Plimoth Life
Volume 9, Number 1, 2010
Volume 9, Number 1, 2010
Plimoth Life
A Plimoth Plantation Publication
2 5 8 12 14 18 20 24 26 28 30 32
Perils of the Atlantic Why Shakespeare at Plimoth Plantation? The Real Story of Squanto The Wedding Pot “Wiving & Thriving”— Pilgrim Weddings Water Log—The Making of a Mishoon The William Brewster House Spinning a Yarn Plimoth Cinema What’s Growin’ on This Winter ? Calendar Highlights 2011 Opening Day
Dear Friend of Plimoth Plantation,
Ellie Donovan Executive Director Richard Pickering Deputy Executive Director Courtney Roy-Branigan Interim Director of Development Project Manager Paula Peters Designer Marie Pelletier Editors Susanna Grady Richard Pickering Photographers John Cook Michael French Jacob Janssen Kate LaPrad Marie Pelletier Al Solomon Plimoth Plantation is a private, nonprofit educational institution supported by admission fees, contributions, memberships, function sales and revenue from our dining programs/services and museum shops. The Museum receives support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, private foundations, corporations, local businesses and individual donors and members. For more information visit www.plimoth.org or call 508-746-1622 ext. 8203
Cover: Colonial role player Shelley Otis pausing from weeding corn. She is wearing reproduction 17th-century garments constructed by Denise Lebica, Manager of the Colonial Historic Clothing and Textiles Department. The work of the department has often been advanced by the kind generosity of Martha and Susan Seger.
I love fall in New England, with its burst of robust color. I am grateful for this harvest of cool, quiet splendors. The fading flowers and flights of geese seem to encourage us to find moments for appreciating family and friends, for savoring slow food and long walks. The season invites us to contemplate the acts of kindness and generosity, great and small, that have brought us all to where we are. Though our thoughts often turn inward at this time of year, we are also mindful of our place within the larger community. Community is key. I like to think of Plimoth Plantation as a town square – that familiar and welcoming place where a community comes together for information, celebrations and neighborly conversations. It is the vital civic space where the past persists, today is lived well and our actions touch tomorrow. It is the hearth of the community where we gather to exchange ideas and tell stories. This issue of Plimoth Life is a lively portrait of the Museum’s engaging scholarship and public programs; it also shows the close connection between Plimoth Plantation and our neighbors – whether down the street or around the world online. The Internet makes ‘international’ the new local. No one is ever too far away to share in the learning and fun at Plimoth Plantation. The photos in these pages capture the energy and innovation of an exciting year. There is the hometown flavor of the Plymouth Winter Farmer’s Market, the charming and proud smiles of the Knitters’ Club modeling the caps they have made for the Pilgrim role players, the breathtaking spectacle of the arrival of Massasoit during our re-creation of Governor Bradford’s 1623 wedding, the vibrancy of the Plimoth Players, and the high spirits of a mishoon launching. I hope these photos will entice you to visit Plimoth again soon! We have accomplished much this year at Plimoth, and you were part of those accomplishments – thank you! With best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving, I’ll sign off with these lines of Harriet Beecher Stowe: “… When the apples were all gathered and the cider was all made, and the yellow pumpkins were rolled in from many a hill in billows of gold, and the corn was husked, and the labors of the seasons were done, and the warm, late days of Indian Summer came in, dreamy, and calm, and still…there came over the community a sort of genial repose of the spirit – a sense of something accomplished.” Gratefully,
Executive Director
Perils of the Atlantic
S
ea travel in the 17th century was a gamble. Based on the records of ships that touched at Plymouth Colony from 1620-27, a colonial traveler could expect a nearly fiftyfifty chance of having some type of disaster at sea. Documented natural dangers included being thrown overboard in a storm, sustaining substantial structural damage to the ship, and grounding. Moreover, an incompetent or fearful master making poor judgments or an undisciplined crew could lead to shipwreck. There was the ever-present threat of pirates lurking near the English Channel waiting to swoop in and take a fully laden ship. By 1627, approximately eighteen ships had sailed for Plymouth either as a destination or a stopping off point as they headed north or south along the coast. Nearly half that number experienced peril at sea, threatening the life of passengers and destruction of the vessel itself. The founding voyage of Plymouth Colony illustrates the odds of making an uneventful crossing. Of the two ships, Speedwell and Mayflower, only Mayflower made a successful crossing of the Atlantic starting in September 1620. Speedwell, one-third Mayflower’s size, suffered chronic leaking which was aggravated by a master unwilling to make the long and dangerous late fall voyage. Twice, Speedwell and Mayflower attempted to depart from England. Twice, Master Reynolds of the Speedwell signaled he feared his ship was near foundering. Attempts in Dartmouth and again in Plymouth, England to repair the leak proved unsuccessful. Leaving Speedwell behind, Mayflower made her famous voyage alone, despite nearly breaking apart and almost losing John Howland over the side in severe weather.
barrel staves blocked the colonists’ first attempt to repay their debt.
The unfortunately named Fortune, the next ship to visit Plymouth Colony in 1621, was taken by pirates off the coast of France on its return to England. Imprisoning the master and crew for two weeks was insulting enough, but also confiscating the ship’s cargo of sassafras and rough-hewn
Undaunted backers of the colony, known as Merchant Adventurers, purchased yet another vessel, the Paragon, to supply the new colony and return with goods to be sold for profit. A leak, developed before the ship left the Thames, was a sign of worse to come for the sixty
by Peter Arenstam Map: Nova Anglia, Johann Baptiste Homann, Nuremberg, circa 1720 Plimoth Plantation collections
upper works of the ship were swept away, and the main mast had to be cut away. An officer had to lash himself to the ship to keep from being washed overboard. A passenger reported the ship appeared to be more in, than upon the water. The Paragon limped back to Portsmouth, England abandoning any chance of making the crossing. Around the same time the Paragon had returned to Portsmouth, another crew was preparing a small vessel of forty-four tons for departure to New Plymouth. The diminutive Little James, yet another ship built and paid for by the Merchant Adventurers for fishing and trading, suffered most of the disasters one could imagine befalling a sailing ship during her two voyages to America. . The first voyage started with a sense of adventure and possibility. William Bradford recorded, “She was a fine vessel and with her flags and streamers, pendants and waistcloths, etc. bravely set out…” The crew had reason for their excitement. They had been led to believe the Little James carried a letter of Marque, allowing them to pursue and profit from any vessel they could capture. When the master, John Bridges, stopped but did not take a French vessel near the coast of England, the crew suspected they had been duped into signing onto a voyage full of danger with little in the way of reward to compensate them. A crew anxious to depart now grumbled at every task.
Caption Here
seven passengers aboard. Still on the Thames, the ship nearly broke up in a squall. After seven weeks of repairs more passengers were boarded to help pay for the unexpected expenses.
Agreeing to pay the crew wages and keep them working, Bradford sent the Little James to the Narragansetts to trade. In a harsh storm upon returning from what was described as a lackluster trading opportunity, the crew cut away the main mast to prevent the ship from dragging its anchor ashore at Brown’s Island at the entrance to Plymouth. A new mast could be made in the colony; but rigging and sails had to come from England.
