FEATURE
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4
nov
7
2013
Museum hosts Victorian ball by Serena Runyan Staff Reporter
T
he Kirkman House Museum is a Victorian Italian house that was built between 1876 and 1880, and it was the home to one of Walla Walla’s most affluent families, the Kirkmans. The house was a boys’ dormitory for Whitman College from 1924 to 1929, and it was later an apartment building for 50 years before becoming a museum showcasing the Victorian era in which Walla Walla was created. On Friday, Nov. 8 and Saturday, Nov. 9, the Kirkman House Museum will host the Festival of Converging Histories: A Fusion of Steampunk and Victorian. Activities available include a tour of the museum, a grand ball, a variety show and a psychic fair. Rick Tuttle is the president of the Board of Directors and webmaster for the Kirkman House Museum. For this upcoming event, Tuttle decided to expand on last year’s Victorian Ball by including a new element: steampunk. Whitman Development Officer Donna Gardner, a former board president for the Kirkman House, explained that the idea to include steampunk was the result of Tuttle and his wife, Patty, attending a steampunk convention in Puget Sound. Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction that essentially takes elements of the 19th century and places them in the future. It features anachronistic technologies, powered by steam, in the Victorian style and also draws largely on
19th century fashion, art and design. “You’ve got a lot of modern day science thrown into the Victorian aesthetic, but there’s no patroleum based economy, so there’s no plastic,” said Tuttle. For example, steampunk literature might include a computer, but there is no plastic — it’s made out of brass and wood and features obviously Victorian aesthetics. “Basically, it’s a reimagining of an idealized Victorian past where steam technology has accelerated to produce a relatively modern ... level of mechanical sophistication,” said junior Sam Chapman, who is familiar with steampunk literature. Dan Clark, who served on the board of the Historical Architecture Development Corporation in Walla Walla and formerly coordinated the Living History Company at Fort Walla Walla Museum, will be serving as dance master for the Victorian Ball. Clark will be teaching dances and leading participants. According to Clark, his interest in the Victorian time period led him to work with Tuttle to create the ball. “We’re all interested in history, as well as dance, and love the idea of bringing the two together in a classic evening ball of the kind you read about in literature and see at the movies,” said Clark. This event will not only be a good opportunity to learn about the Victorian era and the steampunk genre, but to emulate and experience elements of Victorian life. “I love the joy old-time dancing gives to people when they interact with everyone else on the dance
floor, changing partners throughout the evening and dancing in sets with a variety of people to zesty tunes played by live musicians,” said Clark. But the ball isn’t the only opportunity people will have to get a taste of history. Converging Histories will also offer tours of the museum, a variety show and a psychic fair. People can have their palms or Tarot cards read, and they can connect with the dead through a medium. “You’ve got to have a lot of stuff to do if you want people to come from out of town,” said Tuttle. Hopefully they will come. Tuttle hopes that by combing Victorian with steampunk, he can reach out to a larger audience. “I’m trying to marry the alternate Victorian with the real Victorian with this festival,” said Tuttle. Beyond bringing the two styles of Victorian and steampunk together, the event is meant to introduce these themes to the rest of the Walla Walla community. “I’m hoping Walla Wallans and others will embrace their roots and celebrate our historic community and common past through this event,” said Clark. Event costs range from $15 to $20, and events will take place at various locations. The Variety Show will be held Friday, Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the Gesa Power House Theater. The Grand Victorian Ball will be held at Sharpstein School on Saturday, Nov. 9. A dance workshop will be held from 10 a.m. to noon, and the ball will begin at 6 p.m. Psychic activities will
take place in the museum on Friday, Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. and on Saturday, Nov. 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event planners hope the festival will benefit both the Kirkman House Museum and the greater Walla Walla community.
“One of the goals is to get a whole different group of people involved with the museum, and I wanted to draw in people from out of town and make it a tourist event for the whole town, not just fundraising for the museum,” said Tuttle.
Kirkman House Board President Rick Tuttle poses with Victorian decor. Photo by Clay
Project spurs students to form personal archives from ARCHIVES, page 1
“It’s about establishing connections and building trust. When [we] do work with the community, [we] want to tell them that they can trust us with their important documents. We will be good stewards of these materials,” said Salrin. Salrin loves that her work with Whitman students enables her to bridge both the Whitman and local communities. “It’s an exciting place to be because I get to really go out and forge connections between these differ-
ent communities,” she said. “That’s something that is really important to Whitman, because the goal of the archives is to create an opportunity for students and faculty and community members to engage with history and with culture from previous generations, and [to] use that to inform and deepen our learning experiences.” Gaskins is pleased that her work this summer helped to preserve the memories of an important population within the community. “I think it’s important for validating the stories and the people who
gave us letters. I know that for at least one of the women who gave us letters, it was really hard to part with the letters because they’re family heirlooms. But she eventually decided we could preserve them better than she could, and she wanted other people to have access to them. It’s important for this community that there’s a store of their history,” she said. The project also enabled Gaskins and these students to increase their academic knowledge. After collecting and transcribing the letters, these four French majors did research on
topics like epistolary theory and the effects of globalization on these settlers. They plan to create posters to present their research at the Whitman Undergraduate Conference in the spring. Additionally, the project affected these students on a personal level. It made Gaskins reconsider the ways in which she personally treats her documents. She talked about how she met a member of the Bergevin family at a Frenchtown Historical Society who believed, like Sister Mary Augustin, that writing letters was almost like
visiting someone in person. “He still writes letters to his daughter. When he sends them, it’s like he’s taking a moment and conversing with her and putting everything aside to spend time with her. And when she gets the letters, she spends time with him,” said Gaskins. Working on this project inspired Gaskins to consider preservation in her daily life. “It made me think about letters in a really different way,” she said. “I save all my letters. They’re my own personal archives.”
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GLOBAL ENTREPENEURERSHIP WEEK NOVEMBER 18-24
Pain in the Glass ComPetition Winning Team Recieves $1,000! Deadline: Noon on Friday, November 15 Submissions due to Walla Walla Valley Chamber of Commerce
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ART SHOW Winner recieves $100 and a tour of the Walla Walla Foundry! Deadline: Noon on Friday, November 15 Submissions due to the SEC
For more information, drop by Reid 219 or visit the SeC website: www.whitman.edu/student-life/student-engagement-center/entrepreneurship & www.unleashingideas.org