We will be open through December 28.