The Old Manse

What makes the Old Manse a special place?

“Built in 1770 for patriot minister William Emerson, The Old Manse, a National Historic Landmark, became the center of Concord’s political, literary, and social revolutions over the course of the next century. In the mid-19th-century, leading Transcendentalists such as Bronson Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller discussed the issues of the day here, with the Hawthorne and Ripley families.

A handsome Georgian clapboard building, The Old Manse sits near the banks of the Concord River among rolling fields edged by centuries-old stone walls and graced by an orchard. From upstairs, you can look out over the North Bridge, where the famous battle of April 19, 1775, took place. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne both called the Manse home for a time – and each found inspiration here. Emerson would draft his famous essay “Nature” from an upstairs room, and Hawthorne would write a tribute to the homestead called Mosses from an Old Manse. Hawthorne and his wife, Sophia, started their married life here, and you can still see the poems they wrote to each other, etched on the Manse’s window panes. The heirloom vegetable garden, which has been recreated today, was originally planted by Henry David Thoreau in honor of the Hawthornes’ wedding.“

Using the questions from the Jörgensen article as guidelines I have looked at the resources available online as well as interviewed the site manager, Tom Beardsley, to determine how The Old Manse has been operating.

1. Characteristics of collecting institutions. What are their governance structures? What services do they offer and what functions do they serve?
1. The Old Manse is run by The Trustees, on their web page they have a section specifically on their governing structure. Their governance structure consists of the following groups of volunteers:
1. Board of Directors
2. Advisory Board
3. Corporate Trustees
4. Life Trustees
5. Chairman's Council
2. The Old Manse site currently has 20 staff members, 10 volunteers and 10 actual staff.
3. In addition to the regular guided tours there are a variety of special events and programming scheduled throughout the year and the grounds can also be rented out for private functions and weddings.
2. Types of collections. What are the types of collections held by the institutions? What is the composition of their holdings? Which collections are significant or notable?
1. The Old Manse’s collections are varied and include religious items and artwork, books and print materials, as well as furniture pieces.
2. The items that Tom the site manager said were most notable were the original desk where Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote Nature (1836) and Nathanial Hawthorne’s desk where he wrote Mosses from an Old Manse (1846). Within their print collection he noted that they have a Martin Luther Imprint dated to 1590, the oldest item in their collection. The most important thing that Tom said about the collection and what makes it so important and the home so unique  is that 90% of the items within the home are original. A quote Tom said multiple times throughout my visit was by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “All history is biography.” When you walk in you can just sense the history within the house and there are so many stories that can be told. We spent almost 20 minutes just in the kitchen talking about the kitchen table and the chairs surrounding it. Every single piece is from a different period and all original to the home. The story can be told in so many different ways and it truly is fascinating.
   
   Emerson's desk
   
   
   
   Hawthorne's desk
3. Condition of collections. Is the condition of these collections known? If so, what is their condition? How accessible are they? What circumstances limit their accessibility?
1. From what I could gather almost all of the print materials are currently stored at the Archival and Research Center (ARC). The center was opened in Sharon in 2008 and appears to only be available through appointment only. The Old Manse received a 3 year grant for $53,400 to catalog more than 2,100 books, conserve 25-30 books, create storage boxes for 250 books, repair three historic bookshelves, and conserve nine pieces of framed art from the collection. According to Tom this is taking place at the ARC. I did ask if the items were being digitized as well as catalogued and he said that they were however I could not locate them online after my visit. I was able to find a finding aid but that took a lot of digging to locate. The ARC site does not seem set up at all and even Tom stated it was “clunky”. He gave me the name of Christie Jackson who is the statewide curator and Alison (no last name given) to contact in regards of the collection.
4. Environmental controls. What environmental controls are in place? What percentage of the collections is held in environmentally adequate conditions, where factors such as temperature, light, and humidity can be controlled? What are the most pressing environmental concerns?
1. As The Old Manse is a historical house not a lot of structural changes can be made to provide efficient environmental control. Currently 90% of the collection is held in environmentally adequate conditions according to Tom. The remaining 10% are items like the grandfather clock (currently undergoing conservation treatments at ARC), a few paintings (also being conserved at ARC thanks to their recent grant), and the square grand piano. The interesting thing about the piano and why he counts it in the “10%” is that it needs to be watched very carefully and actually needs to be “exercised” regularly. They encourage guests to play at the piano when visiting to ensure that the strings remain flexible.
2. They do try and do temperature control and are planning on adding a protective film to some of the windows in the attic, specifically in the rooms where there are pencil drawings on the walls to prevent UV light from affecting those. He also mentioned that they are going to be getting a humidistat system and the venting throughout the house will be updated to aid in controlling the humidity.
5. Preservation and disaster planning. What preservation and disaster planning documents exist? What preservation and disaster planning efforts are underway? Are written plans part of the mission of the institution? What training has been done or is available?
1. As The Old Manse is managed by The Trustees preservation and disaster plans are required, he didn’t go into too much detail in regards to what they entail or if they were located digitally anywhere. Preservation is the item listed in The Trustees’ mission statement, “The Trustees of Reservations preserves, for public use and enjoyment, properties of exceptional scenic, historic, and ecological value throughout Massachusetts and protects special places across the state."
2. There is a written management plan for The Old Manse online. According to Tom it was initially drafted in 2010 however it is constantly being updated.
6. Critical institutional priorities. What are the most critical institutional priorities related to collections? Are there resources to accomplish these? What methods are used to keep staff current on issues of professional practice?
1. At this time the most critical institutional priorities are preservation. With the grant they received in 2015 they are on the right track to getting the collection to where they want it to be.
2. Tom was also very excited to show me the plans for the new welcome center that will be built within the next 18 months. On the website it has this nice little blurb about it: “The Trustees has been awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant in the amount of $450,000, which will help fund the construction of a Welcome Center here at The Old Manse. This past summer, The Trustees also secured funding support through a $500,000 Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund grant. Once funding for the entire project is complete, we plan to build a Welcome Center on the foundations of an 18th-century barn, built to the same scale, which stood on the property between 1774 and 1924. The new Welcome Center will help us expand indoor tours, interactive programs, exhibits, events and visitor amenities. The new space will include interpretive display areas, programming and workshop space, visitor restrooms, seating and food service, staff office space, and space for private and public events.”
3. In regards to keeping the staff updated and current he says that they have training sessions every 2-3 months and do visits to other institutions to keep informed.

I am so thrilled to have gotten the chance to go through the house with Tom. He was so knowledgeable and excited to show me around and discuss all the work that they’ve been doing that it made the experience so much better. I can’t wait to reach out to Christie and Alison at ARC and get an additional look at how The Old Manse is handling their collections.









~Sources have been hyperlinked~