Better Films

by Susan Zehnder, Education Director

The 19^th century saw photography inspire a brand-new medium: moving pictures. By the end of the century, most movies were 30 seconds or less, but they captivated audiences who flocked to see them. New York City was the industry’s production center, though there were few designated venues to show films. Most early movie venues or “houses” were hastily improvised. Often located in immigrant and working-class neighborhoods, movies were frequently shown in overcrowded rooms. There was legitimate concern about fire safety. They also became associated with illicit activities like gambling and prostitution. Social reformers pressured the city’s mayor, George McLellan, to do something.

Mayor McLellan was the son of the famous Civil War general and had first been elected at the age of 29. Near the end of his time in office, on Christmas Eve 1909, he suddenly revoked all film exhibition licenses throughout the city. The order temporarily shut down the movie business. His reasons were hazardous conditions (the celluloid film sometimes spontaneously ignited) and the degradation of community morals. It couldn’t have hurt that he had the backing of Broadway live theater owners concerned with the new competition.

Movie exhibitors fought back. Declaring their fight for freedom of speech, they formed the New York Board of Motion Picture Censorship. Ironically, they soon found the word ‘censorship’ to be too politically charged and changed their name to the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. The organization is still around today and continues to advocate for movies as a legitimate art form to be judged on the same aesthetics as theater and literature.

Closing early venues didn’t slow the movie business. By 1914, it was estimated that over sixteen million people in the nation went to the movies every day. Elmira venues, which started showing up around 1900, reported that six thousand people attended movies every day but Sunday.

Star-Gazette June 5, 1914

Movies started featuring speaking actors, a variety of sound effects, and multiple camera angles, adding to a heightened sense of realism. They were entertainment for anyone with a little extra money in their pocket, and a welcome escape during fraught times. However, concern for the medium’s immoral influence continued to grow. In 1915, the Supreme Court ruled that films didn’t fall under free speech protection. Immediately, chapters of moral advocacy groups popped up around the nation to protect their communities. Members of these organizations included political, civic and religious leaders who advocated for the protection of public morals, especially in youth aged 15-20.

To counter, the film industry came up with its own guidelines. In 1930 industry executives established the Motion Picture Production Code, commonly known as the Hays Code. Its strict moral guidelines were written by a Catholic priest.

Popular movies in the 1930s included Walt Disney’s first animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, at 88 minutes long, The Wizard of Oz, at 102 minutes, and Gone with the Wind, at a lengthy 222 minutes. However, communities continued to question the industry.

What, if anything, was going on in Elmira? In 1920 the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) formed a motion picture committee to “promote a sentiment toward securing and patronizing better films in Elmira.” One prominent member of this group was Mrs. Charles (Lina) Swift. Swift was a practical nurse, art teacher, fierce PTA advocate, and mother of four.

In November of that year, Swift spoke at a local PTA meeting, with over 200 parents in attendance. She told them about the “patriotic, historic and educational work” the DAR was doing. She wanted to share the DAR’s alignment with the national movement “to get rid of offensive, unwholesome pictures that are shown.” She wasn’t against movies, but wanted to see control of them, and wanted the PTA’s support.

Soon the DAR committee spun off to be an active independent community group first called the Motion Picture Community Council and later the Better Film Council. Swift was appointed president. She spoke at local and national meetings. In Elmira, monthly meetings were well attended and often featured their own entertainment. At one meeting in 1935, members performed a dramatization of American history from the early days at Plymouth Colony to the present time. Other meetings held private screenings and talks by local clergy and academics. The council also endorsed movies they thought were proper.

(endorsement in lower right)

Members of the committee traveled around the state speaking and encouraging other towns and cities to start their own film oversight committees. According to local newspapers, the council had the full support of Elmira area theater managers, who pledged to work with representatives of over 40 local organizations. No doubt theater managers didn’t want to lose any business.

Colonial Movie House, Elmira. c. 1930s

By end of the 1930s, the committee's work seems to have quieted down. No more activity from the Better Film Council appears in the local newspapers, and their movie endorsements ceased. Community attention must have turned to the rumblings of impending war.

