May 31, 2025 • 18 mins
Most of the clothing in our closets is a few years old, max. Maybe you have some vintage in there, but nothing quite like the closet at the Plymouth Antiquarian Society. They have a treasure trove of clothing that, in some cases, is centuries old! As we approach the nation's 250th anniversary, the Society is highlighting some of its prized Revolutionary-era pieces. Executive Director Patrick Browne shares stories about the collection and talks about the efforts they take to preserve these special garments.
This segment is the seventh interview in our series "Revolutionary Roots", where we take a closer look at the stories, people, events, and local ties that connect New England to the nation's upcoming 250th anniversary in 2026.
This segment is the seventh interview in our series "Revolutionary Roots", where we take a closer look at the stories, people, events, and local ties that connect New England to the nation's upcoming 250th anniversary in 2026.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each and every week right here, we come together, we
talk about all the topics important to you and the
place where you live. It's great to have you back
with us this weekend. I'm Nicole Davis. Well, it's that
time of year. You have to go through your closet,
burrow through, make sure all your summer stuff comes out,
and if you're like me, then make sure you know
(00:29):
what to go buy at the store because a closet
monster apparently likes to eat all the shorts that fit. Now,
most of our clothing in our closets and in our
drawers is maybe a few years old. Max. Perhaps you
have some vintage, which is great. But down in Plymouth
there is a closet that has clothing inside that doesn't
date back just decades. It dates back centuries. It's all
thanks to the Plymouth Antiquarian Society and their efforts to
(00:51):
preserve as much history as possible, and what better way
to do it than doing it through fashion. On this
latest segment of Revolutionary Roots, we have Patrick Brown on
the show. He is the executive director of the Antiquarian Society,
and of course this series highlights the people, places and
stories connecting us to the nation's upcoming two hundred and
fiftieth anniversary. Patrick, thank you for your time, and before
(01:14):
we start talking in depth about the collection, give us
a bit of an overview about the society and the
work you do there.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Well, the Antiquarian Society is dedicated to the preservation of
artifacts pertaining to life here in Plymouth over the centuries.
We like to say sometimes that we handle everything having
to do with Plymouth after the Pilgrims. That there are
(01:41):
a number of organizations here in town dedicated to the
Pilgrim history, but we cover the generations that lived here
after that time. So we have three historic houses that
we own and manage, and one from seventeenth and one
from the eighteenth and one from the nineteenth century. We
(02:05):
have the harlow Old Fort House, which was built in
sixteen seventy seven. We have the Spooner House which was
built in the seventeen forties, and we have our headquarters,
which is the Hedgehouse Museum, which was built in eighteen
oh nine.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
And these homes are gorgeous. I've seen photos of them.
They're absolutely beautiful. But I'm curious these homes are centuries
old at this point, was it like trying to keep
them as historically accurate and you know, just still standing
frankly all these years later.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
It is quite a challenge. Indeed, you know, we have
a lot of preservation work that we do to the houses,
and that has been done to the houses over the years.
And of course this preservation work has to meet the
highest standards of you know, maintaining the historic integrity of
(03:02):
the buildings.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
So it is.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
It is complicated work, and it is off almost always
costly work. So we are always we are we are
always seeking support and in our mission to.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Better preserve these houses.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Now, you also maintain a Native American site called Sacrifice Rock.
This is right off Old Sandwich Road. And I really
have to say I appreciate how you all described this
as the other historic rock Implymouth, because we all know
about the other side that's closer to the closer to
the ocean. So tell us a bit about Sacrifice Rock
in the story behind that.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
So, Sacrifice Rock is related to the Wampanog people and
it essentially is a sort of a way marker along
the Native American trails in this area. According to Oral tradition.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Of the Wampanogue.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
There were these rocks, these way markers where traveling Native
Americans would leave offerings. And these offerings could be very
very simple, just a gesture, a symbolic offering, a stone
(04:27):
or a stick or something that they would place on
these wayside markers, and sacrifice rock was one of these.
