Longfellow House Bulletin, Vol. 9, No. 2, December 2005
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on fellow ous L g ulletinH e Volume 9 No. 2 A Newsletter of the Friends of the Longfellow House and the National Park Service December 2005 New Book on Longfellow Sheds BLight on His Domestic Life hristoph Irmscher’s new book with his readers. “His accessibility CLongfellow Redux includes a detailed and lack of arrogance were prover- look at Henry Longfellow’s domestic bial,” says Irmscher. He presents a life at Craigie House and the drawings personal view of a man with a strong and stories that he created for his chil- interest in family life who became a dren. Forthcoming from the University single father of five children when his of Illinois Press this spring, the book wife died tragically. contains many images and excerpts The author also explores Longfel- from texts never published before. low’s “obsession with travel,” the many What the title suggests, says Irm- translations of his works, and the scher, is that “the time has come to implications of both. An immigrant to take another look at Longfellow.” He the U.S. from Germany, Irmscher reminds us that Longfellow “pretty received his Ph.D. in English from the much invented poetry as a public idi- University of Bonn. Currently Pro- om in the United States and abroad, “Longfellow Christmas Scene” by Edith Longfellow, age nine, 1862 fessor of English at the University of and was then shunned by later generations lished works. Longfellow Redux examines the Maryland, Baltimore County, he is work- of writers precisely because of it.” poet’s connection with his audience ing on a cultural biography of Louis Agas- Unlike other commentators on Longfel- through his voluminous correspondence siz, a close friend of Henry Longfellow, for low, Irmscher looked at letters written to with fans both at home and abroad. His the University Press of Virginia. Longfellow by others and at his unpub- relationship to his family paralleled that (See related article on page 5.) Children of the Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House Re-enacted he Concordant Junior Vol- the dining room, talk with Mrs. Tunteers, a group of eleven Craigie’s boarder Sally Lowell on seventh- through twelfth-graders the staircase, or hear Annie Alle- from the Boston area, will re- gra Longfellow play the flute in enact the characters of various the music room. These and eight children who lived in the Vassall- other characters are willing and Craigie-Longfellow House dur- able to discuss books, popular ing the eighteenth through early music, and presidential anec- twentieth centuries. The students dotes of his/her time. have spent much time researching To enhance the re-enactment, the stories of the families who many objects from the Longfel- lived or spent time at the House. low National Historic Site’s large The performances will take place collection of nineteenth-century on Saturday and Sunday, Decem- children’s toys, books, clothing, ber 3rd and 4th from 1 to 4 p.m. and art will be on special display. Each volunteer will assume Besides combing through the the role of a particular individ- Concordant Junior Volunteers who helped out on Family Day, September 2005 archives at the House and other ual whom they have studied, and s/he will that viewers walking through the House libraries to develop their characters, the stu- be stationed in the House’s first-floor his- begin in 1774 during the Vassall occupancy dents interviewed people who knew children toric rooms. Written by the volunteers and end in 1939 during Harry Dana’s time. at the House or had been at the House as a themselves, the re-enactment places the In the process visitors will be able to ques- child. They interrogated Longfellow's great- characters in the rooms chronologically so tion—for example—young John Vassall in (continued on page 2) 1 - Children of the House Re-enacted (continued from page 1) granddaughter Frankie Wetherell, and the Since the Concord Junior Volunteers daughter of Alice Longfellow’s gardener have always drawn young people from com- VWX Michael Gaffney, Kathleen Lambert, who is munities beyond Concord, they chose last Friends of the Longfellow House now ninety years old. Wetherell told stories year to re-name themselves the Concordant Board of Directors of her aunts who grew up in Junior Volunteers. The stu- Heather S. Moulton, President the House, and Lambert re- dents who comprise the Barclay Henderson, Vice President called many memories of liv- group attend both public and Robert C. Mitchell, Treasurer ing at the Longfellow House private schools or are home- Polly Bryson, Clerk in the summer months for schooled and come from nine Frances Ackerly twenty years while Alice trav- different Massachusetts com- Diana Der-Hovanessian Rebecca Blevins Faery eled in Europe. munities. Joroff characterizes Frances J. Folsom Nancy