Gallery talk at Drake House Sunday

Gallery talk at Drake House will highlight contributions of Tracy family,
whose son Evarts designed the 1903 Muhlenberg buildings.

The Historical Society of Plainfield will host a gallery talk Sunday afternoon, featuring highlights of the contributions of the Tracy family to Plainfield's history and achievements. The talk will cast more light on some of the materials in the current exhibit on Muhlenberg Hospital and the campaign to have the 1903 Muhlenberg buildings included in Preservation New Jersey's 2011 'Most Endangered' list.

Board member Nancy Piwowar will deliver the talk, which will include information about the family, which had New England Puritan roots.

A son, Evarts Tracy, became an architect and designed the 1903 buildings on Randolph Road that were part of the 'new' Muhlenberg campus, as well as the old Plainfield police station at the foot of Cleveland Avenue and East Fourth Street (now being used as a day care center).

Martha Tracy, MD, ca. 1921
from 'Certain Samaritans'.

A daughter, Martha, was a pioneering female physician, medical school administrator and tenacious advocate for women's medical education (see more here).

Historical Society president Eloise Tinley notes that 2011 marks the 90th anniversary of the society's rescue of the Nathan Drake farmstead from demolition. After purchasing the property, it was deeded to the City of Plainfield to provide a museum for its citizens, with the Society as the operating agency.

The society is requesting a $5 donation for the gallery talk.

Evarts Tracy's buildings, outlined in red,
have been obscured by later additions.

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GALLERY TALK:

The Tracy Family, Forgotten Plainfield Historical Figures

Presented by Nancy Piwowar

Sunday
June 12
3:00 PM

The Drake House is at the foot of Plainfield Avenue at West Front Street
Parking in the museum's lot and on the street

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Guest Post: Historic Muhlenberg Operating Pavilion

The 1903 Operating Pavilion is at right in this postcard view.
(Postcard in the collection of Nancy Piwowar.)

Plainfield native and historic preservation champion Nancy Piwowar authored an article in the Fall 2010 issue of The Communiqué, the newsletter of the Historical Society of Plainfield on a little known architectural gem on the Muhlenberg Hospital campus, which is reprinted below. Some links to further information can be found at the end of this post.

Another postcard view. Today, you will see a newer building on the left, built in front of the one pictured here
-- see satellite view below. (Postcard in the collection of Nancy Piwowar.)

The Muhlenberg Operating Pavilion: Plainfield's Forgotten Gem

by Nancy A. Piwowar

Hidden behind a stockade fence, set far off Randolph Road on the Muhlenberg property, sits a red brick building with a large, arched window and a scrolled keystone. The 1903 Muhlenberg Operating Pavilion is Plainfield's forgotten gem.

A 1900 notice in the local newspaper, Plainfield Courier-News, announced the possibility of a new hospital building, and the response by the local residents was immediate.  Public subscriptions for the building project were received.  When the decision was made by the Muhlenberg Board of Governors to build a "new" Muhlenberg Hospital at a new site, many distinguished men offered land.  James E. Martine offered a lot on Thornton Avenue.  Former mayor of North Plainfield, John F. Wilson, offered a lot in North Plainfield, which could not be accepted because it was in a different county.  Finally the Muhlenberg Board of Governors took an option on farm land on Park Avenue and Randolph Road at the edge of the city.

In April 1901, it was reported that J. Howard Wright gave the largest and most generous donation of $10,000 for an operating pavilion for the new Muhlenberg in memory of his two grandsons.  Howard Wright Corlies died of pneumonia at the age of 23 in 1899.  Parker Wright Mason died of typhoid fever at the age of 19 in 1900.  J. Howard Wright was a wealthy Standard Oil businessman from New York City, and his two daughters and families resided in Plainfield for many years.

The Muhlenberg Operating Pavilion also contained a sterilizing room, an etherizing room, a room for the X-ray instrument and a recovery room, which were all considered essential for a modern hospital.

