Clinton Church Restoration completes purchase of historic church
Great Barrington — Clinton Church Restoration Inc. has finalized its $70,000 purchase of the historic former Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church at 9 Elm Ct. Community members contributed $110,000 toward the Phase l effort; the additional funds will provide a jump start for costly repairs needed at the property.
The former church, which has been closed for several years, was purchased from the A.M.E. Zion Conference’s North Eastern Episcopal District. Much work remains for the next phase of the project: the building needs a new roof and must be stabilized, interior gutting and mold remediation are needed, pews and furnishings must be moved into storage, and the contents of the church and its architectural details must be catalogued. Fundraising for Phase Il will begin soon and will include special events to awareness and education about race, justice, and civil rights in America. The project’s building committee, headed by board member and local architect Diego Gutierrez, is working with historic preservation experts, architects and contractors.
Planning for the ultimate use of the historic building and a sustainable future for the property is also underway. The organization is working with a visioning document created by interpretative master planner and designer Veronica Jackson after a public meeting and two design charrettes held in March. Jackson is known locally for her design of the interpretive panels at the W.E.B. Du Bois National Historic Site and Honoring Du Bois’ legacy is among the project’s goals.
“I look forward to bringing the lives of W.E.B. Du Bois, the late Rev. Esther Dozier and others to the forefront in this area,” said Dennis Powell, president of the NAACP – Berkshire County Branch and board member of the Clinton Church Restoration. “The African-American stories in this county are rich and full of inspiration for all.”
In addition to continuing the fundraising efforts, the Clinton Church Restoration project is looking for volunteers for a variety of tasks and committees. Those interested in getting involved are urged to contact saveamechurch@gmail.com. Donations to the Clinton Church Restoration fund may be made online or by check made payable to Housatonic Heritage, with “Clinton Church Restoration” in the memo line, and sent to P.O. Box 611, Great Barrington, MA 01230.
–E.E.
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Unpublished Edith Wharton play discovered by scholars
Lenox — The Mount has announced that two scholars, University of Glasgow American literature reader Laura Rattray and Georgian Court University English professor Mary Chinery, have made a new archival discovery of a previously unknown, original, full-length play by Edith Wharton called “The Shadow of a Doubt.”
The location of the discovery at the University of Texas at Austin’s Harry Ransom Center was unexpected. Wharton scholars have been traveling to the Ransom Center for over three decades to research Wharton’s papers. The source of their interest, however, was the author’s correspondence to her lover Morton Fullerton. What scholars missed was hidden in plain sight in the center’s playscripts and promptbooks collection: two typescript copies of “The Shadow of a Doubt.”
Penn State University Press’ Edith Wharton Review has published Rattray and Chinery’s findings in a journal article that includes the play in its entirety.
Rattray and Chinery have been able to establish that “The Shadow of a Doubt” was not only completed but in production by early 1901 with theatrical impresario Charles Frohman and with Elsie de Wolfe in the leading role. For reasons not yet known, the production was abandoned.
“The Shadow of a Doubt” is not referenced in Wharton’s autobiography, “A Backward Glance,” or in major biographies by R. W. B. Lewis, Cynthia Griffin Wolff and Hermione Lee. Its timing is crucial to understanding Wharton’s progression as a writer: Long before the publication of her first novel, it seems that Wharton was establishing herself as a playwright.
The discovery also broadens the understanding of Wharton’s work as a novelist, as the play rehearses motifs for “The House of Mirth.” The solidarity among women lower on the social scale as portrayed in the final chapters of “The House of Mirth” is in evidence in “The Shadow of a Doubt.” Equally important, Wharton later recycled major material and ideas from the play, including an entire plotline and the controversial theme of euthanasia, for her 1907 novel “The Fruit of the Tree,” throwing into question long established readings as well as the assumed provenance of that work.
When asked about the discovery, Rattray said: “The archives with huge holdings on Wharton have been extensively researched. After all this time, nobody thought there were long, full-scale, completed, original, professional works by Wharton still out there that we didn’t know about.”
The Mount’s executive director Susan Wissler hopes to present a staged reading of the newly discovered play in the near future.
–E.E.
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Ty Allan Jackson receives arts and humanities award from NEPR
Holyoke — Children’s book author and literacy advocate Ty Allan Jackson of Pittsfield was honored last week by New England Public Radio in a ceremony at the Log Cabin. Jackson, along with illustrator Barry Moser and the Northampton Jazz Workshop, was presented with an arts and humanities award for his tireless work to promote literacy and to empower young people to be “reading superheroes.”
Jackson started his own publishing company, Big Head Books, in 2010. Since then the company, which publishes children’s books with diverse characters such as its inaugural book, “Danny Dollar Millionaire: The Lemonade Escapade,” has become a platform allowing Jackson to visit schools across the country, delivering inspiration and education to children of all ages. His latest initiative, the READ OR ELSE campaign, is a nationwide push to promote literacy through visibility. For every READ OR ELSE purchase, Big Head Books will send a copy of “Danny Dollar” to a child living in a shelter or designated low-income school district.
–E.E.
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Fundraising dinner to benefit Morningside Up
Pittsfield — In support of its Morningside Up project, Alchemy Initiative will present the first Morningside Pop-Up at Hancock Shaker Village, a Latin-American dinner featuring local ingredients to raise funds and awareness for the neighborhood revitalization project.
Featuring La Fogata’s chef Miguel Gomez in collaboration with the Red Lion Inn‘s chef Brian Alberg at HSV’s Seeds Market Café, the event will bring the Morningside experience to new audiences, merging the farm-to-table mission of Seeds Market Café with ethnic food prepared by a local restaurateur as well as providing an opportunity for La Fogata’s proprietors to tell their story.
The event will begin at 6:15 p.m. with an optional complimentary guided walking tour of HSV. The cocktail hour at 7 p.m. will offer beer, wine and South American-based craft cocktails with a cash bar. Dinner will begin at 7:30 p.m. and feature a three-course Latin-American meal with a focus on fresh, locally sourced ingredients courtesy of Marty’s Local with cheese, chicken and beef empanadas served family style; a plated El Colombiano platter with Raven & Boar chorizo; local beans and arugula; rice and plantains; and a tres leches cake made with High Lawn Farm milk. A vegetarian option will also be available.
Tickets are $45 per person. See the Berkshire Edge calendar for tickets and more information.
–E.E.
