BOARD OF TRUSTEES April 2019 to April 2020 President Trustees Emeritus Colleen G. Kurlansky Matthew J. Kfoury Kathleen Mirabile Vice President Toni H. Pappas Therese Gesel-Towne Judith K. Pence Treasurer Ryan E. Gough Secretary Patricia S. Meyers Front Cover: Aerial view of the 2019 Annual Report Immediate Past President Amoskeag Millyard looking north, c. Edward W. Brouder, Jr. 1968. Photograph by James K.W. Atherton Trustees (MHA Collection) Deborah Blondin Mark F. Burns STAFF 2019-2020 Back Cover: View of Manchester, Eleanor Dahar NH and the Merrimack River Richard P. Duckoff John Clayton, Executive Director looking east, c. 1968. Laura Gamache Jeffrey R. Barraclough, Director of Operations Photograph by James K.W. Atherton Joshua Hamel Kristy Ellsworth, Museum Educator (MHA Collection) Daniel Leach Daniel T. Peters, Research & Facilities Manager Richard Molan Jeffrey J. Myrdek Part-time staff Selma Naccach-Hoff Joshua Giguere, Visitors Services Associate (through 9/2019) Stanley Spirou Timothy Lussier, Visitors Services Associate Please note: Unless otherwise noted, this Annual Shannon K. Sullivan Paula Naczas, Visitors Services Associate Report includes financial data and lists covering Fiscal Susan Walsh Gail York Year 2019 (October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019). The Audited Financial Statements and Form 990 IRS tax filings for Fiscal Year 2019 are available for review per request. Please call (603) 622-7531 to make arrangements. FROM THE PRESIDENT What a year 2019 has been for the Manchester Historic Association! My first term as President has been a whirl wind of activity on many fronts. We presented two major exhibits, Hats Off to Manchester and Manchester and the Path to the Presidency which brought worldwide attention to the Millyard Museum. And, we broke our record in attendance and income at our 27th Historic Preservation Awards. As a result of focused efforts on the grant front, we received several grants which have allowed us to accomplish much needed work and necessary repairs with the Millyard Museum, Research Center and off-site storage including: ➢ Moving our off-site collections from 150 Dow Street to new storage - a significant effort and costly. Thanks to a grant from the Cogswell Benevolent Trust all costs were covered. ➢ The restoration and repair of windows at our Amherst Street Research Center (will be completed shortly) thanks to a grant from the Hunt Foundation which also funded new lighting and enhanced signage at both the Millyard Museum and Research Center. ➢ The Manchester Rotary, Queen City Rotary, and Amoskeag Industries once again provided generous grants so we can continue to provide Museum tours and programs to all of Manchester fourth-graders. The events at the Museum continue to be very popular – this year alone, we hosted American Girl Doll Tea Parties (which sell out), book signings, walking tours, beer tastings, and off site events like Civil War Day at Victory Park and foliage viewing at Weston Observatory. The Museum continues to be a popular rental space for private parties, business meetings/retreats and all types of community meetings. I’d like to express my heartfelt thanks to my fellow Trustees for their tireless dedication and support. We are saying good-bye to two members whose terms are at an end – Richard Duckoff and Jeffrey Myrdek. Their contributions have been invaluable and I’m happy to say they will continue to be involved at the committee level. I also want to thank our superb fulltime staff who do so much with so little – John Clayton, Jeff Barraclough, Kristy Ellsworth and Dan Peters. They continue to amaze me with the magic they perform daily and I am grateful for the opportunity to work with them. And, a big thank you to the volunteers, members, partners and supporters of the Manchester Historic Association for without you, the excitement wouldn’t happen. History is being made every day and as we begin our 124th year, we continue on with our mission of collecting, preserving and sharing the history of Manchester. Colleen G. Kurlansky, President, Board of Trustees FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Most of us operate on two different calendars. There’s the formal one that begins on January 1, but let’s be honest. Most of us have come to accept the world’s version of a sociological calendar. It starts in September when the kids go back to school. For an institution that has been named “Best Educational Activity for Kids in New Hampshire,” that is an important time of the year. It’s when we begin to employ the resources so generously provided to us by grantors such as Amoskeag Industries, the Queen City Rotary Club and the Manchester Rotary Club, whose combined gifts of $17,000 were specifically earmarked to fund field trips for fourth grade students in Manchester’s schools. In spite of my advanced years, I can still recall the details of my own fourth grade field trip to the Manchester Historic Association, and it is my hope that our much-praised, interactive approach to