Category: Blog

It’s October or “Spooky Season” as my teenage daughter likes to call it. There is good fun in getting a good fright. After all, who doesn’t love a good scream from time to time?

Here at the Museum, we host Spooktober, a month of programming paying homage to the creepy and sinister events that are the hallmark of this time of year.

From our resurrection of author Washington Irving to retell his macabre story about the headless horseman from his famed book The Legend of Sleepy Hollow to our always-anticipated cemetery tours on October 12th and 19th to our Haunted House on October 26th–we’re all in on giving you a fun-filled fright.

Because we are history museum, we like to base our Halloween happenings on real stories from the past. Westport, like other colonial-era towns, has plenty of scary events from days gone by. At our First Annual Haunted House last year, we featured the story of Westport’s Witches, four local women–Mercy Disbrow, Goodie Miller, Elizabeth Clawson and Mary Staples–who were targeted in the panic and terror of the witch trials that plagued New England and which began in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.

Mrs. Miller was considered unusual in her behavior and Mrs. Staples was shunned for being outspoken. Suspicion also fell on Mrs. Staples as she had previously been accused in 1653 during the Connecticut Witch Panic. Mrs. Staples was known for being “shrewd” and had little patience for Puritan extremes—a criminal offense in Connecticut, a colony known at the time to be far more stringent in its religious ways than even the Massachusetts.

During last year’s Haunted House we also shared ghoulish histories closer to our own times: In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Westport was the home of two concerns that made money on the business of the death. The Embalmers Supply Company (ESCO) made its preservation fluids at a factory on the Saugatuck River and the Saugatuck Manufacturing Company also on the riverfront, employed children in its trade of making buttons.

So, what frights do we have in store for you at THIS year’s 2nd Annual Haunted House? Why not join us and see? Get into your costumes and join the other goblins, ghosts and ghouls that will be convening 25 Avery Place on October 26th at 6pm for the most historically spooky Halloween event in town.

And who knows, you might actually get a peek at one of the real ghosts who frequent the Museum headquarters at Bradley-Wheeler House …

See you there!

In a world where things change so rapidly, one can always depend on history to comfortingly, placidly stay the same—right? 

Wrong. 

In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.  

It is only the facts of the past that remain unchanged. The truth of what happened, when, who was involved, who gained and who lost—these facts are irrefutable. Whether those facts are accurately retold—or told from all perspectives—is another matter entirely.  

It’s an important distinction because this retelling of facts—or parts of them–is what we call history.  What we know as history is subjective. It is a view of the past told through the eyes of an individual or group of individuals. Usually, that group is the one which holds the power to disseminate information. As such, what we call “history” can be one sided or lacking holistic depth.  

History can be imperfect, but the facts of the past are neither perfect nor imperfect, they simply exist. Standards for museum interpretation as outlined by national accrediting agencies guide us to offer visitors all the facts that we have available to us so that they may draw their own conclusions based on truth versus conjecture. In other words, historians and history organizations are charged with providing as complete a factual view of the past as is possible.  This is particularly important when we work with local schools to provide learning opportunities for students of all ages. 

This modern view of the work we do is actually one that has evolved over time and one which has guided many organizations similar to ours. Like them, we have moved toward creating exhibits and programs based upon facts. In so doing, we’ve also moved toward a clearer understanding of the work we do and its place in the world. 

In 2014 Fairfield Historical Society changed its name to the Fairfield Museum and History Center and in 2018 Stamford Historical Society followed suit. Nationally, Richmond Historical Society was renamed Virginia Museum for History and Culture in 2018. Similar name changes have been undertaken by historical societies in Ohio, Colorado and elsewhere. 

That is why I’m delighted to share that, as of September 28^th, with the opening of our newest exhibit Becoming Westport, Westport Historical Society will be now called Westport Museum for History & Culture—a name more factually indicative of what we do. 

While a name change is certainly different, it is not actually new. The Board of Directors voted to change the name of the organization back in 2017 after going through a program called StEPs (Standards and Excellence Program for History Organizations) which was run by Connecticut Humanities. That program allowed the organization’s total operations to be assessed with the goal of creating a strategic plan. As part of that plan, a name change to incorporate “museum” was recommended.  

Perhaps, more interesting, name-changes are a regular part of our long history. Westport Historical Society was founded in 1887 as the Westport Historical Society but the name was changed to Saugatuck Historical Society in 1890 to be more historically representative of the town’s past. After years of non-operation, the Society re-opened in 1958 as the Westport-Weston Historical Society, becoming Westport Historical Society again in the early 1960s. 

So why did the Board of Directors choose to change the name yet again? The new name reflects WHS award-winning museum work and mission to explore history factually and by recognizing the many different aspects of local and regional culture that contribute to the town and larger area. 

There are practical business reasons for the name change as well. The quality of work that WHS has done in the last two years with respect to exhibits, programming, research and collaboration has put it in the category of respected museums. Formally, pursuing museum status allows WHS to apply for better funding opportunities in terms of grants and sponsorship’s. This is incredibly important since we do not receive state or federal funding outside of grants that we may or may not receive in any given year. Town funding that we received in years past as fees for record storage may no longer be available to us in the next budget year. 

