Please join us for Opening Day festivities at the Sandwich Historical Society, on Saturday, June 24th, from 12pm-3pm.

There will be live Traditional Skills Demonstrations outside the Quimby Barn Transportation Museum, and the opening of the Annual Exhibit in the Elisha Marston House. We will also show the rare 19th century curtain painting of Mount Israel in the upper level of the Grange Hall. 

All of this, plus an outdoor food grill near the demonstrations, outside of the Transportation Museum! First, Live Demonstrations of Traditional Arts, outside of the Quimby Barn Transportation Museum will feature:
 
Brian Stockman, of Tuftonboro, NH, has dedicated his life to the study and practice of a variety of traditional indigenous and colonial artisan craft media, and large-scale figurative sculpture. For our event, Brian will demonstrate the art of scrimshaw carving. His work is in numerous private and public collections.

Alli Plourde, from Durham, NH, is a seasoned potter and figurative sculptor working in clay who currently teaches art at Oyster River HS, and formerly at Holderness School. Alli will demonstrate throwing functional pottery on the potter’s wheel. She has a BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology, and a Master’s degree from RI School of Design, and is a member of the NH Potters’ Guild. ​

Tina Greenfield, from Rensselaer, New York, will be sharing her skills in decorative painting, often known as “tole” painting. It is the folk tradition of embellishing household utilitarian objects with surface paint to transform that object into one of beauty. Ms. Greenfield has been painting in this style on wood and metal for close to thirty years, and has received both regional and national recognition for her work. Her pieces have been shown at the Library of Congress and the White House, as well as at several New England conventions in this field.

Corey Slater, from Ashland, NH, is a second-generation pack basket weaver. He will be showing and creating backpack baskets out of traditional materials. They are especially loved among mushroom collectors. Corey has been making custom heirloom pack baskets for people worldwide for about ten years.

Second, the Annual Exhibit entitled, “Tiny Treasures, Great Joys”, will open its doors as well. It highlights and celebrates vintage, handmade dollhouses, and other unique, miniature objects from our vast collection; In the Wentworth Room of the SHS.
 
Please join us for this festive day. And stay tuned for other summer events hosted by your Sandwich Historical Society. 
 
—Franz Nicolay, 
with the Sandwich Historical Society
Programs and Education Committee
Summer, 2023

We are reaching out to the Sandwich community and beyond, with two questions that might assist us in our research, via crowdsourcing techniques: 
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1. Are there any residents with direct Indigenous lines in their family, with stories that would be pertinent to our town’s historical timeline and before our incorporation as a town?
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2. Do you have artifacts within your family that you would be willing to lend or allow us to document, or sites on your property we may photograph, for specific summer programming that would give us further insight on the Indigenous history of this town?

 If so, please feel free to contact Franz Nicolay at sittingrock@gmail.com,
 on behalf of the Programs & Education, Collections, and Exhibition Committees at the Sandwich Historical Society. ​

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Save the Notch Campaign.  As it was in the 1970s, the debate of conservation versus use and development remains at the forefront of discussions regarding the wilds of, not only New Hampshire, but many areas of the world. In our small corner, we have decided to highlight the persistence of our community to persuade those with the power to preserve the Sandwich Notch for future generations. 

Our seasonal exhibit can be seen in the Elisha Marston House, Barn & Gift Shop, which will be open on June 25 from 10 AM - 3 PM.  Don't forget to check out the Gift Shop and all the new items!

Elisha Marston House Reimagined:  If you're new to Sandwich or the area or you have not visited us in a few years, this summer is a great opportunity to see what our Collections team, led by our Museum and Collections Coordinator - Lauren Hansen - have been up to!  Lauren shares, "The last two years of quarantine and limited visitors have allowed us to do some thinking on more than just conservation. 

We have had some significant acquisitions in recent years, so we decided to rearrange some rooms throughout the house.  Some objects have been on display for many years.  It was with this in mind that we put some to bed for a rest, brought out some to say hello, and are highlighting those who have recently joined "our family." Visit, and see if you can spot all of the changes we have made!