Isles of Shoals Historical & Research Association Volume 23, Issue 1 © 2014 ISHRA P.O. Box 705 Portsmouth NH 03802 Spring 2014 Volume 23 Issue 1 Spring 2014 Our mission is to locate, collect, organize, preserve, expand and make available information and knowledge relating to the natural and human history of the Isles of Shoals
Small Island Big Picture
Winters of Solitude Teach an Artist to See
Was the Subject of our Program Tuesday, April 8, 2014 by Alexandra de Steiguer
Geese on Smuttynose Island - Photograph by Richard Stanley Alex was born in Manhattan, but soon escaped to an environment better suited to her self-described nature as a wild-child and loner, Officers and Directors growing up in Green Village, New Jersey, on the edge of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, where she ran barefoot through Nathan Hamilton, President Bob Cook Maryann Stacy, Vice President Caroline French woods and fields in the total rapport with nature that’s possible in the Alice Gordan, Secretary Dorothy Healy mind of a child. John Diamond, Treasurer Cindy Martin There, in and near the little town named for Ashbel Green, Gary Bashline Sue Murphy Kate Bashline Richard Stanley President of Princeton University from 1812 to 1822, she developed her Amy Cook Cassie Durette Stymiest first sense of appreciation for wild places and the need to maintain Alexandra de Steiguer
Joel Plagenz, ex-officio them in a continuing shared existence with the other species that live in natural symbiotic relationships from which we have become sadly During the nine years that she crewed on dissociated. educational and research vessels under sail, It was only natural that her further education would continue Alex discovered the art of photography that ISHRA Membership Meeting outside the more common channels experienced by most of us as she was to become a focal point of her life. Sailing trans-ocean from the Mediterranean to the Tuesday, April 8, 2014 moved from woodlands to the sea, crewing first on the barkentine islands of the Caribbean, she started Seacoast Science Center, 570 Ocean Blvd., Rye, NH Regina Maris out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, where she learned the intricacies of living and working well with others to achieve mutual photographing her fellow crewmates, their life goals. Life at sea is not often the misty-eyed romance imagined by many on board and the ever-present surrounding sea. when the words “sailing ship” are uttered. Frequently those goals As a photographer, Alex remains loyal to Inside this Issue: resolved to a shear struggle for survival as when, far out in the North traditional means and techniques, making
Atlantic Ocean, one vessel she crewed on fought its way through “The exposures on roll film and developing and Small Island - Big Picture p. 1 printing in the darkroom with standard papers Guest Speaker, Alexandra de Steiguer Perfect Storm” of October of 1991 . Along the way Alex studied marine biology and oceanography, and chemistry. All of the imagery in her work Changes in the Sea p. 2 deepening her understanding of the natural world, as she crewed on is the result of the subtle effects of time- June 2014 Conference honored arcane mysteries involving metal salts,
sailing vessels, first as a student and deck hand and then as bosun. In Third Annual Winter Social p. 2 the type of sail training and research vessels in which she served, a bromides, sulfates and halides processed in Maryann Stacy bosun is the deckhand responsible for maintaining the ship’s rigging. acid baths, carefully “fixed,” rinsed and dried to produce the final print. All of this in the Shipwrecks p. 3 September Weekend Conf. service of her mind’s eye, bringing to the paper Laury Bussey her vision of the natural world. For much of the year, Alex lives on a A Community of Women p. 4 mountain, deep in the woods of New by Richard Stanley Hampshire in a small solar-powered timber- Old Rocking Chairs p. 6 frame home, but for the winter months from Call for Volunteers
November through March she is the sole ISHRA Membership p. 7 occupant at the Isles of Shoals, where she has been the winter-keeper on Star Island for the Summer Activities on the Shoals p. 7 A Shipwreck on Shore Wikifile image (edit) of a 19th Century Lithograph June Conference - Changes in the Sea (see page 2) past seventeen years. Page 2 ISHRA Newsletter Vol. 23 Issue 1 Vol. 23 Issue 1 ISHRA Newsletter Page 7
ISHRA June Conference Our Third Annual Winter Social Membership Summer Activities on the Shoals
Changes in the Sea ISHRA Membership Includes: Marine Science Discoveries The Third Annual ISHRA Winter Social was a Star Island Conference Center Saturday June 21 thru Wednesday June 25 wonderful success. It was a beautiful sparkling January A subscription to our newsletter published Fifth Annual Gosport Regatta & Conference: Saturday twice a year. afternoon when approximately fifty ISHRA members, - Sunday September 20th & 21st. Restoring a sailing Join us once again for ISHRA’s 2014 June Conference family and friends joined together for a community pot Access to the Members Corner of our website tradition in 19th century style. Be on Star Island for this as we journey through eons of time at the Shoals. We will luck lunch and the warm companionship of fellow ISHRA.org. This includes past newsletters, speaker sailboat race which finishes in Gosport Harbor right explore the ever-changing conditions in the Gulf of Maine Shoalers. The winter sun brightened the hall as ISHRA details, and other Shoals resources. in front of the hotel. from prehistory into the future. We will investigate sea members and friends gathered in the Parish House of the An opportunity to attend our meeting programs