The Muhlenberg Operating Pavilion was designed by Tracy and Swartwout, a New York architectural firm.  Evarts Tracy, one of the architects, grew up in Plainfield on West Eighth Street in the Van Wyck Brooks Historic District. He later resided with his wife on Hillside Avenue, in the Hillside Avenue Historic District within sight of the new Muhlenberg and the Muhlenberg Operating Pavilion.

The 1903 Tracy and Swartwout Muhlenberg complex of buildings were not built squarely to face either Park Avenue or Randolph Road, but were "built squarely with the points of the compass."  The purpose of this was "to have the operating room face North, so that it would have the full benefit of the North light." (Plainfield Courier-News, July 19, 1902, page one.)

The 1903 Muhlenberg Operating Pavilion retains many of its original exterior elements, including inscription; scrolled keystone; and the large, arched, north-facing window.  The only evident change is the removal of the roof line skylight. This architectural gem is passed by daily on the way to the satellite emergency department without a second glance because it is now behind a stockade fence, which obscures the wall inscription.  According to newspaper articles, behind the cornerstone of operating pavilion is a copper box that contains various items including local and New York newspapers, Muhlenberg Hospital annual reports,  photographs of J. Howard Wright's grandsons, photographs of doctors, nurses, employees, and of the old hospital buildings, and names of the contractors.

The Muhlenberg Operating Pavilion serves as a grand monument to Mr. Wright's Plainfield family.  It is one of the only known surviving separate, stand alone operating room buildings extant in New Jersey and most likely in the United States.  The Muhlenberg Operating Pavilion merits preservation for its architectural and historic significance and as a a monument to the Wright family, Muhlenberg heritage and medical culture, and Muhlenberg's doctors, nurses and staff.

The 1903 Operating Pavilion and companion building are outlined in red.
(Google maps, December 2010.)

Plainfield photographer Paul Collier documented surgical staff
of the Muhlenberg Hospital in this undated photograph (ca. 1920s).
(From the collection of William Garrett.)

The Drake House, Plainfield's historic house museum, is owned by the City and managed by the Historical Society on the City's behalf.

The work of the Society is supported by membership dues and volunteers who staff the museum and organize its exhibits and programs. The Drake House is at 602 West Front Street (at the foot of Plainfield Avenue) and is open Sundays from 2:00 to 4:00 PM and at other times by appointment. Contact: (908) 755-5831 or email thedrakehousemuseum@verizon.net.

The Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony is tomorrow (Friday, December  10) at 7:30 PM, to which the community is warmly invited.

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15th Annual Drake House Tree Lighting
Caroling, a surprise visit by Santa with a gift for every child, and refreshments.
A special Gingerbread House which will be awarded to a lucky family.
Three theme-decorated trees in the period rooms as well as in the Ballroom.

The Drake House
602 West Front Street
(at the foot of Plainfield Avenue)
Info: (908) 755-5831
or visit  www.drakehousemuseum.org/.

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• Website:  "Drake House Museum"
• Wikipedia: "Tracy and Swartwout" -- Well-known commissions include NYC's Yale Club (here), the Missouri State Capitol (here) and the Cathedral of St. John-in-the-Wilderness, Denver (here)
• Thumbnail Bio: "Egerton Swartwout"
  
• Obituary: "Col. Evarts Tracy" -- Tracy was a Plainfield resident.

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Drake House grazed by falling tree

Split oak grazed Drake House.

The Nathaniel Drake House, Plainfield's museum that is operated by the Historical Society of Plainfield, was grazed by limbs from a huge oak that split and fell in its front yard Wednesday afternoon.

Alerted by Historical Society board member Liz D'Aversa, I was able to snap some pictures at the site around 3:30 PM.

A large old oak tree along the street edge of the property split nearly in half on the crotch between its major limbs, with the huge limb that fell swiping the front of the building ever so slightly.