In 1952, the Supreme Court ruled again. Movies were now protected by first amendment rights. Two years later, at 70 years of age, Mrs. Swift died. She is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.

 (Note that our next two Out to Lunch events, scheduled for noon on Dec 11 and January 8, will feature short videos from the Arts Council’s Community Documentation Workshop project)

Honk If You Love Bumper Stickers

By Rachel Dworkin, Archivist

 

It’s election season and political bumper stickers are out in force. They’re taking over my office too. We were recently donated 20+ bumper stickers for local, state, and federal elections from the 1960s through the 2000s. Kennedy for President! No, vote Bob Dole! Either way, there’s nothing quite like advertising your politics on your vehicle.

 

Bumper sticker from our recent donation

Americans have been using their vehicles to display signs and other advertisements for longer than those vehicles have been cars. Business would hang ads off the back of their wagons. When cars first came along, they didn’t even have bumpers! The first car to have bumpers was the 1927 Ford Model A. During the 1930s and 40s, car owners experimented with hanging wooden, metal, or cardboard signs with wires and twine off of their back bumpers, much as they had with wagons.

The bumper sticker as we know it today developed shortly after World War II thanks to the confluence of several new innovations. In 1935, Ray Stanton Avery invented the first pressure-sensitive self-adhesive labels, a.k.a., stickers. During the early 1940s, Bob and Joseph Switzer, owners of Day-Glo Color Corp. began working on daylight fluorescent pigments for use in signage and high-visibility safety gear. It all came together in 1946 when Forrest P. Gill, a screen printer in Kansas City, Missouri, combined Avery’s stickers with the Switzer brothers’ fluorescent paint to create the first bumper sticker, then called a bumper strip.

The first group to latch on to the new “bumper strips” was the tourism industry. Hotels and tourist sites would print bumper stickers with their logos and stick them to their guests’ cars. While a lot of car owners wouldn’t be cool with that today, it was a great way to make sure that folks all over the country knew their name. These early stickers were primarily printed on paper which tended to wear off pretty quickly. By the 1950s, most bumper sticker manufacturers were printing on vinyl, which was way more durable.

The first political bumper stickers were used by Dwight D. Eisenhower in his 1952 campaign against Adlai Stevenson. Cars throughout the country featuring his iconic “I Like Ike” helped drive him all the way to the White House. From then on, bumper stickers became a mainstay of American political campaigns. While today there are bumper stickers advertising everything from babies on board to religious affiliations, political advertising is the most prominent use of the medium. 

More of our new bumper stickers

 Growing up, my family never used political bumper stickers because my mother was a Federal employee and they are strongly discouraged against advertising their political affiliations. In 1964, authorities at the Elmira Reformatory barred the display of political bumper stickers in the prison parking lot. At the time, William Ciuros Jr., a Reformatory guard, was running for state senate on the Democratic ticket and many of his fellow guards supported him. The New York State Department of Corrections threatened to bring disciplinary action against any employee who parked a vehicle sporting a sticker for Ciuros or anyone else on State property. 

Car in Reformatory parking lot from Elmira Star-Gazette, July 10, 1964

 Whatever your political affiliation and however you choose to display it, your vote counts! Make sure you vote this election!  

Ghost Walk 2024

by Susan Zehnder, Education Director

Over 500 people joined us for our 18^th annual Ghost Walk in Woodlawn Cemetery. This event has a lot of moving parts, and once again, we’re grateful for the help and flexibility of everyone involved. In the years we’ve been doing this, we’ve covered more than 72 stories of people buried in the 166-year-old cemetery, and we would like to think we’ve helped to lift up some of the amazing lives from our community. For the curious, previous scripts are posted on our website under the Ghost Walk heading, and as a bonus, the staff will be reading this year’s scripts this Wednesday, October 30^th at noon, here at the museum. We encourage anyone interested to join us for this free event. Maybe you weren’t able to attend, want to hear the stories again, or have questions about the ghosts or process.