on Star Arts Conference: Wake your inner artist in an level rise and climate change and the impact on the local First Congregational Church of Kittery Point where talk the 2nd Tuesday of April and November, conferences inspiring week-long, adults-only retreat among a tribe coastline, the rise and fall of animal and plant was of summers past and excitement for the 2014 season of fellow explorers. A perennial favorite that draws on Star Island, and day trips. returning conferees year after year. populations, and changes in the environment in the Gulf yet to come. Plans were made, friendships rekindled, and Fellowship with people who share your interest and of Maine. How do all these ecosystems interact and photo albums and other assorted Shoals memorabilia Yearly Adults Conference: YAC is the Yearly Adults enthusiasm for the history of the Isles of Shoals. where is our place within them? Join us for educational were perused over bowls of steaming seafood chowder, Conference on Star Island. We welcome people in the An invitation to work on Isles of Shoals historical first decades of adult independence to come together and guest speakers, lively discussion groups, hands on favorite appetizers, side dishes, and blueberry cobbler. exploration of the traces of changes left upon the island research projects as well as our newsletter, website share the experience of being part of this very special Some folks took the opportunity to visit the Old Burying community. landscape, creative art projects, as well as much loved Ground across the road and pay their respects to Levi, content, and list of archived Shoals materials. Star Island traditions of Candle Light Chapel Service, John, Roland, and Karl Thaxter. More information about the many programs offered time in the rockers, and a few exciting surprises. New Membership - To become a member please during the 2014 conference season can be found at: starisland.org/conferences/2014-listings We will depart Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on the complete and mail this form with your dues to: afternoon of Saturday June 21, 2014 for four fun-filled days ISHRA| PO Box 705 | Portsmouth, NH 03802 of relaxation, education, exploration, and renewal of old friendships. We will regretfully shove off from Star Renewal- Current membership status can be found Island and head back to Portsmouth at 3:05 p.m. on on the mailing label. To renew your membership Wednesday, June 25. This year we have delayed our send in your label, with any applicable changes, departure time to the late afternoon boat so that ISHRA and dues to the address above. Conferees may participate in all of the Captain John Yearly dues (April 1-March 31) Smith Commemorative Events that day. Please note: the membership year begins on April 1.
Planned events include: speakers from the Shoals [ ] $10– Individual Marine Lab, rowboat races, horseshow and croquet [ ] $5– Junior (18 and younger) tournaments, and a whale/bird watch boat trip. Arts and crafts projects include Amy’s Sea Weed Pressing and [ ] $25– Family, Group, or Institution a special art project led by Gretchen Gudefin, and a sneak It was a cold day, but the food and camaraderie were warm! [ ] $100– Lifetime Shoals Marine Laboratory - Appledore Island peek into the Fall Shipwreck Conference. We will also Thanks go out to all the dedicated ISHRA Name: ...... Celia Thaxter’s Garden Tours hold a Social Hour Book Swap so bring a book to leave members who pitched in with food preparation, table Six excursions June 28 - August 16 and plan to take one home with you. and chairs set up and break down and those who Address: ...... Adult Education & Workshops Programming Fee remains at $100, plus room/board/ contributed the delicious appetizers, side dishes, and City, State, Zip: ......
ferry transportation. desserts. The 2014 luncheon went off without a hitch Telephone: ...... SML offers a wide variety of programs, courses and and if you were unable to attend have no worries, plans Email: ...... internships at high school and undergraduate levels. are already underway for the 2015 ISHRA Fourth Just a few of the many subjects covered are: Ecology and Registration now on-line at the Star Island Website: Annual Winter Social. [ ] I would like to give the gift of membership and have starisland.org the Marine Environment, Marine Mammal Biology, Maryann Stacy included the proper dues and contact information on a or by contacting Registrar Amy Cook at Underwater Research, Evolution and Marine Diversity and [email protected]. separate sheet of paper. Field Ornithology. ISHRA Media Contacts
For more information about Shoals Marine Laboratory Co-Chairs: Dr. Nathan Hamilton and Maryann Stacy, and Cassie Stymiest The ISHRA Newsletter is Produced For more information, please contact: Registrar Amy Cook ISHRA Webmaster and Edited by Richard Stanley Cassie Durette Stymiest, Membership Chair and activities on Appledore Island contact SML at: We look forward to sharing this adventure with you. [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 603-667-3306 sml.cornell.edu or 603-964-9011
Page 6 ISHRA Newsletter Vol. 23 Issue 1 Vol. 23 Issue 1 ISHRA Newsletter Page 3
(cont. from page 5) A Community of Women
