My View of Life on the Dock
The next meeting about the proposed new library building will be held this week on Wednesday January 30, 2019 from 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM. Then monthly: 01/30/2019, 02/27/2019, 03/27/2019, 04/24/2019. Confirm the meeting location whether Friend Room or one of two rooms upstairs/downstairs in Saunders.
“Retired Officers to Police City Library” by Ray Lamont, Gloucester Daily Times, January 29, 2019 Click here to read the front page article
The travel exhibition Memory Unearthed: The Lodz Ghetto Photographs of Henryk Ross originated from the Art Gallery of Ontario where this searing and important Holocaust photo collection is held and much of it digitized. You can explore more than 4000 negatives here: The Lodz Ghetto Photographs of Henryk Ross (http://agolodzghetto.com/)
Henryk Ross (1910-1991) was one of less than 900 known survivors of 160,000 confined to the Lodz Ghetto murdered at Chelmno, the first extermination camp established by the Nazis.
photo caption: details from exhibition wall text
Before 1939, Ross was a photojournalist for the Polish press and heroically that didn’t stop in the ghetto. He was forced to photograph identity cards for every captive, promotional material, and assignments, often gruesome, for the oppressors’ “Department of Statistics”. While photographing ostensibly for “work” he snapped away bearing witness, building evidence and leaving a record. His wife Stefa was imprisoned there as well, aiding and encouraging his activity. They were married in the ghetto. Ross’s cover necessitated movement, access to equipment, developing, and film: His perilous “employee” theft went undetected.
Henryk Ross was a brave front lines prisoner and artist surreptitiously documenting specific and deteriorating realities of the innocents for five years– building a body of persistent resistance. He was a war photographer and patriot I did not know before this exhibition and will not forget.
photo caption: selected photos on display at the MFA (click to enlarge and for more information) genocide day by day
Miraculously both survived, and some negatives. Ross’s work was used as evidence in the 1961 trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. They testified together. By then he hadn’t photographed anything for years and wouldn’t ever again.
“I buried my negatives in the ground in order that there should be some record of our tragedy… I was anticipating the total destruction of Polish Jewry. I wanted to leave a historical record of our martyrdom.”
-Henryk Ross
I wonder if there is a memorial plaque on Jagielonska Street near where he hid them?
The exhibition included examples of the Lodz ghetto horrifying, gutting circulars. I used Google translate to transcribe a few of the letterpress announcements. I imagine that the Art Gallery of Ontario will crowd source volunteer transcription one day.
Keep Calm and Carry On pronouncements here, too
Aug 12, 1940 Announcement 104: Jews! Remain Calm!
The events of the last days were triggered by the responsible elements that we wanted to bring chaos into our cycle. These people are aimed at the only important benefits allowed to organize positive and appropriate help for the population. In a short period of time since the creation of the ghetto, after great hardships, it was possible to obtain work from the outside for parts of tailors, carpenters, shoemakers, lappers and seamstresses; soon I will get employment for other crafts, as well as for handicrafts.
The Municipal Budget is Overstated.
Supplying children and the elderly is still in the foreground. Pomino will be equipped with kitchens for all: old and young. Regardless of the (?) general kitchen for workers and the unemployed, which will be issued with 10,000 tanks per day and for various layers (also for religious Jews) – block committees will continue to be supplied. this is a positive plan that must be spotted. this is not an easy task. therefore I am appealing to you with an appeal: keep calm. Do not allow yourself to be misled with irresponsible elements that would hinder your previous work and fulfill your future intentions.
I WANT TO SAVE PEOPLE.
I will do everything that is possible and I will strive to ensure that my tasks are carried out with all due diligence – Ch. Rumkowski
March 22, 1942 Announcement No. 371 : Resettlement
Subject: Orders concerning the transfer of the ghetto.
