Historic Shepherdstown newsletter – June 2022
Dear Supporters of Historic Shepherdstown,
Welcome to summer! We want to give you a quick update on what’s happening at Historic Shepherdstown Commission and Museum.
Summer at the Museum
Historic Shepherdstown Museum has reopened for the season. The hours are Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 3 p.m. Our new exhibit “Educational Opportunities for Black Jefferson County Residents Before and After Brown v. Board of Education” opened in mid-May. It offers both background information and the recollections of Black area residents about their schooling. The exhibit is located in the same room as “Busy Sundays”, which focuses on leisure-time activities for Shepherdstown’s Black Community, such as the Red Sox baseball team and the Brothers of Harmony Gospel Choir. The new exhibit is funded in part by the West Virginia Humanities Council and if you visit the Museum, we’d appreciate you filling out a brief survey about your reaction to it.
Thanks to a grant from Americana Corner, the Museum was able to have its 1852 S. Howell Brown Map of Jefferson County, Virginia, restored. The map has been returned to the Museum and, with other Shepherdstown and Jefferson County maps, is on display in the third-floor hallway. It will become the centerpiece of a new exhibit opening in September. Watch for a blog post about the restoration of the 1852 map, coming soon to our website, www.historicshepherstown.com.
The Museum has acquired a few new pieces. Member James Stuart Osbourn, who lives in New York, visited recently and gave the Museum two items, a miniature copper kettle and a small crimping iron. The kettle was made by William McKinney Donnelly, who moved to the Shepherdstown area in the 1840s with his daughter Margaret. Margaret eventually married David Hoffman, who served in the Confederate army during the Civil War and whose rifle is on display in the Civil War room of the Museum. After Hoffman’s death, Margaret married George Osbourn. James is a direct descendant of Margaret and George. Both items will be placed on display soon.
The Museum has also acquired an 1830s doll that was owned by Virginia Helen Blackford, whose sampler is located in the Arts and Industry Room, and a quilt by Sarah Moler. Through research, Board Member Terry Fulton discovered that Sarah Moler was known in the community as “Aunt Sallie”. The Museum also owns “Aunt Sallie’s Quilt”. That quilt has been removed for preservation reasons, but a reproduction of it is on display in the Arts and Industry Room. Both the doll and the new quilt will be put on display either later this summer or next spring. Watch our website for a blog post about the doll.
We have revived The Shepherdstown Antique Exhibit, and we hope to make it a monthly event, scheduled on the last Saturday of the month when the Museum is open. It began on June 25, the day of Streetfest, and it was well received. The exhibit will feature common household items, objects found in and around historic houses, family heirlooms or other interesting antiques with direct Shepherdstown connections and stories. We encourage local residents who are interested in participating to contact Historic Shepherdstown at [email protected].
On Sept. 17, the anniversary of the Battle of Antietam, with help from the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War, we will be hosting Civil War re-enactors in the garden area. Stay tuned for more information.
Finally, we have begun a new feature on our Facebook and Instagram pages, thanks to our summer intern Jessie Ramcharren. Jessie is a senior at Hood College in Frederick, MD, majoring in Communication Arts. Every Thursday, she features a different Museum artifact. Check us out to find out what’s in the Museum, and then visit us to see the artifact in person. Jessie is also writing blog posts and is working on a virtual tour of the Museum for our website.
Historic Preservation Awards and new Shepherdstown Historian Laureate
At our May Speaker Series event, Historic Shepherdstown presented its annual Historic Preservation Awards. The Preservation of Historic Structures Award was given to Ebonee and Chris Helmick for the preservation of her family’s home on East German Street. The James C. Price Award was given to retiring Shepherdstown Laureate Betty Snyder Lowe for her many years of preserving the history of Shepherdstown and helping area residents with genealogical research. And finally, the Service to Historic Shepherdstown Award went to John Kavalunias, longtime Historic Shepherdstown Board of Directors member and the chair of the Museum Committee. Congratulations to all of the award winners.
Upon request of Shepherdstown Mayor Jim Auxer, Historic Shepherdstown presented a nominee for the next Historian Laureate to the Town Council at its June meeting. The Council unanimously approved Doug Perks for the position. A native of Jefferson County and a longtime resident of Shepherdstown, Doug was a good friend of Dr. James Price, Shepherdstown’s first Historian Laureate. Doug is a graduate of Charles Town High and he received his bachelor’s degree from West Virginia University, and his master’s from James Madison. After 30 years of service, he retired from Jefferson County Schools. He is currently the Historian of the Jefferson County Museum and is a Harpers Ferry Certified Park Guide. Doug is the Historian for the Jefferson County Historical Society, a Director of the Harpers Ferry Park Association, and co-founder of the Charles Town Library Civil War Roundtable.
He is a frequent lecturer on the history of Mr. Jefferson’s County, a contributing author to The Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society, writes the column “Mr. Jefferson’s County” in the Jefferson County Historical Society newsletter The Guardian, and contributes the column “History Matters” to the Spirit of Jefferson. In 2017 he was named a West Virginia History Hero and in 2018 received the Preservation and Conservation Award from the Two Rivers Giving Circle. Congratulations, Doug!
Fall Fundraiser and membership renewals
Mark your calendar! Historic Shepherdstown Commission’s Fall Fundraiser will be held on Saturday, September 3, at the home of Brenda Thorne and Wayne Bronson. Tickets are $45 per person and $80 per couple. HSC members who have contributed at least $250 are eligible to receive one free ticket to the event. Keep your eye out for more details about reservations.
Also, if you have not yet renewed your membership to Historic Shepherdstown Commission, please do so. Our supporters help us fulfill our mission to tell the story of Shepherdstown. You can join online on our website, or you can mail your membership donation to PO Box 1786, Shepherdstown, WV 25443. Thanks so much!
Fall Speaker Series and annual meeting
The first Fall Speaker Series event and HSC’s annual meeting will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022, in the auditorium at Shepherd University’s Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education. It will also be available to watch on Zoom. The speaker will be Dr. Keith Alexander, associate professor of history at Shepherd University, whose students conducted the interviews that are featured in the new African American exhibit in the Museum. The topic of Dr. Alexander’s talk is “Living Libraries: Using Oral History to Preserve the Past.” The annual meeting for Historic Shepherdstown Commission begins at 6:45 p.m., and Dr. Alexander’s talk will follow it.
For the final Speaker Series event, Historic Shepherdstown will sponsor a public forum entitled “Looking at the History and Future of the Shepherdstown Riverfront.” This event will be a panel presentation and community discussion. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 16, at 7 p.m. Please note the change of date from the previously-scheduled October date.
Fourth of July Parade
Finally, Historic Shepherdstown Commission and Museum will be participating in Shepherdstown’s annual July 4th Parade. Following the parade, the Historic Shepherdstown Museum will be open from noon to 2 p.m. So come out, enjoy the parade, visit the Museum, and celebrate America’s birthday. We hope to see you there!
Have a wonderful summer,
Donna Bertazzoni
President, Historic Shepherdstown Commission Board of Directors