In the afternoon of a winter day in 1908, Alice Will Be The Focus Of Brandeis, wife of the famous judge, Louis Brandeis, escorted Willa to the storied Charles Street address and Our September Weekend Conference introduced her to Annie and Sarah who, since the death of Friday, September 5 - Sunday, September 7 James Fields in 1881, had lived and travelled together. Willa immediately formed a close relationship with both Even before Celia Thaxter wrote about the Spanish of the older women. Although Sarah’s career as an author sailors lost on Smuttynose Island in her 1865 poem, “The was behind her and Willa’s was just beginning, their Spaniards’ Graves,” shipwrecks had been closely meeting led to an intense relationship shortened only by associated with the Isles of Shoals and neighboring Sarah’s death just sixteen months after they met. waters off the New Hampshire and Maine coasts. Sarah became widely respected as a “regional” Now, anyone interested in the legend and lore of those shipwrecks—as well as modern discoveries of author based on her best known work, The Country of the evidence from the lost vessels—is invited to attend Going off to a Wreck - 19th century post card Pointed Firs, but her sensibilities and vision saw far beyond ISHRA’s September Weekend Conference on Star Island, the merely provincial, evidenced in her oft-quoted advice Also speaking will be Warren Riess, author of Angel “The Undersea History of the Isles of Shoals,” from to Willa that, “One must know the world so well before Friday, September 5, to Sunday, September 7. Gabriel: The Elusive English Galleon, who personally one can know the parish.” This simple sounding, but Shipwrecks are unique time capsules, providing recovered nine cannons from the Nottingham Galley pithy wisdom could only come from one who had historians with insight into the past. Shipwreck sites not wreck, and Jeff Campbell, the diver who initially confronted the world at large with its stupendous range only reveal a vessel’s structure, but also may contain discovered those cannons. Ray Demers will talk about his of humanity. Willa frequently cited it as the best advice discovery of the 1744 Royal Navy ship Asterea in the Yessir folks one day you will just want to sit down in a nice cargo, personal items, tools and other diagnostic artifacts. that she ever got from an older writer. She and Annie Piscataqua River, and ISHRA President Nathan Hamilton comfortable rocking chair and when you do you want to be Shipwrecks humanize history, and this ISHRA weekend remained close friends and correspondents until Annie’s will discuss the Shoals Marine Lab Underwater sure it’s in good repair so you don’t find yourself sitting on will examine the role of builders, sailors and seamen who death in 1915. Archaeological Survey. the porch floor of the Star Island hotel! That’s when you’ll gave life to New England. All of these women possessed the ability to Rounding out the weekend will be casual social be thankful for the rocking chair repair crew and they need Among the invited speakers is Stephen Erickson, co- facilitate confluence, bringing together through their events, island strolls and a candlelit service in the 214- your help. author of Boon Island: A True Story of Mutiny, Shipwreck and creativity intimate interpretations of the natural and year-old Gosport Chapel. Cannibalism, which delves into the 1710 wreck of the social worlds, the people that inhabit them and their Participants will leave Portsmouth mid-afternoon Nottingham Galley on desolate Boon Island, about 12 individual life stories. This is their Gift of Sympathy to Volunteers are Needed! Friday, September 5, aboard the Thomas Laighton and miles northeast of the Isles of Shoals. us, bestowed upon generations before ours and waiting return Sunday afternoon, September 7. Accommodations
for those yet to come. ISHRA will continue its tradition of volunteering to re- are provided in the rustic yet comfortable Oceanic Hotel cane the rocking chairs for the front porch, as well as the and surrounding buildings on Star Island. dining room chair seats on Star Island. While it's too Registration is $65 per person. Room and board, If you would like to know more about these women, early to arrange definite dates and times, we plan to including lodging, all meals and round-trip boat their lives and their work, you will find the gather as volunteers for a 3-4 day session out on Star transportation from Portsmouth, starts at $290 per following books to be interesting: Island (no cost but you are expected to spend the person for the weekend, depending on type of majority of your time on island with this activity) either accommodations. Sarah Orne Jewett - Her World and Her Work in late May or the first week of June, and then perhaps Reservations are now being accepted as long as by Paula Blanchard smaller groups for a few days after the ISHRA June Memories of a Hostess - drawn from the diaries of Annie Fields places remain available. To register online or by mail, go conference and during the last week of August. We by M. A. DeWolf Howe to starisland.org/registration and choose “ISHRA II – Beyond the Garden Gate - The Life of Celia Laighton Thaxter especially need people with carpentry skills to work on September” on the conference list. A deposit of $165 per by Norma Mandel the wooden frames as well. If you have volunteered in the person will reserve your place; this consists of a $65 Sandpiper; The Life & Letters of Celia Thaxter past, and want to do so again, or are completely new to programming fee, which is given directly to ISHRA, and a by Rosamund Thaxter this activity, please contact: Among the Isles of Shoals $100 deposit toward your Star Island room and board by Celia Thaxter Jean Stefanik [email protected] charges. The remaining balance is to be paid on island by Willa Cather’s Gift of Sympathy the end of your stay. by Edward A. and Lillian D. Bloom We try our best to accommodate all ISHRA members Not Under Forty who wish to volunteer in this activity. For more information, visit ishra.org, email Laurence by Willa Cather A Three-Masted Ship Stranded on the Shore Wikifile image - composite Bussey at [email protected], or call 617-334-5675.