Here is a brief description of this year’s characters.

The Hungerford Brothers - Brothers Daniel (1886-1967) and Floyd (1888-1963) were fascinated by rockets and aircraft. They were early enthusiasts of all forms of aviation, and in 1909, they built their own airplane engine and worked as glider mechanics. To help make things a little easier for themselves, they invented a rocket powered soldering iron. As the field of aviation started to grow, they purchased their own aircraft. Inspired by what was happening overseas, they invented a rocket-powered automobile and called it the Shirley Lois Moon Girl after Daniel’s daughter. Unfortunately, they debuted the car in November 1929, just days after the stock market crash. It never caught people’s interest the way they had hoped. Actor Joe Edkin played the role of Daniel, and John Olcott was his brother Floyd.

Floyd and Daniel Hungerford

Leon “Windy” Smith (1889-1960) Smith was born in Pennsylvania and attended schools in the Elmira area. When he met Glenn Curtiss, his discovered his true passion was flying. After getting his pilot’s license, he trained pilots to fly in WWI. When the war ended, the demand for pilots and flight instructors diminished. He continued to fly, and took a job with the newly developed Air Corps. What happened next made history. Read more about Mr. Smith in this recent blog here. Actor Sam Claypool played Smith.

Leon "Windy" Smith

Alice T. Knapp ((1870-1917) Active in local politics, Knapp worked quietly behind the scenes to get things done. She took part in helping to set policies and organize campaigns that supported women’s suffrage, temperance, and prohibition. Local officials admired her so much that her name was proposed for the position of Elmira’s city police commissioner. They collected 800 signatures in her support, but the Common Council voted to delay their vote. One day later, Knapp fell ill and was rushed to Arnot-Ogden Hospital. She never recovered and died soon after. Actor Casey Winston played Knapp.

Alice T. Knapp

Sarah Wey Tompkins (1866-1929) Socialite Sarah Wey was married to wealthy businessman Ray Tompkins. Their lives revolved around being part of the community and donating generously to various causes. When she died, her obituary included a lot of information about the men in her life, rather than focusing on her accomplishments. Actors Cathy Wiggs and David Wigs played the socialite and newspaper seller.

Sarah Wey Tompkins and newspaper seller

All twenty-one tours over the three days went smoothly with the Hunter’s Moon rising to add the perfect atmospheric mood. We hope everyone who attended enjoyed themselves and we look forward to another collection of characters for next year.

  

Hallowe’en in 1924

by Erin Doane, Senior Curator

If you lived in Elmira 100 years ago, on October 31 you would not see children in costumes trick-or-treating. Going house-to-house collecting candy and other goodies on Halloween just wasn’t a thing yet. Archivist Rachel Dworkin wrote a great blogpost last year about the history of trick-or-treat. Click here to read it. 

You may still hear your doorbell on Hallowe’en night in 1924. When you go to answer it, however, no one’s there. Ha! You’ve become a victim of a classic prank. It was common for youngsters to sneak around on the night of Hallowe’en engaging in mischief that ranged from the innocent door knock-and-run to malicious acts of theft and vandalism. On October 29, 1924, the Star-Gazette ran an article from Washington D.C. describing the city’s regulations for a safe and sane Hallowe’en. Throwing bricks and using flour for confetti were strictly prohibited and people could not wear masks on the street. Horn tooting and standard confetti tossing was permitted, however, if gently done. Pictures of chorus girls should not under any circumstances be posted on church doors, nor undertakers’ signs on doctors’ doors.

Police and residents here were also worried that mischief may get out of hand on Hallowe’en. In Elmira Heights, special police did extra patrols October 27-31 to keep pranksters in check. Another potential solution was to provide kids with so many activities around the holiday that they didn’t have the energy or inclination to get into trouble. Both the Elmira Free Academy and Southside High School hosted parties. Grace Church, First Baptist Church, Westside M.E. Church, the King’s Daughters Class of Oakwood Avenue M.E. Church, the Christian Endeavor Society of the Baptist Church, the Young People’s Fellowship of Trinity Church, the Christian Endeavor Society of the Baptist Church in Horseheads, and the First Church of Christ, Disciples all entertained young people and their families at Hallowe’en parties, dances, and masquerades in 1924.  

