Connecticut Cottages & Gardens

Newport, RI (July 2009)-The Newport Historical Society is proud to debut its extensive clothing collection with the exhibit "Homespun to High Fashion". The exhibit opens on Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 4pm in the restored Seventh Day Baptist Meeting House at 82 Touro Street.

"Homespun to High Fashion" will feature rare examples of late eighteenth and early nineteenth century apparel from colorful, fancy dresses to plainer Quaker wear. All displayed in a newly restored 18th century interior with fashions that reflect the religious diversity of colonial Newport. Much of this collection has never been exhibited and is unusually broad. The Historical Society has a remarkable number of high fashion gowns of the 18th century that have been unaltered as well as a full range of colonial undergarments.

“Studying these pieces acts as a lens through which we can better view Newport's role in American history,” says Guest Curator Rebecca Kelly. “They help to tell the stories of the everyday lives of the people who inhabited this important colonial city.”

The Seventh Day Baptist Meeting House (1730) is the oldest Baptist church in the United States. The church is located on Barney street at the rear of the Newport Historical Society's Touro street headquarters. This building recently underwent extensive interior and exterior restoration work and is now open to the public. This is the first time in over two decades that the meeting house has been used as exhibit space by the Historical Society. “We are very excited about this exhibit, not only because it shares a remarkable and relatively unknown element of our collections with the public, but also because we are using the Meeting House in the way it was originally intended to be used when purchased by the NHS in the nineteenth century,” said Executive Director Ruth Taylor.

Along with the "Homespun to High Fashion" exhibit Rabbit Goody will speak on Thursday November 5, 2009 at 5:30pm in the historic Colony House on Washington Square. She is the owner, director and designer for Thistle Hill Weavers, a custom mill that for the last 20 years has been producing historically accurate reproduction fabrics, trim, and carpet. Her reproduction fabrics appear in many movies including Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Master and Commander, Amistad, The Titanic, Cinderella Man, and the Polar Express.

"Homespun to High Fashion" will only be on display for only five months through the end of 2009 due to the delicate nature of the antique fabrics.

This exhibit is open to the public starting August 14th on Fridays from 10am to 2pm, Saturdays from 10am to12pm and by appointment. The cost of admission is $5. For additional information and/or to obtain media photos please contact:

Elizabeth Sulock
Newport Historical Society
82 Touro Street
Newport, RI 02840
401-846-0813
esulock@newporthistorical.org


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Since 1845 the Newport Historical Society has collected and preserved various artifacts that relate to the history of Newport. The Historical Society makes these items available to educate the public along with research and enjoyment purposes. The Newport Historical Society believes that a knowledge of the past contributes to a fuller understanding of the present. For more information please visit www.newporthistorical.org

Robert Grant, a contributing photographer for Ct Cottages and Gardens, has shared with us some amazing images of icebergs in Antarctica with stripes!

The stripes are causes by layers of snow that react to different conditions. Blue stripes are created when a crevice in the ice sheet fills up with meltwater and freezes so quickly that no bubbles can form.

Icebergs that fall into the sea sometimes develop green stripes. A layer of salty seawater can freeze on the underside of the iceberg that is rich in algae giving the strip its green color.

Brown, black, and yellow lines and stripes are formed when the ice sheet grinds downhill towards the sea picking up sediment along the way.

Did you also know that waves can freeze in midair? With the cold Antarctic temperatures, the water freezes the instant it comes in contact with the air. The temperature of the water is already some degrees below freezing.

Legendary photographer Julius Shulman, whose iconic images defined the architecture of the modern era, has died at the age of 98.


A resident of Los Angeles since 1920, Julius Shulman spent nearly eight decades documenting modernist architecture in Southern California and across the globe. Among the most recognizable and iconic architectural photographs of the 20th century are his images of Pierre Koenig's Case Study House No. 22 (1960) in Los Angeles and Richard J. Neutra's Kauffman House (1947) in Palm Springs. His interest in photography developed into a career when he photographed Neutra's Kun residence in Lose Angeles with his Kodak Vestpocket camera in 1936. Neutra admired the young Shulman's work and continued to commission his other works. Other leading architects of the time followed suit with Neutra as well as hundreds of magazines, newspapers and book publishers. During his life he won various awards including the Architectural Photography Medal from the American Institute of Architects (1969), a lifetime achievement award from the International Center of Photography in New York (1998), and honorary doctorates from various academic institutions. He died on July 15th and is survived by his daughter, Judy McKee, and his grandson, Timothy, both of Santa Barbara.

"Julius Shulman was one of the greatest photographers and image makers of the the 20th century. Even in a biblical age he was an inspiration for generations of admirers, fans and friends. His house was open for everyone and thousands of pilgrims from all over the world came to see him, the man who created the visual memory of Modernism. He was a generous, kind and caring human being with a memory sharp as the latest generation of computers, recalling every trip he made and every photograph he took. I loved this man and I was blessed to have him as my friend and as a TASCHEN artist."
—Benedikt Taschen