Halfway across the Atlantic, the 109 passengers experienced a fierce two-week storm. The ship’s boat, secured on deck, was lost, the round house and all the
The next spring Bradford sent the repaired Little James to Maine, perhaps hoping a fishing voyage along shore would be more profitable and safer
than the trading voyage. It would not be so. In a storm, the Little James was driven ashore near Damariscove Island. The ship beat itself on the rocks enough to open a hole “large enough to drive a horse and cart through,” as Bradford described. The fish already caught were lost.
back to England was towed across the Atlantic by a larger ship, the White Angel. It is reported that they had an unusually fair weather crossing, allowing the Little James to stay on the towline all the way across the Atlantic. After letting go the towline within sight of Plymouth, England the Little James was taken by Turkish pirates. The master and crew were sold into slavery, the cargo sold in Morocco, and the ill-fated Little James passed into history.
The ship was ultimately repaired, and returned to England where it was seized as part of a suit for payment by two of the Merchant Adventurers. The Little James’ troubles were not over yet. She returned to Plymouth Colony in 1625, had success fishing and trading for furs, and in an attempt to get her safely
Top: Ships on Choppy Sea, Wenceslaus Hollar, circa 1650 Bottom: Merchant Ships, Wenceslaus Hollar, circa 1650 Plimoth Plantation collections
Why Shakespeare at Plimoth Plantation? by Richard Pickering & Museum Research Staff
I
n eulogizing William Shakespeare, rival playwright Ben Jonson said: “He was not of an age, but for all time !” It is only natural that Jonson would stress the eternal value of Shakespeare’s work when writing a memorial, but his fellow dramatist had once said that the purpose of theater was to show, “the very age and body of the time his [its] form and pressure.”
g Born during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Shakespeare grew up amid the religious and political upheavals of the English Reformation, the same upheavals that produced the Pilgrims’ Separatist movement. As a writer, he observed Elizabethan society and used the stage to hold “a mirror up to nature.” For Plimoth Plantation, Shakespeare is a valuable source of information on his contemporaries. His references to plants and animals, current fashions and myriad topics help us understand what English people of the Pilgrims’ time believed about their material and spiritual worlds.
g
g
sources for Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. It is possible that the Natives mentioned in The Tempest, as well as in Shakespeare’s history play The Life of King Henry the Eighth or All is True, are sachem Epenow and other Wampanoag men kidnapped from Martha’s Vineyard/Aquinnah, and placed on display in London as cultural curiosities. Historians estimate that London playhouses in the Pilgrim era generated half a million visits per year, at a time when the city’s population hovered between 200,000 and 250,000 people. Even those living outside of London could have experienced Shakespeare’s work firsthand, because it was common for London play companies to also tour the provinces. Most playing companies devoted part of the year to touring or found themselves out on the road when the London theaters were closed due to plague.
There is also a specific connection to Plymouth Colony and the Wampanoag Homeland. Mayflower passenger Stephen Hopkins was part of the famous 1609 Sea Venture shipwreck that was one of the documented
Introducing the Players T
T
he English were (and are) a theater loving people. In an effort to explore this aspect of English experience, the Museum created the Plimoth Players, an all-male repertory company devoted to the dramatic works and the acting style of the Elizabethan Age. The first season of the Plimoth Players was a critical and box office success, and included The Tempest, Romeo & Juliet, and Twelfth Night. These shows ran in repertory during July and August – perfect summer fare and lively help for students with Shakespeare on their summer reading lists.
he Plimoth Players’ training and onstage experiences were like none other. Today, few actors work in a repertory style that asks them to maneuver three classic plays a week, each play demanding the performance of three to four roles, some of them gender bending. How many male actors can say that they have portrayed Shakespeare’s greatest heroines? Night after night, audiences returned to see men play Miranda in The Tempest, Juliet in Romeo & Juliet, and Viola/Cesario in Twelfth Night, as well as more comic characters like the Nurse and Maria. While all of this season’s performances employed American pronunciation for audience accessibility, some future performances will be offered using Martyn Wakelin’s research on Shakespearean dialects so that audiences can hear how the verse originally sounded on stage.
Inspired by the practices of Elizabethan players, the plays were performed by six male actors fulfilling all the male and female roles. Why no female actors? In Shakespeare’s day, women were forbidden to appear on the public stage. Why such a small cast? London companies employed between twelve to fourteen players in performance, but as a cost-cutting measure, many companies toured with just six to eight actors.
Bottom left: Jacob Janssen, Dan Klarer and Sam Gedymin in Romeo & Juliet Bottom right: Michael Kaup, William O’Bryan and Dan Klarer in Twelfth Night Bottom far right: Brian Sheppard and Sam Gedymin in Twelfth Night
The Museum’s acting company comprises some of the country’s most talented, college-trained professionals working and studying in New York and regionally.
Creating a Theater
following. Maintained by Artistic Director Jacob Janssen, with contributions from other Plimoth Players, the blog provides behind-the-scenes video on Elizabethan stage combat, company rehearsals, set construction, and reviews of online Shakespeare resources. By following the Plimoth Players blog throughout the year, guests will learn what the actors are doing during their winter away from the Museum, and about their preparations for the 2011 season which will include Julius Caesar and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.]
T
he Plimoth Players performed in an intimate 55-seat black box theater at the Hornblower Visitor Center. Audience members were asked to imagine that they were guests in an English gentleman’s country home and that touring players had been hired for an evening’s entertainment. Until now, most experiments in re-creating historic Elizabethan performance have centered on how London’s permanent stages (like the Globe, the Rose and the Blackfriars theaters) functioned. The Museum’s research in understanding how provincial playing spaces worked opens new questions about the nature of how plays were cut to serve smaller touring casts, how the doubling and tripling of roles inherent in the plays’ structures worked in the provinces, and the role of theater in English towns and the countryside. Drawing on the work of Shakespeare scholars such as James Shapiro, Andrew Gurr, Siobhan Keenan and Stephen Greenblatt, and under the guidance of Technical Director Nate Angrick, the Plimoth Players created a playing space suggestive of a Great Hall in a manor.
Visit the Plimoth Players blog at www.plimoth.org/blogs/players/
Stay Thou Connected
T
he educational reach of the Plimoth Players extends far beyond entertaining the guests who attended their summer performances. Thanks to general and scholarly interest in Shakespeare, the Plimoth Players blog detailing the Museum’s experiments in re-created performance has already developed a
Tisquantum
The Real Story of Squanto
Nanepashemet 1954 -1995
I
Introduction by Paula Peters
n the years before his death in 1995, Nanepashemet, the Associate Director of the Wampanoag Indigenous Program, worked tirelessly to produce a biography of Tisquantum, a 17th-century Patuxet (later Plymouth) man commonly known as Squanto. It was important to Nanepashemet that this biography be compiled from existing written records of European encounters with Squanto, and told exclusively from an authentic indigenous perspective.
learning to communicate in a new language and negotiate unfamiliar worlds. The traditional story, that Squanto was simply a friendly Native who taught the English to survive in a wilderness, while containing some truth, is almost mythological when set against the facts. With the blessing of Nanepashemet’s family, I was given the privilege and responsibility to prepare my cousin’s work for publication by the Museum.
Nanepashemet uses eyewitness 17th-century documents to knit together details of Squanto’s life from the time of his kidnapping in 1614 until his death on Cape Cod in 1622. He places Tisquantum’s personal experience in the larger context of international slavery, English colonization and the politics of indigenous relations.
In 1614, twenty Wampanoag men (including Tisquantum) were kidnapped from Patuxet by an English mariner named Thomas Hunt. Two or three days later Captain Hunt captured an additional six or seven Wampanoag men from the village of Nauset on Cape Cod. The following chapter, with illustrations by Lisa Walbridge, reveals the truth about human trafficking in the 17th- century Atlantic World.
