Keep Calm and Bird On: About Our Collections

Ginger Andrews • Apr 01, 2021
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.”
-Edith Andrews

It’s human nature to collect things. The urge for a trophy, totem or souvenir, in actual or symbolic form, goes deep in every culture from the dawn of human history. But it also has a dark side. Starting in the 15th century, Europeans plundered the New World. Before photography, a specimen was the only proof a thing existed.


The development of western science in the 17th century only improved the excuses. By the 19th century, Natural History collections were all the rage. Nantucket whalemen brought back many “curiosities” for the Atheneum when Maria Mitchell was librarian.

But collections are truly important to science. They were part of the nascent Maria Mitchell Association from its founding. Plant and bird specimens which had been previously collected were early gifts. Properly preserved, a specimen reduces or eliminates the need for more killing.


With Edith Andrews, the ornithology collection was vastly expanded by salvaging birds found dead from window strikes or caught by cats. Herbarium, insect, mammal and fish specimens also grew.

The collections now include over 7,000 plant, 800 algae, 1,200 bird, 90 mammal, 150 fish, 26 reptile,10 amphibian, and over 1,600 insect specimens.


These are not just dusty relics. Since dawning environmental awareness in the 20th century, older collections have become increasingly useful to ecologists.



With new technologies such as DNA and stable isotope analysis, they represent a window into the past, a basis for comparison. It is as if they are books in a library of life we are just learning how to read. Researchers use our collections along with others. This Big-data availability far outshines anything even the largest museum could do on its own. As the collections are digitized, and are more widely available, they become ever more useful and important.

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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!
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