history is nurturing the spark of imagination in the next generation of MHA supporters. To be sure, our level of engagement is not limited to fourth graders. When the eyes of the nation turned to New Hampshire for our quadrennial First in the Nation Presidential Primary, we met that gaze with our extraordinary exhibit, “Manchester and the Path to the Presidency.” The scale and scope of the exhibit was recognized locally, nationally and internationally, winning acclaim in media outlets ranging from the Washington Post to C-SPAN, from NPR to the BBC. That kind of acclaim, while flattering, is also fleeting. All the more reason, then, that our focus is on the local. How local? How about an actor-driven, sunset walking tour of Pine Grove Cemetery which, thanks to a collaborative effort with our friends at the Majestic Theater, dozens of MHA members were delighted to hear first-person narration from figures from Manchester’s past such as Frank Carpenter, Betty George and Nehemiah Bean. That innovative approach to a tried-and-true formula may explain why we were recently named “Best History Museum in New England” by Luxe Life Magazine – a high honor indeed – but I am just as thrilled to read the heartfelt, hand-written comments left by visitors in the guest book we maintain at the Millyard Museum. Next time you’re in the museum, be sure to leave us a note! John Clayton, Executive Director 2019 PROGRAMS, EVENTS, AND TOURS School Programs In 2019, the Manchester Historic Association had a stand-out year for its education program. Bringing in Manchester schools has been an ongoing challenge for the organization for years. This year, the MHA received grants from local organizations, including the Manchester Rotary, Queen City Rotary, and Amoskeag Industries, to pay for the buses and admission for Manchester 4th grade classes to attend programs at the Millyard Museum. The Millyard Museum welcomed almost 1,300 students from towns all over New Hampshire including Manchester, Concord, Bow, Nashua and Hollis. The Millyard Museum welcomed German high schoolers studying abroad with a guided tour of the museum. Public Programs & Events Presentation: Stories of the Millyard Ralph Sidore shared the rise of Pandora Industries, his family's business which settled in Manchester in 1940. Ralph's mother, May (Blum) Sidore Gruber was the CEO of Pandora and was Students from Hallsville Elementary School once dubbed "the Mother of Modern Manchester." (January 22) in Manchester participate in an educational program at the Millyard Museum, funded Lecture and Movie: From Russia with Math through a grant from the Manchester Rotary. Guests enjoyed the presentation given by Ulena Ulanovsky of how two immigrants launched a revolution in American math education. (January 26) Lecture: The Amoskeag Ledge Guests learned about the Ledge...remembered the Brownies...and discovered a powerful 20th century socialite in this illustrated talk by local historian and MHA President Ed Brouder. (February 9) Book Signing and Author Talk: Spanning Time: Covered Bridges Spanning Time: New Hampshire's Covered Bridges & The Old Man of the Mountain introduces the first complete photographic collection of New Hampshire covered bridges (1983-2017). The book also includes a history of The Old Man of the Mountain and some of the last photographs from the year before he fell in 2003. The covered bridge is an intrinsic part of our New England heritage. This unique "silver-print" photographic collection by Irene E. DuPont allows each individual structure to be admired in its natural setting. (March 2) Northwest Elementary Kindergarteners City Project Northwest Elementary kindergartners began a Project Based Learning project where students replicated and improved upon buildings in Manchester as part of their community unit in the winter/spring. The students displayed their recycled artwork and visited the museum to see their projects in a real museum setting. The project was viewed by teachers, parents, administrators from the SAU and many other guests over the weekend. (March 8) 2019 Annual Meeting This year's Annual Meeting began with the business meeting of the Manchester Historic Association and was followed by a short talk by Kelly Kilcrease and Yvette Lazdowski, entitled "The Shoe Industry in Manchester". Kilcrease and Lazdowski are professors at UNH Manchester and wrote a book on Manchester's shoe industry. (April 16) Author Talk and Book Signing: Cruising New Hampshire This book by Michael Bruno explores the 255 New Hampshire historical markers that dot the state highways and roads. Each marker is described with its location, date installed, marker inscription, and expanded historical references of this event/individual. (April 6) Free Comic Book Day and Lecture: Bob Montana The Millyard Museum celebrated "Free Comic Book Day" with a tribute to Central High School graduate Bob Montana, the creator of Local historian Matt Labbe gives a tour of the historic Tea Party guests take their American Girl the world-renowned "Archie" comic strip.