Page 4 ISHRA Newsletter Volume 23 Issue 1 ISHRA Newsletter Page 5
A Community of Women Annie is remembered now as an editor of important biographical sketches and collections of letters, but her Celia’s life was sometimes difficult and it is a testament to her And Their Gift of Sympathy literary impact rests more on her close collaboration with considerable strength of character and the depth of her creative nature that she nevertheless regularly presented new fruits of her By Richard Stanley James in the selection of works that would be published by Ticknor and Fields. creative energy that drew on her singular experiences. Not the The women writers of the late 19th and early 20th However, her true gifts were those of a hostess in the least evidence of this inner fire were her contributions to the century were a close-knit group, many of whom knew highest sense of the word, one able to create a comfortable atmosphere for which the Appledore House and her personal each other personally, sharing commonalities of attitude atmosphere for diverse individuals and encourage their parlor on Appledore Island became famous, both profusely and world view. One frequently encounters the term creative intercourse. And such an atmosphere it was! decorated with flowers from her wonderful garden. “Gift of Sympathy” as a characteristic of these women The house was crammed full of art work, memorabilia with regard to their lifestyles and as a feature of their and the artifacts of a golden age: beautifully hand-written creative work. In this context “sympathy” is understood manuscripts by the likes of Tennyson and Thoreau, a lock as rapport, affinity and understanding, not in the sense of of John Keats’ hair, books occupying every shelf and piles of feeling sorry for someone’s misfortune. them in corners. It is said that it was a place where the past Each of these women, Annie Fields, Sarah Orne was not a quiescent feature but that it exuded from the very Sarah Orne Jewett Jewett, Celia Thaxter and Willa Cather, lived with this furniture, pictures and rare editions, laying in wait through sense of rapport, which enhanced the effectiveness of their each doorway and around every corner to spring forth to the Sarah and Willa shared some interesting traits; both creative work, allowing them to communicate with their delight of unsuspecting visitors. All of this and sixty years were strongly influenced by older men and interested in audiences on the most intimate level possible. They were of glorious gatherings are the true heritage of Annie’s gift of medicine. For Sarah it was her father, grandfather, an all writers - Sarah and Willa it was a full-time occupation. sympathy. uncle and great uncle, all of whom were doctors, who While Annie and Celia both wrote, they also expressed kindled her interest. When she was young she often their individual gifts through other activities. accompanied her father on his rounds as he visited When she was nineteen, Annie married James T. patients, sometimes administering medicines and Fields of the Boston firm Ticknor and Fields, world providing assistance. This led her to consider for a famous publishers of Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Willa Sibert Cather while the pursuit of medicine, although prejudice Hawthorne, Mark Twain and many others of similar against women in the field at that time would have stature. James was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, In her writing and visual art, Celia conveyed the posed a formidable obstacle. In later life she ventured but relocated to Boston early in life where he and Ticknor intimate sense of the natural world that she had absorbed to diagnose and prescribe cures for family and friends, met with great success as publishers of books and The as a child. Perhaps her most valuable gift was that of frequently with successful results.
Atlantic Monthly magazine, founded in 1857. The Fields’ teaching young eyes to see the flowers and birds, to know By the time she was twelve, Willa actively sought Beacon Hill home at 148 Charles Street soon became the the islands and the surrounding sea and sky. the company of older men, including two doctors in Red site of a storied salon gracefully catered by Annie and Sarah Orne Jewett and Willa Cather focused their Cloud, Nebraska, where her family had moved when she attended by the illuminati of the day for six decades. energies on creative writing, and it is through the portrayal was nine. Like Sarah, she accompanied the doctors on Celia Laighton Thaxter of the characters in their stories that we experience their rambling buggy rides while making their rounds, assisted unique gifts of sympathy. Born in 1873 in Back Creek them and in one case administered anesthesia while a In the summer months, many of the same artists, writers and Virginia, Willa was a generation younger than Annie, young boy’s shattered leg was amputated. She pursued musicians that frequented 148 Charles Street would be found in Celia Celia, and Sarah. At that time Sarah was already an vivisection with an enthusiasm that must have unnerved Thaxter’s salon on Appledore Island, forty miles north of “the hub” of established writer with the first of her Deep Haven Sketches the conservative citizens of her community and wrote in a Boston on a rocky island off the coast of New Hampshire. published in The Atlantic Monthly. In the same year James friend’s album that slicing toads was her hobby. Arriving at the Shoals when barely four years old, Celia luxuriated Osgood, formerly a partner with Ticknor and Fields and In 1906 Willa moved from Pittsburgh, where she had in the life of a wild-child, skipping across the rocks like a sea-sprite; the known for his association with Mark Twain, published been editor of the Home Monthly magazine, wrote for the “Sandpiper” as she self-identified and as Sarah Jewett affectionately Celia Thaxter’s Among the Isles of Shoals. Despite the Pittsburgh Daily Leader and taught high school, to New addressed her later in life. During this magical childhood, Celia lived difference in age between Willa and the other three York City and was a journalist on her way to becoming with her nose close to nature, drinking in the very stuff of every little women, their paths were destined to converge at the managing editor of McClure’s Magazine. There she met creature, plant and rock that she encountered. These images and Fields’ Beacon Hill residence. Edith Lewis, another editor working for the magazine. experiences would simmer within her to be released later in life to the They became close friends and eventually working delight of all through her unique prose, poetry and visual art. Image credits: Annie - From a crayon portrait by S. W. Rowse, 1863 partners and companions, living together for nearly Celia - from Poet on Demand by Jane E. Vallier, photographer unknown forty years in New York and summering on Grand Willa - Univ. of Nebraska at Lincoln, photographer unknown Annie Adams Fields Sarah - en.wikisource.org, photographer unknown Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy. (cont. on page 6) Page 4 ISHRA Newsletter Volume 23 Issue 1 ISHRA Newsletter Page 5
