Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 7, 1990 TAG: 9004070152
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS GLADDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Visitors to the museum will be able to see earrings that Pochahontas wore, art from the Holocaust, gravestone rubbings from the Roanoke area and the art of the contemporary quilter.
The museum has been closed since mid-December while Center in the Square underwent extensive expansion and renovation. When the history museum opens its doors, all the organizations in the facility will be back in business, though some renovations in Center's new wing are still unfinished.
"White Gloves and Red Bricks," one of the four new temporary exhibits, celebrates 100 years of preservation in Virginia under the banner of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. Based in Richmond, the association is responsible for the continuing existence of many Virginia landmarks including the ruins at Jamestown, Bacon's Castle in Surrey, the Powder Magazine in Colonial Williamsburg and the Mary Washington House in Fredericksburg.
The exhibit traces the organization from its creation by two determined Eastern Virginia women - Cynthia Beverly Tucker Coleman and Mary Jefferey Galt - to the present. It's the oldest statewide preservation society in the United States, and it has 28 historic sites under its wings today. Over the years, it has made the transition from a movement devoted to enshrining artifacts linked to legendary Virginia figures to an organization that places emphasis on precise historic restoration.
The exhibit is a mixture of those artifacts and a textual and photographic record of the APVA's achievements.
The earrings made from mussel shells set in steel and silver belonged to the Rolfe family - the descendants of the husband of the Indian princess Pochahontas, who saved the life of Captain John Smith, according to the captain. A daring man, Smith was also known to embellish his considerable exploits so the rescue has been in dispute over the years. But Pochahontas was indeed a very real figure who has captured the imagination of Virginians for centuries.
Also on exhibit is the first object purchased by the APVA - a beautiful silver badge given to Cockcoeske, queen of the Pamunkey Indians, by King Charles II. Other objects include a wine bottle discovered during the excavations at Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America; a cradle used as part of the furnishings at Bacon's Castle; artifacts excavated at Williamsburg; and an 1845 painting of the ruins of Jamestown.
A more contemporary and disturbing exhibit is "Images From the Flames." It consists of art created by the prisoners of Terezin, a transit camp in Czechoslovakia for Jews on their way to death camps farther east. The Nazis portrayed the town as a model ghetto. But the 140,000 Jews who wound up at the camp found it to be a prison rife with starvation and pestilence. Approximately 35,000 Jews died there before they could be shipped to death camps such as Auschwitz.
Still, they clung to their culture, their religion and their hope. The artwork in the exhibit represents a courageous attempt at self-expression and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of an awful fate. Most poignant are the paintings of flowers and sailboats by children who, soon after the works were completed, died at Auschwitz.
Originally titled "Image and Reality: Jewish Life in Terezin," the exhibit was organized by the B'nai B'rith Klutznick Museum in Washington, D.C.
"The Roanoke Jewish Community Council came to us and asked me if I knew of a space for the exhibit, and I said I'd love to have it," said history museum executive director Mitchell Bowden.
In the space adjacent to the Holocaust exhibit, colorful quilts represent contemporary stylesand traditional styles.
One of the museum's major interests is textiles, and Bowden said this exhibit coincides with that interest: "People love quilts, and we've got our own collection."
The quilts were made by Alice Lynch, Betty Hatfield, Karen Wong and Mary Stuart Link. They range from Link's vividly colored traditional bridal wreath pattern (with tea-dyed areas to give it the appearance of age) to Link's whimsical Cat Sushi. The latter depicts a cat poking its paw into an aquarium hoping to snag dinner.
Near the quilts will be an exhibit of gravestone rubbings done by third-grade pupils at Monterey School.
The exhibits will be up for at least two months
The museum's permanent exhibit has also undergone some changes. It has been improved, according to museum officials, and the exhibits placed in a more chronological order. Some additions include a naive painting of a 19th-century Roanoke merchant, a mural from the American Theatre and several costumes ranging from the Victorian era to the Jazz Age.
The museum opens its doors to the public at 1 p.m. Sunday. Musicians Greg Trafidlo, Laura Pole and Jim Baldwin will be on hand to perform traditional Scottish and Irish music on penny whistle, guitar and bagpipes. Admission will be the normal $1 for adults and 50 cents for children.
by CNB