In Memoriam: Joan Manley

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • Sep 13, 2021

I cannot tell you when Joan Manley first popped into my life but she is pretty much there from the beginning of my MMA experience which goes back over thirty years. She was a long-time MMA supporter and served on the MMA’s Board of Managers for many years, as well as the Preservation and Repair Committee for more years than I can count. She was a fixture and always there to help out.

 

Joan and the MMA’s librarian Jane Stroup, also ran the Garden of the Sea down the street and around the corner from the MMA.  Joan made sure that the MMA’s buildings were always dressed for summer with pots of plants on each porch and entry. Joan was a quiet but strong person. She had an opinion but mainly kept it to herself. In my mind, she is always wearing khakis – sometimes khaki shorts – and a button down, rolled up at the elbows. Once or twice I remember a wrap-around skirt for a special occasion. But it was the khakis and button down that were sort of her uniform. 


When Jane and Joan sold their house and the garden, the garden went to the Nantucket Land Bank which today allows everyone to continue to enjoy its open space on the corner of Angola Street. That’s how Jane and Joan operated. Even though the greenhouse and outbuildings are gone, the house and the garden will forever be Jane’s and Joan’s to me. When they moved they went out to Sherburne Commons and I would still see Joan here and there. After some thoughts to moving off island, Joan did decide to stay and while I didn’t see her regularly, it was nice to know she was here. She gave several pieces to the MMA, including a painting of the rear of the MMA Science Library (now Research Center) by Bob Durand and a carving by Jane of an owl head in marble. Jane also sculpted and her brother, John Stroup, was an artist as well.


Poor health led Joan to leave island in the last year. She went to be near her niece whom she was living with when she passed away. Joan had asked me to take care of Jane and John’s headstone in the cemetery which I have done and will continue to do for her – and them. It will be sadder now knowing that Joan is not with us. 


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


JNLF

Recent Posts

Keep Calm and Bird On: May 2024

08 May, 2024
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.” -Edith Andrews

Shards

By Jascin N. Leonardo FInger • 06 May, 2024
I have written of my love for sea glass and pottery shards in the past and the recent replacement of the sewer and water lines on Vestal Street created a small shard collection over the last month. Since the work required the asphalt to be completely removed (all twelve inches of it!) and the road to be dug up multiple times as they worked to remove pipe, relay new pipe, hook up the water meters, and install drainage and manhole covers, this resulted in the earth in the street being tossed about quite a bit. And, with that, came the shards! Some of these likely came from the sewer line (yes, yuck) but others came from being simply in the dirt of the road – which was not paved until 1946/1948. Pieces were likely tossed out at times, made to act as filler in holes, or simply tossed. So I found all sorts of pieces I will keep here at the Mitchell House. They included: a lovely piece with a red floral, many pieces of plates, glass, the top of a late nineteenth or early twentieth century (medicine) bottle, glass shards, a flattened spoon, a brass knob (found by a neighbor) some nails, a spike, pieces of a larger container or two based on the size and curve and coloring of the shards, and possibly a Wampanoag stone tool. One person’s trash is another one’s treasures! JNLF

Is That A Wrap?

22 Apr, 2024
Yes. Well, almost. After about a month of working – and some living (staff and or neighbors) – on Vestal Street with all the sewer and water replacement work, the paving happened today (April 17, 2024). This is the first “layer” – a three-inch binder coat. In the fall, once time has passed, they will return for the final one inch of the finish layer. Some of the other things along Vestal Street will also be repaired and updated between now and the final coat – and a bit after that. But we are very happy, after all these years to have a modern system of piping – and all new drainage we never had before! While the curator in me loved the old clay pipes, they were riddled with roots from the trees, holes, and in some places, collapsed, and the twelve inches of asphalt had to go. Vestal Street was only paved in about 1946/1948 – and has not been paved in maybe twenty years so that is a lot of asphalt in about fifty years! And with climate change and the increase in how much rain we get in these heavy rain events, all that water rushed down Vestal Street with nowhere to go – except our cellars. I am sure the neighbors are happy too! A thank you to the Town of Nantucket’s Sewer Department, especially David Gray (who may regret giving me his cellphone number forever), N&M Excavating and Utilities (Dean, we appreciate you being so nice when we had too many questions), Victor-Brandon Corp for paving, and numerous others. We are looking forward to great flushing, powerful hose lines, and rainwater being whisked away via the new, never-before-had storm drains! JNLF And to all the N&M workers who wondered why I was constantly looking down as I walked along Vestal Street, you should see the trove of porcelain shards, glass, old nails, a bottle neck, 19 th century spoon, and even possibly a Wampanoag stone tool I found!
Show More
Share by: