Dorset Historical Society Presents New Exhibitions

UNIQUE FIGURES IN DORSET’S HISTORY: Ralza M. Manly, Educator (1822-1897); Huntington P. Gilbert, Artist, Photographer, Poultryman (1876-1962); Elsie Niles McWayne and Marjorie Niles, owners of the Aunt Maria's Sugar Cookies (1947-1970); and Jay and Terri Hathaway, owners of Peltier's Market (1977-2004). This exhibition will be in the Main Gallery.  Go to the Summer 2010 Newsletter for more details. 

The other major 2010 exhibit, , DEAN FAUSETT AND THE 1869 POWELL EXPEDITION, will be in the upstairs artists gallery, the Venetian Red Room.  Go to the Collection Notebook  for more information about this exhibit.

Dorset and marble are virtually synonymous. The business of quarrying, hauling and finishing marble flourished for 130 years in the township of Dorset. From the beginning in 1785, until its demise just after World War I, the marble business extracted a total of 15,805,000 cubic feet of stone from some two dozen quarries.

What geological forces cause the formation of marble? How many quarries were active in the area? Where were the quarries located? How was the marble cut and extracted? What tools were used and invented? Who were the quarry owners and workers? How and where was the marble milled, processed, transported and used? These are some of the many questions answered in presentations in the Marble Gallery.

MAIN GALLERY

Jonathan Fenton first established his pottery in Dorset Hollow in 1800. After ten years in the Hollow, Fenton moved his plant to East Dorset to access more desirable clays for his stoneware. Sons Richard and Christopher continued the operation until 1833, when they moved to Bennington to join forces with the Nortons who had established the first pottery there in 1793. Stoneware bearing the stamp, “R.L. Fenton and Co., East Dorset,” was made between 1881 and 1832.

Fenton stoneware and rotating exhibits are featured
in the Main Gallery.

Visual and fine arts have long defined Dorset's image and reputation. The first recorded exhibit of work by Dorset painters was hung at the Field Club in 1904, to benefit the library. In the summer of 1922, five artists were featured in a show called "The Dorset Artists." Artists from Dorset and surrounding towns incorporated in 1933, as the Southern Vermont Artists, Inc. In 1950, the group purchased Yester House, now known as the Southern Vermont Arts Center, on the side of Mt. Equinox in Manchester.

The Society has identified over 35 artists with ties to Dorset many whose works are represented in the collection. Lorenzo Hatch (1856-1914) worked at the U. S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing where he executed a portrait of Ulysses S. Grant that was used on five-dollar silver certificates. Well-known native Dorset painters, John Lillie (1867-1942) and Arthur Jones (1928- ) remained in Dorset all their lives. Edwin B. Child (1868-1937) married Anna Sykes of Dorset and spent a decade at his home and studio in Dorset Hollow; his portrait of Noah Webster is reproduced in many Webster dictionaries. Wallace W. Fahnestock (1877-1962) designed four of the Dorset Church's stained-glass windows. Others with links to Dorset include the artistic family of Herbert and 'Nan' Meyer, their daughter, Felica, and her husband, Reginald Marsh.