HOW Old???

Mackinac is known for our lilacs and with good reason - our cold winters and limestone based soil are ideal growing conditions for lilacs.

Our lilacs tend to grow tall - compare the people to the size of the "bushes" in this photo (and these are not amongst the largest) :

But how old are they and how long have they been growing here...really?

If you listen to the Carriage Tours drivers, they tell the tourists that the French first brought lilacs to Mackinac. But it just seems really unlikely that either French fur trappers or Jesuit missionaries were hauling lilacs via canoe to plant on Mackinac, they were rather involved in other pursuits.

This particular myth makes us think of an alternative version of Johnny Appleseed - Jacque LeLac, anyone?

But at a recent presentation at the Mackinac Island Public Library, by Corinne Smith, author of
Westward I Go Free: Tracing Thoreau's Last Journey has brought to light the earliest written documentation of lilacs on Mackinac yet - in July of 1861 by Henry David Thoreau!

Suffering from "consumption," or tuberculosis, during the last years of his life, Thoreau decided, on the recommendation of his physicians, to take a trip to St. Anthony, Minnesota, to stay with a friend. He died nine months after his trip, so his notebook of the journey was never published.

He was on Mackinac from June 30 to the July 4, 1861. During his stay on the Island, Thoreau took extensive botanical notes and copied down local folk stories he learned from the county clerk, William Johnston, brother in-law of Henry Schoolcraft.

Thoreau may be best known as a writer, but he was also a botanist who collected hundreds of specimens of New England plants to create his own herbarium. In addition, he kept detailed journals, noting when and where particular species were in bloom - in fact, his journals are now being used by climatologists to to discern patterns of plant abundance and decline in Concord — and by extension, New England — and to link those patterns to changing climate.

One of these notes made during his stay on Mackinac stated: "apples in bloom - & lilac"

Will a reference in a currently unpublished diary or letter push that date back further?

Maybe...

But it doesn't change that fact that lilac time on Mackinac is magical - come visit next June and see for yourself!

Transport - October 2012 Bead Journal Project

When I first started this project, I intentionally did not research the ancient rune stones, as I did not want to be influenced by tradition - yet two of my stones ended up exactly following the traditional!

The first was my January stone: Ice. The second is this month's stone Transport or Horse.

The Horse is a rune of travel and change; it may indicate a spiritual journey and the need for faith in your own destiny.

When this rune is reversed, it warns of a restlessness and a desire to escape by traveling or moving away from the problem - a passage away from pain.

On Mackinac, the horse is an integral part of the lifestyle, serving to transport both people and freight. Yet the horses themselves have a routine of transport, traveling to the mainland each fall and returning in the spring - a potent symbol of seasonal change.

I struggled with an appropriate found object for this particular stone, but when our new kitten broke a small horse figurine, I had my horse representation!

This grouping, my January - October stones,  was one of several pieces I exhibited at Crooked Tree Arts Center as part of their Artists of Mackinac Island show - and it sold!

The Servant Problem

MRS. MILLEFLEURS.- "Oh, Angelina! I'm so glad to see you!-You must excuse my looks. I've been House Cleaning all day, and I'm almost tired to death!" 

Good help is hard to find!!!

Servants were the underpinnings of the middle or upper class lifestyle in mid-19th century America, yet they are a most misunderstood subject. I'll be exploring the myths and realities of  domestic service at the upcoming 2013 Ladies & Gentlemen of the 1860's Conference in my presentation, The Servant Problem: Good Help is Hard to Find.

HOW MRS. MILLEFEURS CLEANED HOUSE.

MRS. MILLEFLEURS.-"Oh, Bridget, do scrub a little more gently; you shock my nerves."

Many people have formed a viewpoint of domestic service based on classic novels and movies, such as Jane Eyre - but servants in England are far different than their counterparts in America. The "servant problem" is a constant refrain in literature of the period; the interactions between mistress and maid were frequently fraught with conflict.

Visiting the intelligence, the maid-of-all-work, the "Irish girl" - all this and more will be examined during my presentation.

If you've never attended the conference, it's an experience like no other: incredible presentations, workshops, original artifacts, quality shopping and more!

What Would You Do?

While visiting a small, volunteer based historic site, we encountered the following:

We've been involved with Civil War living history for a long time, but we've never encountered this bit of information before.

A quick google search shows many sites that discuss this story, interestingly enough, all with the identical wording.

Most also include another story, crediting George Washington as the source of the statues:

"The origin of the lawn jockey has been traced back to George Washington and the famous midnight crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas night. According to the story, among those with Washington was a twelve year old African-American named Jocko Graves. Graves wished to accompany Washington and the troops on the crossing but Washington felt it was too dangerous and charged Graves with staying behind with the horses. He ordered Graves to keep a lantern lit so that the troops upon their return could find their horses. After the raid against the Hessians, Washington and the troops returned to find Graves dead from exposure, his light still lit and in his hand. Washington was so moved that he commissioned a statue "Faithful Groomsman" to be made and placed by the young man's grave at his home Mount Vernon."

The Civil War story apparently can be traced to an article published in 1984 in National Geographic magazine, unfortunately I have not been able to find a copy of that issue. The writer shares a family history of the Underground Railroad and the statues - anyone thinking "Quilt Code"?

It seems fairly obvious that this is probably just the equivalent of a Civil War urban myth, in fact, a spokeman for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati has said that "there is no truth to the idea that lawn jockeys were used as part of the Underground Railroad."

Furthermore, experts, such as Ann Chandler Howell, who for 20 years has researched the cast iron industry of the 19th century, remain skeptical and have been unable to find any foundry records of production of such statues prior to the war years.


I'm well aware that in an uncertain economy, cultural sites are increasingly forced to rely ever more heavily on volunteers and donations and are sometimes pressured to display items that may not fit the objectives of the site.


My question is what is an appropriate response.action when you encounter such obviously erroneous information?


I would really like to hear from all my readers - the living historians, the artists, the Island enthusiasts, etc.

Myth - June 2012 Bead Journal Project

Mythology, and more specifically the term myth, represents a common misconception in modern American society. This misconception has bred certain interchangeability with the term "lie," when the true, academic form of myth is quite different. It is these myths, steeped in every culture throughout history, that provide deeper meaning and understanding of our universe, world, society and people.

I choose to interpret the force of myth for my June rune stone.

The creation myth of Mackinac Island involves a "great turtle" rising from the watery depths and allowing his shell to become a home for all the land creatures. I used a vintage Czech glass button to represent the turtle shell - I've been saving this button for a long time, waiting for just the right project.

The button is changeable, sometimes green, sometimes a reddish pink, depending on the light; I thought this was a great way to show the mutability of myth, how myth can adapt to the changes of society and culture.

 

I beaded the remainder of the stone in a "camouflage" pattern, to represent the idea of myth camouflaging truth.

I need to make a confession - I actually have completed ten rune stones and they are on display at Crooked Tree Arts Center as a part of the "Artists of Mackinac Island" exhibit - and they've SOLD!

I will be completing my final two rune stones and I suspect many more - they've been so much fun to create and have been really well received by everyone who has had the opportunity to see them in person.