Staged for Visits
Like many during pandemic shutdown, members of the Butler County Historical Society used their free time to clean house.
The results will be available for inspection when the group's Senator Walter Lowrie House, 123 W. Diamond St., reopens to the public Aug. 22.
Jennifer Ford, the executive director of the historical society, said she and Sara Donaldson, the society's collections manager, used the time since the COVID-19 pandemic closed the Lowrie House in mid-March to go through boxes of stored material.
“We got more done in six months than we expected to be able to do in the next year and a half,” said Ford.
What she and Donaldson found were the belongings of the Sullivan family, whose members lived in the house from 1839 to 1959 when the house was closed up.
Isabelle Shaw gave the house to the historical society in 1986, and its contents were boxed up and ultimately placed in the group's carriage house storage facility.“We unpacked them and found Sullivan possessions: books, clothing, letters, linens, silverware,” said Ford.The two did the unpacking and sorting themselves along with an assist from the Potter Baseball Tour, a traveling baseball team whose members perform community service in the towns it visits.
Ford said, “They were miracle men. They painted and moved furniture. They performed miracles and the heavy lifting.”Ford and Donaldson used the boxes' contents to restage five rooms in the Lowrie House.“We used all the books, music, glasses, magazines, everything on the dining room table,” said Ford.On the first floor, the parlor, hall and dining room have been set up to look like a typical Sunday afternoon at home for the Sullivan family in the period of 1880 to 1910.The people living in the house at the time were Moses Sullivan, his sister Louise Shaw and her son George and their mother, Susan Sullivan.Moses and Louise's sisters, Matilda and Josephine, would have come over for a Sunday visit.
The dining room table is set for breakfast with egg cups, baskets of waffles and toast, fresh fruit and a serving bowl of oatmeal.After breakfast, the Sullivans would move to the parlor.
Ford said, “They would have spent the afternoon playing duets on the piano and violin, reading.”Three upstairs bedrooms will be staged with unboxed items as well, Donaldson and Ford said. One will be the children's room of Isabelle Shaw Adams, who grew up in the house in the 1900s.The whole concept being, according to Ford, as if the Sullivans had just stepped out of the room.“These were extremely well-educated people. They played the piano and the violin. They had read the classics. They were really remarkable people,” said Ford, adding going through their letters and books was “challenging and a joy.”Donaldson said, “The house has a new energy, a happier energy.”
Ford said they are still working on the upstairs, but she believes the house will be ready to be reopened to the public from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 22.Admission will be free, but visitors are required to wear masks, and guided tours of the house will be limited to six people at a time.“People who don't want to wear a mask, that's their right. But they can't come in,” said Ford.In addition to the tours of the newly staged rooms, there will be a yard sale in the side yard.Items for sale will include gift shop items, old books and items donated for sale.People needn't be afraid that a family heirloom or other items given to the society will be offered for sale.
But, Donaldson said, “People need to stop dropping stuff off or leaving it on the doorstep. We need them to sign something. They should email us at society@butlerhistory.com or call us at 724-283-8116.”Most donors seem to expect their items will end up on display, but for most the society will catalog them and store them away.In fact, once the room restagings are done, Donaldson said her next task will be cataloging and inventorying the society's collection of items in storage in the carriage house.Donaldson said she could use volunteer help in her task, especially those with an interest in textiles or clothing.
Ford and Donaldson hope to keep the Lowrie House open to the public after Aug. 22, at least on a limited basis.It will be open to the public from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays for a start. It will also be available for tours by reservation.The historical society's other properties — the Little Red Schoolhouse and Cooper Cabin — will remain closed to the public.Ford said the society is planning a number of events for later this year, including its “Echoes from Our Past — Historic Cemetery Walk,” an annual event in Butler's North Side Cemetery on Sept. 12 plus a Nov. 30 Christmas cookie walk at Lowrie House.Ford said, “We've had to make an adjustment. We haven't been able to have many fundraisers and events to get money. We've got to get the public re-engaged with the society. We've been off the radar for a while.”