A Community of Women Annie is remembered now as an editor of important biographical sketches and collections of letters, but her Celia’s life was sometimes difficult and it is a testament to her And Their Gift of Sympathy literary impact rests more on her close collaboration with considerable strength of character and the depth of her creative nature that she nevertheless regularly presented new fruits of her By Richard Stanley James in the selection of works that would be published by Ticknor and Fields. creative energy that drew on her singular experiences. Not the The women writers of the late 19th and early 20th However, her true gifts were those of a hostess in the least evidence of this inner fire were her contributions to the century were a close-knit group, many of whom knew highest sense of the word, one able to create a comfortable atmosphere for which the Appledore House and her personal each other personally, sharing commonalities of attitude atmosphere for diverse individuals and encourage their parlor on Appledore Island became famous, both profusely and world view. One frequently encounters the term creative intercourse. And such an atmosphere it was! decorated with flowers from her wonderful garden. “Gift of Sympathy” as a characteristic of these women The house was crammed full of art work, memorabilia with regard to their lifestyles and as a feature of their and the artifacts of a golden age: beautifully hand-written creative work. In this context “sympathy” is understood manuscripts by the likes of Tennyson and Thoreau, a lock as rapport, affinity and understanding, not in the sense of of John Keats’ hair, books occupying every shelf and piles of feeling sorry for someone’s misfortune. them in corners. It is said that it was a place where the past Each of these women, Annie Fields, Sarah Orne was not a quiescent feature but that it exuded from the very Sarah Orne Jewett Jewett, Celia Thaxter and Willa Cather, lived with this furniture, pictures and rare editions, laying in wait through sense of rapport, which enhanced the effectiveness of their each doorway and around every corner to spring forth to the Sarah and Willa shared some interesting traits; both creative work, allowing them to communicate with their delight of unsuspecting visitors. All of this and sixty years were strongly influenced by older men and interested in audiences on the most intimate level possible. They were of glorious gatherings are the true heritage of Annie’s gift of medicine. For Sarah it was her father, grandfather, an all writers - Sarah and Willa it was a full-time occupation. sympathy. uncle and great uncle, all of whom were doctors, who While Annie and Celia both wrote, they also expressed kindled her interest. When she was young she often their individual gifts through other activities. accompanied her father on his rounds as he visited When she was nineteen, Annie married James T. patients, sometimes administering medicines and Fields of the Boston firm Ticknor and Fields, world providing assistance. This led her to consider for a famous publishers of Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Willa Sibert Cather while the pursuit of medicine, although prejudice Hawthorne, Mark Twain and many others of similar against women in the field at that time would have stature. James was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, In her writing and visual art, Celia conveyed the posed a formidable obstacle. In later life she ventured but relocated to Boston early in life where he and Ticknor intimate sense of the natural world that she had absorbed to diagnose and prescribe cures for family and friends, met with great success as publishers of books and The as a child. Perhaps her most valuable gift was that of frequently with successful results.
Atlantic Monthly magazine, founded in 1857. The Fields’ teaching young eyes to see the flowers and birds, to know By the time she was twelve, Willa actively sought Beacon Hill home at 148 Charles Street soon became the the islands and the surrounding sea and sky. the company of older men, including two doctors in Red site of a storied salon gracefully catered by Annie and Sarah Orne Jewett and Willa Cather focused their Cloud, Nebraska, where her family had moved when she attended by the illuminati of the day for six decades. energies on creative writing, and it is through the portrayal was nine. Like Sarah, she accompanied the doctors on Celia Laighton Thaxter of the characters in their stories that we experience their rambling buggy rides while making their rounds, assisted unique gifts of sympathy. Born in 1873 in Back Creek them and in one case administered anesthesia while a In the summer months, many of the same artists, writers and Virginia, Willa was a generation younger than Annie, young boy’s shattered leg was amputated. She pursued musicians that frequented 148 Charles Street would be found in Celia’s Celia, and Sarah. At that time Sarah was already an vivisection with an enthusiasm that must have unnerved Thaxter’s salon on Appledore Island, forty miles north of “the hub” of established writer with the first of her Deep Haven Sketches the conservative citizens of her community and wrote in a Boston on a rocky island off the coast of New Hampshire. published in The Atlantic Monthly. In the same year James friend’s album that slicing toads was her hobby. Arriving at the Shoals when barely four years old, Celia luxuriated Osgood, formerly a partner with Ticknor and Fields and In 1906 Willa moved from Pittsburgh, where she had in the life of a wild-child, skipping across the rocks like a sea-sprite; the known for his association with Mark Twain, published been editor of the Home Monthly magazine, wrote for the “Sandpiper” as she self-identified and as Sarah Jewett affectionately Celia Thaxter’s Among the Isles of Shoals. Despite the Pittsburgh Daily Leader and taught high school, to New addressed her later in life. During this magical childhood, Celia lived difference in age between Willa and the other three York City and was a journalist on her way to becoming with her nose close to nature, drinking in the very stuff of every little women, their paths were destined to converge at the managing editor of McClure’s Magazine. There she met creature, plant and rock that she encountered. These images and Fields’ Beacon Hill residence. Edith Lewis, another editor working for the magazine. experiences would simmer within her to be released later in life to the They became close friends and eventually working delight of all through her unique prose, poetry and visual art. Image credits: Annie - From a crayon portrait by S. W. Rowse, 1863 partners and companions, living together for nearly Celia - from Poet on Demand by Jane E. Vallier, photographer unknown forty years in New York and summering on Grand Willa - Univ. of Nebraska at Lincoln, photographer unknown Annie Adams Fields Sarah - en.wikisource.org, photographer unknown Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy. (cont. on page 6) Page 6 ISHRA Newsletter Vol. 23 Issue 1 Vol. 23 Issue 1 ISHRA Newsletter Page 3
