News from the Manchester Historic Association

Collect, Preserve, Share

Manchester

September 15, 2022

In This Issue

1 30th Annual Historic Preservation Awards

2 2022 Manchester Holiday Ornament

3 Exhibit Extended: "The Peoples' Sculptor"

4 2023 Historic Preservation Award Nominations

5 Collection Highlight: Amoskeag Quilt

6 Manchester Trivia Questions

30th Annual Historic Preservation Awards

Thank you for a

great event!

The 30th Annual Historic Preservation Awards, held on September 8 at Manchester Community College, was a great success, enjoyed by all who attended. Thank you to everyone who came and to all of our sponsors for making the event possible!

Our lead sponsor was RBC Wealth Management – The Boulanger Wealth Management Group and dessert sponsors were Brady Sullivan Properties, Eastern Bank, Eversource, Southern New Hampshire University, and St. Mary's Bank. Please click here to see the Program Book and a complete list of sponsors.

This year's event recognized the following award recipients for their contributions to the historic preservation of Manchester:

Homeowner’s Award

Robert B. and Claudette O. Perreault

For their home at 187 Warner Street

Adaptive Reuse Award

The Factory on Willow

252 Willow Street

Restoration of a City Landmark Award

The Gresley Residence

669 Chestnut Street

Stewardship Award

Manchester Water Works

For the Operator’s Residence at 1583 Lake Shore Road

Individual Achievement Award

Gary Samson

Also recognized with a Century Club Award was the Red Arrow Diner, for a century of service to the community.

Honorary Chair Michael Skelton presents the Restoration of a City Landmark Award to Matt Menning for the Gresley Residence

Robert and Claudette Perreault, recipients of the Homeowner’s Award at the 30^thAnnual Historic Preservation Awards

Carol Lawrence accepts the Century Club Award for the Red Arrow Diner

2022 Manchester Holiday Ornament

The Manchester Historic Association is pleased to announce this year's holiday ornament featuring John Stark.

The ornament features a colorized depiction of the statue of General Stark that stands outside Manchester City Hall (identical statues are also in Bennington, VT and Stark, NH). The statues were sculpted by Robert Shore in 1999, based on the original 1889 design by John Rogers.

Each year the Manchester Historic Association produces an original, limited edition brass-plated ornament that celebrates Manchester's history. These unique, detailed ornaments are handcrafted in the United States by the same company that makes the annual White House Holiday Ornament. They make perfect Christmas tree decorations or gifts for the holidays and for many other occasions. Each comes in a decorative box.

These ornaments are available for $28.00 in the Millyard Museum Shop as well as at the MHA Research Center. The 2022 ornaments, as well as a limited number of ornaments from past years, can also be purchased online.

Exhibit Extended:

"The People's Sculptor:

The Life and Works of John Rogers”

This exhibit, originally scheduled to end September 30, has been extended through October 29. If you haven't had a chance to visit yet, be sure to check it out soon!

The Millyard Museum's current featured exhibit is “The People's Sculptor: The Life and Works of John Rogers.".

Rogers was a well-known artist whose statuary "groups" became extremely popular in the mid-to-late 1800s. He was the first American sculptor to mass produce his work and worked mostly in plaster to make his sculptures more affordable.

Rogers' connections to Manchester run deep, from his work as a mechanic at Amoskeag to his gift to the city of the Abraham Lincoln statue that stands in the courtyard at Central High School.

The exhibit is free to MHA members and included with general admission for other visitors. If you would like to assist the MHA in staging more exhibits such as this, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to our Heritage Fund by clicking here.

2023 Historic Preservation Award Nominations

The Historic Preservation Committee is now accepting nominations for the 2023 Historic Preservation Awards.

The Historic Preservation Awards program recognizes and supports the efforts of individuals, businesses and organizations who have made significant contributions to the preservation of buildings, neighborhoods, traditions and other historic resources in the Queen City.

Over 30 years, more than 230 recipients have been recognized for a wide variety of preservation efforts in 40 different categories. The annual event is the MHA's largest fundraiser to support its non-profit mission of collecting, preserving and sharing the history of Manchester.

If you are interested in nominating a person, organization or business for a Historic Preservation Award, please complete the HPA 2023 Nomination Form by December 3.

The 31st Annual Historic Preservation Awards is planned for May 2023. Further details will be announced in the coming months.

Collection Highlight: Amoskeag Quilt

A recent addition to the Manchester Historic Association's collection is this quilt made by workers in the Amoskeag Mills. As indicated by the center square, the quilt was started in 1896, the year Manchester celebrated 50 years as a city (and the year the MHA was founded), and finished 28 years later in 1924. It is believed that much of the fabric used in the quilt was produced at Amoskeag.

The MHA owns over 40 Manchester-related quilts, and we are pleased to add this very nice quilt to our collection.

Did You Get Last Month's

Manchester Trivia Question?

Last Month's Trivia Question: The Flood of 1936 was Manchester's worst natural disaster, causing millions of dollars worth of damage and leaving 1,500 people homeless. One of the saddest stories from the flood was the destruction of the Manchester Zoo on Bass Island in which two hundred animals drowned. What was the only animal to survive, and what was it's name?

ANSWER: Chubby, a six year old tame bear, was the only zoo animal to survive the flood. Chubby had climbed onto a block of ice wedged between two of the zoo buildings. His trainer, Vernon Walker and another man went to his rescue in a motorized rowboat, at great risk to their own lives. They got close to Chubby and managed to get a rope around him. The bear jumped into the water and swam obediently behind the boat until they reached the shoe factory building. The first floor was under water, so for two hours the men persuaded Chubby to climb the fire escape. They then led him into a room on the second floor and locked him in where he was safe.

__________________________________________________________________

This Month's Trivia Question: What Manchester school was dedicated in memory of a Manchester soldier who died during World War I in France, just 10 days before the Armistice that ended the war?

The answer will appear in next month's newsletter.

The Manchester Historic Association is an independent tax-exempt charitable 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization with the mission to collect, preserve and share the history of Manchester, New Hampshire USA. The Association operates the Millyard Museum (Commercial and Bedford St.) and Manchester Research Center on Amherst Street.