In Memoriam

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • Jan 03, 2013

Over the holidays, the Mitchell House and its curator lost a dear friend, supporter, and mentor.  Clarissa P. Porter was a champion of the Mitchell House and historic preservation and an enthusiastic fan of Maria Mitchell.  I do not remember just when I first met Clarissa, but I must have been a teenager.  Since that time, she has always been there with support, friendship, and advice.  She was tireless in her support of the Mitchell House’s conservation and one of the founding members of the Maria Mitchell Women in Science Award Committee.  Numerous non-profits here on Nantucket (and elsewhere) have benefitted from her enthusiasm and enduring support and some would not exist if not for her unflagging energy and volunteerism.  She continued to keep in touch and wanted to know everything that was going on, even when her illness made it more difficult.  She cared and she continued to care even to the end.  But there really is no end, for her spirit lives on in all those she touched.  I know that there is a piece of her that makes me who I am.

The step, however small, which is in advance of the world, shows the greatness of the person, whether that step be taken with brain, with heart, or with hands.  − Maria Mitchell

Recent Posts

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger 25 Mar, 2024
I have a thing for lichens and mosses. For a curator, of a historic house museum and one who also does stone monument conservation, probably not something you would think but. They are little microcosms of life full or all sorts of tiny things – and a small feast for birds looking for what they hold (insects). I am not here to identify this for you. I am here to have you appreciate its beauty. This large and lovely piece I found at the Coffin School on Winter Street laying on the brick path just before the front portico. To better appreciate it in a photograph, I put it up (temporarily) on one of the marble footings of the Coffin School’s columns. It is a stunner. Maria Mitchell took daily nature walks and was a naturalist as well. Her father, William, led daily nature walks for his students. It highlights the importance of observing things that you also might think do not matter, like this lichen. Next time you are our and about, try and look closely at how beautiful it is and how many chickadees might be clinging to the lichen and moss on a fence or the side of a house as they mine it for goodies! JNLF
By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger 18 Mar, 2024
March 21. {1855} I have held to tears just behind my eyelids for a month, not being able to cry because of the danger of affecting mother and being ready to do so, at every moment. I felt when this year came in, a sinking of the heart, as if it had more duties for me, than I could well go through with. I did not think of the many trials to which in less than three months I must be subjected. Maria started off 1855 with heartache and fear. Several of her close friends died – two of them within four days of one another. Her mother’ Lydia, in failing health went through a very serious bout which caused Maria “great anxiety” as she served as her nurse and caregiver. Happily, Lydia made it through though her health continued to decline over many years. I assume she may have had some form of dementia or possibly even Parkinson’s Disease or perhaps a stroke to start that then kept her in a state of deterioration as years went on. But those things were not as defined, or in some cases, well known or understood then. Lydia would die in 1861, so her family’s care of her, especially Maria’s, must have been some help in keeping her with them. JNLF
By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger 11 Mar, 2024
I have posted this during Women’s History Month before but because it is March and again Women’s History Month, I think it’s worth repeating. It’s clever and helps to tell an important story in women’s history while giving it a bit of a 21st century twist. It comes via the National Women’s History Project. http://soomopublishing.com/suffrage/ JNLF
Show More
Share by: