Snow might still be on the ground, but the Greenbrier Historical Society has begun its spring cleaning. The artifacts are getting carefully dusted and vacuumed, the archives are receiving reorganization, and our closets are being cleaned out. (Shouldn’t all of our holiday decorations be put in one location?) Spring cleaning is always time consuming, but we usually find lots of great treasures!
A Snow-Covered North House
If you clean the way I do, the rooms scheduled for cleaning must be completely torn apart so that they can then be put back together, and more time is spent looking through the things that you forgot (or in the North House’s case, did not know) you had than actually cleaning. While organizing files in my office, AmeriCorps member Megan Ramsey and I found old copies of the Appalachian Springs newsletters, the Journals of the Greenbrier Historical Society, and technical leaflets on collections care. We also found the original minutes from the founding of the Greenbrier Historical Society in 1963. As this year is the 50th Anniversary of the Greenbrier Historical Society, this find was timely and incredibly interesting.
Minutes from the initial meeting to form the Greenbrier Historical Society, February 3, 1963
We also used Spring Cleaning as an excuse to change the Pete Ballard dolls that are displayed in the North House Museum. The Greenbrier Historical Society has 14 dolls created by artist Pete Ballard and each one of them depicts a style of dress from the 18th and 19th centuries. The dolls currently on display have flowers in their bonnets and colorful dresses – which remind us that sunshine and warm weather is hopefully just around the corner.
Pete Ballard Doll in Victorian Room
Pete Ballard Doll on Landing
Happy Easter Everyone!
Cheers,
Elizabeth McMullen
Executive Director