So sacrifice is kind of a strange word that evolved
I think sometime in nineteenth century Tummith it sacrifice isn't
quite right. It's more like an offering, you know, leaving
(04:51):
an offering as a symbol of your respect as you
pass this way marker. The Pine Hills is an area
that has developed around Sacrifice Rock, and so we, in
in coordination with the Pine Hills, maintain that area.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Okay, so let's talk about one of the more unique
collections I'd say you have over there, the Society, and
one of the more unique collections, frankly I've seen in
many museums, and this is a collection of historic clothing.
And this is not a small collection either. You have
thousands and thousands of items.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Tens of thousands. It's one of the largest historic collection historic.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Clothing collections in the region.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
The women who founded this society, I think made it
their priority to assemble really the premiere historic clothing collection
in this part of New England. And I think in
that they really succeeded. They collected for decades and decades,
(06:03):
in fact, two or three generations worth of collecting, and
we now have approximately thirty thousand different pieces of different
artifacts of historic clothing and textiles.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
I mean, if you're going to be collecting historical artifacts
like this in the United States, New England is really
the place to do this because we've been front and
center of every wave of history here pretty much.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
That's right, that's right. And since these women were doing this,
you know, from the very beginning in the nineteen twenties.
You know, the organization was founded in nineteen nineteen and
they really got going with their activities from the nineteen twenties.
You know, since they were collecting so early on, the
(06:53):
unique variety of things that they were able to collect,
and the age of things that they were able to collect,
it was sort of before these things really vanished and scattered.
So we have some very rare, very old historic clothing objects.
So it's it's really a very very special collection.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Preserving a home is one thing. Of course, we talk
about that all the time, and you're doing a great
job of preserving those three homes that you have under
your care. But preserving clothing that is, in some cases
multiple centuries old, that I feel has got to be
pretty complicated. Considering fabric like wool and cotton and ray
on and whatever breaks down a lot faster than water
(07:37):
steel does.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Absolutely, Yeah, it's a very it's a very complex problem
that we have to deal with, and that you know,
we want to make sure that these items are carefully preserved,
that they are all housed and appropriate, you know, non
(08:02):
boxes and housing. And at the same time, you know,
we want to share these objects with the public, and
that's something that we're working on doing more of now.
But you have to balance that. You know, you can't
you can't have these objects on display too long. You
(08:23):
can't have these objects on display in places where they're
going to get too much sunlight or a subject to
any adverse environmental conditions. So there's a lot that you
have to take into account when you're dealing with fabrics
that can often be exceedingly fragile.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Well, you've got these parlor talk events focusing on clothing.
You will have one actually a couple of weeks ago,
focusing on clothing from the revolutionary eras we'll talk about
that in a moment, but you have a few more
coming up, one about military clothing, one focused on the
nineteen twenties. So it seems to me like you're able
to take these out in waves and make sure that
(09:01):
people have the chance to see them, but then, like
you said, put them away and make sure that they
don't really break down much more.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Yes, exactly, And so this is all these parlot talks
that you mentioned is all part of this historic clothing
initiative that we have going on right now. It is
our biggest project right now. Our top priority is to
(09:29):
really dig into this historic clothing collection, make sure that
it's properly inventoried, figure out how to best house it,
and figure out how to best share these.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Objects with the public.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
It's the number one priority in our current strategic plan.
And so the parlor talks is part of this. Are
you know, this is a part. It's all fascinating, but
I really love the part when we get to share
this stuff with the public. So the event that you
mentioned the clothing of the Revolutionary era that parlor talk
(10:07):
was sold out and was just a lot of fun.
We have one coming up on July eighth. These are
on Tuesdays at two pm. July eighth is the Dresses
of the nineteen twenties. We thought we'd jump ahead to
the twentieth century and share some of those items. That's
(10:31):
actually in conjunction with a major fundraiser we're doing this summer,
which is a Roaring Twenties gala. So yeah, we'll have
dresses of the twenties on display just in time for
that gala that takes place on July twenty six.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Let's touch on this Revolutionary War clothing exhibit that you
have and the collection that you have, because I would
not be surprised if they're was more interest, I would
say recently to see these because of the upcoming anniversary.
Is that the case?
