THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 27, 1995 TAG: 9501250142
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 140 lines
IF YOU WANT the inside story on the history of Portsmouth, Barnabas W. ``Billy'' Baker is the man who can give it to you.
Since the summer, Baker has been the local history consultant at the main branch of the public library. A big man with a ready smile, Baker looks more like a former football player (Woodrow Wilson High School, class of 1938) than a bookish scholar. His knowledge of the city, however, is both extensive and thorough.
His part-time status belies his importance to the dozens of visitors who come to the library each week in search of some small piece of the city's history.
``Our traffic is increasing all the time,'' said Susan Burton, manager of the library's main branch on Court Street. ``Most are here for genealogy or historical research.''
Whether visitors are authors, artists, folks tracing family trees, or homeowners hoping to find some mention of their house's construction, they are likely to get what they need plus a few extra tidbits from Baker.
``He has such an intimate knowledge of Portsmouth and its history that he knows the answer, can find the answer, or knows somebody who can,'' Burton said.
With his often humorous, and always affectionate account of Portsmouth, Baker can bring alive a room full of books, photos, and documents.
Relying on his own experiences, the oral history he has collected over the years, and a growing collection of photos and memorabilia, Baker sprinkles major events and historically important dates in Portsmouth with personal anecdotes that reflect what life was really like at the time.
The hard facts of the Depression, for example, are made more compelling when Baker relates stories told by its survivors. During those hard times, the shipyard rotated employees rather than reduce force, allowing three men to hold the same job with each man working one month and taking two months off.
Baker tells how master mechanics furloughed from the shipyard would guide coal carts into customers' backyards for a nickel tip. ``But in those days, a nickel would buy a loaf of bread,'' Baker said.
Born in Portsmouth 74 years ago, Baker has watched the city through the eyes of a boy growing up in Olde Towne, an Air Force veteran returning home after World War II, a sheriff's deputy, a local businessman, and a politician who served as mayor from 1958 to 1960.
Baker's love of history started early. His mother's family had been in Portsmouth since the 18th century and his father's family had been among the original settlers on Cape Cod, coming to Portsmouth in 1846 to found a marine salvage firm and the Baker Shipyard.
``My Dad told me a lot about the family history and I was always interested in listening to the old fellas,'' Baker said.
As a child, Baker spent long hours at the library, reading and often staying late to help re-shelve books.
Ask him how long he has been working at the library now and Baker stops to consider. ``About three or four months, I guess,'' he said. ``Time passes, you know.''
The local history room of the library, formally known as the Virginia Honor Collection, contains 4,846 catalogued items, thousands of photos, and hundreds of documents, magazines, letters, and local historians' notes.
Forty years ago, B. D. White, a local Circuit Court judge, left to the library a collection of books that would become the nucleus of the local history collection. Those books were placed in storage until the library moved into its current building in 1963 and a special room was set aside for them.
Since then much more has been added to the collection including the papers of J. Cloyd Emmerson. ``One of the greatest men, historically, that Portsmouth has ever had,'' Baker said. ``We are indebted to him.''
Emmerson, whose family has been part of the city since Revolutionary War times, compiled detailed notes on everyday life in the city as well as major events up to 1873.
Emmerson's grandfather passed along to him a collection of letters and papers from a man named Jarvis who had served in the War of 1812 and personally had been acquainted with many Revolutionary War heroes.
Emmerson donated the papers to the library.
In the 1920s, Emmerson and another history buff, Claude Murdaugh, began taking photographs of Portsmouth, especially its houses.
``They had vision,'' Baker said. ``They didn't miss many homes.'' Those photos, as well as hundreds more from the ``Portsmouth Star,'' rescued from the trash and donated by former vice mayor Robert W. Wentz Jr., also are at the library.
``People don't realize what a treasure they have here in Portsmouth,'' Baker said.
It is the passage of time that has always fascinated Baker. He sees himself as just one of a group of amateur historians who, over the years, have worked to record and index Portsmouth's past. ``This project has been going on quietly for years,'' he said.
Baker would like to refine and expand the Portsmouth collection, but they'll need the public's help.
Baker is interested in books and memorabilia related to Portsmouth that can be donated to the collection. ``There is quite a bit in my attic and in other attics I am sure,'' Baker said.
He also is seeking old papers, letters, and documents such as deeds. ``A lady from Suffolk called me with some letters written during the Civil War era,'' he said. ``You would be surprised at what history you can work up from them.''
Photos, particularly those that show Portsmouth people living, working, and playing in the city, are especially valuable, he said.
``In later years the children who are not interested in history now may be more interested in the history of their parents,'' Baker said. ``We think this is a good depository for that history.''
Meanwhile, he plans to continue cataloging the current collection, including hundreds of old photos, many of which he recognizes from his boyhood.
Shuffling through a pile of prints, Baker found a picture of a house in Olde Towne. He knew all about the home's history. He also could point out the spot in the yard where he and his childhood chums had built a clubhouse more than 60 years ago. MEMO: Papers can be donated or loaned for purposes of copying. Photos can
be donated or loaned until negatives can be made for the collection.
Financial donations can be designated for the Virginia Honor Collection
through the McMurran Fund of the Portsmouth Public Library Foundation.
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO ON THE COVER
Barnabas Baker holds up a turn of the century view of Portsmouth
in a photograph by Mark Mitchell.
Photos
A view of High and Court streets. The clock tower in the background
still stands.
A ferry plies the waters of the Elizabeth River between Norfolk and
Portsmouth.
Since summer, Barnabas Baker has been the local history consultant
at the library.
The library is collecting old photos of Portsmouth, like this one of
the northeast corner of High and Water streets.
A photo of ``The Rangers,'' a Portsmouth football team during the
1930s.
KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH HISTORY PORTSMOUTH PUBLIC LIBRARY by CNB