Nanepashemet’s style is unique. He creates a voice for Squanto that conveys the sense of a person
From Captive to Diplomat
I
disliked the selling of the Wampanoag men as slaves. Those who had not been sold were led away by the monks to be taught the Catholic religion. Like the rest, they would never see their homes and families again.
t is not known if the twenty-seven captives kept count of the days while on the ship. It is likely that they did. And after what may have seemed to have been an incredibly long journey they were taken from the ship into a strange land called Spain. The Englishmen had a shipload of fish that they wanted to sell to the people of Spain.
Of the twenty captives from Patuxet, one was called Tisquantum. It was his fate not to be sold to the Spaniards nor to be taken away by the monks. Hunt’s men sold Tisquantum to some other Englishmen who were in port at Malaga. These Englishmen were from a place called Bristol which was on the western coast of their homeland, England. Once again Tisquantum boarded a ship and after many days sail saw England for the first time.
The Wampanoag were not prepared for what they saw. All about them human beings in strange clothes spoke words none of the People could understand. Houses of huge sizes and odd shapes stood all about. Ships of many types and sizes floated in the harbor. Whether they knew it or not, the twenty-seven Wampanoag had arrived in the Spanish port of Malaga. They may have often heard the Spanish people say the word “Indios” as they were curiously examined.
As in Spain, curious crowds stared at Tisquantum. Here he may have heard the English say “Indian” repeatedly when referring to him. In time Tisquantum came to a very large town, away from the sea, called London. Here he came to live in the home of an Englishman called Master John Slanie.
Another word they may have heard from the Englishmen was “slave.” Captain Hunt’s men showed the captives to the Spanish men and had discussion in the unfamiliar language. Spaniards began to lead away the confused Wampanoag men either as individuals or small groups. They were being separated from each other, sold as slaves to the Spaniards. However, before they were all sold, a group of strangely dressed men appeared and spoke angrily to the rest, especially to the Englishmen. They were Catholic monks who
Tisquantum lived for a long time in the home of Master John Slanie and learned to speak the Englishmen’s language. He saw much of London, which was full of English people, more human beings than he had ever seen in his life or imagined could live in one place. Slanie, who was an
important Englishman, lived in a part of London called Cornhill. He often showed Tisquantum to other Englishmen who questioned Tisquantum about his homeland. They seemed to want to know how many people lived there, who their leaders were, if they had a good supply of beaver and other furs, and a thousand other confusing questions. Tisquantum began to learn much about what the Englishmen desired and how to answer the questions in a pleasing manner. While in London, Tisquantum saw much of the English way of life, though it must have seemed very strange to him. He himself was dressed in the English way so that except for his skin color and the look of his face he could move about London like an Englishman. He saw the way English people lived and worked. He learned about many different kinds of animals: horses, sheep, chickens, and cattle, which the English kept tame as dogs. He saw very poor people and very rich people. To him it was strange that there was such a difference between the poor and rich. In his country people who had wealth gave most of it away to those who were in need. In this way all were more equal and people did not get so jealous of each other. Also, Wampanoag leaders gave wealth to their people so that their people would feel bound to them. Though he was in the midst of so many human beings, Tisquantum was still alone. He had no family in England. No one could speak his language, so he had to speak in English all the time to be understood. The English people stared at him and treated him more as an object of curiosity than as a real human being.
spoke a different language that Tisquantum did not understand. English ships came and went, bringing supplies to Newfoundland and taking fish and furs to England. The captain of the ship, a man by the name of Thomas Dermer, took great interest in Tisquantum. Captain Dermer questioned Tisquantum eagerly because he wanted to make a voyage to Tisquantum’s homeland. He knew of the Wampanoag country from Captain John Smith who was at Patuxet just before Tisquantum was captured. Captain Dermer wanted to take Tisquantum on board his ship right away and sail southward to Tisquantum’s country. Captain
After some time Master John Slanie sent Tisquantum on a ship back across the sea to an island the English called Newfoundland. Tisquantum probably hoped that this would get him closer to his homeland. There were Englishmen at Newfoundland when he arrived with their leader, Captain John Mason. This land was not much like Patuxet, it was colder and no corn grew there. There were people there who were like the Wampanoag in their looks, not pale like Englishmen, but who 10
Mason thought it was better that Dermer get help from England. Dermer agreed and took the ship back to England to speak with an important nobleman, Sir Ferdinando Gorges. Captain Dermer brought Tisquantum with him to meet Sir Ferdinando.
speaking Wampanoag would be able to interpret for the Englishmen and hopefully cause his people to be friendly and help the colonists. At least this is what the English hoped. Tisquantum seemed like just the man for this job, and he knew how to say just what the Englishmen wanted to hear. He would use the Englishmen’s desires to get himself home again.
Sir Ferdinando Gorges, commander of the fortifications at Plymouth, England, had become interested in sending colonists to the dawn land ever since he had been given three Abenaki men. These men came from a country to the northeast of Patuxet, captured by Englishmen nine years before Tisquantum’s capture. Captain John Smith had also told him stories of Tisquantum’s country after he had returned from there. Smith told of the riches to be found and how Englishmen could
A ship was made ready in Plymouth, England to go across the sea to fish and trade with the People. Dermer and Tisquantum were to go on that ship and once across the sea to meet with other Englishmen at the island of Monhegan. The island was just off the coast a day’s sail to the northeast of Patuxet. Tisquantum was finally close to home after five years absence.
get good profits. For years Sir Ferdinando wanted to start a colony in the dawn land and his meeting with Dermer and Tisquantum gave him great hope of success.
Addendum When Tisquantum returned to Patuxet in 1619 with the merchant seaman Thomas Dermer, he arrived to discover that his people had all been lost to the plague two years earlier. In 1621, he would introduce himself to the Plymouth Colonists and become a trusted advisor and translator.
The Englishmen hoped that having one of the People who could speak the English language would help them to get a good start. An English 11
The Wedding Pot by Paula Peters
T
his summer, in the early hours of an August morning, oppressive heat made prickly by humidity, Kerri Helme and Matthew Boardley had lulled themselves to sleep amid the white noise of the television and a humming air conditioner. Thumping on their window and shouts from a neighbor alerted them that their apartment building was on fire.
“I thought I was having a nightmare,” recalled Kerri. In reality, smoke was already filling the room. Hearts pounding the couple grabbed their sons Pharaoh and newborn Ezra, and fled through a tunnel of fire in their dining room to the door. Kerri grabbed the knob, so hot it burned a layer of skin off her palm, and jerked the door open. Moments later, grateful for their lives, they stood outside and watched as the inferno consumed all of their worldly goods – or so they believed. 12
Above: Little Wampanoag girls Tashama, Amari and Kuwah peek out from the cover of a blanket to watch the ceremony.
T
wo days later Matthew and Kerri returned to see what could be salvaged amid the charred ruins of their home.
Kerri feared it had been lost in the fire along with everything else. Matthew entered the burned out building with a flashlight to search the apartment. It was a pitch-black space where walls were no longer where they once stood and charred furniture had been tossed by firefighters trying to put out the blaze. Still he ventured farther in to find a bedroom closet where Kerri had left the pot. Matthew found the place where the closet once was. The door was gone and his light fell upon the shape of the cardboard box that held the pot.