The Neighborhood House hosted two Hallowe’en parties – one on October 30 for boys and one on October 31 for girls. Nearly 300 boys attended the festivities. In order to get into the party, they had to pass through a “Chamber of Horrors” filled with ghosts, goblins, electrified stair railings, and jangling chains and tin pans. The awesome sounds, sights, and sensations reportedly sent thrills down their spines. Once inside the gymnasium, they enjoyed games, various races including sack, crab, wheelbarrow, water pan, candle, and shoe races, and pie and doughnut eating contests. The best costumes won prizes and each boy got apples to take home.

The Neighborhood House, c. 1925

The Southside Athletic Association, the Westside Community Association, and the North Main Street Better Business Club also hosted large neighborhood Hallowe’en celebrations specifically to keep youngsters from getting up to mischief such as ringing all the doorbells in town or heaving ancient cabbages on clean front porches. All three parties were free and open to the public.

The Southside Athletic Association’s Hallowe’en carnival took place on October 30 at the playground at Miller and Keefe Streets. The entire playground was lit up with red flame lights. More than 3,000 people enjoyed games, refreshments, and a big bonfire. The highlight of the evening was the greased pig chase. When the slicked-up animal was released, pandemonium broke loose. The Star-Gazette reported the next day that the porker was finally caught by John R. Mack. But then two weeks later, it published an article claiming that Johnnie Sweeney had caught the greased pig but then had it stolen from him. An unnamed man told the boy he was a member of the organizing committee, took the animal from him, and then ran off with it. The Southside Athletic Club promised to buy little Johnnie another pig.

The Westside Community Association celebration took place on October 31 at the playground on Hoffman Street. Festivities began with a parade of about 200 costumed children with prizes awarded from most comical costumes. The 1,000 attendees snacked on popcorn and apples, played games, enjoyed musical entertainment, and danced around a large bonfire.

Star-Gazette, October 22, 1924

The North Main Street Better Business Club hosted a large, well-advertised Mardi Gras Hallowe’en carnival on October 31 as well. North Main Street was closed from West Clinton to West Fourth Streets for the event. The party began with a parade of men, women, and children dressed up as ghosts, clowns, gnomes, elves, bandits, angels, male and female impersonators, and other characters. Local businesses and residents donated hundreds of dollars’ worth of prizes for those in the best costumes including toys, musical instruments, silk hose, flowers, candy, perfume, various hats, sacks of flour, a large ham, and cold, hard cash. After the parade, several thousand people enjoyed music played by the Elmira College orchestra and the Italian band, and entertainment from a troupe of performing donkeys. There were also refreshments and a large bonfire. 

Star-Gazette, November 1, 1924

The morning after Hallowe’en, the results were in: remarkably few instances of depredation or property damage were reported compared to previous years. The strategy of hosting a ton of parties to keep kids out of mischief was a success! Some of the tricks that were still pulled during the night included youngsters ringing the old ball at School No. 5, signs for “ice cream,” “boy wanted,” and “for rent” appearing on people’s homes, and windshields and windows being painted with soap. Police Chief Weaver admitted that harmless pranks were winked at by the police but his officers did go after more egregious offenders. A group of youths on Grove Street “jacked” up an automobile to see what would happen and were taken to police headquarters. They were given a warning and sent home. Another group used a ladder to let down four electric lamps suspended near Woodlawn Cemetery. The crime wasn’t discovered until a car got caught in the wires. No one was hurt but the perpetrators were still at large. There was also a large willow wicker chair awaiting its owner at police headquarters, the result of a not-particularly-clever Hallowe’en prank.

Have a Safe and Happy Hallowe’en!

