Greetings! It has been a busy season at the Amherst Historical Society and Museum. In May, the board got the Simeon Strong House ready for visitors and preparations for the Juneteenth celebration exhibition began. The exhibition by Ancestral Bridges includes over five dozen photographs of Black Amherst residents from the 1800s to the present that were enlarged for display in the Strong House.
In addition, their collection of Native American arrowheads and reproductions of prints of Native Americans went on display. This exhibition will be accessible to the public through the fall. Also not be missed are two paintings by Shirley Jackson Whitaker and the design for the Tote2Vote Bag created to counter voter suppression in the South. Also, three stunning straw hats designed and created by milliner and Town Council Member Anika Lopes highlight “Hat Corner.”
Visiting Curator Diana Lempel has worked with three college interns, Christal Zhou, Shannon Feng, and Danielle Efrat to create new exhibitions which will be installed next spring. More about this in a later Newsgram. The Amherst Cultural Council and Stamell Stringed Instruments are sponsoring a series of chamber music concerts, Strings at the Strong. Two more remain—August 27 with the Conway Fine Arts and September 3 with Cushman String Quartet.
We are eager to hear from those who would like to volunteer to serve as docents in the House.