Kerri held out hope for one possession, “The most important thing to me was the wedding pot.” Kerri and Matthew, both members of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, met during the spring of 2003 at Plimoth Plantation while working at the Wampanoag Homesite. Seven years later, after a long courtship, they agreed to exchange vows where they had met. “We have so many wonderful memories there,” said Kerri, “and it’s such a beautiful place alongside of the Eel River. It’s just the perfect place.”
“I reached for the box and it disintegrated as soon as I touched it,” said Matthew, “then there it was.” The ash fell away like a litter of dry leaves. As if by some spiritual influence, the pot was revealed. It had survived in one piece, blackened but otherwise undamaged, to be the one thing that would give the couple hope that they too would endure.
Preparing for the ceremony last spring, Kerri harvested clay for the wedding pot from under the cliffs at Manomet, a place where Wampanoag women have gathered clay for hundreds of years. She dried the clay and crushed it, sifted out the impurities, then strengthened the mixture with crushed quahog shell to be sure the pot would endure a lifetime of use.
“I cried when I saw it. I was so happy,” said Kerri. Three weeks after the fire, the sun shining on a perfect late summer day, the couple exchanged vows in the first actual wedding to be held in the Wampanoag Homesite.
It began as a pinch pot that Kerri layered with coils of rolled clay shaped and pressed and smoothed into a double-bowled pot with twin openings. It was designed to replicate one reclaimed from a 17th-century Wampanoag burial site during an archeological dig in Warren, Rhode Island. Only about sixty percent of the original pot rim was found at the Burr’s Hill site, but it was enough to confirm that such a design existed. It also suggested that the tradition of a bride and groom drinking from a single vessel to seal their nuptials, known to have been the custom of southern tribes, was practiced historically among the Wampanoag as well. It was clearly not just any wedding pot, but one with history and meaning and one created to hold a memory.
They married in a traditional ceremony with a 17th-century wedding party made up of their coworkers and witnessed by family, friends and Museum guests. The place, the people and the pot would make their day. There was no longing for material things lost, only joy in the future promised to a young family. The only evidence of the devastating inferno was the singed clay pot from which Kerri and Matthew drank together the “water of life” in celebration of their love. 13
“ Wiving & Thriving” f
by Colonial Research & Interpretation Staff
M
ost people in 17th-century England expected to get married. Young men began courting usually in their early twenties. Having chosen an eligible young woman, a young man would visit her as often as possible, usually bringing a small gift. These “fairings” as they were known, included clothing items such as gloves and garters, rings, ribbons, mirrors, combs, and even money. The young man might invite her to the local alehouse, escort her to village dances, sporting events, and the local markets and fairs. She, in turn, would likely invite him to visit her at home. Once a marriage had been arranged, the banns, or news of the wedding, were announced in the couples’ parish church or churches on three successive Sundays or Holy Days. This gave anyone with objections chance to voice their concerns. The couple could also purchase a license, which dispensed with the banns as well as other regulations. Weddings were generally held between 8am and noon in the parish church, and always used the wedding rite found in the Church of England’s Book of
Out of respect and deference, before a couple seriously contemplated marriage, they were supposed to get their parents’ permission. Once agreed, the two families then discussed the financial arrangements they would make for the couple. The bride would bring a dowry, usually household goods, to the marriage. The groom’s family contributed both a jointure, for the couple’s immediate needs, and a dower, for the bride’s support if she was widowed. 14
rented formal wear. Most brides wear an all-white fulllength gown, a style made popular by Queen Victoria.
Common Prayer. The wedding party and guests celebrated, usually at the home of the bride, with food and drink, and perhaps music, dancing and games.
MARRIAGE IN HOLLAND & NEW ENGLAND In Holland at the time of the Pilgrims, marriage was considered a matter for the state rather than the church. It was a civil ceremony performed by a magistrate of the town or city. All couples wishing to marry had to apply for permission at the town hall. The authorities first determined that the couple were of age and/or had their parents’ permission; were not related too closely by blood; and were acting of their own free will. Then, their names were entered in the betrothal book. Their banns were called each week for the next three weeks. For the Pilgrims in Leiden, this was done from the steps of the Staadhuis (Town Hall) on Saturday during the weekly market. The couple was then free to wed in a simple, civil ceremony officiated by two magistrates.
WEDDING CUSTOMS THEN & NOW In the 17th century, couples chose a wedding date around both the religious calendar and the agricultural year. In England, certain seasons were prohibited, notably Lent (the forty days before Easter), and Advent (from the fourth Sunday before Christmas until Christmas Eve). Very few couples married in August, the peak month of harvest. Many weddings took place after the harvest, in October and November. May and June, which follow the lambing and calving seasons, were also popular. Today, the peak wedding months are the spring months of April, May and June, and the fall months of September, October and November. The 17th-century bride and groom had new clothes made for the marriage day if they could afford them, or wore the best clothes they owned. These were usually further embellished by ribbons made into decorative knots. There were no garments or styles that were specifically “wedding clothes.” Today’s groom usually chooses
Far left: Governor William Bradford and Alice Carpenter Southworth on their 1623 wedding day. Colonial role players Bill Rudder and Kathy Devlin portray the couple. Above: An English Village house decorated with greenery for the governor’s wedding. Below: Colonial role player Paulette Holbrook portraying Mistress Mary Brewster.
15
W
hen they came to New England, the Pilgrims continued this Dutch custom of civil marriage. Some couples were betrothed in the traditional English manner, although this was not required. The banns were called for three successive weeks, as was customary. Then, the couple were married by the governor or one of his assistants. In the early years of Plymouth Colony, Governor William Bradford recorded marriages in a small notebook, or register. Unfortunately, this valuable source disappeared in the 18th century, and very few early marriage dates are known. Edward Winslow and Susanna White both lost their spouses in the winter of 1620-21. They married on May 12th, 1621, seven weeks after the death of Elizabeth Winslow. This was the first wedding in Plymouth Colony, and was held according to “the laudable custom of the Low Countries,” as described by William Bradford in his history. Either Governor Bradford or his first assistant, Isaac Allerton, would have officiated. Edward Winslow left for England in 1646, never to return. His wife, Susanna, remained behind in New England, where she lived in the town of Marshfield, on the family farm. This situation has led many to suppose the marriage was at best one of convenience. However, in his 1651 portrait, Edward chose to be depicted holding a letter signed “your loving wife Susanna.”
16
G
overnor William Bradford married Alice Carpenter Southworth in August 1623, and their nuptials were a significant social and diplomatic event for both the colonists and the Wampanoag. Details of that day survive in a September 1623 letter written by Emmanuel Altham, an English visitor to the colony. “Upon the occasion of the Governor’s marriage,” reports Altham, “Massasoit was sent for to the wedding, where came with him his wife, the queen, although he hath five wives. With him came four other kings and about six score men with their bows and arrows – where, when they came to our town, we saluted them with the shooting off of many muskets and training our men.” Massasoit then presented Bradford with “three or four bucks and a turkey” which no doubt made a substantial contribution to the wedding feast; supplying the “roasted venison” and “twelve pasty venisons” (deer meat baked in a crust) as part of the “good cheer.” Of the Wampanoag, Altham wrote to his brother, “we had very good pastime in seeing them dance, which is in such manner, with such a noise that you would wonder.” Marriages performed by magistrates rather than ministers remained a New England custom throughout much of the 17th century. As Plymouth Colony grew, the General Court authorized a man in each town to contract marriages, administer oaths and issue warrants. Massachusetts Bay Colony also practiced civil marriage. Their General Court required a forthcoming marriage to be announced three times or be put in writing and attached to a post in a public place for fourteen days. In 1686, during the reign of King James II, the Puritan colonies came under close scrutiny and administration by the English crown. The royal government officially gave ministers in New England the power to perform weddings, ending the Colonies’ purely civil marriage tradition. Native and Colonial role players reenact the 1623 wedding of William and Alice Bradford.
