Current Projects

The Curatorial Staff of the Museum has been busy at the Welles-Shipman-Ward House this summer. The project of re-doing the displays in both the house and barns.

In the house, the process of re-creating the displays according to the probate will of Jerusha Edwards Welles has been begun. It is the plan to complete this project in the Kitchen, Kitchen Chamber, and Pewter Room this year, before it is too cold to work at the House.

The Facilities Committee has provided improved lighting in the Eastbury Barn, which enhances the exhibits. Objects have been relocated and collected according to usage. They have also created a workbench on which will be displayed carpenters’ tools of the 18th and early 19th centuries.

At the Museum on the Green, there are two current projects. The first is the cataloguing of account books. In the Museum’s collection are account books from the businesses of John Hollister, Ebenezer Plummer, Joseph Welles, and many more Glastonbury business men. Some of these ledgers date back to the 1760’s. Each one is being looked over and logged. We acquired a database made specifically for museum collections and when the logging has been completed, each book will be entered into the database for easy reference.

Part of this project includes purchasing archival boxes for the account books. These boxes will be acid-free to prevent further deterioration of these important documents. Boxes will hold one account book each to minimize handling. There are boxes sold for this purpose and when boxes may be purchased of the size required by a given account book, a standardized box will be purchased. Others will require custom made boxes.

The second project is the preservation of the Museum’s collection of samplers. These examples of needlework were created by young girls in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Some of them are not framed and some are incorrectly framed, having been glued to a piece of wood before framing, possibly by the woman who stitched the work. Some are not glued to wood but neither are they framed with acid-free backing and protective glass.

To view the Sampler Collection, or to be shown the Account Book collection, please visit the Museum on the Green. To contribute to either the Account Book Fund or to the Sampler Preservation Fund, please contact the Museum.