Please join us as we spruce up Woodlawn for the summer. Please wear boots or sturdy shoes (it will be wet!), bring work gloves, and a rake if you have one. We will have coffee and donuts as we make assignments and you should be home in time for lunch. Thanks so much!

2021 Legend Athletic helpers

There are some big projects and fun events that are looking for sponsorship right now.

If you can help or want to know more, please call Kathy at 667-8671

Community Garden: We have beautiful plans (thank you Richard) to build 38-units this summer that will be available for the spring of 2023. Most of the beds will be raised two feet but 12 of them will be 5 ft for those who struggle to garden on their knees! There is also a combination of beds that are full and half size for those who don't need a lot of space to garden but want to get their hands dirty! There will be workshop space, a watering systems, shared trellis areas, and central seating.

Sunday Sounds; a series of five concerts from the front porch of the Black House. These start in late June and the line up is amazing! Lawn seating, coffee & treats, music and sunshine - what better way to enjoy a summer Sunday morning?

Fall Family Field Day; a terrific annual event after the success last year! Well over 100 folks came out to play games, press cider, carve pumpkins, tie-dye, get their face painted, play croquet, and just have a lot of fun! Mid October.

Outdoor stage; we will be building a semi-permanent stage for The Grand summer theatre camp and performances as well as yoga & tai chi classes, Open Mic evenings, readings, classes. Once we have it, we will wonder what we did without it!

Croquet League; Wednesday evenings in July & August, come out and learn a simple 'golf' croquet style game. Pure fun: outdoor games, friends, refreshments.

Caretaking Apprentice; over the next two years, we anticipate hiring two apprentices - one for grounds and one for facilities management. Richard and Mike are the perfect mentors and when they are ready to retire (for the second time), we will have effectively grown our own staff to carry on the standard of care for Woodlawn.

Today we take and share family pictures in a matter of seconds. All it takes is a digital camera and list of email addresses. And, barring any use of special effects, the likeness will be accurate. 

Imagine now what it was like in 1852 for John Black, then 71 years old, to receive his sister’s portrait after not having seen her for over fifty years. Details about how and when he received the portrait that is hanging at the top of the stairs, is revealed in the Woodlawn Archives.

John Black notes that he received a letter from his sister, Harriet Kerr, in the spring of 1852 informing him that “she had a portrait of herself taken and wishes to know” by what steamer ship she should send it from Liverpool, England, to his agent in Boston. After making inquiries, he directs her to the Cunard Line.

We next learn that on July 22, on the steamer “America”, a case forwarded from the customs house arrived at his agent’s office. It contained “a portrait of my sister Harriet” which “… will be doubly valuable to me as the likeness of a sister who is thought to resemble my mother very much.”

John Black’s final comment about the portrait, written August 27, 1852, beautifully describes one of Woodlawn’s most treasured objects: “The portrait is a very pretty one and neatly and handsomely executed. The features of the face struck me favorably as I have found she looked from the description I had of her from those who have seen her….It is a very pretty, interesting portrait and I am very much pleased with it…From my vague recollection I think it somewhat resembles my mother.”

The Black House will be open for a combination of docent-led ($15) and audio ($10) tours this summer. All children under age 16 are free!

The plan this year is to be open Thursday - Sunday, 10 am - 5:00 pm with late night until 6:30 on Thursdays! The led tours will be at 11 am and 2 pm. At any time we are open, you can come in and enjoy an audio tour at your own pace.

On many of those Thursdays, we will have some light refreshments and will invite a guest (curator, caretaker, landscape gardener, etc) to be available to talk about campus projects or items in the museum or the proposed Barn - a bit of a Q&A session so that you can linger in the sunny garden after work with a glass of something you enjoy and learn more about Woodlawn.

The season will be June 23 - August 28 and then Saturday & Sunday only in September and October. We will close in November and don't worry - we are planning something for December - not sure what, but it will be beautiful and yummy! Please tell your visiting friends soon so that they plan a tour and if it has been a few years since your last visit, think about coming up again - there is always something to see and learn at Woodlawn.

For general questions, click here