The large old oak split nearly in half.

A view of the split from the parking lot.

The only apparent damage was a slate and board that appear to have been knocked from one of the dormer windows, and a bent gutter that had been struck.

Miraculously, the newly rebuilt porch and ramp, including its new railing, appeared unscathed.

The huge branch just missed the rebuilt porch and its ramp.

On the bright side, if the tree has to be completely removed, it will greatly enhance the visibility of the Drake House from the street.

That would be a good thing for one of Plainfield's cultural gems.

Now if they could just get that $55,000 in grant-matching funds from the Robinson-Briggs administration.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Drake House steps up to accessibility issue

The old stoop is being replaced with a spacious porch
and accessibility ramp.

As we all know, in Plainfield nothing is ever as simple as it seems. Take the capital improvements at the Drake House, the city-owned historic house and museum.

Stopping by to snap some pix of the lilacs blooming in the dooryard, I got a chance for a closeup peek at the new porch and ADA-compliant accessibility ramp being installed along the front of the house.

Visitors will no longer have to queue up on a tiny, postage-stamp sized stoop to get in the front door when popular exhibits open. Nor will those with special accessibility needs have to figure out how they're going to get in the museum -- the gently sloping ramp will address that issue (however, there will still be those daunting stairs to the second-floor gallery).

The porch renovations are part of a long-term capital improvements program, the gathering of funds for which began under during Jean Mattson's term as president of the Historical Society. Prior work done included updates to the heating system and installation of unobtrusive air conditioning as well as electrical upgrades.

Here is a good view of the ADA-compliant ramp.

Chatting up a board member at a party the other evening, I learned that the Historical Society, which manages and operates the Drake House Museum under a lease from the city, is looking for monies to match the $52,000 'Preserve Union County' grant received from the Freeholders as part of Union County's Open Space Trust Fund.

That match was a condition of the original grant made last fall, but no one is quite sure how the Historical Society got the grant without the match being in place, as is usually required by grantors.

April's agenda-setting session of the City Council had an item for a presentation/discussion on the Drake House, but no one from the Historical Society appeared, so there was no discussion.

From a query to a Council member, I learned that there are discussions ongoing about whether and how to fund the matching amount, but they are not yet resolved.

At the same time, I learned that the city's long-term lease with the Historical Society to operate the Drake House has expired, and will be the subject of a review -- with an eye to possible revisions to update it -- over the coming months.

All this because I stopped by on a sunny afternoon to take a snapshot.

That's life in Plainfield.

A snapshot of the lilacs that started it all.
(That is not a helicopter, it is a bee -- as caught by my cellphone camera.)

A bright red sign alerts passersby to
Plainfield's Drake House Museum.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Quilt exhibit and talk at Plainfield's Drake House today

Detail from the 1777 'Tree of Life' quilt.

Plainfield's Drake House Museum opens a month-long exhibit from its quilt collection today with a gallery talk by quilting enthusiast Mary Della Salla.

A dozen quilts, none of which has been exhibited for more than 35 years, have been selected for the show. The centerpiece is the 1777 'Tree of Life' quilt, the oldest in the museum's collection.

The quilt was completed in the summer that Gen. George Washington successfully fended off the British advance on Philadelphia through central New Jersey (the subject of recent news, since the historical marker plaque at the site of the Blue Hills Fort in Green Brook Park was recently stolen, see here; and $5,000 reward offer here).

Quilting is an art form going back at least to ancient Egypt, and some forms of quilts were desirable trade goods among Europe's wealthy elites in the 1400s. The 'pieced' quilt, in which the top is made of pieces of fabric, often contrasting and sewn together in elaborate patterns, dates only from the middle of the 19th century.

Della Salla will provide an overview of American quilting and illustrate various techniques with samples from the Museum's extensive quilt collection.

A reception after the talk will provide an opportunity for more detailed answers to questions visitors may have.

A donation of $5 is suggested.

