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Volunteers, Residents Keep North Adams Museum GoingBy Kathy Keeser
Special to iBerkshires
08:11AM / Monday, October 12, 2009
Photos by Kathy Keeser
 North Adams Historical Society coordinator Jeannine Smith shows off some of the items in the museum. Right, Patricia Robare became a volunteer after a trip to the museum. Top: Charles Cahoon poses with the railroad exhibit |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The North Adams Museum of History and Science may be one of the city's best-kept secrets. But members of the Historical Society want the secret to get out — and to getmore residents to visit and support it.
Tucked away in one of the old railroad buildings at Western Gateway Heritage State Park, the local museum is operated by the North Adams Historical Society and offers three floors of North Adams history — from its earliest inhabitants to its railroading heyday to its part in the moon race.
"It is important to keep the past alive for the present and the future, especially for the children," said Jeannine Smith, volunteer coordinator. Smith said school groups often visit the museum in Building 5A and sometimes the children, in turn, bring their parents, many of whom may not have known of the museum's existence or much about the city's rich history.
"I remember when North Adams had 17 dress shops for women," said Patricia Robare, membership coordinator. She also remembers when lots of trains were going through the Hoosac Tunnel and when her father worked in the mills that are now filling up with artists.
It's those memories that help the volunteers guide people through the museum and recall what the city used to be like.
For those with memories or roots in North Adams, they can start their research at the museum, said society Treasurer Gene Carlson, and utilize its reference materials that include hard copies of city directories dating back years, yearbooks, maps and files on citizens and businesses.
The museum is packed with lots to see and is changing and expanding — ladies' fashions, railroad and military uniforms, books, diaries, photographs, and hundreds of items from city families and businesses. There is a temporary exhibit space that changes regularly. The mix is eclectic; the museum's newest addition are the cast-metal letters that spelled out J.J. Newberry's on the old 5 & 10 on Main Street.
Gene Carlson explains one of the museum's old maps of the city. |
Historical Society President Charles "Chuck" Cahoon has been working on a model train exhibit that now takes up a large portion of the second floor. The exhibit is based on a 1900 map of North Adams and will contain a composite of buildings and trains from the era when steam engines ran through the Hoosac Tunnel. (More on the 5-mile-long tunnel can be found a few minutes away at the park's visitor's center.)
All the board members and others who run the museum are volunteers. Smith said she became a volunteer because "I wanted to do something and this is interesting and I enjoy it."
More volunteers are needed. It can be for as little as a three-hour shift a month, said Smith.
"I became a member after having such a lovely time when I visited when [Historical Society member] Ed Morandi was there," said Robare. "I later became more active and have just taken over as membership coordinator."
The society is largely self-supporting, she said. Grant funding brings some support, but most of the money comes from memberships, which is why the society is seeking new members. The requirements are simple: an interest in history, especially the city's history, and the desire to support a worthy local project.
Memberships range from $10 (Apothecary Hall) for individual and $20 (Mohawk Theater) for families up to $50 (North Adams House). Members get a 10 percent discount in the gift shop and four issues of the society's Journal of articles and photos of North Adams.
When you become a NAHS member "your donations go to keep the museum open and keep programs free to the public," said Carlson. "If you like history, especially local history, the museum has a good repository of North Adams history. It is able to be just North Adams and that is unique for a small city."
For more information, museum is open Thursday through Saturday from 10 to 4 and Sunday from 1 to 4; call 413-664-4700, e-mail nahs@bcn.net or write North Adams Historical Society Inc., Western Gateway Heritage State Park, Building 5A, North Adams, MA 01247. |
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