Events
May
Sun., May 16, 2 pm Annual meeting; slide show: Diverse Dorchester by Robert Severy and new exhibits
Dorchester Historical Society Exhibits
195 Boston Street, Dorchester
May 16, 2010
The Dorchester Historical Society is open on May 16th, from 11 am to 2 pm for tours of newly-installed exhibits. Following the tours, the Society's Annual Meeting will begin at 2 pm and will include a slide lecture by Robert Severy on the subject of Diverse Dorchester.
Take this opportunity to view the new Baker Chocolate exhibit, the newly-installed Huebener Brick display, a newly-enlarged Dorchester Pottery exhibit, and a new Roswell Gleason Pewter exhibit.
Baker Chocolate
James Baker took over chocolate manufacturing at the Neponset River mills in 1780. Over the next 150 years the company grew to become Dorchester's most famous company and its largest employer. In the late 19th century, Henry L. Pierce introduced the trademark chocolate lady or La Belle Chocolatiere, a symbol that became recognized around the world.
Huebener Brick Collection
Huebener collected one brick from each Dorchester house he thought significant, often when the house was being demolished. He then chose local artists to paint a picture of the house onto the brick. The collection, which numbers over 100 bricks, is not only a record of the architectural history of Dorchester but also an intriguing and possibly unique form of folk art. Edward Huebener, who was born in Dorchester in 1851 and died here in 1936, lived at a time when many of the fine, early Dorchester houses remained standing, and some of Dorchester's early homes are known only from the paintings in the collection.
Dorchester Pottery
Founded in 1895 by George Henderson, Dorchester Pottery Works successfully produced commercial and industrial stoneware until the 1970s. Dorchester Pottery's wares evolved over the years from primarily agricultural products to decorated tablewares. Mash feeders and chicken fountains were cast from molds for the farmer. Acid pots and dipping baskets were in demand by jewelry manufacturers, and Henderson's popular foot warmer was known as a "porcelain pig." In 1940, Dorchester Pottery's line of distinctive gray and blue tableware was introduced. In 1914, Mr. Henderson built an enormous beehive kiln 28-feet in diameter of his own design made of unmortared bricks. When it was carefully stacked with two or three freight car loads of unfired pottery , the opening was sealed and the kiln was slowly heated with 15 tons of coal and four cords of wood to a temperature of 2500- 3000 degrees Farenheit. After days of cooling, the door would be opened, brick by brick, and the fired pieces removed. The entire process took about one week to complete. By the 1950s when the Pottery turned out 1,700 distinct items twenty-five percent was tableware, and by the 1960s tableware was one hundred percent of the production.
Gleason Pewter
Roswell Gleason began as a tinsmith in the 1820s, but later with the encouragement of Daniel Webster, Gleason and one of his sons opened the first silver-plating establishment in America. His house and 15 other structures including stables, outbuildings and factory buildings were located on a property of 25 acres with a 1,000 foot frontage on Washington Street. Park Street was installed on the southern border of his land. Gleason's ability to adapt to changing tastes and to keep abreast of technical advances in manufacturing allowed his company to proper. When Gleason began the production of silver-plate, the style of his work began to change from the simple, traditionally inspired design of his early work to a more heavily ornamented and opulent style which better suited the tastes of his Victorian clientele.
June
Dorchester Day Weekend -On Saturday, June 5,take a tour of Field's Corner with the mytour Collaborative including the Dorchester Historical Society. Then on Sunday enjoy the parade.
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