17
Water Log
The Making of a Mishoon by Paula Peters
Above: A new mishoon glides on the Eel River paddled by Phillip Wynne and Matthew Boardley.
T
While Phillip takes the lead in the building of mishoonash, all the men who work in the Homesite take part in the mishoon project at one time or another, and share an affinity with Nature that is as much of a tool as the flame that burns the wood.
he mishoon completed in the Wampanoag Homesite in the spring of this year began as a seedling some ninety years ago. The making of a mishoon, the Wampanoag word for canoe, has become one of the most impressive Homesite exhibits and a task for which the Native men have a great passion.
“Because of our belief that the spirits of our ancestors are preserved in our natural surroundings, in some Native cultures there is a four day ceremony before taking the life of a tree,” says Brian Bartibogue, a Native Artisan and Homesite interpreter and member of the Micmac tribe. Working on the mishoon was a very spiritual experience for him. “We are maintaining an art form that has been lost almost everywhere else in the world except here. It’s an honor to make a boat out of an ancestor.”
“When we take the life of a tree we offer tobacco to the Creator to give thanks for it,” says Phillip Wynne, a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe who is the Men’s Technology Supervisor for the Wampanoag Indigenous Program. If you ask Phillip, “How long does it take to make a mishoon?” his answer will take into consideration the age of the tree that is sacrificed, and the Creator of that tree as the original boat builder.
The mishoon burn technique is an ancient process that uses fire to slowly burn out the center of a tree creating 18
Above: Phillip Wynne channels a burn on a log that will become the next WIP mishoon.
a place for passengers to sit. The process begins by rolling a tree to determine its thickest side – the side of the tree that received the most sun. This becomes the mishoon bottom.
“We know we are done when we can feel the heat of the fire by putting a hand on the bottom of the mishoon,” Phillip said. Historically, the mishoon burn would be continuous and would take about a week for a small mishoon to be completed. In the Homesite, it is done with starts and stops over a period of a few months so that guests can share the experience during the Museum’s open hours.
The first fire begins on the ground next to the tree. The burning embers are then carefully placed along the top of the log. Once a divot is formed, controlled fires are burned directly in the cavity to deepen and widen the area. Charred wood is removed with stone scrapers and quahog shells.
Tim Turner, Program Manager for the Wampanoag Indigenous Program, says that while the building of a mishoon is an exhibit, “it is also our effort to reclaim our traditional ways. We get a lot of satisfaction from completing a mishoon we can actually use. It’s such a thrill to see it finally floating in the water.”
As the hollow in the burnt wood becomes deeper, water and clay are used to control the fire and prevent it from burning finished areas. It is a process that requires constant monitoring as a moment’s distraction could cause the entire effort to be ruined.
The mishoon was ceremonially launched into the Eel River in May. “It floated a little high at first, being new to the water, so it was a little tipsy,” Phillip said. But filled with a few skilled paddlers, “man, did it cruise.”
The heat of the fire boils the sap in the tree and forces it to the outer layer, creating a natural seal. “It’s awesome,” says Phillip, “it seals everything, dried out grain, pores, literally everything.” Fire is also used on the outside to shape and seal the bow and the stern of the vessel.
Center: Steering his crew to first place in the annual mishoon race, Chris Wessling expresses the thrill of victory.
19
The William Brewster House by Paula Peters & Richard Pickering
I
“
t is well situated upon a high hill close unto the seaside, and very commodious for shipping to come unto them. In this plantation is about twenty houses, four or five of which are very fair and pleasant, and the rest (as time will serve) shall be made better.”
—Emmanuel Altham describing Plymouth, September 1623 20
Inset left: Blacksmith Mark Atchison making nails in the English Village forge. Below: Colonial Artisan Michael French working on the Brewster house frame.
Walk leisurely through the English Village, take the time to look at each house, and you will discover that every structure has its own character.
E
English and Irish scholars and artisans. These men are also accomplished role players portraying carpenters Francis Eaton and Phineas Pratt, as well as nail maker and blacksmith William Palmer among other Plymouth residents. They frequently serve as consultants to other museums of the 17th century.
ach building is an interpretation of the life circumstances of its original inhabitant and the circumstances of its original construction – the availability of labor, the time of year that it was built, and the skills in town at the time. Noticing these subtle distinctions adds depth to the experience of exploring Colonial Plymouth.
Tom Gerhardt and Rick McKee are Colonial Artisans, and together they represent more than forty years of expertise in the study and re-creation of early New England architecture and historic construction. In Spring 2009 when they began work on a new William Brewster house for the English Village, they were faced with a fascinating research challenge. No description of
Since the eighties, the reproduction dwellings, outbuildings and fortifications in the Museum’s English Village have been designed, constructed and maintained by the Colonial Artisans, a small corps of highly experienced craftsmen. They have learned their skills on-site and in collaboration with the finest American, 21
Brewster’s dwelling is known to exist. No period sketches or blueprints are there to follow.
Every element of the raw material from the nails, the timber, the thatch and even the pile of daubing worked over by bare feet is exactly what would have been used in the 17th century. Every construction technique is period-correct.
Emmanuel Altham’s letter is a valuable document for understanding how Plymouth looked by the summer of 1623, yet the report that Altham sent to his older brother provides no detail on the town’s individual dwellings. It’s an intriguing quote,” Rick says. “But what does a ‘fair and pleasant’ house look like?” In creating their Brewster house design, Rick and Tom turned to archaeological research on firstperiod homes in early English settlements at Jamestown in Virginia, Fort Saint George in Maine, and St. Mary’s City in Maryland. They also looked at existing historic frames and gleaned precious details contained in 17thcentury primary sources such as letters, craftsmen’s business records and legal documents.
Diagonally across the street from the site of the new Brewster house stands the Howland house, a far simpler dwelling constructed by the Colonial Artisans in 2008. Built of crude posts and split (unhewn) timbers, it has no formal hearth, only a blackened fire pit at the far wall and an opening at the peak of the roof to draft the smoke. Like Brewster house, it too has walls of wattle and daub but is covered with rough cut clapboards and a hastily thatched roof. Built to serve as the home of John Howland, who came to the colony as Governor John Carver’s indentured servant and then married the orphaned Elizabeth Tilly, it is made to represent one of those houses that Emmanuel Altham commented, “shall be made better.”
Lastly, they were informed by the work itself. “The research guides us, but the act of building is an equally important, and very public discovery process. The work that our guests see us doing is a material interpretation of the past. It’s a constant uncovering of knowledge by striving to understand 17th-century work,” Rick says. “We hope the honest effort comes through.”
Brewster house will be clearly different from Howland house. Tom and Rick reasoned, that despite the dire conditions of the colony’s early years, careful attention would have been paid to Brewster’s home because of his community standing as the Ruling Elder of the church and trusted advisor to William Bradford. “We want people to be aware of this hierarchy,” said Tom. “In the 17th century you would expect certain people to live in better houses. There were class differences.”