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Stitches In Time
Exhibit Opening, Reception and Gallery Talk
Today - 2:00 - 4:00 PM

The Drake House Museum
602 West Front Street
(At the foot of Plainfield Avenue)

The Drake House, the Museum of the City of Plainfield, is operated by The Historical Society of Plainfield,
which received an operating support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission to help fund this exhibition.
Additional funding was made possible through a grant administered by the Union County Division of Cultural and Heritage Affairs;
the Garden State Historic Preservation Trust administered by the New Jersey Historic Trust;
the Union County Open Space, Recreation and Historic Preservation Trust Fund;
the City of Plainfield; and the Plainfield Cultural and Heritage Commission.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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It's a rainy day, perfect for Jazz Brunch and 'Four Centuries'

Like the weatherman said, it's a rainy day in Plainfield.

Meaning a MUCH BETTER ALTERNATIVE yard work today -- Jazz, brunch and history!

Plainfield's own Bev and Kev (Beverly Calland and Kevin Catwell) are hosting a JAZZ BRUNCH today at Adrian's Restaurant.

'It will be a perfect day to treat that someone special with Jazz and a very special brunch', says brunch organizer Bev Calland, 'and then take in some of Union County's Four Centuries in a Weekend sites.' The hearty brunch (see menu at right) will be offered with the inimitable touches of Plainfield's very own Kevin of Adrian's on East Second Street. Bev has arranged for Lady CiCi and Don Williams' Jazz Just-Us Band to provide the special musical setting.

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BRUNCH MENU Chicken Marsala Salmon Ribs Oxtails Fresh Fruit Salad Garden Salad Assorted Cold Salads Mac & Cheese Rice w/Peas Carrots & String Beans Collard Greens Tropical Punch Coffe/Tea Assorted Desserts

Jazz, like good wines, needs to be aged properly to be appreciated. Having entertained audiences for a quarter century together, this dynamic duo knows how to deliver that soulful musical experience perfect for a rainy day. With smooth and spicey sliding tones, Lady Cici highlights the bluesy jazz style and gospel roots that have thrilled audiences here and abroad.

Lacy Cici and Williams' Jazz Just-Us Band have toured nationally and internationally over the years with the likes of Arthur Prysock and the Jim McGriff Quartet (check them out on the Web here and here).

You won't want to miss this very special treat.

After brunch, you can pop on over to the DRAKE HOUSE, one of the twenty-five historic locations around Union County open specially this weekend to celebrate the annual Four Centuries in a Weekend event.

The Four Centuries event is Union County's annual spotlight on its historic sites' heritage.

All the county's sites are open to the public FREE on both Saturday and Sunday, with special programming revolving around five themes -- including the age of the Robber Barons and the Great Depression as well as the Revolutionary War and Civil War eras.

While at the Drake House, you will be able to see the extensive work done (much of it unobtrusive) in a two-year capital upgrades program that has seen the installation of central air and dehumidification systems as well as accessibility improvement to Plainfield's house museum, which is operated by the volunteers of the Historical Society of Plainfield.

All in all, a perfect treat for a rainy weekend.

Did I forget to mention Bev's incomparable homemade pound cake?

Shame on me.

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Jazz Brunch at Adrian's
Sunday | 11 AM - 3 PM
$35/advance | $40/at the door
Tickets and Info: (908) 361-8533 or (908) 313-6568

Adrian's Restaurant
1100 East Second Street (at Netherwood Avenue)


Drake House Museum
Four Centuries in a Weekend
Sunday | Noon - 5 PM
FREE
602 West Front Street (at Plainfield Avenue)

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-- Dan Damon

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Jazz Brunch and 'Four Centuries' perfect for rainy weekend

Plainfielders dismayed they will not be able to do yard work on Sunday because of the expected rain have a MUCH BETTER ALTERNATIVE.

Jazz, brunch and history!