Our switch to becoming the Westport Museum for History & Culture follows a trend among local cultural organizations to become more expansive and regional in their scope. The Westport Library’s transformation project, completed in 2019, evolved the library from a simple repository for books to a multimedia center with state-of-the-art performance venues, luring visitors county and statewide. The Westport Arts Center recently moved to a larger locale, changing its name to Museum of Contemporary Art reflective of the world-class shows and expansive scope it has achieved in the last few years. 

Now I know that a name change seems like a pretty big deal—and it is!–but what we are doing inside the museum is even more important. Over the last two years, we’ve been working incredibly hard to enact all the amazing goals in the Strategic Plan that the local community leaders who comprise our Board of Directors worked on with dedication for three years from 2014-2017.  

The great news is that we’ve had some incredible successes in a very short time and with limited resources. Our work revealing all of Westport’s history—stories previously told and those untold—is getting national recognition and we are grateful. 

But we are most grateful for is the chance to continue to do this good work under the umbrella of a new name that signals to Westporters and those beyond our border all that we can do. 

Thank you for being part of our journey—the best is yet to come! 

Ramin Ganeshram

By Ramin Ganeshram, Executive Director, September 3rd, 2019

This past Labor Day weekend, while folks were rushing to and from vacation spots we at WHS were taking a trip of a different kind: Myself and board chairperson, Sara Krasne, headed to Philadelphia to receive a prestigious national award for excellence in the museum field.

The award was for our 2018/19 exhibition Remembered: The History of African Americans in Westport which told the story of the significant contributions, achievements and struggles, of black Westporters to the town from its 17th century settlement as enslaved people through to the present time. By examining our colonial New England town, we were able to tell a story that resonates nationwide

It was particularly special to receive this award in Philadelphia—the heart of America’s movement toward Independence and its second capital city.

Perhaps what was most awe-inspiring was being in the same company as museums across the country doing excellent work unearthing the hidden histories of a wider group of Americans than ever before—women, people of color, LGBTQ Americans and differently abled individuals.

Together we are following the charge of cultural organizations—particularly history museums—nationwide to re-examine the past in a holistic way, using primary source material and rigorous research to tell those stories that have been erased.

For many this begs a bigger and quite legitimate question: Why?

Why, many have asked us, not leave well enough alone? Why re-examine a history so many have come to know and love? Why drag “skeletons” out of the closet?

At the simplest level, we are following the standards of the most respected governing institutions in our field such as the American Alliance of Museums which advocates that organizations like ours “conducting primary research do so according to scholarly standards.”

In other words, we use original documents and documentary evidence to present the facts of what happened way back when. Unfettered by a need to editorialize or cast themselves in any light other than the norms of their time, the writers and recorders of this material were, for the most part, purely honest about what happened and how they felt about it.

In pursuing these practical goals as defined by those with the best professional knowledge, we reap greater rewards. We are lucky enough to do work that creates a more inclusive community—that leaves no one out by showing that everyone’s stories matter.

That “someone” could be one of the original Bankside Farmers or a Native Pequot person driven from their land or an enslaved African American in Greens Farms or a Jewish landholder forced to flee Manhattan during the Revolutionary War because of abuse at the hands of the British. It includes artists, performers, merchants, laborers, immigrants, mothers, fathers, activists. It encompasses the most prominent Westporters as well as the most invisible ones.

Our work—and our charge as a museum—is to fill the gaps in our history with untold truths that make our community whole.

The greatest reward that we’ve reaped, however, is not these accolades. It is the environment we’ve built at WHS through support and teamwork of our staff, Board of Directors, and Advisory Council Members.

Beginning in 2014-15 and continuing for the next three years, WHS Board of Directors and Advisory Council participated in a program run by the state of Connecticut for small museums and history organizations. That program, called StEPs, allowed these prominent community members to engage with and examine the operations of the organization and vote for a strategic plan that encompassed sweeping change to bring the museum to the next level. Enacting those changes has been our major focus over the last 24 months and has included everything from the physical space to collections management to programming and the quality of our exhibits.

While all of these stakeholders have been integral to our success—joining meetings and learning sessions every step of the way, there is one group that has been most important of all: You.

The public has been, in many ways, our most important partner in transforming WHS into a place where all feel represented with excellence—with a good dose of fun thrown in, of course!

And so, we say thank you—to all of those who have made WHS what it continues to be—a museum that has been amply rewarded with the privilege of reinvigorating history for everyone.

By Ramin Ganeshram, Executive Director, May 15th, 2019

Those who love history often find themselves thinking about it nearly all the time and in many contexts. Here at WHS our focus is on American history as demonstrated through the local Westport story, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t interested in new discoveries about Ancient Egypt, or 19th Century Europe or Imperial China or the Pre-Colombian Western Hemisphere…you get the idea.