 

Grand Pictures

 by Susan Zehnder, Education Director 

If you’ve had a chance to wander through our exhibit “Grand, Domestic and Truly Comfy,” you’ve seen recreations of some of the rooms from the Langdon Mansion, once a landmark of the Elmira area. Located near the intersection of West Church and North Main streets in downtown Elmira, the property was first owned by Anson C. Ely. In 1862, Jervis Langdon purchased the home from Ely’s widow along with a neighboring lot. Four years later, he had the house remodeled and enlarged to meet his needs. Every interior surface was covered, with much of the work done by Pottier and Stymus, a top interior decorating firm and leading cabinet-maker out of New York City. As was the style for wealthy patrons in that era, the home was highly ornate. It truly was grand both inside and out.

View of the Langdon Mansion

Putting the exhibit together required our guest curator, Walter G. Ritchie, Jr., to do months of research. A critical part of his work relied on photographs taken in the mid-1870s. By this time Jervis Langdon had died, but his wife engaged the decorating firm once again to update additional rooms. And Van Aken was hired to document them. Many of the photographs Ritchie used have been enlarged and are mounted on the wall behind each of our room settings. As if frozen in time, they give us a glimpse of what each room looked like. If you look closely, you can find furniture and objects from the pictures on display in the settings. The photographs are one-half of a pair of stereographic images. The curved border at the top is a distinctive framing of many photographs done in this style. 

Stereographic images rely on viewers seeing two nearly identical images at the same time and our brains combining the two to “see” depth. This illusion, also known as binocular vision, can give viewers a life-like experience, as if they are standing in the same space where the picture was taken. In 1838, English inventor and physicist Charles Wheatstone had devised a system to create intricate drawings which viewers used to perceive depth. Imagine how relieved he must have been when advances in photography made depth perception much easier.

Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875) photo by Granger

Beginning in the 1840s, stereoscopic images became a popular form of photography, and by the 1850s, they were a staple in many American parlors. We have a blog about them here. At the time, instead of scrolling through social media for hours, people entertained themselves with stereoscopic images of faraway places.

The photographs of the Langdon family home that our guest curator researched were taken by Elisha M. Van Aken, who ran a photographic studio in town. Van Aken was born in Rensselaerville, New York, in 1828, and took up photography in his early twenties, when the art form was new. He moved to Lowville, New York, where he set up a portrait studio over the village Post Office. In 1856, he was advertising his ambrotyping, daguerreotyping and photographing services. In 1873, now with a family and well-established career, he moved to Elmira.

Van Aken’s studio was first located at 134 West Water Street and later at 120 West Water Street. The 1870s were the height of stereoscopic imagery’s popularity, and his work in this and in studio portraiture was prolific. His photographs documented everyday life in Elmira of the late 19th and early 20th century, featuring street scenes, businesses, people, homes, and pets. 

In addition to his studio work, Van Aken was often seen hiking about the outskirts of town, lugging his equipment.

Elisha M. Van Aken and his camera

He photographed nature, people, events, and buildings, both inside and out. His son Charles joined him in the studio, learning the business, and became quite the photographer too. In the spring of 1904, the elder Van Aken fractured his hip and died a short time later at the age of 76. A notice about his death in the April 30, 1904 edition of the Star-Gazette declared “Mr. Van Aken did much for lazy people. He found the hundreds of scenes worth depicting around the outskirts of the city and his busy camera reduced them to paper so that they might be enjoyed by those disinclined to go and see for themselves.” 

Today Van Aken photographs can be found in national collections including those of the Smithsonian Institution, the George Eastman Museum, and The Getty Museum. We are fortunate to have many Van Aken glass plate negatives and prints too, including those hanging on the walls of our current exhibit.

Grand, Domestic and Truly Comfy: The Langdon Mansion in Elmira will be on display until May, 2025

A Friendly Family

By Rachel Dworkin, Archivist

 

It’s fascinating the influence a single family can have on a town, or even a nation. In the 1850s, four brothers immigrated to America from Bavaria, Germany. They were the sons of Josef M. Freundlich, a Jewish dairy farmer turned livestock dealer. Following a series of failed pro-democratic uprisings across the German states, there was an antiemetic wave which spurred many Jews to flee to the United States throughout the 1850s. The brothers Henry, Theodore, Samson, and Myer were part of this group.