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Yes, absolutely, I mean the two fiftieth of the start
of the revolution this year, and of course the two
fiftieth next year of the Decoration of Independence. You know,
these are major milestones in our nation's history. And yes,
there is a great deal of interest right now in
(11:27):
the Revolutionary War era, and so we are particularly happy
to be able to share these garments from the late
eighteenth century, from the Revolutionary era. I think this eighteenth
century clothing is one of the most exciting aspects of
this project because eighteenth century clothing in American museums tend
(11:57):
to be incredibly rare. They just don't tend to survive
that long. And it just so happens that the Plymouth
aniquarian society, because these women collected so aggressively, we do
have a large number of items clothing items from the
(12:18):
eighteenth century, and so it's they're rare and fascinating and wonderful,
and I would just quickly mention that, you know, we
have some items relating to I would say Plymouth's most
important couple during the Revolutionary War was General James Warren
(12:42):
and his wife, Mercy Otis Warren. General Chance Warren was
an important politician and important and military planning in Massachusetts,
but his wife especially fascinating, incredible, influential patriot, a woman
(13:06):
who wrote political satire and political contentary. She had to
do this anonymously, of course, because women were not supposed
to publish on such.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Matters back then.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Marcotis Warren is just a fascinating individual, and we do
have some small clothing items. A couple of them are
just fragments of her dresses. But we do have some
clothing items related to Marcotis Warren, and I think that those.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Are real, real treasures.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Even though the parlor talk has already taken place, the
display is still up and the Hedgehouse is going to
be open June fourteen from one to three and people
can come get a tour of the house and see
this revolutionary era clothing still on display.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
When we think of people from that in the eighteenth century,
we often only see portraits or I mean, certainly no
photographs at that point. But you see portraits and this
and that and the other thing, you can't really picture
it right in front of you. And I think that
this is such a great interactive way to I guess,
make it seem like these people are more real. Does
(14:20):
that make sense? Because I feel like when you see
people only in photographs or black and white or whatever,
it's different from realizing these are people that lived very
similar lives to the way I do, except of course
without technology. But you get the idea.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
Yeah, I too, And I know exactly what you're talking about.
You know, there's something very special, very unique about historic clothing.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
That makes you feel close to that person. It makes
you feel almost.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Like when you're looking at something that they wore, it
almost makes you feel like you're in the presence of
that person a little bit. You know, it's something that's
so person and all so close. And yeah, they're really
very special objects.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
I agree. Are you getting any help from people outside
of the society or outside of Plymouth to work on
preserving these items, because, like you said, thirty thousand items,
some of them clearly are not in the best shape
because of time doing what it does. Do you have
any other schools or maybe other historical societies helping you out?
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Well, we do, indeed have two wonderful outside conservators who
are helping us with this project and really spearheading the
first phases of it. And we have two textal conservators,
Renee Walker Tuttele and Katie O'Donnell, who are incredible experts
(15:56):
in this field and are helping us get this project
off the ground. So we're very fortunate to have their help,
and the project is bit by bit attracting attention. We
have some other experts in this field who are interested
(16:17):
in learning about the project.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Who are interested in even helping with the project.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
We have a few a couple proposals out right now
to get some other organizations perhaps to partner with us
on this, so we'll see how that goes. But yes,
I think people are sort of taking notice of the
fact that there's this wonderful historical resource here in the
(16:46):
form of this historic clothing collection.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
And preserving it takes money. Let's just be honest. Everything
takes money. And you mentioned you have your twenties gal
of fundraiser later on in the summer. But if somebody
wants to help out with the effort, now, how can
they donate to you and how can they assist?
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Well, they can absolutely visit our website Plymouth antiquarian dot
org and right on the homepage they will find a
button right there that says donate, and we would be thrilled.
Some people already have, and we hope more will contribute
(17:26):
towards this effort, because yes, you're right, this is a
costly preservation project and one that we think is probably
going to be a five year project.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Wow, five years. I mean it's thirty thousand pieces of clothing.
Even if it was twenty first century clothing, it would
probably take some time.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Wow, okay, Well, if people want to find out more
about the clothing, even if they can't make it down
there to the south Shore, they want to follow you,
perhaps on social media. Where can they get a hold
of you?