Spatialization of the western ghetto part…From the Donnersiteg, the western part of the ghetto must be cleared of all residents and workers. the people living and working there must therefore be in the east…
I hereby announce that the resettlement continues to take place on the initiative of the authorities. I urge the persons concerned – who are destined for resettlement – to do so. upon receipt of the departure request, it is essential that you arrive punctually at the meeting time prescribed by you, otherwise you will have to leave the country without any additional packing.
litzmannstadt-ghetto the 22nd, marz 1942 Ch. Rumkowski* is the oldest of the Jews in Litzmannstadt
excerpt from the MFA museum label (photo below) concerning Administration and Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski: “…The Elder of the Jewish Council, Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, believed the residents might survive if they became productive…Due to its remarkable productivity, Lodz was the last Polish ghetto to be liquidated. The Jewish Council played a problematic role in the history of the Lodz Ghetto. Its members were forced to implement Nazi policy, but were perceived as privileged in return. Rumkowski remains one of the Holocaust’s most controversial figures.”- MFA label
August 22, 1942 Announcement no. 428 Concerning the size of the ghetto
In addition to the previously no longer enter. Who does not follow this request and on Thursday d. 24 august 1944, after 7 o’clock early in these areas as well as in the already cleared still encountered, is struck, with death…
It is bounded by the area: in the west …
limited: in the east …
limited: to the south …
limited; in the East…
and slow to the south…
For special attention
Workers barracked in these areas in closed premises can remain in their workplace and be allowed to work in the same place.
Secret State Police
September 4, 1942 Announcement No. 391 General Curfew in Ghetto
Museum of Fine Arts display label (see photo above) “On September 4, 1942, Lodz Ghetto populace was told that elderly and sick residents and children under the age of 10 would be deported from the ghetto. This notice forbade the remaining residents from leaving their homes while deportees were collected. “From Saturday September 5 1942 from 5pm on a general curfew is in effect until revoked. Excepted are: firefighters, the Transportation Department, feces and garbage haulers, workers involved in the reception of goods at the Baluty Market Square and the Radogoszcz (station), doctors and pharmacy personnel.”
From the digitized archives: click to enlarge and read description
As this repository was such an exacting chronicle and similar camera format, I thought about American FSA/OWI photographers, Ross’s contemporaries, working with home front goals in the same time span as Ross, safe an ocean away. (In 1942 Howard Lieberman and Gordon Parks official assignments included portraits in Gloucester, Massachusetts, of family members missing deployed husbands, brothers, sons and daughters, of a community honoring Memorial Day, of fishermen hard at work providing “Victory Food From American Waters”. People helping. Brave souls.) FSA photographers and FSA had earned clout pre-1937. Did they inspire Ross? Decades later, did these artists ever come to know each other’s works?
Signs of clearing for the exciting Cape Ann Museum addition for a curatorial center on the White-Ellery property January 2019 Gloucester, Massachusetts
today new fence and visibility (above) vs google (below) old fence & more overgrowth…there is forsythia along there
It’s not something I see often on a cold January walk. Long before you reach the waters edge, from the road, out the window, across the marsh, colorful kiteboarding sails crisscross the horizon. What a visual treat and fun spectator sport. Treat yourself- go see!
It’s not something I see often on a cold January walk. Long before you reach the waters edge, from the road, out the window, across the marsh, colorful kiteboarding sails crisscross the horizon. What a visual treat and fun spectator sport. Treat yourself- go see!
Cape Ann Museum is pleased to present an illustrated talk with local historian and author Prudence Fish on Saturday, February 2 at 3:00 p.m. This program is free for Museum members or with Museum admission. Reservations are required and can be made at camuseum.eventbrite.com. For more information visit capeannmuseum.org or call 978-283-0455 x10.
Prudence Paine Fish is the author of Antique Houses of Gloucester: The Families Who Built Them, the Mayor Who Moved Them and the Changing Face of the Harbor Village, which was published in 2007 by The History Press. She currently produces the blog: Antique Houses of Gloucester and Beyond! According to her blog, she grew up in a small New England town with a mother who was an antiquarian, so it was inevitable that she would be exposed to old things. After graduating from UMass/Amherst she lived in Connecticut, taught school, married, and raised three children in suburbia. A move to Newburyport, MA renewed her interest in all things old. This background has now evolved into research, writing and consulting… all the things she loves to do. Pru is volunteer at the Cape Ann Museum and can often be found sharing her knowledge at the White-Ellery House when it is open to the public during the summer. On Saturday, February 2, Pru will talk about the once-common practice of moving and relocating houses. This program is offered in conjunction with The Little House: Her Story.
