Wells-Thorn House: A Glimpse into the Early American Home

I can't believe it's only Wednesday, my third full day here in Deerfield. It already feels like much longer.

Today the Fellows met with Josh and Horace to discuss the Old Indian House exhibition project we will be working on. We will each be assigned specific research and specific objects to research and write labels for. It should be an interesting project. We went through objects connected to the house and categorized them into groups and we came up with questions and ideas for the project.

Afterward, we did a room study/tour of the Wells-Thorn House. This house is open for public tours, but Josh took us on one and had us observe some of the interior decorating. We travelled from the early 1700s to the early 1800s as we walked through each room. Each room corresponded did a different architectural/decorative time period. It was interesting to note the changes in each decade or two in regards to the furniture, the hearth layout, the window and doorway positions, as well as all of the other decorative pieces. Each room was beautiful in varying ways and it was a great tour overall.

At some point we ate a quick lunch, but then we had another meeting about our Old Indian House research and what we have coming up for the rest of the week. We had a little break time before meeting for our dinner trip with Horace at 5:30. We drove about 25 minutes to the nearest Whole Foods and ate in the cafeteria there. We also took a quick trip to Target for odds and ends. It ended up raining like crazy here once again, but the day time was really nice with the temperature in the low 80s, as compared to the chilly 60s and rain the past few days.

Tonight's readings:

Alicia Annas' "The Elegant Art of Movement" in An Elegant Art: Fashion and Fantasy in the Eighteenth Century

Linda Baumgarten's What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America, "The Myths and Meanings of Clothing"

Marla Miller and Anne Lanning's "Common Parlor': Women and the Recreation of Community Identity in Deerfield, MA, 1870-1920"

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's "Cloth, Clothing, and Early American Social History"

Tuesday's Readings:

Frank Britton's London Delftware, excerpts

Amanda Lange's Chinese Export Art at Historic Deerfield, excerpts

Amanda Lange's Delftware at Historic Deerfield, 1600-1800, excerpts

Monday's Readings:

Susan McGowan and Amelia Miller's Family Landscape: Deerfield Homelots from 1671, excerpts

J. Ritchie Garrison's Two Carpenters: Architecture and Building in Early New England, 1799-1859, excerpts

Sunday's Readings:

Elizabeth Stillinger's Historic Deerfield: A Portrait of Early America, excerpts

John Williams' The Redeemed Captive: Returning to Zion, excerpt