The Camps of Kent: An Exhibit Takes Shape

Kent Historical Society
Newsletter
Volume 16, Number 2
Kent, Connecticut
April 2015
The Camps of Kent: An Exhibit Takes Shape
In the summer of 2015, the Kent Historical Society will
explore the town’s rich camping past. Overnight camping as an organized activity didn’t come into existence
until the early 20th century. The idea grew in popularity
with every passing decade and became more widespread and democratic. One account suggests that
camping as a social phenomenon started not far from
Kent. If you want to find out where, you’ll have to
come to the exhibit!
and streams for aquatic fun. At its peak in the 1950s
and 1960s, a staggering number of camps called Kent
home. Camp Po-Ne-Mah is the one where the local
history is strongest because local children were most
likely to attend it, and local teens could have worked
there. Some camps were for affinity groups, such as
Near East Camp in Kent Hollow. There were lesser
known ones, including a few that are downright obscure. Only three camps are still active.
Camping and Kent have long been connected because
Kent had the right combination of proximity to New
York City and unspoiled natural sites, as well as lakes
When people have heard about our planned new exhibit, they immediately plug into their own warm
memories of camp. We will open it for the summer
This wonderful shot shows Camp Po-Ne-Mah, date unknown.
in June--with special members’ preview events
prior to the public opening on June 13.
The first step in preparing for the summer exhibition came early, when we created a Trunk
Show for the Champagne Stroll, held the Friday
after Thanksgiving in 2014.
The exhibits are still being put together, so if
you have a treasured photograph or some camp
memorabilia, please give the KHS a call or
email. Part of the challenge of the exhibit is
gathering enough evocative material to capture
the full range of the camp experience in Kent,
and finding objects and art that make it significant.
Curator Marge Smith and Board member Melissa Cherniske have been working energetically,
sifting material in preparation for this show, and
have uncovered some surprises that will be revealed only when the show opens . One resource for this research is social networking-many of Kent’s camps have alumni networks
Lloyd Albin, former owner of KenMont/KenWood
camps, generously loaned the photos on this page.
that are vibrant and active. Through Facebook, Melissa opened communications with
the alumni associations for Camp Francis,
Camp Kent, Kenico, and Leonard/Leonore.
Calling All Docents!
The Kent Historical Society keeps Seven Hearths open for exhibits thanks to the generosity of
docents, who give their time to guide visitors through the museum. We always need docents!
Camp experience is nice, but not necessary to help with this year’s exhibit. At the end of May,
we’ll hold a training session. This gathering is not a commitment, but just an opportunity to learn
more. Please call us at 860-9274587 if you’d like to participate.
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She has been struck by the enduring nature of the
relationships formed at the camps. Many former
campers are still good friends decades later, and
many married co-campers or co-counselors. For
some of them, their brief weeks at summer camp
proved to be the among most significant experiences of their lives.
Kent camp alumni associations to hold reunions over the summer, and we will try to
dovetail our programming with their
gatherings.
A number of camp-related hikes are also
planned. Camp Francis now is the East
Kent Hamlet Nature Preserve. Now owned
by the Kent Land Trust, they have recently
created several hiking trails through the
property showcasing the natural beauty and
the relics of both camp and town history
remaining on the property. Another hike
will take place at what is now Club Getaway
-- formerly known as Camp Leonard/
Leonore. Make plans to join us in June.
What’s more, their time camping has led many
people to seek out Kent as adults. A number of
current residents came to Kent because they
remembered the place where they spent their
summer in the woods.
The exhibit will be just one part of the summer’s
activities. The KHS exhibit has prompted many
Sunday Afternoons with KHS
Our 2015 schedule has been packed with
activity, including several extra occasions
in addition to our regular Sunday Series
programs. One well-attended program was
Connecticut State Historian Walt Woodward’s talk on witch hunts in Connecticut
(upper right). He presented a riveting, factpacked lecture about Connecticut’s ghastly
history of oppressing women and the dramatic change wrought by John Winthrop in
ending witch prosecutions. Another big plus
for Woodward was the presence in the audience of descendants of Kent’s own accused
witch Elizabeth Seger.
