From the Mitchell House’s 2012 Summer Intern

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • August 2, 2012

“I am no teacher, but I give them a lesson to learn and the next day the recitation is half a conversational lecture and half questions and answers. I allow them great freedom of questions and they puzzle me daily.” – Maria Mitchell in a letter to Caroline H. Dall, December 1865

One of my responsibilities as Mitchell House Intern involves conducting history-craft “Junior Historian” classes for children. These invigorating morning sessions are with students aged 7-11 who brim with enthusiasm and curiosity. Since I cannot predict the background of information my students will bring with them or which aspects of the lesson will interest them most, I create a flexible lesson plan. I highlight what is most important while allowing them the freedom to explore.

There are six themes that the Intern masters for the classes, with one round in July and a repeat in August. The themes are Nantucket architecture, oral tradition, a Nantucket girl’s life in the 19th century, a child’s amusements in the 19th century that were colorful yet Quaker appropriate, the development of lighting, and how a whaler would enjoy his downtime by creating scrimshaw. It is difficult to decide on a favorite. My art history focused education is likely what compels me towards our “Mystery History” architecture walking tour. Too often do people rush to get from Point A to Point B or look down at the pavement instead of taking in their surroundings. Strolls are a perfect way to savor the visuals and absorb the general feel of a neighborhood. I start class with a timeline of major house styles on the Island and flashcards of features such as dentils, transoms, and roof walks. Ready with clipboards and pencils, my students and I set out onto Milk Street to stroll and observe the houses. They have a sheet of paper where they can sketch architectural details with appropriate terms and keep track of the decorative door knockers. We pause at the Civil War Monument to discuss obelisks and columns before continuing up Main Street until we reach the Medieval Cottage before looping back on to Vestal and sitting outside the Old Gaol to read stories of haunted houses on Nantucket. My students are sharp-eyed and willing to share their observations and questions.

Some of the programs emphasize the two essential parts of 19th century Nantucket, namely the Quaker community’s influence and the whaling industry. Prior to burning whale oil as their main source of light, Americans relied on sunlight, fireplaces, and candles made from beeswax or animal fat. Rodents chewed through the candles which also smelled bad, so whale oil, especially that of a sperm whale, was a welcome evolution in the history of light. The 19th century also saw the development of the incandescent light bulb, although, to this day, the Mitchell House remains as it did when Maria lived there with no electricity. For this program, I tour with the students in the 1825 Kitchen of the house. First, I ask them to tell me what they use for light at home. I then ask them to identify sources of light where we are standing, and they point to the windows, fireplace, whale oil lamps, and lanterns. We also look at the materials that make up the kitchen objects, namely wood and metal, such as tin, as another link to our activity which is making candles. We become tinsmiths, hammering designs into cans that we then fill with wax. As we wait for the wax to dry, we talk about a very important source of light outside of the home – the lighthouse – and I share stories of brave women lighthouse keepers.

Through observation, conversation, and crafts, the students have the valuable opportunity to engage meaningfully with American cultural history. I look forward to my classes in August!

