Dear Friends,
The recent rains have been devastating for local farmers. The CSA Stone Soup and the Somali Bantu Farmers who grow crops on Porter-Phelps-Huntington fields have seen all they planted— so close to being ready for harvest— drowned and contaminated by flood waters from the Connecticut River. If you can, please help these farmers recover from these terrible losses.
Stone Soup Gofundme
Somali Bantu Farmers Gofundme
Thank you!
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The Wednesday Folk Traditions concert series continues into the first week of August. Join us this Wednesday for Tony Vacca & World Rhythms (rhythm, jazz, world music, spoken word) on July 19th, The Afro-Semitic Experience (jazz, spiritual, funk) on July 26th, and Evelyn Harris with Giving Voice (gospel, spiritual, rock 'n' roll, jazz) on August 2nd, and Viva Quetzal on Sunday, October 8.
Tickets are available at the door, $12 for adults, $2 for children 16 and under, and free for Card to Culture participants. Cash only please. Picnickers are welcome on the museum’s grounds starting at 5:00 pm. We are a smoke-free, carry in/carry out site.
Wednesday Folk Traditions is funded, in part, by grants from: the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, through its Festivals and Programs Grants; the Amherst and Hadley Cultural Councils, local agencies funded by Massachusetts Cultural Council; Robinson and Cole; Easthampton Savings Bank; Gage-Wiley and Company, and with generous support from many local businesses.
Up next! “Historic Places & Open Spaces” a Book talk and signing with Alain Munkittrick on July 30th, 2023 at 2:00 pm.
Save the date! On August 6th we will host a talk and walking tour with Brian Whetstone to celebrate Hadley's newest listing on the National Register of Historic Places historic district: "Forty Acres and Its Skirts". On September 28th, we will offer a program of Reading Frederick Douglass, and Stopping Stones with Ancestral Bridges.
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We are building a new gardening group at PPH! The historic north garden was first planted during the late 18th century. It is beautiful, in bloom and overgrown! We hope you will join us on Saturday (and Sunday?) afternoons as we begin the restoration of this gorgeous plot. You can learn more about the garden and it's original steward, Scotsman and Revolutionary War captive, John Morrison, here. Suggestions or questions about what to expect? Email pphmuseumassistant@gmail.com!
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Over the past few weeks, the PPH staff has visited the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, MA, the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Hartford, CT, and Historic Northampton. We've initiated a conversation with other local museum staff about "how we do history". These visits have been a wonderful way to share knowledge and make connections!
Top left: In the archives at Historic Northampton, Bottom right: Saying goodbye to the staff at The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center.
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The University of Massachusetts Amherst's Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) is a magical place. We recently visited with board member and SCUA Director Aaron Rubinstein while we explored the PPH family's papers. This collection continues to grow as new records are donated. Highlights from the visit included a memorandum book of Elizabeth Porter Phelps, the scrapbooks of museum founder James Lincoln Huntington, and the newly acquired shipping receipts belonging to Charles Porter Phelps from the turn of the 19th-century.
Left: Exploring James L Huntington's scrapbook at SCUA Right: Elizabeth Porter Phelps's memorandum book
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The Porter Phelps Huntington Museum is open for tours June through October, from 1:00pm-4:00pm, or by appointment. Admission is $5 for adults, $2 under 16, and free for participants in the Card to Culture program. Picnickers are welcome, the site is smoke-free and carry in/carry out.
Visitors can walk a portion of the original 1752 farm land on a trail system that includes 350 acres of preserved land. Built by Conservation Works, the trails were created with a grant to the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission from the Mass Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation in cooperation with the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum, Kestrel Land Trust, the Trustees of Reservations, the Mass Department of Conservation & Recreation, and Private Landowners.
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