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Well, so two of the best ways are our website
Plymouth Anaquerian dot org, and they can sign up to
be a member. They can sign up to be on
our email list. Another great way that we share news
is through our Facebook page, and so you can just
(18:21):
search for Plymouth and Aquarian Society on Facebook and subscribe
and you'll get all kinds of news from us.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Patrick. This was really eye opening. Thank you so much
for all your efforts to preserve these pieces of history.
And I appreciate your time.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate your interest in it.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join me again
next week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole
Davis from WBZ NewsRadio on iHeartRadio.
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each and every week right here, we come together, we
talk about all the topics important to you and the
place where you live. It's great to have you back
with us this weekend. I'm Nicole Davis. Well, it's that
time of year. You have to go through your closet,
burrow through, make sure all your summer stuff comes out,
and if you're like me, then make sure you know
(00:29):
what to go buy at the store because a closet
monster apparently likes to eat all the shorts that fit. Now,
most of our clothing in our closets and in our
drawers is maybe a few years old. Max. Perhaps you
have some vintage, which is great. But down in Plymouth
there is a closet that has clothing inside that doesn't
date back just decades. It dates back centuries. It's all
thanks to the Plymouth Antiquarian Society and their efforts to
(00:51):
preserve as much history as possible, and what better way
to do it than doing it through fashion. On this
latest segment of Revolutionary Roots, we have Patrick Brown on
the show. He is the executive director of the Antiquarian Society,
and of course this series highlights the people, places and
stories connecting us to the nation's upcoming two hundred and
fiftieth anniversary. Patrick, thank you for your time, and before
(01:14):
we start talking in depth about the collection, give us
a bit of an overview about the society and the
work you do there.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Well, the Antiquarian Society is dedicated to the preservation of
artifacts pertaining to life here in Plymouth over the centuries.
We like to say sometimes that we handle everything having
to do with Plymouth after the Pilgrims. That there are
(01:41):
a number of organizations here in town dedicated to the
Pilgrim history, but we cover the generations that lived here
after that time. So we have three historic houses that
we own and manage, and one from seventeenth and one
from the eighteenth and one from the nineteenth century. We
(02:05):
have the harlow Old Fort House, which was built in
sixteen seventy seven. We have the Spooner House which was
built in the seventeen forties, and we have our headquarters,
which is the Hedgehouse Museum, which was built in eighteen
oh nine.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
And these homes are gorgeous. I've seen photos of them.
They're absolutely beautiful. But I'm curious these homes are centuries
old at this point, was it like trying to keep
them as historically accurate and you know, just still standing
frankly all these years later.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
It is quite a challenge. Indeed, you know, we have
a lot of preservation work that we do to the houses,
and that has been done to the houses over the years.
And of course this preservation work has to meet the
highest standards of you know, maintaining the historic integrity of
(03:02):
the buildings.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
So it is.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
It is complicated work, and it is off almost always
costly work. So we are always we are we are
always seeking support and in our mission to.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Better preserve these houses.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Now, you also maintain a Native American site called Sacrifice Rock.
This is right off Old Sandwich Road. And I really
have to say I appreciate how you all described this
as the other historic rock Implymouth, because we all know
about the other side that's closer to the closer to
the ocean. So tell us a bit about Sacrifice Rock
in the story behind that.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
So, Sacrifice Rock is related to the Wampanog people and
it essentially is a sort of a way marker along
the Native American trails in this area. According to Oral tradition.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Of the Wampanogue.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
There were these rocks, these way markers where traveling Native
Americans would leave offerings. And these offerings could be very
very simple, just a gesture, a symbolic offering, a stone
(04:27):
or a stick or something that they would place on
these wayside markers, and sacrifice rock was one of these.
So sacrifice is kind of a strange word that evolved
I think sometime in nineteenth century Tummith it sacrifice isn't
quite right. It's more like an offering, you know, leaving
(04:51):
an offering as a symbol of your respect as you
pass this way marker. The Pine Hills is an area
that has developed around Sacrifice Rock, and so we, in
in coordination with the Pine Hills, maintain that area.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Okay, so let's talk about one of the more unique
collections I'd say you have over there, the Society, and
one of the more unique collections, frankly I've seen in
many museums, and this is a collection of historic clothing.