Image credit: The White-Ellery House (1710) in process of being moved, c.1947.
About the Cape Ann Museum
The Cape Ann Museum has been in existence since the 1870s, working to preserve and celebrate the history and culture of the area and to keep it relevant to today’s audiences. Spanning 44,000 square feet, the Museum is one of the major cultural institutions on Boston’s North Shore welcoming more than 25,000 local, national and international visitors each year to its exhibitions and programs. In addition to fine art, the Museum’s collections include decorative art, textiles, artifacts from the maritime and granite industries, two historic homes and a sculpture park in the heart of downtown Gloucester. Visitcapeannmuseum.org for details.
The Museum is located at 27 Pleasant Street in Gloucester. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sundays from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is $12.00 adults, $10.00 Cape Ann residents, seniors and students. Youth (under 18) and Museum members are free. For more information please call: (978)283-0455 x10. Additional information can be found online atwww.capeannmuseum.org.
For a detailed media fact sheet please visitwww.capeannmuseum.org/press.
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Rough harbor on the 24th vs this morning
It was so choppy !
GMG reader shared a beautiful sunset from earlier in the week, an aerial scene above the harbor with lighted boat far out in the sea
We needed a mouse. Today. No problem! Abacus Computer & The MacDaddy renovated December 2018 to add in a RadioShack partnership to their brick and mortar PC and Apple computer retail and repair shop at 238 Main Street, Gloucester, Mass. I hadn’t noticed the new sign till today.
I think Gloucester’s stunning Stacy Boulevard will soon be joined by another smart custom build. Cape Ann Museum estimates that a new collection center that’s climate controlled, accessible to the public, and programmable is estimated to cost 3 million and be finished in about a year. Wow!
Read more details in Ray Lamont’s wonderful coverage, Cape Ann Museum renovating barn, Building Collection Center, Gloucester Daily Times December 20, 2018
A wintry blue sky and fresh fallen snow — and knowing the magic of what’s to come!– lent a touch of Maxfield Parrish to the White Ellery site. The blue Community Preservation (CPA) sign reflects new work on the barn.
vs November 9, 2018
“This is Adare who just returned from Kenya,” writes Deborah French, Library Director of the TOHP Burnham Library in Essex, Massachusetts. The family captioned the photograph “So here is Cape Ann Reads with a giraffe!” What a super travel photo, and kind shout out to Cape Ann Reads and Cape Ann.
Several captivating and compassionate picture books included in the Once Upon a Contest: Selection from Cape Ann Reads travel exhibition currently on view at Cape Ann Museum focus on animal friends. Stop by to read the new books and see if you can find all the giraffe illustrations.
More Cape Ann Reads and library news: Gloucester Daily Times visits TOHP Burnham Library, Essex, Ma.
Scenes from Wingaersheek Beach, Gloucester, Massachusetts, an icy wonderland after first winter storm 2019
Jane Deering Gallery, 19 Pleasant Street, Gloucester MA
Artist Talk | Jeff Marshall
Sunday . January 27th . 2:00 pm
Jeff talks about drawing and his current work in the exhibition ‘Working the Waterfront’ If you missed Marshall’s acclaimed exhibition at the Cape Ann Museum, this is the last opportunity to view this stunning body of work, which is the subject of Marshall’s year-long observation of the ‘comings and goings’ on Gloucester’s Morse-Sibley Wharf. Marshall’s work at Jane Deering Gallery was recently noted by The Boston Globe’s Critics’ Pick as one of the best exhibitions to catch.
About the artist: Continue reading “Gallery Talk Reminder |artist Jeff Marshall at Jane Deering Gallery #GloucesterMA”
Moulton’s 4th stop today for MLK Day. He said they’re all busy despite a late night for Pat’s fans 😉! He spoke about Lewis, Civil Rights, Freedom Riders, and more before the awesome music next on the program.
photo caption: Gloucester Lyceum & Sawyer Free public library from Dale Avenue (beautiful Monnell and Saunders building)
September 26, 2018; August 27, 2018; August 22, 2018 (Rescheduled to August 27, 2018); August 13, 2018; August 9, 2018 MINUTES 2018 2017 2016
photo caption: Central Grammar apartments (left), City Hall (back), Sawyer Free library (right)
Approximately fifty attendees –including the library board and staff plus eight consultants from the firm, Dore & Whittier Project Management and Architecture— convened on the main floor of Gloucester Lyceum & Sawyer Free Public Library on November 15, 2018. Individuals from the Historical commission, Action Inc, Saunders House, Gloucester Green, a local middle school teacher, a Varian employee, library members and 3 teenagers were present.