Plainfield's own Bev and Kev (Beverly Calland and Kevin Catwell of Adrian's) are hosting a JAZZ BRUNCH Sunday at Adrian's Restaurant.

'It will be a perfect day to treat that someone special with Jazz and a very special brunch', says brunch organizer Bev Calland, 'and then take in some of Union County's Four Centuries in a Weekend sites.' The hearty brunch (see menu at right) will be offered with the inimitable touches of Plainfield's very own Kevin of Adrian's on East Second Street. Bev has arranged for Lady CiCi and Don Williams' Jazz Just-Us Band to provide the special musical setting.

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

BRUNCH MENU Chicken Marsala Salmon Ribs Oxtails Fresh Fruit Salad Garden Salad Assorted Cold Salads Mac & Cheese Rice w/Peas Carrots & String Beans Collard Greens Tropical Punch Coffe/Tea Assorted Desserts

Jazz, like good wines, needs to be aged properly to be appreciated. Having entertained audiences for a quarter century together, this dynamic duo knows how to deliver that soulful musical experience perfect for a rainy day. With smooth and spicey sliding tones, Lady Cici highlights the bluesy jazz style and gospel roots that have thrilled audiences here and abroad.

Lacy Cici and Williams' Jazz Just-Us Band have toured nationally and internationally over the years with the likes of Arthur Prysock and the Jim McGriff Quartet (check them out on the Web here and here).

You won't want to miss this very special treat.

After brunch, you can pop on over to the DRAKE HOUSE, one of the twenty-five historic locations around Union County open specially this weekend to celebrate the annual Four Centuries in a Weekend event.

The Four Centuries event is Union County's annual spotlight on its historic sites' heritage.

All the county's sites are open to the public FREE on both Saturday and Sunday, with special programming revolving around five themes -- including the age of the Robber Barons and the Great Depression as well as the Revolutionary War and Civil War eras.

While at the Drake House, you will be able to see the extensive work done (much of it unobtrusive) in a two-year capital upgrades program that has seen the installation of central air and dehumidification systems as well as accessibility improvement to Plainfield's house museum, which is operated by the volunteers of the Historical Society of Plainfield.

All in all, a perfect treat for a rainy weekend.

Did I forget to mention Bev's incomparable homemade pound cake?

Shame on me.

---

Jazz Brunch at Adrian's
Sunday | 11 AM - 3 PM
$35/advance | $40/at the door
Tickets and Info: (908) 361-8533 or (908) 313-6568

Adrian's Restaurant
1100 East Second Street (at Netherwood Avenue)


Drake House Museum
Four Centuries in a Weekend
Sunday | Noon - 5 PM
FREE
602 West Front Street (at Plainfield Avenue)

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-- Dan Damon

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A Sunday twofer: FOSH sale, Drake House event

It's going to be a gorgeous day.

Don't spend it all on the yard.

Check out the FOSH Fall Garage Sale (by popular demand), with about 60 homes. Set your sights on Watchung, Leland and Woodland Avenues and proceed from there.

There is also a special-interest multi-household yard sale at 1326 Watchung Avenue benefiting the Homeless Animal Lifeline. Pet lovers, you know what to do!

From Noon to 5, you can check out the Drake House, where Alicia Washington will be protraying Abolitionist Sojourner Truth, and pick up a guide to the other 24 sites open today, which is the final day of the annual 'Four Centuries in a Weekend' sponsored by the Union County Commission on Cultural and Heritage Affairs.

-- Dan Damon

PHS honor students recreate FDR's stirring 1st inaugural Sunday

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States.

Plainfield High School honor students will re-enact the first inaugural of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at the Drake House Sunday afternoon, celebrating the 75th anniversary of both his inauguration and the commencement of the 'New Deal', his series of imaginative programs that saved capitalism from itself as a result of the worst depression the world had ever known -- so bad we still refer to it as the 'Great Depression'.

This is the opening event in a year-long series by the Historical Society of Plainfield devoted to the New Deal years.