It should come as no surprise, then, that even in our off-hours we at WHS chat with each other about history–from discussing what historical novels or bios to read next to what heritage sites we’ll visit over summer vacation to which are our favorite songs on the Hamilton sound track (mine are You’ll Be Back and Right Hand Man, for the record.)

That’s why, when I was faced with an intriguing dilemma related to work that I had been personally doing as a historical novelist over the last decade, I enlisted the after-hours aid of Sara Krasne who is WHS’ Archives Manager and current chairperson. More than that, Sara is a talented genealogist and possibly an even bigger history geek than I am.

And, together we solved a 218-year-old mystery that had stumped historians for decades revealing new information relating to none other than the life of President George Washington.

So, what was our intriguing find?

While Washington was president, living in the President’s House in Philadelphia, he kept four to nine enslaved people with him as servants at any time—subverting the Pennsylvania Gradual Abolition law that would ensure their freedom. His enslaved cook, a man named Hercules, was famous in his own time. The hero of my novel, I and others have called Hercules “America’s First Celebrity Chef.”

Hercules escaped on Washington’s birthday in 1797. Washington never gave up trying to hunt him down but died in 1799 having never apprehended the cook. Hercules was last seen in New York in 1801—and from there the trail went cold.

When, in 2019, a portrait long thought to be Hercules was revealed to be a fake it was an upsetting though not surprising revelation for those of us who particularly studied the enslaved people owned by the first president. You can read more about that discovery in this front page article from the Philadelphia Inquirer here.

But why did we at WHS care?

On a personal level, the portrait graced the cover of my novel. More than that as those of you who have visited WHS’ award-winning exhibit Remembered: The History of African Americans in Westport can attest, the difficulty in rebuilding a picture of the lives of enslaved people cannot be overstated. Without that portrait, a tangible link to a remarkable figure was gone.

I dwelled and ruminated on a lead based on what the painting probably represents—most likely a free African person of import as depicted by similar period paintings done in Dominica (present day Dominican Republic) and I decided to try to find a link between Hercules and the Caribbean. It was a big task and I needed to enlist the help of a researcher who was skilled enough to work with limited and rare public records. Enter Sara Krasne.

The Dominican lead wound up to be a dead end, but Sara’s genealogy training uncovered something far far more important.

Following the line of reasoning that Hercules was hiding in plain sight, Krasne did what no other researcher had done previously—searched for Hercules with the surname of his owner previous to Washington—Posey.

Miraculously, she hit pay dirt: She found Hercules Posey, of the right age, born in Virginia, buried in the Second African Burying Ground in Manhattan on May 15, 1812.

Uncovered by Sara Krasne, this death record indicates the chef died 207 years ago in lower Manhattan.

We dug some more, finding Hercules Posey in the New York City directory for 1809, 1810 and 1811 as a laborer. This last fact was disappointing but what we had found was still enough for historians at both Mount Vernon and the National Park Service in Philadelphia to agree we had found him. Then, the best news of all—a fellow historian in Boston found another directory that listed Hercules as a cook. With the help of a rare books librarian at Columbia University, where I am an alum, I was able to corroborate this over two years of that directory as well.

Among Washington scholars and, more particularly, among those of us who study the history of enslaved African Americans, what Sara and I found is monumental. In asking a simple question that those of us who were trained to look at things one way had overlooked, Sara turned years of accepted scholarship on its head.

“It is a rare thing indeed to be able to find out what happened to an uncaught enslaved runaway in eighteenth-century America.  Ramin Ganeshram and Sara Krasne have done an amazing job, finding Hercules in New York City, where he labored as a cook, while living in plain sight in a primarily African American neighborhood, under the name Hercules Posey,” said Mary Thompson, a research historian at Mount Vernon who has spent years piecing together the lives of enslaved people. Her  book The Only Unavoidable Subject of Regret”: George Washington, Slavery, and the Enslaved Community at Mount Vernon  is well regarded among historians. Mary went on to say “The records they found include the fact that Hercules was born in Virginia in 1748, something else that was not known before, and died in New York City on May 15, 1812.  Through their work, the cemetery where he was buried has even been identified.  We are thrilled with these new discoveries.”

I share this story with you as an example of the level of research and care that we at WHS apply to the study of history—whether we are on or off the job. As representatives of WHS doing this kind of quality work, we have gained the Society recognition from major and respected institutions worldwide, even when that work is not WHS specific.

Just imagine what we’ll come up with as we apply that rigor and dedication to mining our vast archives at WHS? Stay tuned… we’ve got lots in store as we bring the best secrets of Westport History to light.

Join our acclaimed archivist for her new series, Genealogy FUN-damentals! Learn more about the ins and outs of doing family research on your own, resources you’re familiar with along with lesser known avenues of discovery. For more details click here!

Sara and I have created a petition to get NYC Parks Department to place a plaque memorializing Hercules in a public park across the street from his final resting place. For us at WHS, updating the public record with new and verified fact is of utmost importance. Please consider signing here.