I believe the light attendance was due to a feeling of repetition. The public meeting was billed as an opportunity to provide feedback to the library yet again. It turns out that the gathering was a required step in the next phase of the library building plans and as such was presented to be starting from square one. No matter how one tries to paint it, it’s not square one. “This is just a necessary step,” the consultants explained. “”It doesn’t matter.”
Since 2013, the library has facilitated and hired consultants to help with public forums related to the building and future plans. (Public and committee meetings, agendas, minutes, and strategic planning are requirements for grants and funding, not to mention big pursuits like new buildings or restoration). It is disconcerting that years of prior and extensive staff and public feedback are not aggregated and readied by the library board nor contracted consultants–especially as several in attendance were present at the January 11, 2017 meeting attended by 150+ that sent the building plans back to the drawing board.
That contentious January 2017 meeting was preceded by the corporators* meeting two weeks prior where feedback recommended recording and sharing public comments for transparency and efficiency and many of the same concerns were expressed.
*I am a library corporator and can attest that project updates have not been shared (albeit annual meetings) Corporators are a devoted library audience and might help.
In between the timing of that big 2017 meeting and this small 2018 one, the library pursued forums via ThinkGloucester facilitated by Gloucester Conversations for its strategic planning. At those forums, the library indicated that results would be shared in the fall of 2018. I was not the only one expecting those results linked on the homepage and printed out for the November 15th meeting. They weren’t. Following the meeting, a board member kindly shared the findings: Sawyer Free Library thinkGloucester Project Report_final 2018
State funding support for library buildings is guided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners ( MBLC). In part because of the state’s toolkit funding process, the November 2018 meeting became a fresh start and first step, Phase 1. I was told that the architects and designers needed to hear feedback “first hand” which is reasonable until you establish that yes in fact most of them had been at that most well attended public meeting to date mentioned above (2017), and have been engaged by the library and worked with the library committees for years. Although that money is disassociated as part of the MBLC toolkit next phase, each purchase order (PO) for marketing/public relations (PR) and phases towards new building plans can affect the library’s bottom line, and take years. When I find them, I will link to the library’s letter of intent, a list of costs for consulting to date (phases or not), building related work, marketing completed since 2013, and for the fine art removed.
In 2013 top concerns included new bathrooms, more staff, the Saunders building, art & archives, and the HVAC systems. Here we are six years later: I can say there has been no change in the bathrooms. The library needs more staff. Voices to preserve the John and Dorothy Rando memorial garden have arisen. The teenagers at the November meeting hoped for new lighting. Perhaps that’s an easy renovation. After six years, the library may have saved some money and developed outreach by conducting a local design competition, fixing the bathroom, and hiring staff. We may have move forward together to MBLC instead of what feels like a never ending “stage one”.
MBLC supports new builds that adhere to a best practice formula and adjusts as no two libraries or communities are exactly the same. For instance, specific additional square footage from a current footprint, varied “programmable” spaces, adequate parking and public input are guidelines. I would suggest that money be spent on clerks/recorders for the public meetings and the library should insist on that from their consultants (whether Dore &Whittier or not). I would hope that new input at every stage continues to be updated and evaluated. Why is the focus on “green” LEED not parsing the MBLC parking spaces requirements? The Boston Public Library did away with them–we should expect no less. Some rural or smaller communities may need larger library builds and new visions to create a statement cultural public gathering spot where there hasn’t been one. (Although I think that’s unlikely in MA.) Our extant library has a variety of gathering spaces. And Gloucester is blessed with an abundance of large, special public spaces that work in concert with the library. City Hall, Cape Ann Museum, Temple Ahavat Achim, the YMCA, and the Gloucester Meetinghouse UU Church are essentially library abutters and can pack hundreds. The Legion, Rose Baker Senior Center and Maritime Gloucester are short blocks away. The library can move events to off-site locations when and if it’s mutually rewarding. Mostly it does OK in house. Gloucester’s population hovers 30,000 which is the same as it was at the time of the last expansion. Does our population require more space? According to sources in the paper and the meeting, the building plans remain many years out. The Massachusetts funding model has decreased and according to the MBLC press release issued Nov 2018, “The longer a community goes without being able to start its project, the higher the construction costs will be.” At what point do the costs outweigh options like renting if building lifespans are warrantied to a few decades expectancy? If the process requires construction this costly, perhaps the state can reimburse communities more money, quicker, and/or develop other models?
