Archive for the ‘Birds of a feather’ Category
The Wren’s Nest — National Historic Landmark, Fierce Competitor
The calendar next to my desk is the National Historic Landmarks Photo Contest calendar. Surprise to no one, I love it.
It doesn’t really mess around with things like “non-American” holidays or fancy words like “solstice” (June 21st: “Summer Begins”). What it does make room for, however, is the following, marked on August 21st: “National Historic Landmarks Program Established on this Day in 1935.” I like your priorities, my calendar.
(The Wren’s Nest, positively glowing about its NHL status.)
The Wren’s Nest is, of course, a National Historic Landmark. In case you’re wondering what that means, exactly, it’s this: that we’re awesome, and way more awesome than most other old things.
The numbers do the talking for us:
- There are over 1,000,000 sites on the National Register of Historic Places. Not too choosy, but nice, still.
- 80,000 of those bad boys are listed individually. (The rest are accounted for by things like historic districts and the contributing properties therein. Nice try, guys.)
- Out of the 80,000 sites on the National Register of Historic Places, only 2,430 are National Historic Landmarks like the Wren’s Nest. Yikes.
- This is definitive proof that we’re super special.
Obviously, inclusion in this calendar of similarly special old places would be terrific. Wanna help? Take a moment to look at the Wren’s Nest’s interior and exterior photos and vote on which one you think we should submit to the contest. If we win, we’ll totally share the proceeds ($0) with you!
Happy scrutinizing!
Related: This list of National Historic Landmarks by state is neat. (There are 48 NHLs in Georgia, in case you were interested.) So is National Historic Landmark Flickr account. And! This weekend (August 14th and 15th) is one of the monthly fee-free entrance weekends at more than 100 national parks. America, good work.
Categories: Birds of a feather, Historic Preservation, National Historic Landmark Fun, Shameless Promotion | Tags: jonathan hillyer, National Historic Landmarks,
Phoenix Flies — Be at One of Its Many Destinations or be Square!
Starting tomorrow and continuing through the 22nd of March, Phoenix Flies 2010 will be upon us. This truly amazing opportunity to see a huge number of Atlanta’s historical attractions — on the cheap — should not be missed.
Like so many of the other participants, the Wren’s Nest will be offering special events and extended hours, in addition to free admission for the weekends of Phoenix Flies:
- On (Saturdays) March 6th and 13th, we’ll have our regular hours (10am – 2:30pm) with two storytelling sessions: 11:30am and 1pm.
- On Sunday — you heard me — March 7th (as well as the 14th), we’ll be open from 1 – 4pm, with storytelling sessions at 1:30 and 3pm.
In other words, don’t believe a word of what you read on Pecanne Log. Except the part about Oakland Cemetery. That’s all true.
Phoenix Flies is put on by the Atlanta Preservation Center every year and, simply put, provides an outstanding range of events, almost all for free. If I may be a crybaby for a moment, this is one of the few times it really busts my hump to work at such a small place, because in order for the Wren’s Nest to be open for Phoenix Flies, we can’t, you know, attend many other events. Boo hoo.
So please, see all the neat things you can — for me. I beseech thee.
Categories: Birds of a feather, Historic Preservation, Shameless Promotion, Storytelling | Tags: Atlanta Preservation Center, Phoenix Flies,
“Ooh, Yeah, History Right There.”
The Wren’s Nest was featured this morning on CBS Atlanta in their “Blog Stew” segment, airing at 5:43am. I missed it. Shoot.
Luckily, the whole clip can be found right here. We’re at the beginning, in case you can’t free up more than 58 seconds in your schedule.
Sue Rodman, of the wonderful Field Trips with Sue, led the segment, and was kind enough to highlight the Wren’s Nest as one of the many, many worthwhile destinations being showcased this weekend as part of Phoenix Flies (more on that tomorrow).
The best part is that they’re basically scrolling through the Wren’s Nest Facebook picture page as they chat, meaning that Lain and I are now totally famous photographers. Well, along with Jonathan Hillyer.
Wait, did I say that was the best part?
I meant that the real best part is the quote featured in the title of this post, which embodies how I feel when I walk into the Wren’s Nest every single morning. Breathe it in.
This clip also highlights a challenge we face every day at the Wren’s Nest: “Joel Chandler Harris” can be very hard to say. Most frequently, people lob off the Harris and drop an “h,” leaving us with the esteemed Joel Candler. Being that we’re in Atlanta and Candler is a name seen often around town, it’s understandable. Plus, I mean, three names? Who does this guy think he is? Mary Lou Retton?
Anyhow, thanks to Sue Rodman and CBS Atlanta for showcasing the Wren’s Nest this morning — it was great!
Categories: Birds of a feather, Phoenix Flies, Shameless Promotion, Storytelling | Tags: Better Mornings, Field Trips with Sue, Phoenix Flies,
Decatur Old House Fair — Right Up Our Hallway!