Top left: Colonial Artisan Tom Gerhardt thatching Brewster house. Center left: Colonial Artisan Rick McKee working in the saw pit outside the English Village. Top right: Cutting reed for thatch to cover the roof of the Brewster house. Bottom right: Colonial Artisans Michael French and Justin Keegan mixing and applying daub.
22
reeds are then staked down with spars giving the roof a uniformly layered finish.”
W
illiam Brewster (circa 1566 – 1644) was the Ruling Elder of Plymouth Church and served for decades as lay preacher. Educated at Cambridge and former bailiff of the Archbishop of York’s manor house, Brewster was a key figure in the Pilgrim church’s removal from Holland to New England. He arrived aboard Mayflower with his wife Mary and two of their five children.
Throughout the 2010 season, not only the Colonial Artisans, but role players and at times, even Museum guests worked on the Brewster house. Some visitors wielded a mallet to split a length of oak, pounded a freshly forged nail, or pressed daub into the walls. The Colonial Artisans capture our guests’ imaginations. Earlier this summer, in his forge near the Brewster site, Goodman William Palmer (portrayed by blacksmith Mark Atchison) stoked his forge, heating a hunk of iron to glowing and then tapered one end of it on an anvil. On the other end he fashioned a head to make a nail. Children who know the ease of buying a box of nails off the hardware store shelf studied Master Palmer in amazement. A lucky group of boys were thrilled when he handed them a bucket of newly minted nails to deliver to the men working on Brewster house. Phineas Pratt (Rick McKee) put the nails directly to use securing the next clapboard to the frame while Goodman Francis Eaton (Tom Gerhardt) worked overhead thatching and training an apprentice. Lamenting that he wouldn’t be doing this work forever, Eaton said, “tis important to pass this knowledge on.”
Brewster was widowed in April 1627, and according to the May 1627 cattle division, an early census document, would likely have lived in his house with sons Love and Wrestling and perhaps as many as two others, a ward named Richard More and a bachelor, Henry Sampson.
The Brewster house is larger than other English Village houses. While short of defining them as actual rooms, Tom said, “There are spaces in the house that will lend themselves to greater convenience. A space for sleeping, a space for eating, a space for cooking and a storage space that is unique to the house. People looking for details will notice the hewing and finer finish to the house.” Unlike the quick work done to roof the Howland house, the Colonial Artisans used a three-layer thatching technique on the Brewster house. “The first layer is a fleeking coat, a layer of thin reed, followed by a trash layer, a layer of marginal material that has no other value,” said Tom. “It looks like swirls of hay scattered over the reeds, that is then topped with the third layer of carefully positioned cattail reeds. The 23
Spinning a Yarn by Denise Lebica
“And in the act of making things, just by living their daily lives, they also make history .”
—Anne Bartlett, Knitting: A Novel
s I walk by my knitting basket, I gaze at the eight skeins of soft, rich raspberry colored wool purchased in the small town of Utiku, New Zealand. Each time it takes me back to the Spring of 2007 and the warm, green day
A
the road and spent quite a while making just the right purchase. And now, still in skein form, the yarn we bought has become precious; a memory within itself. What potential does it hold? Will any sweater, hat, or mittens ever tell the story it’s meant to tell?
spent with my college age daughter roaming the North Island, stopping along the way to discover yet another beautiful vista with sheep grazing on every hill. That day, we had stopped at a small yarn shop by the side of
Here at Plimoth Plantation, we look to the past to weave our story. In the 1950s an unknown man was dug up from a peat bank in Gunnister, Scotland wearing a shirt, coat, breeches and doublet. Also preserved were 24
From left to right: Knitters Marcia Brightman, Lorraine Griffin, Mary Ellen Anastasia and Mary Irving modeling the flat caps they knit for the Colonial role players.
Above: Colonial role players Aaron Dougherty, Laurel Ridge and James Finelli wearing their hand-knit stockings. Each pair takes a skilled knitter twenty-five to thirty hours to produce.
a few knitted items: two hats, a pair of gloves and a knitted purse found in the pocket of his breeches. The purse contained two coins dating from the 1680s and a length of ribbon. Who was he? Where was he going? How did he meet his end? These are mysteries.
meeting of the newly formed Plimoth Knitters’ Club, a volunteer knitting group begun both to provide our 17th-century interpreters with stockings, hats, mittens, gloves and purses, and to bring together a community of people interested in knitting. My friend Jeanne Tanner and I were there with knitting kits, tea and cookies, and a few chairs set up for the two or three people expected to attend. The yarn in the basket sat waiting for someone to turn it into a piece of history.
Recovering the past is like working a jigsaw puzzle. Surviving 17th-century clothing and knitwear, written documentation, and 17th-century paintings and woodcuts each contribute a special kind of evidence that influences the reproduction items worn by our role players in the English Village and on Mayflower II. And within these Museum garments there is also a story ripe to be told.
Through the door came groups of two, then four, and then a total of thirty-two by the end of the evening. Out of yarn, and tea and cookies, we could see the future taking hold in the form of caps, purses and stockings. The enthusiasm was palpable. Every week since, our Museum’s group of knitters has come to Plimoth Plantation to bring the yarn to life. Their stories of family, vacations, and challenges in their own lives – they knit this into history. The potential of a basket of yarn and a group of talented, dedicated people – this is the story the yarn is meant to tell.
To bring this story to life, we must not only look to the past, we must also look to the future. The process of patterning, proofing, acquiring the right yarn and gauge, along with the many hours of labor knitting each item, proves to be a challenging task. And on a very cold night at the end of January 2010, this task took on a life of its own. It was the first weekly
Plimoth Knitters’ Club meets every week from September through June at Plimoth Plantation and is open to all levels of knitters. For information email: knitting@plimoth.org 25
Plimoth Cinema
by ed russell
Museum trustee Ed Russell and wife Charlotte buying popcorn before the movie starts.
O
n September 15, 2007, following months of planning, Plimoth Plantation’s doors were thrown open, popcorn was popped, and we waited to see whether anyone would come to the opening night of Plimoth Cinema, the Museum’s new independent film venue.
Going to the movies was easy when we lived in or near Cambridge but when we moved to Plymouth we found that there were no independent film venues near us on the South Shore. Just like other indie fans we became inured to driving long distances to see films.
My wife Charlotte and I had been longtime Plimoth Plantation volunteers and were regular patrons at the independent screens in Cambridge, Brookline and Waltham.
For those who may not be familiar with the term independent film and/or art house, the term refers to theaters that offer foreign films, documentaries, and films produced outside the Hollywood system. The films are often made with limited production and marketing budgets and rely on film festival buzz and word of mouth. One of the best places for producers to gain exposure for these independent films is at film festivals such as Sundance, which runs each January in Park City, Utah.
Charlotte had worked in film production at WGBH for many years and I had learned to remain seated during the “crawl” – he credits that run at the end of the film – so that Charlotte could look for former colleagues who had made it big.
For budgetary reasons, independent films often have to make do without famous actors and have much shorter shooting schedules. Unfortunately, independent films do not earn anywhere near the money made by popular Hollywood films. It is an industry always trying to find
Far exceeding expectations, our first offering, the French film La Vie en Rose, was a sell-out. The large crowd gave us the confidence that we were onto something. From that first parting of the figurative curtains, over 120 films have played to a dedicated and growing audience.