Right: On March 22, Ken Greene, left, of
the Hudson Valley Seed Library gave a
great talk on the importance of heirloom
seeds, and was generous in answering questions. Seeds and seed artwork for sale.
Held in conjunction with the Kent Garden
Club, this event opened people’s eyes to the
importance of keeping seed lines alive and
how extra plants can be grown and let go to
seed.
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Curator’s Corner: What a Sign Can Say
by Marge Smith
Greetings from the Curator’s Corner! This is the
first of what will be a regular newsletter article
about the collections of the Kent Historical Society. I hope to share with you a different artifact
with a different story each time. As with just
about all historical societies and museums, most
of our collection is carefully packed away. We
bring some treasures out to share with you in
our annual exhibits, but there are many other
artifacts that don’t necessarily fit into an exhibit
theme, or may just be too fragile to put on regular display.
We keep them because they’ve been entrusted to
us by you. Almost all of what we have is donated by people who felt that it was worthy of
preservation. We do occasionally find rare postcards on eBay, for example, and buy them to fill
gaps in our collection. But most often, we receive things that people have chosen to save, for
any number of reasons, and then decide to offer
to us.
ous about what makes us tick. Why do we do
what we do? In this case, why do we save
what we save? What are the stories that go
along with an object, stories so compelling
that the donor often has preserved the treasure at home, only to realize that the KHS
would be a better steward?
I see hints of these stories in people’s faces
when they walk in our door on Studio Hill,
cradling a carefully wrapped something to
offer for our collection. They show sadness
sometimes, excitement other times. They are
reluctant to part with whatever it is that
they’ve saved, but when they talk to me, they
realize that they’re doing the right thing.
They don’t have to discard their treasures, or
leave them to uninterested grandchildren
who likely will throw them away. We will
honor them.
A perfect example of such a gift is this sign
for Camp Po-Ne-Mah. The donor of the
sign attended Po-Ne-Mah as a child. Many
As an avid student of humanity, I’m always curi-
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years later, she decided to journey up from New
Jersey with her husband to show him where she
had spent so many happy times. She drove up
Rte 341 and as she approached the old entrance
to the camp, she spotted this sign, hanging from
one rusty hook, and overgrown with weeds. It
broke her heart. She thought about it, very briefly, then got out of her car, wrestled the sign off
its rusty hook and placed it in the trunk of her
car. She drove back home, thinking about repairing and repainting the sign to hang in her house.
But, as with most of us, years went by and she’d
never found the time to do that. So she did the
right thing – she called me and asked if we’d like
to have it. Since we have so few things in our
collection from any of the summer camps, I said
yes, sight unseen. When she arrived to deliver
the sign, it seemed that she was relieved to have
it back in Kent.
trigger similar memories for other former
campers. It will be on display at our exhibit,
and we hope it will help us collect more personal recollections about life at camp – not
just Po-Ne-Mah, but at any camp. The experience is universal, as we’ve seen while interviewing a wide range of people for this exhibit. So come to Seven Hearths this summer, see the exhibit and share YOUR story!
In our next issue, I’ll continue this theme of
why we save what we save. The subject is
fascinating, and so are many of the things in
our collection. In the meantime, if you are
even beginning to think about cleaning house
(it is spring, after all, isn’t it?), please keep us
in mind. You may think that what you have
saved is unimportant, insignificant, irrelevant.
You are most likely wrong. Your own story,
your own things, can help us tell a much bigger story. The story of Kent – that is our
mission. Hesitate before heading for the dump!
Send an email to [email protected]
or write to me at PO Box 651, Kent, CT 06757,
and we’ll make the decision together. We can’t accept
everything, but chances are we can help you find an
appropriate home for your treasured “stuff.”
Her story is not about the physical sign itself.
She didn’t make it, she didn’t really even own it.
It’s about what the sign symbolized – her happy,
carefree days at sleepaway camp; her bunkmates,
swimming lessons, archery, campfires, color
wars, theatrical performances and so much
more. Her wonderful gift can now be used to
Hidden History
A joint Sunday event was presented on February 8,
when Peter Vermilyea talked about his recent
book, The Hidden History of Litchfield County to an
audience of 50. It was co-sponsored by KHS and
the Kent Memorial Library. The Society has a
rooting interest in the book since Vermilyea used
material from KHS archives in several instances.
Vermilyea described the livestock watering hole on
Route 202 in Litchfield, and the Poor House that
used to stand near the corner of Fuller Mountain
Road and Skiff Mountain Road. Audience members were constantly saying “I had no idea!” as one
site after another was revealed. One person commented that this was going to make for a lot of
distracted drivers on the roads in our area as they
keep an eye out for the places that fit the title of
Vermilyea’s history blog, Hidden in Plain Sight.
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Filing with Ky
by Brian Thomas
One of the Kent Historical Society's most devoted volunteers, Ky Anderson comes to the office
at Tallman House for long stretches during office
hours. She has resisted requests for being profiled or made a fuss over, but there is one topic
about which she is a passionate expert -- filing.
Every week, she pages through stacks of material and decides where news clips and other
archival material should go, making constant
judgements about how to apply the filing system. If by subject and there's more than one
person in the article, whose name should go
on the folder?
Ky is the bulwark against the tide of paper that
inundates the Kent Historical Society. "I'll never
catch up," she grumbles, but the fact is, she's
keeping chaos at bay.
Choices like this have a long tail, and make
an important difference for a future scholar
who needs to find something. A hasty choice
could inadvertently hide a helpful document
from a researcher.
She also consults closely with
Curator Marge Smith, who
brings her archival knowledge
to bear on the nonstop decision-making that Ky's work
requires.
For her office mates, the best
part is the running commentary. "I remember him," she
muses, and out comes an important memory of life in
Kent. Or, "I remember hearing about this when I was in
grade school, and I never
understood what it was about."
Some of these recollections get
jotted down, but all too many
entertain the office for a
moment and are gone. She's a
valuable resource for the KHS
executive director, who often
needs an explanation about
who fits in where.
A familiar sight at Tallman House ...Ky Anderson with her scissors.
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Ky's archival advice? "Always
look on the back of any news
clipping. You never know what
you'll find."
Upcoming Sunday Series Programs
As part of the Sunday Series programs, William
Hosley will explore the “Cultural Treasures of
the Litchfield Hills” on Sunday, May 17 at 2:00
PM at the Kent Town Hall. A Connecticutbased consultant serving local communities, museums, historical organizations, and businesses,
Hosley is a strong promoter of cultural tourism
who specializes in presenting lively regional cultural histories. His background as a curator, collector, preservationist, educator, and museum
director gives him a unique perspective to share
on our area’s cultural resources. Author of five
books and scores of articles, Hosley has lectured
across the US on topics ranging from art and
Americana to urbanism, place-making and historic preservation. Even those who think they
have a thorough grip on the area’s history, art
history and cultural attractions will learn of riches that they didn’t know existed.
Sunday, September 20, 2015, at
2:00 PM at the Kent Town
Hall, Emery Roth II of Warren,
author of Brass Valley, The Fall of
an American Industry, will present a
poignant, richly illustrated talk on
the legendary history of the
Naugatuck River Valley’s brass
industry, which began in 1802.
Brass parts then became indispensable in the age of steam and
electricity. As the industry grew
across the Brass Valley, mill
towns along the river, developed
into thriving cultural centers.
Roth ponders the waning of the
industry and its legacy as well.
This talk is being presented in
collaboration with the
Connecticut Antique Machinery
Association.
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The Fur Trading Post Emerges
by Lynn Mellis Worthington
Left: The word
“Mink” is
clearly visible on
one of the beams
in the Fur
Trading Post.
Below: The floor
of the attic contains numerous
clues to the location of the staircase in the early
19th century.
(1950s) in what had been part of the storage
room of the Fur Trading Post. The original
attic stairs were at the north end of the room
behind what is now art storage.
During the work to develop the 2011 Historic
Structures Report, the Historical Society
discovered that a bathroom installed by George
Laurence Nelson in the 1950s was originally a
Fur Trading Post. This winter there's been a lot
of work to further investigate this area of Seven
Hearths.
Another finding was that the exterior wall
was never finished with plaster. The walls
separating this part of the house were original
Board member Jeffrey Morgan has worked with
carpenter Mark Peterson on many different projects within the building. In March, they removed sheetrock from the remaining walls in
the Fur Trading Post area. Jeffrey reported that
they uncovered "beautiful oxidized ceiling and
walls, unique framing elements and some various writings on the beams and wall." There's a
big "R." in red paint and two words to the right,
one of which is definitely Kent and possibly
"Root," who was an early Kent trapper.
The interior wall of the Fur Trading Post is fascinating to Jeffrey. It has two layers of crisscrossed planks nailed together at the intersections with big wrought nails that look as if they
were made yesterday they are so clean, he said.
What was also discovered was the original location of the staircase to the attic. The present
attic stair was constructed at a later period
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plank walls or studs with exposed lath.
The unfinished exterior also helped
keep the pelts cold, and minimized
smells and insects.
There is also evidence that the living
quarters were very separate from the
trading areas. The doors between the
trading section and residential sections
came later and were cut into the walls
at later dates. There is also evidence of
a four-pane interior window at the top
of the resident's staircase for light.
The long-term plan is to restore and
interpret the Fur Trading Post. That
will require the attic staircase to return Above: The wall and door of the Fur Trading Post as they may
have looked when pelts were for sale in the early 19th century.
to its original location and also for
Nelson's painting collection storage
space to be relocated. The trading post
is only one of two that remain from Colonial New England. The work will go slowly and require
some careful investigation but the discoveries are exciting and we hope will lead eventually to a
permanent exhibition.
Summer Art Enrichment Program 2015
current exhibition “Camps of Kent: Memories of Summer.”
The Kent Historical Society will offer three
weeks of Art Enrichment Programs for children
in July. The first two weeks will offer morning
sessions for children to explore color through
fine art in a variety of media and the third week
will offer a morning session focused on drawing
and an afternoon session to delve into painting.
Early bird discount for Art Enrichment fees
are $100 per week for non-members and $90
for KHS members who sign up by May 31,
after which fees increase to $115 for nonmembers and $110 for members.
Classes will take place in the Kent Historical Society’s “Art Barn,” an indoor/outdoor space on
the campus of the Historical Society’s Seven
Hearths property, facing gardens and a woodland that will be used as extended classroom
space.
KHS member families have priority registration through May 22 with any remaining
spaces to be filled from a non-member
waitlist after that. Join as a Family member
for $35.
At the end of each class there will be an exhibition to allow family and friends to see the
creations completed through the week. On that
day, the museum will also be open to view the
Final registration deadline is June 15. Registration is not complete until payment is received, either by check or online at our website: www.kenthistoricalsociety.org.
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Kent Historical Society
PO Box 651
Kent, CT 06757
Kent Quiz
Kent Historical Society
10 Studio Hill Road, PO Box 651, Kent, CT 06757
860-927-4587
[email protected]
www.kenthistoricalsociety.org
Officers
Lynn Mellis Worthington, President
Beth Dooley, Vice President
Charlotte Lindsey, Secretary; Dick Lindsey, Treasurer
Trustees
Patti Case, Zanne Charity, Melissa Cherniske, Mike Everett,
Roger Gonzales, Tim Good, Jeffrey Morgan,
Jennie Rehnberg, Nancy Schaefer, Bruce Whipple
Executive Director ~ Brian Thomas
Assistant ~ Lyn Stirnweiss
Curator/Archivist ~ Marge Smith
When was the rock cut on Rte 341 by Kent
School enlarged?
Note: The question was posed to us in the KHS
office a few weeks ago. Many people recall hiking
out to the ledge from behind the Kent School chapel in their fearless youth and climbing down to sit
on one particular piece of rock that projected out
over the road. Their vantage point from which to
spy on drivers-by was superb, but dangerous. Rocks
often fell, though fortunately never with a passenger on board! Finally the State came in and blasted
the cut wider. The spy rock was gone. Do you remember when this happened?
Hours at Tallman House at 10 Studio Hill Road: Tuesdays 9
AM to Noon, Fridays 1 to 4 PM, or by appointment
Answer to the last quiz: (Where was Camp
Crumbie?) For the first time in the history of the Kent
Quiz, we’re not going to give you the answer! You’ll have to
come to the summer exhibit to find out.
This newsletter is printed and sponsored
by Moore & More Printing, Millerton, NY
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