The brothers initially settled in Cuba, New York, where they worked as peddlers. I was unable to find which brother arrived first, Henry or Theodore, but whichever did changed the family name to Friendly, the English translation of their original German surname. The younger brothers, Samson and Myer, came next around 1865 but found Cuba wasn’t to their liking. The boys headed further west to Lawrence, Kansas, which they used as a base of operations while they traded with the Native Americans out on the Great Plains. They soon amassed a small fortune trading in buffalo skins. Around 1875, they headed back east to settle in Elmira.

Theodore Friendly (1839-1933) came to Elmira in 1875 to establish Friendly Brothers dealership in wagons, carriages and agricultural implements with his brothers Samson and Myer. The business fell apart in the mid-1880s as each brother went his own way. Theodore opened a wagon store at 255-257 W. Water Street. He retired and moved to Los Angeles, California in 1908. His children were Abraham Friendly and Caroline Friendly Fybush. He had been a long-time member of Temple B’Nai Israel and he left them $500 in his will to establish a fund for building improvements and maintenance. 

Theodore Friendly

 Samson J. Friendly (1843-1919) left Friendly Brothers to establish a boot and shoe company. He brought his nephews, Myer and Solomon, into the business which they kept running after his eventual retirement. After retiring, he became a silent investor in a number of area industries and bought property here, as well as in Syracuse, Buffalo, and California.  He was an active member in Elmira’s Jewish community serving as president of Congregation B’Nai Israel from 1900 to 1908 as well as on the board of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association. He donated generously to both in his will, as well as the Arnot-Ogden Hospital, where he donated $5,000 to establish a fund for the care of indigent patients. The on-going renovation of his former home at 456 W. Water Street is currently the subject of a popular Instagram page.  

Samson Friendly

 

Myer Friendly (1848-1937) opened a wholesale/retail business in wagons, carriages, and farm implements on State Street after the breakup of Friendly Brothers. He and his wife Sarah built a stately home at 510 W. Church Street which eventually served as the first group home run by Glove House. He and Sarah had three children: Helen, Edwin, and Joseph, none of whom remained in the area. Edwin went on to become the long-time general manager of the New York Sun newspaper.  

 

Myer Friendly

Henry Friendly (1835-1910) was the eldest brother, but the last to settle in Elmira. Despite only being here a short time, he managed to have a pretty significant influence.  He came in 1891 at the urging of his sons, Myer and Solomon, who ran a shoe business with their uncle Samson. Henry served as the Elmira Park Commissioner under two consecutive administrations in the 1890s and early 1900s. At one point, he came under fire for the way he had ordered the willow trees trimmed at Eldridge Park. Apparently, he’d ordered the trees to be pollarded, a rather radical pruning that removes most branches in order to spur new, dense growth. Henry had to bring in a forestry expert from Cornell University to publically justify his decision. Three years later in 1909, the newspaper printed an apology agreeing that he made the right call and the trees looked better now. Henry joined Congregation B’Nai Israel where he served as president 1894 to 1897. He was a thrifty man and the fact that each of the city’s three synagogues had mortgages troubled him. So, he offered to pay off all the mortgages, providing each of the congregations agreed not to take up any new ones during his lifetime and five years after.

Henry Friendly

 Henry’s sons Myer H. Friendly (1862-1938) and Solomon H. Friendly (1865-1943) ran that shoe store I mentioned. After retiring in 1916, they both became real estate agents. Myer’s wife Leah was the founder of the local chapter of National Council of Jewish Women, which helped recent immigrants navigate the naturalization process and provided scholarships to Jewish youth. Stay tuned for the next paragraph about her and Myer’s son, Henry.  Solomon and his wife, Bertha, were unable to have biological children and instead adopted Bertha’s niece, Elsa, who became the modern languages teacher at Southside High School.