(cont. from page 5) A Community of Women
In the afternoon of a winter day in 1908, Alice Will Be The Focus Of Brandeis, wife of the famous judge, Louis Brandeis, escorted Willa to the storied Charles Street address and Our September Weekend Conference introduced her to Annie and Sarah who, since the death of Friday, September 5 - Sunday, September 7 James Fields in 1881, had lived and travelled together. Willa immediately formed a close relationship with both Even before Celia Thaxter wrote about the Spanish of the older women. Although Sarah’s career as an author sailors lost on Smuttynose Island in her 1865 poem, “The was behind her and Willa’s was just beginning, their Spaniards’ Graves,” shipwrecks had been closely meeting led to an intense relationship shortened only by associated with the Isles of Shoals and neighboring Sarah’s death just sixteen months after they met. waters off the New Hampshire and Maine coasts. Sarah became widely respected as a “regional” Now, anyone interested in the legend and lore of those shipwrecks—as well as modern discoveries of author based on her best known work, The Country of the evidence from the lost vessels—is invited to attend Going off to a Wreck - 19th century post card Pointed Firs, but her sensibilities and vision saw far beyond ISHRA’s September Weekend Conference on Star Island, the merely provincial, evidenced in her oft-quoted advice Also speaking will be Warren Riess, author of Angel “The Undersea History of the Isles of Shoals,” from to Willa that, “One must know the world so well before Friday, September 5, to Sunday, September 7. Gabriel: The Elusive English Galleon, who personally one can know the parish.” This simple sounding, but Shipwrecks are unique time capsules, providing recovered nine cannons from the Nottingham Galley pithy wisdom could only come from one who had historians with insight into the past. Shipwreck sites not wreck, and Jeff Campbell, the diver who initially confronted the world at large with its stupendous range only reveal a vessel’s structure, but also may contain discovered those cannons. Ray Demers will talk about his of humanity. Willa frequently cited it as the best advice discovery of the 1744 Royal Navy ship Asterea in the Yessir folks one day you will just want to sit down in a nice cargo, personal items, tools and other diagnostic artifacts. that she ever got from an older writer. She and Annie Piscataqua River, and ISHRA President Nathan Hamilton comfortable rocking chair and when you do you want to be Shipwrecks humanize history, and this ISHRA weekend remained close friends and correspondents until Annie’s will discuss the Shoals Marine Lab Underwater sure it’s in good repair so you don’t find yourself sitting on will examine the role of builders, sailors and seamen who death in 1915. Archaeological Survey. the porch floor of the Star Island hotel! That’s when you’ll gave life to New England. All of these women possessed the ability to Rounding out the weekend will be casual social be thankful for the rocking chair repair crew and they need Among the invited speakers is Stephen Erickson, co- facilitate confluence, bringing together through their events, island strolls and a candlelit service in the 214- your help. author of Boon Island: A True Story of Mutiny, Shipwreck and creativity intimate interpretations of the natural and year-old Gosport Chapel. Cannibalism, which delves into the 1710 wreck of the social worlds, the people that inhabit them and their Participants will leave Portsmouth mid-afternoon Nottingham Galley on desolate Boon Island, about 12 individual life stories. This is their Gift of Sympathy to Volunteers are Needed! Friday, September 5, aboard the Thomas Laighton and miles northeast of the Isles of Shoals. us, bestowed upon generations before ours and waiting return Sunday afternoon, September 7. Accommodations
for those yet to come. ISHRA will continue its tradition of volunteering to re- are provided in the rustic yet comfortable Oceanic Hotel cane the rocking chairs for the front porch, as well as the and surrounding buildings on Star Island. dining room chair seats on Star Island. While it's too Registration is $65 per person. Room and board, If you would like to know more about these women, early to arrange definite dates and times, we plan to including lodging, all meals and round-trip boat their lives and their work, you will find the gather as volunteers for a 3-4 day session out on Star transportation from Portsmouth, starts at $290 per following books to be interesting: Island (no cost but you are expected to spend the person for the weekend, depending on type of majority of your time on island with this activity) either accommodations. Sarah Orne Jewett - Her World and Her Work in late May or the first week of June, and then perhaps Reservations are now being accepted as long as by Paula Blanchard smaller groups for a few days after the ISHRA June Memories of a Hostess - drawn from the diaries of Annie Fields places remain available. To register online or by mail, go conference and during the last week of August. We by M. A. DeWolf Howe to starisland.org/registration and choose “ISHRA II – Beyond the Garden Gate - The Life of Celia Laighton Thaxter especially need people with carpentry skills to work on September” on the conference list. A deposit of $165 per by Norma Mandel the wooden frames as well. If you have volunteered in the person will reserve your place; this consists of a $65 Sandpiper; The Life & Letters of Celia Thaxter past, and want to do so again, or are completely new to programming fee, which is given directly to ISHRA, and a by Rosamund Thaxter this activity, please contact: Among the Isles of Shoals $100 deposit toward your Star Island room and board by Celia Thaxter Jean Stefanik [email protected] charges. The remaining balance is to be paid on island by Willa Cather’s Gift of Sympathy the end of your stay. by Edward A. and Lillian D. Bloom We try our best to accommodate all ISHRA members Not Under Forty who wish to volunteer in this activity. For more information, visit ishra.org, email Laurence by Willa Cather A Three-Masted Ship Stranded on the Shore Wikifile image - composite Bussey at [email protected], or call 617-334-5675.