And this is not a small collection either. You have
thousands and thousands of items.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Tens of thousands. It's one of the largest historic collection historic.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Clothing collections in the region.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
The women who founded this society, I think made it
their priority to assemble really the premiere historic clothing collection
in this part of New England. And I think in
that they really succeeded. They collected for decades and decades,
(06:03):
in fact, two or three generations worth of collecting, and
we now have approximately thirty thousand different pieces of different
artifacts of historic clothing and textiles.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
I mean, if you're going to be collecting historical artifacts
like this in the United States, New England is really
the place to do this because we've been front and
center of every wave of history here pretty much.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
That's right, that's right. And since these women were doing this,
you know, from the very beginning in the nineteen twenties.
You know, the organization was founded in nineteen nineteen and
they really got going with their activities from the nineteen twenties.
You know, since they were collecting so early on, the
(06:53):
unique variety of things that they were able to collect,
and the age of things that they were able to collect,
it was sort of before these things really vanished and scattered.
So we have some very rare, very old historic clothing objects.
So it's it's really a very very special collection.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Preserving a home is one thing. Of course, we talk
about that all the time, and you're doing a great
job of preserving those three homes that you have under
your care. But preserving clothing that is, in some cases
multiple centuries old, that I feel has got to be
pretty complicated. Considering fabric like wool and cotton and ray
on and whatever breaks down a lot faster than water
(07:37):
steel does.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Absolutely, Yeah, it's a very it's a very complex problem
that we have to deal with, and that you know,
we want to make sure that these items are carefully preserved,
that they are all housed and appropriate, you know, non
(08:02):
boxes and housing. And at the same time, you know,
we want to share these objects with the public, and
that's something that we're working on doing more of now.
But you have to balance that. You know, you can't
you can't have these objects on display too long. You
(08:23):
can't have these objects on display in places where they're
going to get too much sunlight or a subject to
any adverse environmental conditions. So there's a lot that you
have to take into account when you're dealing with fabrics
that can often be exceedingly fragile.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Well, you've got these parlor talk events focusing on clothing.
You will have one actually a couple of weeks ago,
focusing on clothing from the revolutionary eras we'll talk about
that in a moment, but you have a few more
coming up, one about military clothing, one focused on the
nineteen twenties. So it seems to me like you're able
to take these out in waves and make sure that
(09:01):
people have the chance to see them, but then, like
you said, put them away and make sure that they
don't really break down much more.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Yes, exactly, And so this is all these parlot talks
that you mentioned is all part of this historic clothing
initiative that we have going on right now. It is
our biggest project right now. Our top priority is to
(09:29):
really dig into this historic clothing collection, make sure that
it's properly inventoried, figure out how to best house it,
and figure out how to best share these.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Objects with the public.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
It's the number one priority in our current strategic plan.
And so the parlor talks is part of this. Are
you know, this is a part. It's all fascinating, but
I really love the part when we get to share
this stuff with the public. So the event that you
mentioned the clothing of the Revolutionary era that parlor talk
(10:07):
was sold out and was just a lot of fun.
We have one coming up on July eighth. These are
on Tuesdays at two pm. July eighth is the Dresses
of the nineteen twenties. We thought we'd jump ahead to
the twentieth century and share some of those items. That's
(10:31):
actually in conjunction with a major fundraiser we're doing this summer,
which is a Roaring Twenties gala. So yeah, we'll have
dresses of the twenties on display just in time for
that gala that takes place on July twenty six.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Let's touch on this Revolutionary War clothing exhibit that you
have and the collection that you have, because I would
not be surprised if they're was more interest, I would
say recently to see these because of the upcoming anniversary.
Is that the case?