Joroff began the them as a self-selected group Maura Graham Concordant Junior Volun- of young people with a Edward Guleserian teers program fourteen years strong interest in research Carol Johnson ago as an extracurricular acti- and history, not just kids who Sarah B. Jolliffe vity for middle- and high- want to dress up in costumes. Linda Almgren Kime school students. A former K- “Henry Longfellow” by son Most students return to the Layne Longfellow 12 teacher with a doctorate in Ernest, age seven, 1852 program year after year for as Laura Nash education, Joroff had worked with Orchard long as they can. Catherine Dixon, a home- Lynne Spencer House, Louisa May Alcott’s home, and their schooled twelfth-grader who plays Annie Advisory Board children’s programs. The programs ended Allegra Longfellow, has been in the pro- Ruth Butler after children reached age eleven. “The par- gram for six years. Joroff finds these junior LeRoy Cragwell ticipants had learned so much. Now that volunteers through word of mouth. Diana Korzenik they were finished, why let In addition to creating Richard Nylander them go?” she asked. living history programs, the Stephen D. Pratt Joroff decided to begin Concordant Junior Volun- Marilyn Richardson her own program, originally teers write researched arti- Marc Shell known as the Junior Volun- cles about events in the Charles Sullivan teers of Concord, using the time of Louisa May Alcott Lowell A. Warren Jr. next age group of young for a quarterly newsletter Administrator people in order to help local called “The Scrapbaggers.” J.L. Bell museums, which she felt They each take turns edit- always needed “an extra set ing and publishing. Newsletter Committee of hands.” Joroff realized Nancy Joroff hopes to Glenna Lang, Editor, Writer & Designer that “children could do the “build a sense of volun- James M. Shea same things at museums teerism” in her students. opq that the adults could— Her earliest graduates are leading tours, greeting peo- now in their late twenties, National Park Service ple, sitting and guarding and “Almost all of them Myra Harrison, Superintendent collections, even preparing “Annie Longfellow” by sister Edith, volunteer for something,” James M. Shea, Museum Manager educational materials.” age eight, 1861 she observed proudly. Nancy Jones, Education and Visitor Services The junior volunteers’ training is thor- Paul Blandford, Museum Educator ough and intensive. It begins in the sum- Anita Israel, Archives Specialist mer with a visit to a different historic Henry W. Longfellow’s letter David Daly, Collections Manager museum in the area each day for nine days. to Charles Sumner, January 30, 1859: Lauren Malcolm, Museum Technician C. Sue Rigney, Planning & Communications Leslie Wilson, head of special collections Liza Stearns, Education Specialist at the Concord Free Library, instructs the It is Sunday afternoon. You know, then, how Ed Bacigalupo, Chief of Maintenance students on doing primary document the old house looks,-the shadow of the library, Scott Fletcher, Facility Manager research. They also undergo “living his- and the sunshine in the study, where I stand tory” training with Tom Reiff, a profes- at my desk and write you this. Two little girls Printed by Newprint Offset, Waltham, Mass. sional actor and former historic guide, who are playing about the room,-A[nnie] count- uses role-playing exercises to practice ing with great noise the brass handles on my vocabulary and etiquette of the time secretary, “nine, eight, five, one,”and E[dith] 1234 period. Some of the volunteers sew their insisting upon having some paper box, long All images are from the Longfellow National Historic own costumes from historic patterns. promised but never found, and informing me Site collections, unless noted otherwise. Throughout the year, the young people vol- that I am not a man of my word! unteer at historic museums, including help- ing out at Longfellow House events. - 2 Interview with a Friend…Meet Heather Moulton This fall Heather Moulton became the LH: How did you first come to the House? for their mothers for Mother’s Day, for third president of the board of the Friends HM: What brought me to this role in instance. It helped people to know that their of the Longfellow House. She worked for the House, being part of the Friends group, dollars were going for something specific. I many years in the architecture business as a was watching the beginning of the capital thought we might try to do this inside the director of communications, and in press campaign for the restoration of the garden. House as well. If there’s a particular piece relations and publicity for a number of The House had been closed for a number of furniture that needs to be restored or a design firms in the Cambridge area. of years and therefore was off my radar fabric that needs to be recreated, we might Longfellow House: Are you an architect screen.