26
independent films
Concessions were the next issue to be addressed. It’s no surprise that nothing in the concession stand beats popcorn, especially with Plimoth Cinema’s prices that are a third of those at the multiplex. How about a glass of wine with your movie? Plimoth Cinema, unique among movie houses, offers beer and wine on Saturday nights. And in the winter, Plimoth Cinema even has offered Irish coffee and Indian Pudding with ice cream.
its way with smaller production companies gambling on new directors and unusual stories. The ability to embrace cutting edge filmmakers and unusual themes is what makes the genre popular.
In a twist on the old saying “bring the mountain to Mohammed” Charlotte and I looked for ways to bring independent film to the region. Our first attempt was in helping to organize the Plymouth Independent Film Festival (PIFF). Though the Festival was ultimately not sustainable, the seed was planted and it helped spur the start of the regular film program here at Plimoth Plantation. Some may ask why there is a cinema at an outdoor living history museum. My wife Charlotte’s answer: “Plimoth Plantation’s two visitor orientation theaters are not used at night or in the off-season and the cinema helps support the Museum financially while it builds our community presence.”
We market our films by dusting off some very old writing skills and placing reviews of each film with Gatehouse News Service as well as the local newspaper, the Old Colony Memorial. The Cinema also has its own page at: www.plimoth.org.
Starting a film venue became possible after the Museum was able to upgrade its two theaters to stateof-the-art digital projection with the help of a grant. The possibilities presented by the new digital system were immediately apparent and the Cinema team submitted a proposal to run a regular cinema venue. We were given eight weeks to show it could work – and it did. This immediate success assured its place as one of Plimoth Plantation’s regular offerings.
Most independent and foreign film audiences are quite different from those found at the multiplex. “Just watching the patrons pass through, it becomes clear that Plimoth Cinema draws an educated, artistic audience that appreciates thinking person’s films,” says Ben Emery who manages theater operations.
Following the “slow and steady” adage, we ran only on Saturday nights for the first ten weeks, and then expanded to Saturdays and Sundays. After six months, we were able to expand further to our present two screenings per day, seven days a week.
The last few months have seen a very satisfying increase in attendance due to the unusual run of very strong films that have been drawing crowds all around the world: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, The Secret in Their Eyes, Cairo Time and Winter’s Bone.
One of the first things needed to start Plimoth Cinema operations was a movie buyer to book the films. The position requires a person immersed in the business who knows what films are coming out and which ones will appeal to audiences. Movie buyers are also important because of their established relationships with distributors. Once film buyer Eric Hart from the Cape Cinema came aboard the pieces started falling into place.
One of the greatest rewards for the work we do with Plimoth Cinema comes weekly when theater patrons come up to us after a film with compliments and with thanks for bringing these independent films to Plymouth. See you at the movies! 27
What’s Growin’ on This Winter? by Barbara Anglin, Markets Organizer
A
Farmers’ Market? In winter? I thought New England farmers flew south during the cold months? A Farmers’ Market at Plimoth Plantation? I thought the Museum closed after Thanksgiving?
the flocks of worldwide visitors usually seen at Plimoth Plantation. It was as if people from the Plymouth area had a surprising new gathering place all to themselves. Bright orange carrots, firm yellow flesh potatoes, hearth breads, pies made with fruits put up during the growing season, take-home and sit-down foods prepared with locally sourced ingredients, amber honey, beeswax candles, homemade soaps, New England cheeses and kicking live lobster were scooped up enthusiastically. Bluegrass, Celtic and folk rock musicians kept a bounce in everyone’s step; warm soups and chowders kept the dinner crowd sated; and an occasional yoga class kept the limber warmly stretched.
Those are a few of the questions I fielded after a Plymouth Local Foods Winter-into-Spring Market was announced in Fall 2009. The answer? Yes, a new collaboration between two beloved destinations: the Plymouth Farmers’ Market and our very own living history museum. Together we would welcome guests to a warm fire inside the Hornblower Visitor Center, and each month provide the lively opportunity to shop for locally raised foods.
The Museum’s Farm staff attended, explaining seed saving and the ancient methods of growing corn that Native people taught the colonists in 1621. As a result, Plymouth folks learned about their agricultural past before enjoying the fruits of local farmers’ present day labor. Plimoth Plantation’s Horticultural staff also brought cuttings and clippings shaped into wreaths and swags, and when spring finally arrived, they offered native and heirloom plants to eager gardeners awaiting the warmed soil of their own backyards. Museum artisans also had everyone praising their fine selection of carvings, pottery, weaving, herb dyed wool, beeswax etchings, and even a refinished furniture piece or two.
Farmers, local food-makers and a sprinkling of herbalists were invited from the Plymouth Farmers’ Market to join Plimoth Plantation artisans in an effort to draw attention to the farm fresh foods that can be enjoyed throughout the seasons, such as grass fed meats, eggs, artisanal cheeses, root crops, greens, seafood, and preserves. Then the public was invited to gather at the Museum to shop for local foods, enjoy local musicians performing by the cozy fireside, watch a first run film or a sustainable food flick at Plimoth Cinema, and even to visit the Museum shops which stayed open for the occasion. The result? A truly local indulgence!
It was a wonderful winter gathering! Farmers, bakers, and candlestick makers woven together as a truly local assembly of talented cooks, local food enthusiasts and skilled artisans. Along with great food came great films. Plimoth Cinema screened documentaries about
Upon entering the bright, beautiful Visitor Center, guests were greeted by the friendly banter and lively din of an open air market, only now indoors, snug and warm. Neighbors, friends and familiar farmers replaced
28
sustainable food, including: Good Food, Fresh, King Corn, Frankensteer and Food, Inc. With buttery popcorn and local Mayflower Ale, many learned about the importance of eating locally raised foods as a means to
Yes, farmers can grow food here in the winter, and this winter they plan to grow more. It requires much planning and planting ahead, hoop houses, greenhouses, and ingenuity. As well as staying put. No more flying south
Paula Peters, Ann Roach and friend attend the December Farmers’ Market.
for these farmers: the word is out, you can gather local foods in winter and folks around Plymouth are hungry for them. This winter, visit Plimoth Plantation and see for yourself, snug and warm. The Museum is one of the hearths of our town, and I know that you’ll instantly feel like it’s your home away from home.
build and sustain our local food economy. Better food for people and a better life for farm animals. The message was warmly received. Especially in a place where our agricultural history is preserved for young and old to see, alongside contemporary accomplishments like winter farming in New England!
29
Calendar Highlights 2011
Daily in 2011, 4:30 & 7:00 pm Plimoth Cinema, Hornblower Visitor Center First-run, independent and foreign films Visit www.plimoth.org
Thursday, April 14 Butterfly, Bee and Hummingbird Garden Workshop To reserve call: 508-746-1622, ext. 8200 Monday through Friday, April 18-22 April School Vacation Activities Weeklong Shakespeare Adventure for Kids Weeklong Beginning Knitters Class for Kids To reserve call: 508-746-1622, ext. 8359
January to June, Wednesdays, 6:30-8:30 pm Plimoth Knitters’ Club To join contact knitting@plimoth.org Saturday, February 12, 5:30 pm Valentine’s Day Dinner & Movie Date Special $80.00 per couple for Museum Members and Plimoth Cinema Club Card holders; $90.00 per couple for General Public. To reserve call: 508-746-1622, ext. 8365
Saturday, April 23 Members Only Easter Egg Hunt To reserve call: 508-746-1622, ext. 8203 Sunday, April 24 through November 27 Weekends at 10:30 am & 2:30 pm; Thursdays at 2:30 pm Worship In Plimoth Colony : An Interactive Program A half-hour smidgen of Pilgrim religion.