Page 2 ISHRA Newsletter Vol. 23 Issue 1 Vol. 23 Issue 1 ISHRA Newsletter Page 7
ISHRA June Conference Our Third Annual Winter Social Membership Summer Activities on the Shoals
Changes in the Sea ISHRA Membership Includes: Marine Science Discoveries The Third Annual ISHRA Winter Social was a Star Island Conference Center Saturday June 21 thru Wednesday June 25 wonderful success. It was a beautiful sparkling January A subscription to our newsletter published Fifth Annual Gosport Regatta & Conference: Saturday twice a year. afternoon when approximately fifty ISHRA members, - Sunday September 20th & 21st. Restoring a sailing Join us once again for ISHRA’s 2014 June Conference family and friends joined together for a community pot Access to the Members Corner of our website tradition in 19th century style. Be on Star Island for this as we journey through eons of time at the Shoals. We will luck lunch and the warm companionship of fellow ISHRA.org. This includes past newsletters, speaker sailboat race which finishes in Gosport Harbor right explore the ever-changing conditions in the Gulf of Maine Shoalers. The winter sun brightened the hall as ISHRA details, and other Shoals resources. in front of the hotel. from prehistory into the future. We will investigate sea members and friends gathered in the Parish House of the An opportunity to attend our meeting programs on Star Arts Conference: Wake your inner artist in an level rise and climate change and the impact on the local First Congregational Church of Kittery Point where talk the 2nd Tuesday of April and November, conferences inspiring week-long, adults-only retreat among a tribe coastline, the rise and fall of animal and plant was of summers past and excitement for the 2014 season of fellow explorers. A perennial favorite that draws on Star Island, and day trips. returning conferees year after year. populations, and changes in the environment in the Gulf yet to come. Plans were made, friendships rekindled, and Fellowship with people who share your interest and of Maine. How do all these ecosystems interact and photo albums and other assorted Shoals memorabilia Yearly Adults Conference: YAC is the Yearly Adults enthusiasm for the history of the Isles of Shoals. where is our place within them? Join us for educational were perused over bowls of steaming seafood chowder, Conference on Star Island. We welcome people in the An invitation to work on Isles of Shoals historical first decades of adult independence to come together and guest speakers, lively discussion groups, hands on favorite appetizers, side dishes, and blueberry cobbler. exploration of the traces of changes left upon the island research projects as well as our newsletter, website share the experience of being part of this very special Some folks took the opportunity to visit the Old Burying community. landscape, creative art projects, as well as much loved Ground across the road and pay their respects to Levi, content, and list of archived Shoals materials. Star Island traditions of Candle Light Chapel Service, John, Roland, and Karl Thaxter. More information about the many programs offered time in the rockers, and a few exciting surprises. New Membership - To become a member please during the 2014 conference season can be found at: starisland.org/conferences/2014-listings We will depart Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on the complete and mail this form with your dues to: afternoon of Saturday June 21, 2014 for four fun-filled days ISHRA| PO Box 705 | Portsmouth, NH 03802 of relaxation, education, exploration, and renewal of old friendships. We will regretfully shove off from Star Renewal- Current membership status can be found Island and head back to Portsmouth at 3:05 p.m. on on the mailing label. To renew your membership Wednesday, June 25. This year we have delayed our send in your label, with any applicable changes, departure time to the late afternoon boat so that ISHRA and dues to the address above. Conferees may participate in all of the Captain John Yearly dues (April 1-March 31) Smith Commemorative Events that day. Please note: the membership year begins on April 1.
Planned events include: speakers from the Shoals [ ] $10– Individual Marine Lab, rowboat races, horseshow and croquet [ ] $5– Junior (18 and younger) tournaments, and a whale/bird watch boat trip. Arts and crafts projects include Amy’s Sea Weed Pressing and [ ] $25– Family, Group, or Institution a special art project led by Gretchen Gudefin, and a sneak It was a cold day, but the food and camaraderie were warm! [ ] $100– Lifetime Shoals Marine Laboratory - Appledore Island peek into the Fall Shipwreck Conference. We will also Thanks go out to all the dedicated ISHRA Name: ...... Celia Thaxter’s Garden Tours hold a Social Hour Book Swap so bring a book to leave members who pitched in with food preparation, table Six excursions June 28 - August 16 and plan to take one home with you. and chairs set up and break down and those who Address: ...... Adult Education & Workshops Programming Fee remains at $100, plus room/board/ contributed the delicious appetizers, side dishes, and City, State, Zip: ......