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Yes, absolutely, I mean the two fiftieth of the start
of the revolution this year, and of course the two
fiftieth next year of the Decoration of Independence. You know,
these are major milestones in our nation's history. And yes,
there is a great deal of interest right now in
(11:27):
the Revolutionary War era, and so we are particularly happy
to be able to share these garments from the late
eighteenth century, from the Revolutionary era. I think this eighteenth
century clothing is one of the most exciting aspects of
this project because eighteenth century clothing in American museums tend
(11:57):
to be incredibly rare. They just don't tend to survive
that long. And it just so happens that the Plymouth
aniquarian society, because these women collected so aggressively, we do
have a large number of items clothing items from the
(12:18):
eighteenth century, and so it's they're rare and fascinating and wonderful,
and I would just quickly mention that, you know, we
have some items relating to I would say Plymouth's most
important couple during the Revolutionary War was General James Warren
(12:42):
and his wife, Mercy Otis Warren. General Chance Warren was
an important politician and important and military planning in Massachusetts,
but his wife especially fascinating, incredible, influential patriot, a woman
(13:06):
who wrote political satire and political contentary. She had to
do this anonymously, of course, because women were not supposed
to publish on such.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Matters back then.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Marcotis Warren is just a fascinating individual, and we do
have some small clothing items. A couple of them are
just fragments of her dresses. But we do have some
clothing items related to Marcotis Warren, and I think that those.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Are real, real treasures.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Even though the parlor talk has already taken place, the
display is still up and the Hedgehouse is going to
be open June fourteen from one to three and people
can come get a tour of the house and see
this revolutionary era clothing still on display.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
When we think of people from that in the eighteenth century,
we often only see portraits or I mean, certainly no
photographs at that point. But you see portraits and this
and that and the other thing, you can't really picture
it right in front of you. And I think that
this is such a great interactive way to I guess,
make it seem like these people are more real. Does
(14:20):
that make sense? Because I feel like when you see
people only in photographs or black and white or whatever,
it's different from realizing these are people that lived very
similar lives to the way I do, except of course
without technology. But you get the idea.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
Yeah, I too, And I know exactly what you're talking about.
You know, there's something very special, very unique about historic clothing.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
That makes you feel close to that person. It makes
you feel almost.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Like when you're looking at something that they wore, it
almost makes you feel like you're in the presence of
that person a little bit. You know, it's something that's
so person and all so close. And yeah, they're really
very special objects.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
I agree. Are you getting any help from people outside
of the society or outside of Plymouth to work on
preserving these items, because, like you said, thirty thousand items,
some of them clearly are not in the best shape
because of time doing what it does. Do you have
any other schools or maybe other historical societies helping you out?
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Well, we do, indeed have two wonderful outside conservators who
are helping us with this project and really spearheading the
first phases of it. And we have two textal conservators,
Renee Walker Tuttele and Katie O'Donnell, who are incredible experts
(15:56):
in this field and are helping us get this project
off the ground. So we're very fortunate to have their help,
and the project is bit by bit attracting attention. We
have some other experts in this field who are interested
(16:17):
in learning about the project.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Who are interested in even helping with the project.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
We have a few a couple proposals out right now
to get some other organizations perhaps to partner with us
on this, so we'll see how that goes. But yes,
I think people are sort of taking notice of the
fact that there's this wonderful historical resource here in the
(16:46):
form of this historic clothing collection.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
And preserving it takes money. Let's just be honest. Everything
takes money. And you mentioned you have your twenties gal
of fundraiser later on in the summer. But if somebody
wants to help out with the effort, now, how can
they donate to you and how can they assist?
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Well, they can absolutely visit our website Plymouth antiquarian dot
org and right on the homepage they will find a
button right there that says donate, and we would be thrilled.
Some people already have, and we hope more will contribute
(17:26):
towards this effort, because yes, you're right, this is a
costly preservation project and one that we think is probably
going to be a five year project.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Wow, five years. I mean it's thirty thousand pieces of clothing.
Even if it was twenty first century clothing, it would
probably take some time.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Wow, okay, Well, if people want to find out more
about the clothing, even if they can't make it down
there to the south Shore, they want to follow you,
perhaps on social media. Where can they get a hold
of you?
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Well, so two of the best ways are our website
Plymouth Anaquerian dot org, and they can sign up to
be a member. They can sign up to be on
our email list. Another great way that we share news
is through our Facebook page, and so you can just
(18:21):
search for Plymouth and Aquarian Society on Facebook and subscribe
and you'll get all kinds of news from us.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Patrick. This was really eye opening. Thank you so much
for all your efforts to preserve these pieces of history.
And I appreciate your time.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate your interest in it.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join me again
next week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole
Davis from WBZ NewsRadio on iHeartRadio.
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