Monday through Friday, February 21-25 February School Vacation Activities Weeklong Shakespeare Adventure for Kids Weeklong Beginning Knitters Class for Kids To reserve call: 508-746-1622, ext. 8359
Saturday, May 7 & Saturday, September 24 A Day of Fire & Clay Interact with Wampanoag and English-style potters making and firing ceramics.
Saturday, March 5, 9:00 am-3:00 pm 18th Annual Spring Clean Day A community tradition in volunteering. To reserve call: 508-746-1622, ext. 8203
Sunday, May 8, 10:00 am Annual Mother’s Day Brunch To reserve call: 508-746-1622, ext: 8365
Saturday, March 19 OPENING DAY– 64th SEASON 8:30-10:00 am: Farm Fresh Breakfast Buffet 10:30-11:00 am: Annual Rare Breeds Animal Parade
Saturday, May 21; Saturday & Sunday, May 28 & 29; Saturday & Sunday, June 4 & 5; Saturday, June 11 Heirloom and Native Plant Sale 30
Saturday, May 28 & Monday May 30 at 3:00 pm Colonial Military Exercises in the English Village
Monday through Friday, July 11-15 Wampanoag Summer Adventures for Kids Colonial Summer Adventures for Kids To reserve call: 508-746-1622 ext. 8359
June 1, 2011 Thanksgiving and Harvest Dining Tickets on sale! To reserve call: 508 746-1622, ext. 8365
Wednesday through Tuesday, July 13 -19 Herbalist Christina Stapley Herb workshops, talks and demonstations on garden design, distilling, dyeing and cooking.
Tuesdays in June at 1:00 pm Fire Away: A Colonial Military Demonstration Sunday, June 12 Mayflower II Day Celebrate the 54th anniversary of Mayflower II’s arrival.
Thursday, July 14, 3:30-4:30 pm Pirates and Pilgrims at Mayflower II Even Pilgrim ships fell into pirate hands!
Thursday, June 23, 3:30-4:30 pm 17th-century Navigation for Novices at Mayflower II
Saturday, July 16, 2:00 pm Pilgrim Wedding in the English Village Celebrate with Experience Mitchell and Jane Cooke.
Saturday, June 25 15th Annual Strawberry Thanksgiving & Teacher Appreciation Day Teachers enjoy free admission today.
Saturday, September 17, 6:00 pm Sustainable Soiree The South Shore’s most jubilant charity gala – fun for you and a great fundraiser for the Museum. Tickets go on sale in June. Saturday, Sunday & Monday October 8, 9 & 10 Dutch Days Enjoy the spectacle, sports and feasting when Dutch ambassadors from the new settlement at Manhattan visit 1627 Plymouth.
July & August Mayflower II hours extended to 7:00 pm Monday, July 4 Members Only – Celebrate America’s Birthday Watch Plymouth’s fireworks aboard Mayflower II. To reserve call after May 1: 508-746-1622 ext. 8203 July through Labor Day Weekend, Thursdays through Saturdays, 8:00 pm Plimoth Players’ Second Season of Shakespeare 31
Join us on Saturday, March 19, 2011 for the Opening Day of Plimoth Plantation’s 64th season!
C
ome home to Plimoth Plantation as we celebrate another season of bringing American history to life.
legged friends, including adorable baby lambs and goats, as they ceremoniously return to their 17th-century home in the English Village.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and you and yours can start the morning right with the Farm Fresh Breakfast Buffet served from 8:30 to 10 am in the Hornblower Visitor Center’s Gainsborough Hall.
At 2 pm enjoy a live wolf presentation. Learn the history of how these magnificent animals lived in the wild, and how they are protected now. At sixty-four years old, many think about retirement, but Plimoth Plantation is only thinking about keeping America’s history alive for generations to come. Please join us !
Don’t let the parade pass you by! After breakfast, gather outside the Visitor Center at 10:30 am for the Rare Breed Animal Parade. Join our four32
Above: Dave Tanner, Darius Coombs, Ed Santos, Ingeborg Kelleher, Sheamus Kelleher and Ivan Lipton at the pathway ground breaking in August.
M
Plimoth Pathways
useum guests begin a journey when they enter the pathway that leads from the Hornblower Visitor Center to the Wampanoag Homesite – a journey not just of time and place, but one that inspires an appreciation for an ancient environment. The modern, material world quickly fades as guests are immersed in nature. Completed in 2006, the first phase of the pathway begins under a mantle of oak and maple. A bristle of scrub pine lines the gently winding trail. The surrounding trees and thicket of indigenous plantings provide a perfect home to screech owls, squirrels and chickadees. Leaving the shady trees that line the path, Museum guests emerge into a sunlit clearing where young eastern red cedar trees and white pines grow amid native shrubs and plants. The pathway then continues past a meadow of grasses and wildflowers in diverse textures and colors before arriving at the Homesite. This year the Museum began the second phase of the project. The completed pathway segment will now be complimented by an extension that leads guests from the
Homesite, much in the same way they entered it, along a gently sloping nature trail to the Craft Center. This segment of the trail will pass a hillside pine forest, and then deliver guests to a scenic overlook of the Homesite. Ultimately, the completed pathway will direct guests through the Wampanoag Homesite and on to the Craft Center where they will be able to refresh themselves with beverages and snacks, visit the Museum Shop, and interact with skilled artisans creating the beautiful reproduction furniture, textiles and ceramics used on the historic sites. With the Craft Center serving as a hub for the Museum visit, guests will then enter the English Village through the Fort/Meetinghouse, and experience the panorama that reveals Colonial Plymouth as an agricultural and maritime community as well as a fortified town. The extension is yet another step in the Museum’s evolution – a physical pathway that is also a captivating pathway to learning. The 2010 Pathway Project extension was funded by the generosity of the Plymouth Industrial Development Corp (PIDC) and private donors. Constructed by Emerald Excavating, the pathway extension will be ADA compliant and provide improved accessibility to Museum sites.
Plimoth PlantationÂŽ
Non Profit Org u s postage paid plymouth ma permit # 572
P.O. Box 1620 Plymouth MA 02362-1620
www.plimoth.org
WIP staff Darius Coombs, Brian Bartibogue, Matthew Boardley and Phillip Wynne at the mishoon launch in May.
A
A Mishoon for the Nation
mishoon made in the Wampanoag Homesite earlier this year was offered and accepted as a gift to the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, DC.
For more than twenty-five years, members of Plimoth Plantation’s Wampanoag Indigenous Program have been involved in making mishoonash, or dugout canoes, using ancient ways and tools. (See page 18 in this magazine.) During that time thirty of these vessels have been launched from the Wampanoag Homesite into the Eel River. As these vessels have been exhibited and used all over New England, the men of WIP have become widely recognized as the authority on the craftsmanship of the mishoonash made by their ancestors.
The 16th museum of the Smithsonian Institution, NMAI is the first national museum dedicated to the preservation, study and exhibition of the life, languages, literature, history and arts of Native Americans. The museum works in collaboration with the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere to protect and foster their cultures by reaffirming traditions and beliefs, encouraging contemporary artistic expression, and empowering the Indian voice. Plimoth Plantation could not be more proud of this accomplishment by the WIP staff and pleased that this bit of Wampanoag heritage will be shared with the Nation and the world and preserved for future generations.