Thursday, July 23, 2009

Transcribing Documents

I have always loved transcribing historical documents. My love of editing began when I took a class on public history at Kutztown and was assigned an Ethan Allen letter to transcribe and footnote. Since then I have prided myself on my ability to read highly illegible handwriting and my enthusiasm for hunting down the most insignificant historical details, names, and circumstances that documents allude to.

Yesterday, just before he left, my coworker Paul asked me if I would transcribe a few photocopies of letters written to Gifford Pinchot. I jumped at the chance, since I finished my cemetery project I have been looking for other things to do in my downtime at work. He told me that the letters were from a man named "Martinez" to Gifford Pinchot, but today when I read them I realized that they were not. Two of the letters were from John Muir to Gifford Pinchot, and one was from Bernard Fernow to Gifford Pinchot. Paul thought they were from someone named Martinez because that word appeared at the top of the letter next to the date, but I soon figured out that Martinez refered to the place the John Muir was writing from, probably Martinez, California.

If I really wanted to give myself a project I could do a little research on some of the people and events that were alluded to in the letters and add footnotes explaining them, but I think I will leave that to the next researcher who needs to use these letters.

Here are the letters as I transribed them:
Martinez, Oct. 28th 1896

My dear Pinchot,

I look back with pure pleasure to our pleasant times this last summer especially to our own big day of sunshine + starshine ??? the verge of the tremendous + awesome Colorado Canyon with heads level + hearts level + eyes upside down
I shall be very glad to get the report of the grand Commission from which only good can come to the noble forests we so joyfully wandered through this last summer
I’ll look up the copy of your pine book first time I go to the city. Never mind Fernow go ahead with your own work + very soon he will become polite + good. Remember me to your Mother + father the delightful evenings I enjoyed with them in New York home I shall never forget
With kindest regards + best wishes I am dear Pinchot ever yours John Muir



Martinez, 17, Dec, 1896

My Dear Pinchot,
Your handsome little pine book just arrived + I promise much pleasure + grin in reading it. I inquired for the other copy at the Sierra Club room but could not find it.

You do just right “going ahead full steam” with other work instead of wrangling with F. or any other fellow. “ Twill soon be dark, up, mind thine own aim + God speed the mark.”

I doubt not the wisdom of the commission in withholding their report from the coming Congress but had hoped a few more forest reservations might have been made by Cleveland in his term of office expired

I’ll be delighted as you know well to see as much of you as possible when you next go into God’s woods. The memory of last summer’s tramps is delightful
Remember me to your mother + father + beloved
Ever cordially yours John Muir

Oct 4/90
My Dear Pinchot,
My last letter will have been a disappointment to you, so I wish try to put on salve!
I have agreed + decided to allow the position of Assistant Chief which is now officially filled as you know, by Mr. Egleston, to remain vacant until you are fully prepared to take it, inviting meanwhile all of the applicants for the position to act as agents for the division and with the anticipation that they are not fit for the place + that you will be in time reserving it for you. This decision was arrived at by Mr. Willet + myself because from what I know of you + told him, we were convinced that you would be the proper man, when the time came. Now I want you to finish up as fast as you can – and as thoroughly as you may in a short time – your studies in Europe and then come over and in some way get the knowledge which you can only acquire here namely knowledge of the country’s flora. How to do this may depend upon circumstances perhaps with this division, but I should prefer outside of it. Attaching yourself to some firm or expedition or traveling on your own book. Over time you may feel assured of that you made no mistake in your course so far that your future success assured as the first American forester.
Sincerely Yours,
B. E. Fernow
Let me know how you mean to dispose of your time.
Very busy here!


As you can see these letters were written early in Pinchot's career. It was before he and Muir had their falling out because Muir is very warm and friendly towards Pinchot. The Fernow letter was obviously written to Pinchot when he was still studying in France. Pinchot would go on to refuse the job as the assistant cheif that Fernow offered him in the letter.

I will post a picture of the letters so that you can get a sense of what the handwriting was like soon.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Grey Towers and the Arts

At Grey Towers we have lots of special programs that involve the literary and visual arts. Over the last few weeks I have been able to observe two of these programs. The first was a story telling program aimed at children. There were two people switching off telling stories and singing songs, mostly about the environment. I listened to one story that was about Johnny Appleseed and his friend coyote. The moral of the story was that planting trees gave us resources for years to come, while just chopping them down and not replantng isn't a good idea because we won't have any resources in the future. Here are a couple pictures I took of the event.



The next week we had a poetry reading which was held by the Green Heron poetry society. It was mostly composed of retired women and one man who composed and read poetry about the environment. I enjoyed some of the poems. Usually the person who wrote the poem read it, bus occasionally they needed another person to help read certain lines. Some of the people there were good readers, and they even interjected with bird noises and things like that at the appropriate times during certian poems.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Our Basic Informational Brochure in Spanish

I just put this in a word format for now but here it is. I know most of you don't read Spanish all that well, but if you do, let me know if it makes sense.

Información para Turistas

Grey Towers
Museo Nacional

Bienvenida
Grey Towers es la casa de los antepasados de Gifford Pinchot, el primero jefe del Servicio de Bosque de los Estados Unidos y el gobernador de Pennsylvania por dos mandatos. Programas públicos y recorridos de la casa y el jardín introducen turistas a la familia de los Pinchots y sus influencia a conservación en los Estados Unidos. Grupos de recusros naturales y grupos de conservación usan Grey Towers para conferencias y reuniónes. El Servicio de Bosque suministra Dirección Desarolla programas aquí. Turistas de todas las edades disfrutan caminos, artes, y programas educativas.

Entradas Gratuitas
Individuos
Adultos $6.00
Los Ancionos $5.00
Jovenes $3.00
Jovenes menos de 12 gratuito
Grupos reciben un descuento de $1.00 por persona.
Pase annual de turista frecuente $15.00

Nosotros aceptamos todos los pases de las otras agencias.

Programa Para Recorridos
Reorridos incluyen el primero piso del museo y el jardín histórico.

Los Fines de Semanas en mayo y noviembre reorridos turísticos ocurren a 1 y 3 de la tarde.
Todos los Días del fin de semana del día de los caídos en la Guerra al fin de semana ultimo en octubre, reorridos ocurren en la hora de 11 de la mañana a 4 de la tarde.
Diciembre: Especial estación festivo acontecimientos y programas.
El Suelo está abierto todos los días para peatonos amanecer a atartdecer. Entradas están abiertos para vehículos 9 de la mañana a 5:30 de la tarde, a menos que pegó de otra manero (gratuito).
Nosotros ofrecemos varios días cuando no es necesario pagar por sus entradas en el museo.
Un Calendario de recorridos especial, programas, y acontecimientos está disponible.

Otras Programas Públicos

Conservación y Los Artes: Música, y programas de arte y literatura.
Educación de Conservación: Escuela y grupos de jovenes, y talleres para maestros (gratuito).
Programas de Conservación: Programas de historia del Bosque y silvicultura para jovenes y adultos.
Caminos: Silvicultura, azulejos, hábitat, identificación de árboles, y el Pinchot Camino de tiempo.
Tienda: Libros y artículos de conservación en vienda.

El Centro de Conferencias

Disponsible para grupos de conservación recursos naturales.

Para más información nos contacte a:
(570)296-9630
O por correo electrónico a:
greytowers@fs.fed.us

Monday, July 13, 2009

Spanish Language Brochures

On Mondays Grey Towers is pretty slow. To keep myself occupied today I have volunteered to translate teh Grey Towers rack card into Spanish. The rack card is just a double sided piece of paper that gives a little general information about the site, it's programs, fees, and hours of operation. We have some German-Language literature already, but I think that Spanish literature would be very useful. Plus I need the practice.

My Laurel Hill Cemetery Project

I am almost finished with the project I was assigned on the Laurel Hill Cemetery. I researched the people who were buried in the Pinchot family plot. These were Gifford Pinchot's Great-Grandparents, Grandparents, and a couple Great Uncles. Here is the text that I want to put on the sign:

Gifford Pinchot was the first Chief of the USDA Forest Service from1905-1910, and also served two non-consecutive terms as the governor of Pennsylvania. Gifford Pinchot’s ancestors originated in Breteuil, France. Constantien and Marie Pinchot, Gifford’s great-grandfather and great-grandmother, immigrated to the United States in 1816 with their son Cyrile Constantien Desire Pinchot. The family initially moved to New York City, but established themselves in Milford, Pennsylvania, a settlement that was composed largely of French émigrés, in 1819. There, father and son embarked on numerous economic ventures, including running a general store, and buying up large tracts of land that tenants farmed for them. The town of Milford was situated on the Delaware River and served as a hub for communication and transportation. The Pinchot’s store was located at the central crossroad of this important town (the store building still stands at the corner of Harford and Broad Street), and thus, the business and family thrived economically. Cyrile also took part in land speculation in eastern states like Pennsylvania and New York, and later in the western states of Michigan and Wisconsin. Clear-cutting the forests on newly purchased, virgin land was common in the nineteenth century, and Cyrile became prosperous from this practice.
Cyrile Pinchot married twice, his first wife, Sarah Dimmick, died childless in 1821. Shortly after her death, Cyrile married Sarah Dimmick’s cousin, Eliza Cross. The grandfather of both of these women had been a Belgian nobleman who held a commission in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and who, after the War, settled his family in Pennsylvania. Cyrile and Eliza raised five children together, named Edgar, James, John F., Mary, and Cyrile H. As young men Edgar and James moved to New York City and each made fortunes in their respective industries. Edgar sold pharmaceuticals and speculated on land, while James imported wall paper. Mary married an attorney and moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut. John F. Pinchot stayed in Milford and continued both his father’s mercantile business, and his land speculation practices.
Buried in the Laurel Hill cemetery are three generations of Pinchots. The first generation, Constantien and Marie Pinchot died in 1830 and 1840 respectively. Their son, Cyrile C.D. Pinchot is buried next to his two wives, Sarah Dimmick and Eliza Cross. Sarah Dimmick died at the age of 18, in 1821. Cyrile died in 1874 leaving all of his estate to his second wife, Eliza. Eliza Cross died on September 15, 1886, at the age of 76. Her obituary noted that her cause of death was a long-suffered illness coupled with a broken hip, the surgery on which she “could not endure.” In her will she left her entire estate to her daughter, Mary Pinchot Warner, and her son John F. Pinchot. Two of Cyrile and Eliza’s children are buried here in the Laurel Hill Cemetery. Cyrile H. Pinchot was born in 1838 and studied at the Hudson River Institute and Claverack Academy from 1856 to 1857. He was enrolled in Union College from 1857 until his death from Tuberculosis in 1860. John F. Pinchot never married and died heirless in 1900.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

The Fourth of July

Yesterday was July 4th, America's birthday. Consequentially we had a "fee free" day at Grey Towers. We kept the doors of the mansion open all day, and had staff stationed in each room to talk to visitors about what they were seeing. I was stationed in the sitting room. Overall the day was hectic. We had 388 visitors total, and I learned one very important thing: unless people start asking you questions about something, keep it simple.

The sitting room is basically the Pinchot's living room. There are a few things that everybody should know about the room. 1). It was origianlly two rooms, consisting of a breakfast room and formal dining room. Cornelia took out the diving wall in the early 1920s and after that the Pinchots never had an indoor dining room. 2). The paintings on the walls are on canvas that were attached to the wall, they are not murals. 3). The embelishments on the walls (there's a lot of them) are painted on the wall. They look 3-dimesional, but they aren't.

That's basically what I said to people most of the day. By the end of the day I was so sick of talking that I would only bring up those things is people asked me, or showed interest. Otherwise I just let people walk around unattended.

There were several things that happened throughout the day that really puzzled and amazed me. People were really interested in riding our very slow elevator, even though there are only three stories to the house. I was supposed to help people with the elevator because it has two stops that open to admoinistrative offices and if they pushed the wrong button they would be wandering around our offices. People would often come through the door of the mansion and make a bee-line for the elevator. They would get on and get the door shut before I even had a chance to warn them about the various stops. So I found a few groups of people wandering around in parts of the building that they shouldn't have been. There was one couple with a little boy in a stoller that rode the elevator up and down about five times. They kept walking around the various floors and then moving on, then going back to the same floor and looking around again. They visited the sitting room four times.

There were also people who told us the furninshings were in bad shape. There were people who gave me there business cards because they could do something to help Grey Towers, if we could pay them. There was one man who I asked to stop leafing through a 19th century book because we weren't allowed to handle them without gloves who asked me if I could lend him gloves so he could continue to look through it. I told him that I didn't have any gloves with me, but what I wanted to say was "I can't just let a random stranger walk into the house and start handling the antiques, gloves or no gloves."

So that was my fourth of July. People never cease to amaze me with their poor judgement, their sense of entitlement. By the end of the day I was tired, cranky, and sick of talking about the sitting room.