ferry transportation. desserts. The 2014 luncheon went off without a hitch Telephone: ...... SML offers a wide variety of programs, courses and and if you were unable to attend have no worries, plans Email: ...... internships at high school and undergraduate levels. are already underway for the 2015 ISHRA Fourth Just a few of the many subjects covered are: Ecology and Registration now on-line at the Star Island Website: Annual Winter Social. [ ] I would like to give the gift of membership and have starisland.org the Marine Environment, Marine Mammal Biology, Maryann Stacy included the proper dues and contact information on a or by contacting Registrar Amy Cook at Underwater Research, Evolution and Marine Diversity and [email protected]. separate sheet of paper. Field Ornithology. ISHRA Media Contacts
For more information about Shoals Marine Laboratory Co-Chairs: Dr. Nathan Hamilton and Maryann Stacy, and Cassie Stymiest The ISHRA Newsletter is Produced For more information, please contact: Registrar Amy Cook ISHRA Webmaster and Edited by Richard Stanley Cassie Durette Stymiest, Membership Chair and activities on Appledore Island contact SML at: We look forward to sharing this adventure with you. [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 603-667-3306 sml.cornell.edu or 603-964-9011
Isles of Shoals Historical & Research Association Volume 23, Issue 1 © 2014 ISHRA P.O. Box 705 Portsmouth NH 03802 Spring 2014 Volume 23 Issue 1 Spring 2014 Our mission is to locate, collect, organize, preserve, expand and make available information and knowledge relating to the natural and human history of the Isles of Shoals
Small Island Big Picture
Winters of Solitude Teach an Artist to See
Was the Subject of our Program Tuesday, April 8, 2014 by Alexandra de Steiguer
Geese on Smuttynose Island - Photograph by Richard Stanley Alex was born in Manhattan, but soon escaped to an environment better suited to her self-described nature as a wild-child and loner, Officers and Directors growing up in Green Village, New Jersey, on the edge of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, where she ran barefoot through Nathan Hamilton, President Bob Cook Maryann Stacy, Vice President Caroline French woods and fields in the total rapport with nature that’s possible in the Alice Gordan, Secretary Dorothy Healy mind of a child. John Diamond, Treasurer Cindy Martin There, in and near the little town named for Ashbel Green, Gary Bashline Sue Murphy Kate Bashline Richard Stanley President of Princeton University from 1812 to 1822, she developed her Amy Cook Cassie Durette Stymiest first sense of appreciation for wild places and the need to maintain Alexandra de Steiguer
Joel Plagenz, ex-officio them in a continuing shared existence with the other species that live in natural symbiotic relationships from which we have become sadly During the nine years that she crewed on dissociated. educational and research vessels under sail, It was only natural that her further education would continue Alex discovered the art of photography that ISHRA Membership Meeting outside the more common channels experienced by most of us as she was to become a focal point of her life. Sailing trans-ocean from the Mediterranean to the Tuesday, April 8, 2014 moved from woodlands to the sea, crewing first on the barkentine islands of the Caribbean, she started Seacoast Science Center, 570 Ocean Blvd., Rye, NH Regina Maris out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, where she learned the intricacies of living and working well with others to achieve mutual photographing her fellow crewmates, their life goals. Life at sea is not often the misty-eyed romance imagined by many on board and the ever-present surrounding sea. when the words “sailing ship” are uttered. Frequently those goals As a photographer, Alex remains loyal to Inside this Issue: resolved to a shear struggle for survival as when, far out in the North traditional means and techniques, making
Atlantic Ocean, one vessel she crewed on fought its way through “The exposures on roll film and developing and Small Island - Big Picture p. 1 printing in the darkroom with standard papers Guest Speaker, Alexandra de Steiguer Perfect Storm” of October of 1991 . Along the way Alex studied marine biology and oceanography, and chemistry. All of the imagery in her work Changes in the Sea p. 2 deepening her understanding of the natural world, as she crewed on is the result of the subtle effects of time- June 2014 Conference honored arcane mysteries involving metal salts,
sailing vessels, first as a student and deck hand and then as bosun. In Third Annual Winter Social p. 2 the type of sail training and research vessels in which she served, a bromides, sulfates and halides processed in Maryann Stacy bosun is the deckhand responsible for maintaining the ship’s rigging. acid baths, carefully “fixed,” rinsed and dried to produce the final print. All of this in the Shipwrecks p. 3 September Weekend Conf. service of her mind’s eye, bringing to the paper Laury Bussey her vision of the natural world. For much of the year, Alex lives on a A Community of Women p. 4 mountain, deep in the woods of New by Richard Stanley Hampshire in a small solar-powered timber- Old Rocking Chairs p. 6 frame home, but for the winter months from Call for Volunteers
November through March she is the sole ISHRA Membership p. 7 occupant at the Isles of Shoals, where she has been the winter-keeper on Star Island for the Summer Activities on the Shoals p. 7 A Shipwreck on Shore Wikifile image (edit) of a 19th Century Lithograph June Conference - Changes in the Sea (see page 2) past seventeen years.