You can read a range of reactions to the library’s November 15, 2018 meeting in an article by Ray Lamont in the Gloucester Daily Times: Sawyer Free Library plans still unclear, November 19, 2018
And a follow up article Library debate: to raze or expand. Decisions needed before state funding kicks in, by Ray Lamont, Gloucester Daily Times, November 29, 2018
Dore & Whittier was awarded the 197 million Newton North high school design and build, and multiple MBLC and MSBA contracts for the City of Gloucester. Here is a link to the complete project list published on their website (and photos below). You’ll need to go back and forth among the awarded category projects to separate work by town. (For instance, West Parish is listed but does not indicate “Gloucester” and the library work does not appear). The state sites don’t aggregate all phases either. The Massachusetts school PO status from March 2018 lists 3 awards: the East Gloucester Elementary School study, the GHS roof repair and the West Parish build.
The current website does not have a “button” or menu selection for new building plans. You can select from the calendar to see some of the meetings announced. You can select About to explore more about the board committees and some minutes and agendas. Some meetings are linked into the City of Gloucester calendar, too.
Round up of new library building coverage prior to November 2018: Continue reading “Upcoming meetings: Sawyer Free Library new building plans”
I don’t suggest that the treacherous bridge needs to be “preserved” or want to impede progress. However, I believe there is still time to repeat my pleas (since 2012). Great design impacts future investment. Is there a small way that the design can tip its hat to Edward Hopper, Gloucester, and New England for this landmark and beacon for Cape Ann, this cherished vista across the Great Marsh?
See GMG POST September 9, 2017 for design nod aesthetic suggestions (rather than structural) The budget is good! “Does the MBTA new design for the Annisquam River Bridge look like a prison tower to you?”
Here’s how the bridge and new condos looked November 9, 2018 (double click to enlarge photos from the wordpress mosaic format)
the design plans illustrated are the same as published previously
We regret that Meetinghouse Green is now frozen over solid and is not safe for parking or walking, so allow time to find on-street parking or use one of the lots in the Historic District. The front steps will be clear and sanded but please exercise extra caution when coming up from Church Street. You are also welcome to use the side entrance instead, close to the intersection of Church and Pine Streets, where there is an interior staircase and an elevator.
The 2019 GMF Martin Luther King Day Celebration event is in four segments separated by breaks with refreshments. You are welcome to attend part or all of the Program:
This free annual civic event is hosted by the Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation. GMF mugs, caps, totes, shirts, and memberships are available along with refreshments all through the afternoon and your support is greatly appreciated.
Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation
Front stairs open but approach is icy. Approach from side entrance. Many have suggested a temporary winter ice skating rink on this glorious spot but not in this way.
Do you have the same window treatment / view?! Flash Freeze sheets on any surface glazing commenced about noon on January 20, 2019, Gloucester, Mass.
It’s nasty out there. Safe wishes for those in need and all the helpers.
And #PowerforthePatriots…
Massachusetts Emergency Management Agencies power outage tracking MEMA map showed 541 outages at 11:40AM and has gone down and back up again –though not topping that number.
Gloucester, Massachusetts – So this is morning high tide 10AM
Scenes from Gloucester, MA, January 20, 2019, about 6:30AM and 35 degrees.
Fisherman at the Wheel memorial, Stacy Boulevard,
Three hours till high tide and surf is not placid
Winter storm prep at the High School. It’s easy to see why it’s going to be icy
Snow if you can still get some is perfect for snow cream!
Good Morning Gloucester 