VSS

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By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger June 30, 2025
As we are now complete with the conservation of the historic Maria Mitchell Vestal Street Observatory (MMO), I thought it would be good to post a series of blogs concerning it history and activities, as well as some of the amazing people who have made it what it is over the last 100 plus years. Therefore, over the next few weeks, the focus will be on the MMO. And it is now open for tours – Monday through Saturday 11-1PM. Founded in 1902, the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) had its beginnings in the Mitchell House where Maria Mitchell was born. Over the first few years, the preservation of the Mitchell House, family artifacts, and the collection and display of Nantucket’s native flora and fauna, as well as a small library, were the key components of the MMA. Special “Moon Evenings” were held on the lawn and people observed Nantucket’s night skies using several small telescopes, including William and Maria Mitchell’s two-and-three-quarter-inch Dollond telescope. The popular evenings led to the inevitable – a desire and need to expand based on the demands of the visitors to, and members of, the MMA. In 1906, Lydia Hinchman, a founder of the MMA and a family member, purchased the house and lot adjacent to the Mitchell House. The house – once the home of William Mitchell’s father and mother – was taken down. The MMA began a dialogue with the Harvard College Observatory and its director, Edward Pickering, Ph.D. The connection to Harvard was to become essential to the success of the beginning years of the Maria Mitchell Observatory and continued a legacy of friendship and work – Maria Mitchell and her father worked with the Bonds who once ran the observatory at Harvard and the families were close friends. Besides his assistance, Pickering asked a member of his staff, Annie Jump Cannon, to assist the MMA. This “provided an indispensable collaboration for Nantucket astronomy,” with Cannon spending two weeks on the island in 1906 and 1907 lecturing and teaching. While back at Harvard, she continued to teach the students on Nantucket by mail. Cannon would go on to be recognized as the leading woman astronomer of her generation and as the founder of the MMA’s Astronomy Department. JNLF
By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger June 23, 2025
An older term, that we seem to not use that much anymore but maybe that’s in part because not many people “put things by” anymore. It is having a bit of a resurgence as people try to return to the garden and focus on local produce. My in-laws used to spend a lot of time – before I knew them – canning and preserving many different things – from jellies to string beans that became “dilly beans.” I, on the other hand, do not can produce. Frankly, I fear messing up the process and making my family sick. So, for now, I stick to making refrigerator jams and pickles. I have made some chive vinegar – that is frankly, amazing, and a brilliant shade of pink! But in any case, Bartlett’s Farm opened for pick-your-own strawberries on June 7 and I made my way over on June 8. My son has been asking for strawberry jam since about February – I told him I wait for fresh and local but he wanted some so badly he was begging for store bought. I almost caved but then I told him – out of season and they taste like cardboard – and also made a LONG journey to get to us. Once people ate with the seasons – now we do not have to with trains, planes, and ships crossing all over. It is also, why, oftentimes, fruit has no flavor. Produce is picked often before it ripens and “ripens” as it ships – or with sprays – and since many varieties have been crossed with others or engineered, we have lost the taste. I remember tasting a peach a few years back from North Carolina – fresh off the tree. After rubbing it to get all the “fur” off, I bit into an exquisite peach that tasted like a peach of my youth. So, Maria was not eating a strawberry in January but she was eating them in June – local and full of flavor. And likely, putting some by as well. JNLF
By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger June 16, 2025
June 1851 My Dear Sister . . . . Mrs. Dassel has painted me kneeling at my telescope. It looks like Adeline Coffin and is of course not handsome. If thee was here thee would have Mitchell’s {William Mitchell Barney, son of Sally and Matthew Barney} painted at once. She has a head of a child N. P. Willis that is very lovely. She has taken a room at the Atheneum and put up about a dozen pictures – very beautiful – Isabel is lovely. She has not tried to make a portrait, but a very pretty picture . . . . She is now engaged on Abra’m Quary – he is much flattered by it and it will be a fine portrait. I think we shall buy it or a copy for the Atheneum . . . . She will paint father also for herself – having made a pencil sketch . . . .We like her very much . . . . The above is from a letter sent by Maria Mitchell to her eldest sister, Sally Mitchell Barney. In it, Maria details what everyone in the Mitchell family is up to. She includes some details about Herminia B. Dassel, an artist who came to Nantucket to paint the last Native Americans and also took an interest in the famous Mitchell family. This was of course four years after Maria’s discovery of the comet. At the time of this letter, Maria was still the librarian for the Atheneum and the portrait of Quary that she mentions possibly buying for the Atheneum, she did buy as it hangs in the Atheneum by the front door today. Another Dassel portrait of Quary is in the collection of the Nantucket Historical Association and the portrait of Isabel Draper is currently on display at the NHA’s Whaling Museum – on loan from a museum in Rhode Island. The portrait Maria states she posed for at the start of the letter is in the collection of the MMA. It was given to us in the early 1990s by Sally’s great granddaughter – the granddaughter of Mitchell whom she mentions above as well. Maria and Dassel would become good friends – Maria was named the godmother of Dassel’s daughter. And the sketch of William made by Dassel that Maria states would become a portrait? It likely did come to fruition. It made its way down a side of the family but was unfortunately lost, likely sold as part of a family estate though we do have a photograph of it and one can tell it is the brush work of Dassel. JNLF
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