While the weather may not approximate the blustery, chilly day in March 1933 when he was sworn in to his first term (he was the ONLY president to be elected to four terms), the times are more than a little reminiscent of those he faced.

And, while we are in the midst of a heated presidential primary season, it occurs to me that we could learn from the fact that Roosevelt's ONLY electoral qualification was that he WAS NOT Herbert Hoover -- the good and dutiful but economically lead-footed humanitarian who preceded him in office.

FDR's stirring inaugural -- beginning, as it does, with the words "this is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly" -- will thrill you tomorrow.

Hope to see you there.

Roosevelt being sworn in, with outgoing President Herbert Hoover at far right.

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Commemorating the New Deal's 75th Anniversary
Sunday
March 2, 2008
2:00 - 4:00 PM
Drake House Museum
602 West Front Street (at Plainfield Avenue)

-- Dan Damon

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Drake House ready for 'Four Centuries in a Weekend'

Plainfield's Drake House museum is one of 25 historic sites countywide participating in the annual 'Four Centuries in a Weekend' program this Saturday and Sunday.

In Plainfield, actor, teacher and storyteller Alicia Washington will portray Sojourner Truth, the 19th-century abolitionist and feminist activist.

All of the sites are open Saturday from 10 AM - 5 PM, and Sunday from Noon - 5 PM.

Since the program offered by the Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs is not posted on the County's website, I have put the full brochure up here.

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Websites: "Drake House Museum" | "Union County"
Document: "2007 Four Centuries in a Weekend"

-- Dan Damon

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ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

Drake House Exhibit Celebrates Black History Month

Florence Spearing Randolph
Founder, Wallace Chapel AMEZ Church

The Drake House Museum's 2007 Black History Month exhibit, "Celebrating 150 years of Black American Heritage: 1857-2007," opens tomorrow afternoon at the museum, West Front Street and Plainfield Avenue.

Developed from the research work and private collections of Ethel M. Washington, the show features historic black and white photos of notable local Blacks who made significant contributions to the County’s cultural legacy. Many of the photos are featured in Washington’s book, Union County Black Americans, published by Arcadia in 2004.

Among the group of notables featured in the exhibit are Amos Noe Freeman (1810-1893), an Underground Railroad Operative born in Rahway and maternal grandfather to the famous portrait painter and illustrator Laura Wheeler Waring; the Reverend William Drew Robeson (1845-1918) founder of St. Luke’s African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ) Church in Westfield and father of the famous Paul Robeson; the Reverend Florence Spearing Randolph (1866-1951), pastor and builder of the Wallace Chapel AMEZ Church in Summit and organizer in 1915 of the New Jersey State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs; John Matthew Shippen (1879-1968), America’s first professional golfer to play in a U. S. Open Championship and head pro/groundskeeper at Shady Rest (now Scotch Hills) in Scotch Plains, the first Black-owned golf and country club in the United States; and the Reverend William A. Everett Lattimore, Union County’s first Black Freeholder and the first Black mayor of Plainfield.

The exhibit is one of several Black History exhibits conceived and developed by exhibit designer and consultant Ethel M. Washington, owner of the Black American Arts and Decorative Arts (BADD) Gallery. Washington is the History Programs Coordinator in the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs.

Washington, who holds a Museum Studies Certificate from Rutgers, received her B.S. degree from Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, and M.A. and M.Ed. degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University. She has done post-graduate work at the Rutgers University Graduate School of Social Work in New Brunswick.

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"Celebrating 150 years of Black American Heritage: 1857-2007"

Opening and reception, 2 - 4 PM. Sunday, February 18, 2007
At the Drake House Museum, West Front Street and Plainfield Avenue. FREE.
The exhibit runs through March 10. The museum is open Saturday and Sunday afternoons, 2 - 4 PM. Information: (908) 755-5831.

Arcadia Publishing: "Union County Black Americans", by Ethel M. Washington.