Welcome to the DHS Insider, where you’ll get an inside look at some of the innovative and ambitious goings-on at the Delaware Historical Society (DHS) and meet some of the behind-the-scenes folks who make it all happen.

NEW AFRICAN AMERICAN RESOURCE GUIDE

For years now, one of the most frequent requests we receive from researchers is for a list of our collections related to African American history. We listened and went a step further. After two years of hard work from our staff involving employees from across the organization and two wonderful graduate assistants from the University of Delaware, we are thrilled to launch the DHS African American Resource Guide, now live on our website!

Organized and color-coded by format type (photographs, manuscripts, articles, etc.), this easy-to-use, downloadable guide allows researchers to locate collections of interest by clicking through the various sections in the table of contents. The African American Resource Guide is a fantastic tool that is even stronger when paired with our online catalogs and our digital collections site! You may find more detailed information on some items in the collections catalogs, while others are already digitized and ready for download.

Questions about the guide and how to use it? We’re here for you! Just drop us an email at research@dehistory.org.

The Read House Community Garden is in full swing

Hosted on the site of a World War II victory garden, our raised-bed plots are available for lease each season to DHS members and non-members. Today’s plots connect back to the history of kitchen gardens at the Read House and also look to a sustainable future through strategically placed pollinator species. Heidi Benson, Community Garden coordinator, has established an oasis for the local bee population with flowers like borage, marigolds, and bachelor buttons, all of which are not only beautiful but edible and pesticide-free as well. Besides bees, the pollinator plot helps sustain our hummingbirds and butterflies—all essential to supporting local vegetation and a healthy ecosystem.

DHS HITS DOVER

DHS Executive Director Ivan Henderson and Director of Institutional Advancement Kathleen Butler recently joined leaders from other local historical and preservation organizations in Legislative Hall in Dover in support of a forthcoming federal resolution recognizing Thomas Garrett as a heroic abolitionist. A state resolution was introduced by Senator Tizzy Lockman and Representative Stephanie T. Bolden, confirms Delaware’s support of a U.S. House Resolution introduced by U.S. Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester honoring Garrett for his role as a leader in the struggle against slavery in the United States.

Relish in the untold tales, many voices, and fascinating lives that shaped Delaware history. Speaking of Delaware... invites viewers to explore and appreciate stories from Delaware Historical Society collections. Topics include the paintings of Ed Loper, Miss Nagano, the Japanese Friendship Doll, Thomas Garrett’s silver tray and teapot, and other wonders from our collections.

TOUR OUR MUSEUMS!

These students from Shue-Medill Middle School were among the groups of young people who visited DHS and explored our museum spaces recently. They were led by Melissa Wilson and Aiden Martin, the president and vice president of their school’s Black Student Union.

Plan your visit here!

STAFF SPOTLIGHT

Debbie Harper

Debbie joined DHS last summer as the Read House & Gardens Curator of Education after a long tenure as Senior Curator of Education at Winterthur. Her connection with the Read House and Old New Castle goes back decades. She is the author of a 1992 Delaware History journal article about the historic preservation movement in Historic New Castle, and she briefly worked at the Read House thirty years ago when she curated an exhibition on the subject of historic preservation.

History is in Debbie’s blood. She recalls poking around antique shows with her father as a toddler and summer vacations consisting of visits to museums and historic sites throughout her childhood. A college elective course in Early American History cemented her career choice to work in museums.

Debbie views her role as a touchpoint between objects, stories, and people – people today, and people from the past. She facilitates visitors making connections that imparts greater understanding for what the past can teach us, and greater empathy for the whole of our shared human experience across time and cultures. The opportunity to guide people along that journey sparks her excitement like nothing else - “taking a visitor on tour and seeing some spark of new realization in their eyes – to see the moment their world view has shifted, and to know they are leaving the experience different than they were when they arrived – that is incomparable.”

Debbie’s favorite part of her new role at the Read House is training our Read House interpreters in seeing the meaning inherent in objects. Her exceptional career and varied experience have given her deep insights into the original meaning of objects when they were first made and the layers of meaning then ascribed to those objects by people in the following centuries.

SOCIAL MEDIA MOMENT

Old Town Hall saw a minor facelift recently when we did some repairs to raise this floorboard to be level with the rest of the floor. Preservation is a constant process, and our buildings need specialized maintenance to ensure they're around for generations to come.

BEST OF LUCK TO DELAWARE NHD STUDENTS

Next week 40 students from across Delaware will travel to the University of Maryland, College Park for the National History Day competition. The National History Day competition is the culmination of months of research, writing, and design by students, with the support and guidance of their teachers, and tough competition at the National History Day in Delaware state contest.

The Delaware Historical Society sponsored and coordinated the National History Day in Delaware program for over 20 years. To learn more about National History Day in Delaware please visit dehistory.org/learn/national-history-day.

ASK ED

Historical Societies are great resources not only for individuals in the community but also for cultural groups and local museums. The University of Delaware Museum Department recently requested this image of Winifred Josephine Robinson, 1st Dean of the Delaware Women’s College in the early 20th century, from the DHS Sanborn Collection of Photographs. The portrait of Dean Robinson is earmarked to appear in an upcoming fashion exhibit on the 1920’s at the University Museum. One of Winifred Robinson’s dresses is owned by the University of Delaware and will be featured in the exhibit. Dean Robinson is wearing a fashionable dress from the 1920s in the photo and therefore will make a nice “fit”. Incidentally, this same photo was shared in 2014 with UD in a blog celebrating 100 years of the Women’s College.

It was taken in the photography studio of Arthur N. Sanborn c. 1930 for the painter Stanley Arthurs who, according to Arthurs expert Scott P. Riegel, used it to make an oil painting of Robinson.

Winifred Josephine Robinson was closely aligned with Emalea Pusey Warner in efforts to secure women’s rights to higher education in the early 1900s. Largely through their efforts the Women’s College Bill was passed by the Delaware General Assembly on March 19, 1913. Robinson served as dean of the Women’s College from its founding in 1914 to 1938. She was a graduate of Columbia University (N.Y.) where she earned a doctorate in botany. When asked who should attend the Women’s College, she replied “those who love life and would live it more fully.”* *”Delaware Women Remembered” by Mary Sam Ward, 1977 publication.

STRAIGHT FROM OUR COLLECTIONS

Open air farmer's market on King Street, Wilmington, ca. 1955.

To view more photos from our collections, CLICK HERE!

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