Historic Cherry Hill

In a previous unpacking and reinstallation post, we got the great moving advice to put together the beds first. Since we can’t actually lay down our heads here, we started assembling our first bed today. There’s a special knowing that comes from putting together a bed, and after today, we know we never want to rest on this one, and that there’s a certain IKEA logic you can apply, even with a conservator and multiple history graduate degrees around. Most apparent is that there’s something special about your bed, a place for respite and a space of your own. Maybe that’s why Kittie Rankin wrote her name on it at least twice.

Still an active construction site here... #historichouse #housemuseum #historicsite #thisoldhouse #preservation #historicpreservation #preservationmatters #preservationisperseverance #capny #capitalregionny #albanyny #discoveralbany

It’s the little things. We met with leading museum practitioners and scholars yesterday to talk about what makes Historic Cherry Hill special, and to think through our stories and big ideas. It was the best day of our year, which says a lot as we see our restoration come together. We’re working on the big ideas and stories throughout the year, but one thing is for sure. It’s the little things that make Cherry Hill special. Details like this doorstop at the boys’ room that make it feel like you’re walking through a time capsule, like the Rankins just left.

Unboxed. Swipe to see what’s in here.

Back at it. Each box here is an object or four brought out of storage after 10+ years and returned to its rightful place. This looks terrible in many ways, but this Monday, we’re wearing it like a badge of honor.

We always talk about the Rankins’ decorating to showcase family heritage, but in a pairing like this, there’s also aesthetic choices involved. Look at the right carving with the curves and then the florid bouquets and ribbons in the wallpaper.

We’re opening the house! Behind-the-scenes restoration tours will be offered Wednesdays and Saturdays, 1-4pm. Learn about @historiccherryhill’s architecture and layers of history, and see for yourself why such a major restoration was needed. As our final phase of restoration commences, you might see work in progress, with walls being repaired, paper hung, or furnishings and art being unpacked and returned to their places in our historic interiors. The house will look differen...t each time you visit this year. Due to COVID-19, tours will be self-guided, though guides will be available to answer questions. We ask visitors to practice social distancing and wear masks to protect staff and patrons, and to ensure we can keep the house open throughout the season. Tour materials will be accessible through our website. These tours are free in 2020. Registration is required, but can be done up until 3:15 each day. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/self-guided-tour-of-historic-c

Rankin family political buttons and pins, here to remind you that it’s election season. Yes, season. Today is the first day of early voting in New York State. The first. Ever. Civic duty defined so much of the Rankins’ perspective, prompting military service, community service, and yes, political engagement. While the Rankins opposed woman suffrage, Kittie and Emily did go and vote once their right to vote was affirmed. It was their duty. The introduction of early voting in... the state helps in the pandemic, but it also ensures that timing, injury, work, or family obligations don’t keep people from exercising their vote. Early voting continues through Sunday, November 1 (locations vary and it may not be your regular polling place), leading to Election Day in Tuesday, November 3. If you want an absentee ballot, that’s now too: the last day to apply for absentee ballots is this coming Tuesday, October 27. We share this because it’s *our* civic duty. So make a plan, and vote.

The wallpaper is down, the plaster dust is flying, and the countdown to reinstallation of furnishings and collections has begun! There's only one catch--in order to keep up this pace, the museum will have to suspend tours beginning October 31. If you'd like to catch one last glimpse of the house "undressed," reserve a tour for Saturday, October 24 (1, 2, and 3 PM), Wednesday, October 28 (1, 2, and 3 PM) or Saturday, October 31 (1 PM only). More info below, or the link to reserve tours is pinned on our page. https://historiccherryhill.wordpress.com//as-restoration-/

Stored unstrung, without the bridge or tuning mechanisms, it’s an understatement to simply say that Jimmy’s violin was simpler than Emily Rankin’s (5th generation), with its painted decoration. And yet the two were stored in the same case branded KVVR for Emily’s ancestor, Killian Van Rensselaer. The storage mirrors some of the same paternalism that pervaded the relationships between 3rd and 4th generations at Cherry Hill and the Knapp children they adopted as wards and ser...vants. When Jimmy died in 1885, his brother asked for his possessions to be sent to him to be distributed amongst the family. The Elmendorfs and Kittie Rankin insisted things stay on site and be inherited by his younger sister, Minnie (1854-1903). Because Minnie was also theirs, the Elmendorfs and then the Rankins inherited Jimmy’s thingshis belongings were theirs as much as those belonging to their own daughter, and the violins were stored together as Emily became a proficient violinist. See more

As part of our NEH Cares project on Black life at Historic Cherry Hill, we started looking at instruments. Jimmy Knapp, you may recall, worked for a local music store and publisher. His violin was stored in the same box as this one, which presumably belonged to Emily Rankin. More on Jimmy’s violin and other instruments this week.

Things are moving quickly, and isn’t that just the way with projects, nothing for weeks (or months) and then you blink and you miss something? As Deborah shared in last week’s #BuildingStories #virtualtour, the plaster in the dining room was severely damaged, the extent to which we didn’t know until wallpaper was removed. Here you can see the exposed brick nogging and the remaining plaster from last Friday. And then by Wednesday, it was gone. You can see the changes yourself on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons at the house. Tours are free, but reservation is encouraged. Each week could be different discoveries!

A fall palette.

A special thank you to our latest #BuildingStories sponsor, Friends and Foundation of Albany Public Library! Thank you, FFAPL for helping us to tell the incredible stories embedded in Albany's buildings.

Good morning! The construction schedule requires us to be at the house at atypical museum hours, and gives us opportunity to appreciate this place even more. Here in Kittie’s childhood bedroom, the morning light comes in off the river and through the fall foliage, and casts a perfect glow. Might just still be tired, but waking up to this light could make any day a good day.