This may come as a shock to you, but the Wren’s Nest is more than a National Historic Landmark celebrating literature, folklore, and African American history. It is also an old house.
A surprising (to me, I guess) number of visitors come here just as eager to discuss 100-year-old window panes as they do the work of Joel Chandler Harris. Living in an old house is a unifying factor, I tell you what, and Lain and I are in the know. (Let me just say that space heaters become really, really important.)
Which is why we’re so excited about the second annual Decatur Old House Fair on March 6th. The fair brings together experts in repair and maintenance, design, energy efficiency and historic research with owners of old houses and the likes of you and me.
Last year’s fair — with the awesome tagline “The Greenest House is the One Already Built” — yielded our relationship with Tom Bretherton, who ended up installing our windows during our restoration.
In fact, Lain had such a great time he’s now on the 2010 volunteer committee. If joining a committee isn’t a sign of love, I don’t know what is.
Added bonus: one of our Board members, Ken Thomas, is co-leading the “Researching Your Old House and What Style is My House?” seminar. Yay Ken!
Hope to see you there!
Categories: Birds of a feather, Events, Historic Preservation | Tags: Decatur, Decatur Old House Fair, The Wren's Nest,
The Georgia Trust’s 2010 Places in Peril List
This may be the one Top Ten list we’re happy not to be included on.
The Georgia Trust has released their 2010 “Places in Peril” list and, unlike 2007′s list, the Wren’s Nest was not included. Phew! In fact, we were even mentioned as a success story. (See paragraph fifteen of the AJC’s great article to be inspired.)
The list details historic sites in Georgia, from a still operating hospital (Central State Hospital in Milledgeville) to an archeological site (the Leake Archeological Site in Bartow County) that need attention, funding, and general help to stay afloat or, in many cases, existent.
The list can be a tremendous boon to the sites listed on it, though inclusion doesn’t guarantee results. It does, however, ensure attention and awareness, also known as “half the battle” (though I might push it to about 75% of the battle).
The list features two Atlanta locations, Morris Brown College and Herndon Plaza (pictured above), both of which are manifestations of African-American success in post-civil war Atlanta. We wrote about the Herndon Home’s troubles recently, and Morris Brown has had no shortage of local coverage of late. Still, I hope the Places in Peril list is the boost they both need.
Not to poo-poo our Atlanta brethren, but I am completely intrigued by two other places on this list. First, you have Capricorn Recording Studios in Macon, who we have to thank for introducing the Allman Brothers to folks outside of Macon. Southern rock aficionados, I leave this one to you.
My real favorite is The Old Dodge County Jail, mostly because looks like it was lifted directly out of Mayberry. The only difference I can gather, other than one being fictional and all, is the fact that the Old Dodge County Jail features a quaint “hanging room.” If the Mayberry jail had one, let me be the first to say that it was totally underutilized on the show.
Being featured on the 2007 Places in Peril list made a huge difference to the Wren’s Nest in 2006, and I hope it has a similar effect on these worthy sites.
Categories: Birds of a feather, Challenges!, Historic Preservation | Tags: Historic Preservation, Places in Peril 2010 List, The Georgia Trust,
Uncle Remus by Henry F. Gilbert — the Opera that Wasn’t
Henry F. Gilbert, an important early 20th Century American composer, collected scores of African-American folk songs and aspired to write an opera called Uncle Remus.
I swear I’m not messing with y’all.
Gilbert never secured the rights to the Uncle Remus tales and couldn’t complete his opera, but he did write its prelude. Gilbert derived these two songs, performed here by Nadia and Vladimir Zaitsev in 2004, from the prelude –
Nadia and Vladimir Zaitsev — “Uncle Remus”
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Nadia and Vladimir Zaitsev — “Brer Rabbit”
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Thanks to Fleur de Son Classics for permission to use the music. If you like it, consider ordering the album here.
The Uncle Remus prelude premiered at a Central Park concert in New York in August of 1910. 4,000 people attended.
The Boston Symphony performed the prelude the following year. Some people objected to the jaunty ragtime rhythms, but most responded positively “to the youthful vigor, the racy humor and the romantic nature of this new music.” Philip Hale, in the Boston Herald of April 14, 1911, wrote:
“The overture stirred the blood of the audience. All rejoiced in hearing a new voice with something to say and an original way of saying it. The fugue did not dampen the interest of the hearers, for the old form was used with dramatic spirit. No wonder that the audience, surprised and delighted, was for once in no hurry to leave the hall. [...] The overture is distinctively, but not bumptiously, not apologetically, American.”
Gilbert was one of the first American composers to break free of the Germanic style of classical music. For Gilbert, African-American folk music was a great source of inspiration and “seemed closely related to the spirit of all America.”
Gosh, sounds a lot like Joel Chandler Harris who, regarding A.B. Frost’s illustrations of Brer Rabbit and his critter friends, remarked: “We shall then have real American stuff, illustrated in real American style.” Shame he wasn’t around to hear the soundtrack… embedded in a blog post… on the internet. Really woulda blown his mind.
Related: Henry F. Gilbert: a bio-bibliography by Sherrill V. Martin
Categories: Birds of a feather, Historic Preservation, Joel Chandler Harris, Uncle Remus | Tags: Fleur de Son, Henry F. Gilbert, Nadia and Vladimir Zaitsev, Opera, Uncle Remus,
Emily Dickinson Homestead Lives Out My Historic House Nightmare
On Sunday, October 25th, a chunk of the ceiling collapsed inside the Emily Dickinson Homestead in Amherst, Massachusetts. This is my worst nightmare.
The New York Times devoted one paragraph to the news, and I gasped no less than two times while reading it.
While it’s true I’m a big baby and easily scared, this is like a timely, direct line to what frightens me. Happy Halloween! (Perhaps I’ll go as a piece of front parlor plaster this year and pretend to fall on unsuspecting “guests of the museum.” Topical costumes are always crowd pleasers.)
But for real, this hits a tad too close to home. As part of our tour of the Wren’s Nest, we point out the huge gap in the floor between the “new” (1884) addition to the house and the original structure. We chuckle! It’s breezy in winter! Brrr! Haha, structural inadequacies!
And let’s not forget this doozie.
That is a piece of wood, holding up our hallway. Now it’s an enforced piece of wood, which is only slightly more comforting.
Remember that time part of the foundation was missing? Me too! It was terrifying!
In short, as much as I empathize with the Emily Dickinson House and wish them the best, most of my thoughts can be summed up here — thank goodness our restoration took care of 97% of our issues, because otherwise I would have just peed myself.
Emily Dicksinon Homestead Photo: Nealy-J
Categories: Birds of a feather, House Museums, Whoops! | Tags: amherst, emily dickinson homestead, historic homes,
Nicknames for Joel Chandler Harris — Redhead — by His Colleagues at the Savannah Morning News
- Pink-Top
- Red-Top
- Our friend of the ensanguined fore-top
- Molasses-Haired Humorist
- Vermilion-Pate
- Naughty Boy of the Savannah Morning News
Amazing insight into JCH’s life courtesy of Stella Brewer Brookes and her tome of greatness, Joel Chandler Harris: Folklorist.
I’m pretty sure this also serves as a list of sweet nothings the Pecanne Log ladies whisper into Thomas Wheatley’s ears.
Categories: Awkward Introductions, Birds of a feather, Cruel Games, Failed Attempts at Looking Reputable, Joel Chandler Harris | Tags: Joel Chandler Harris, Pecanne Log, Redheads, Savannah Morning News, Thomas Wheatley,
(500) Days of Summer and Happy Bluebirds
Have y’all seen (500) Days of Summer?
If not, you should remedy that situation immediately. It’s a charming lil’ piece of cinema. It also sports a not-at-all subtle nod to Song of the South, as seen above.
It’s neat that despite attempts to sweep Song of the South under the rug, its cultural influence remains largely undiminished, especially in film.
I mean, it’s totally understood that a bluebird swooping in means good times aplenty. And let me tell you — it’s a legit good times in the scene above, hoo boy.
Categories: Birds of a feather, Disney, Song of the South | Tags: 500 days of summer, bluebirds on shoulders, joseph gordon-levitt, Song of the South, Uncle Remus,
The Wren’s Nest and The Allman Brothers Band’s “Big House” — A Side-by-Side Comparison
The AJC recently reported that the Allman Brother’s “Big House,” where they recorded many of their most memorable and influential songs, will open as a (house) museum this December.
Not only do we look forward to welcoming the Big House into the club of Georgia landmarks, but we also look forward to teaching them the club password and handshake.
In the meantime, let me highlight some of the similarities between us and them –
- “The Big House” is a nickname the band members gave the house based on its size. It’s big, you see.
- “The Wren’s Nest” is a nickname the Harris family gave the house because there were some birds there.
- The Big House is planning to present Duane Allman’s bedroom as it looked when he died in 1971. Expect some serious funk action.
- The Wren’s Nest has preserved Joel Chandler Harris’ bedroom just as it was since his death in 1908. Expect some serious spittoon and gourd action.
- The Big House will have a bandstand outside for shows and concerts.
- The Wren’s Nest has a concrete stage from the 1920s for children and their garbled singing needs.
- Members of the Allman Brothers Band would often stop by The Big House for a trip down memory lane.
- Old ladies stop by The Wren’s Nest to tell us how awful our “new” (21 years old) paint colors look.
- Some pretty awesome and influential art was created at The Big House. You know, about Midnight Riders.
- Some pretty awesome and influential art was created at the Wren’s Nest. You know, about rabbits.
Overall, the Big House looks pretty neat, and I’m excited to visit when it isn’t 106 degrees in Macon. I will not arrive by motorcycle. Thank you.
Categories: Birds of a feather, Fame and Fortune, Historic Preservation | Tags: Allman Brothers, Big House, Macon, The Wren's Nest,