Friday Visit to the Society

This is my first attempt to add information to this blog, or any blog for that matter.  Irene Hahn, our Webmaster for this blog and for our website, has always done the updates and she trusts enough to let me try.  So as I begin I find that I cannot even remember how to sign in!  Can’t even find my notes!  This is a terrible start so I will have to complete my comments and go with hat in hand to Irene and whine and beg for her help again!  So, for better or worse ...

I stopped into the Society on Friday to visit with Ron Marcus, our Librarian and “resident historian”.  I drove up and was happy to see that the place was hopping.  Viking Construction was on site and was busy replacing the windows of “this old house”.  It may not be well known that our building is owned by the city of Stamford.  The Society was chartered by the city to be the caretakers of Stamford History.  The building was built in 1914 and was an active school until it was no longer able to serve that purpose.  The site was the new home of the Society.  Unfortunately , after all these years it was still using the original boilers (burrrrrr that boiler was getting old and like all old things not running like it used to) and the windows were literally screaming when the wind blew.  Pity anyone that had to work there in there in the winter.  Now that I think of it, I wonder if we should add the boiler to our collection.  After all, it will be an official antique in another couple of years.  I have a feeling that would be given a big NO.  

Well, to make a long story short, the city bid out the job and hired Viking Construction to replace the boiler (no more coats while inside!!) and those rattling windows.  The boiler was replaced for this winter and what a difference it makes.  Now the windows are being installed.  We will actually be able to open them in the nice weather and be able to get rid of the heavy covering we needed to keep the wind out.  The natural light will be a welcome addition.   All of us are waiting for the end of this project so we can celebrate our 100th year of incorporation with a warm, bright building. At left:  Tony Casinelli and Alves Lemus - Viking Construction.

  I found Ron and as usual there were many people and things wanting his attention.  We settled into the library but politely left when Ann Case came to work.  Ann has been cataloging and renumbering our library to be compatible with the Ferguson Library.  Normally this would not be a problem to share space but everything had to be moved at least 10 feet from the windows and everything had to be rearranged and in many cases we had to move things out of the various rooms.  So we relocated to the auditorium.

Ron was called away again but I got to meet Emily Weissler.  Emily was at the “Society” working on her thesis on Urban Redevelopment.  Emily is originally from Riverside and is attending her senior year at Yale.  Her thesis will be about 60 pages.  She picked a good time to come to us as we just ended our exhibit on Urban Redevelopment in Stamford.  Emily was in Chicago for a time working and lobbying for public housing.  She told me that where and how a person lives is a direct result on a person’s life and how everything touches and affects them.  I did not ask her, mainly because I did not think of it, but I hope she will be willing to share her final document with us.

Isn’t it funny how one thing can lead to another?  Ron was called away to meet with Bill Levin.  Bill heard we were in need of volunteers and offered to catalogue and file the Urban Redevelopment and Lost Streets of Stamford exhibit into a “finding aid” for other researchers.  That should be done in a few weeks.  We will keep you up to date on the progress.

I never got to meet with Ron and will return another day.  He has a lot of information on new acquisitions to the Library.  I will share that with you at another time.  Keep looking at our website and here for that information.  See you next time.

Below is Haideh Molavi-Wassey our Office Manager next to her new window.