Henry J. Friendly (1903-1986), Myer and Leah’s son, is widely regarded as one of the most influential Federal judges of the 20^th century. He was the valedictorian of the EFA Class of 1919 and editor of the school newspaper, despite being two years younger than his peers. He attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School, where he served as editor of the Harvard Law Review. After graduation, he practiced law in New York City until he was named to the Federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals in 1959 where he served until his death in 1986. His name was once floated as an option for the Supreme Court, but it never panned out.

Although there are no longer any members of the Friendly family residing in Elmira, their influence still lingers on both locally, and across the nation.

New Project with the Smithsonian

 by Susan Zehnder, Education Director

There is no life that is not geographic.

-Ruth Wilson Gilmore

I heard this statement back in July at a workshop for the first group of educators involved in a new Smithsonian program. Another way to put it is who we are is shaped by where we come from, and that is what participating students in Chemung County will be exploring this fall in the Smithsonian’s Democracy in Dialogue, Virtual Exchange program. They will connect with other students from across the nation to talk about how our local history shapes us.

The Smithsonian designed the program to be part of the national celebrations around the 250^th founding of our country, coming up in 2026. They intend for educators to foster conversations and connections among young people, 13 to 18 years old, from different parts of the nation, to build a deeper understanding of what makes us the same and what makes us different. The first group of facilitators in the program consists of 20 educators, all classroom teachers except myself as education director of the museum, and a librarian in Idaho. Eventually there will be 80 facilitators across the nation.

Students here in Chemung County have been paired with students from a school in Laramie, Wyoming over 1,700 miles away. 

The student conversations will take place virtually. Over the fall semester, they’ll also be sending things to each other through the mail as they get to know each other. My co-facilitator in Laramie and I have chosen the theme of The Ordinary Becomes Extraordinary as a way for students to think about local history they want to share.  We’re having them start by introducing themselves through a chosen object, one that means something to them, and then sharing with the group.

To introduce myself, 

I’ve chosen a treasured button box that I inherited from my grandmother. It is a 6-inch -tall, highly decorated metal box with a thin metal handle and attached lid. Long ago, in the 1920s, it held cookies and part of the Lorna Doone shortbread label is still visible. 

When shaken, it makes a rattling sound because, as long as I’ve known it, it’s held buttons. So many buttons, that the box is full. The buttons are extras or cast offs from clothes my mother and grandmother made, or ones that I purchased while making my own kids’ clothes or Halloween costumes. The buttons remind me of my mother and grandmother. They remind me of clothes that were made for me, or clothing I’ve sewn.  They remind me of people I love and the joy of creating something special for someone who loved me.

My artifact tells a story of women creating. Our students will be exploring artifacts in our collection, and  will have virtual access to collections in the Smithsonian. They’ll be selecting an ordinary object, like my cookie tin, or a person, place, thing, or an event that has had an impact on others. They'll share that story by creating a 3-to-5-minute movie that the Smithsonian has the option to post on their site, and that we will post on our social media.

As an example, consider the story of John W. Jones, a compassionate and hard-working man who overcame many hardships in his life, and what he did as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, stewarding people to freedom, and what he did as he carefully buried the soldiers that died at the Civil War Prison Camp, helped shape Elmira’s identity. He wasn’t from Elmira, but is buried here and his story is woven through Elmira’s history.

We are excited to see how local history and geography inform what the students choose to share with each other and what they create to add to the American story. Already, some of the students were interviewed on local television. 

At the project's conclusion, we will be sharing their work on our social media. The Smithsonian has the option of sharing their work too!

The project has begun, but there is still room in the program for interested students. Please help spread the word about this amazing opportunity taking place this fall. Students can expect to spend about an hour a week and must be between 13 and 18 years old. 

Questions? Please reach out to me at the museum during business hours #607-734-4167 or write me at Educator@ChemungValleyMuseum.org 

 

Students being interviewed by WetmTV 18 reporter Nicolas Dubina