East Hampton H.S: History Matters / January — Winter Lectures | Curator’s Corner / Scrubs | Volunteer Spotlight …

January 2023

History Matters

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Letter from the Director

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Dear Friends,

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Happy New Year! Thanks to you, the East Hampton Historical Society had a fantastic 2022. I’m especially grateful to our volunteers who contributed thousands of hours to help interpret our historic sites, manage our collections, present fundraising events, and provide oversight and guidance. Because of their deep commitment, the Historical Society can truly serve as a community resource.

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I also appreciate all the stakeholders who helped inform our branding discussions. As a result of the process, we identified “Helping our community engage with the past and understand how the past can shape our future” as essential to who we are as an organization. To build on our branding effort, we’re developing a long-range strategic plan this year to help guide our future.

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I’m enormously excited about the projects that we have in the works, including 1) the creation of a state-of-the-art storage and research facility to house our artifact collections, 2) opening the new Dominy Shops Museum [shown in the photo], 2) planning to celebrate our nation’s Semiquincentennial by reinterpreting Mulford Farm to focus on East Hampton in the American Revolution, and 4) collaborating with the Town of East Hampton to update the Marine Museum.

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We’d be thrilled to have your help with any of these projects. If you’re interested in learning how to get more involved with the Historical Society, please email or call me at 631.324.6850, x3. Of course, another way to participate is by making a gift to the Historical Society. Your investment provides the resources we need to develop new exhibitions and school programs, preserve our historic structures, and keep our past, present.

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Sincerely,

Stephen Long

Executive Director

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VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

Olivia Druker interned with the East Hampton Historical Society this past summer, working on a new school program and assisting with fundraising events. Now that she’s returned to school, we asked her to describe her experience for our monthly newsletter.

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Tell us about yourself and your connection to East Hampton.

I am sixteen years old and go to school in New York City. I play two varsity sports for my school and sail for fun in the summer. I have been spending my summers and weekends in East Hampton since I was born because my family and I absolutely love the community.

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How did you first get involved with the Historical Society?

I have been coming to the Historical Society ever since I can remember (like when my mom took this photograph of me with Revolutionary War reenactors at Mulford Farm). For the last five or six years, I have volunteered at the Antiques Show benefit and this past summer, I did an internship with the Historical Society. During that time, I worked with two college students to create an archeology program for school groups. While I spent time researching on my computer, I was also at the East Hampton Library and in the back barn of Mulford Farm viewing different artifacts from older local archeology sites. I am really looking forward to continuing my internship this summer.

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Do you donate your time to any other organizations? If so, which ones and what spurred your interest in them?

I have worked at the Garden Club of East Hampton for their annual Plant Sale and have volunteered at the East Hampton Library Children’s Fair for many years. In addition, I also volunteer at a neighborhood children’s enrichment center in Harlem called Street Squash. At this program, I teach and play squash with children every week. It is really rewarding to see how much improvement they can make in two hours on a Saturday!

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What motivates you to volunteer in the community?

I volunteer not only because it is a good thing to do, but because it is so personally fulfilling. If what I am doing can put a smile on someone else’s face, it is definitely worth doing.

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Which of the Historical Society’s sites do you find most interesting?

I find Mulford Farm the most interesting of the Historical Society’s sites. Not only was the house built in 1680 – which serves as a reminder of East Hampton’s colonial history – many important East Hampton events are hosted there every year, which bring the community together. I have so many great memories of being on Mulford Farm.

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If you are interested in learning more about summer internships, please email us at the Historical Society. No matter your interest – education, marketing, preservation, research, etc. – there’s a project just for you!

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CURATOR’S CORNER

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What helps make East Hampton distinctive is the huge number of historic sites that we have preserved in our community. For example, East Hampton is home to more Historic Artists Homes and Studios, including the Thomas and Mary Nimmo Moran Home & Studio, than any other Township in America. Soon to be on display at the Moran Studio is a wooden scrub attributed to George Fowler, a Montaukett who worked for the Morans as a gardener. While the Historical Society’s records note that the scrub was made by George Fowler, it is possible it was produced by one of the women in his family, such as his daughter, Marguerite, who was a renowned scrub maker in East Hampton.

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The indigenous craft of making scrubs has a long history on Long Island. Prior to the widespread use of steel wool in the early 20^th century, scrubs were commonly used for scrubbing pots or cleaning fireplaces. To make a scrub, the craftsperson removed bark from a branch and whittled one end of the wood into a handle and shredded the other end into bristles. The shredded bristles would be carefully wrapped and tied with twine.

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By displaying the scrub at the Moran Studio, the Historical Society can invite visitors to explore contrasts and parallels between the creative expression of the Morans and the Fowlers. The Morans used their home to produce paintings and prints for sale. Similarly, according to archeologist, Allison McGovern, the Fowlers produced scrubs and other crafts inside their home, which they sold “in villages and local markets for cash or credit with merchants and storekeepers.”

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Thanks to the efforts of the Friends of Fowler, the Montaukett Tribal Nation, the Town of East Hampton, and others, the house at 95 Springs Fireplace Road where George Fowler lived with his family has been restored and designated a landmark by the Town of East Hampton.

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Winter Lecture Series

Celebrating “East Hampton at Work”

January 27: Of Millers, Millwrights and other early trades in East Hampton

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Looking back at who made East Hampton today

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7pm at the East Hampton Library in the

Baldwin Family Lecture Room

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Free to the Public

Friday, January 27, 2023

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With a focus on Hook Mill and the Dominy Shops, Robert Hefner talks about extinct occupations in East Hampton such as the miller, millwright, and other early artisans.

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Join us for our

2nd Annual Golf Outing Benefit at the Maidstone Club

Thursday May 25, 2023

Tickets

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Branding Survey

While we reflect on the past at the East Hampton Historical Society, we’re planning for the future. To better understand what people think about the Historical Society and how we serve our community, we want to hear from stakeholders like you. Please help us improve by taking this very brief survey. It should take only three minutes.

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We’re grateful for your time and input!