LynnArts | Lynn Museum & Historical Society

Founded in 1897 as a place to collect the history of the rapidly changing industrial city of Lynn, MA, the museum in the Downtown Cultural District houses the community art galleries of LynnArts on the first floor and the artifact-based exhibits of Lynn Historical Society on the second floor. Set in an area described as “one of Massachusetts’ best kept secrets” by Mass Cultural Council, this perfectly sized museum is a quick visit to give a comprehensive overview of life in the so-called city of sin since its settlement by European colonists in 1629.

LynnArts

The first floor space featured two distinct art exhibits. Lydia Newhall Breed: Art of a Community Legacy featured the work of a local printmaker and illustrator who passed away in late 2019. Breed’s woodcuts featured scenes from the Massachusetts coast, like lighthouses and boats, where her family has lived since the 17^th century. In fact, Breed’s Hill in Boston was named after her ancestor. Besides Lydia N. Breed’s success as an artist, she was a founding member of The Boston Printmakers, which began in 1947 and celebrated its 75^th anniversary in 2022. This organization sponsored the exhibit, along with The Art Corner of Salem, MiraMar Print Lab Art Gallery & Studio of Swampscott, and Stanhope Framers of Somerville and Boston. This exhibit was truly a community effort.

On the opposite side of the gallery was Khmer Identity: Shadows with modern art created by Khmer people from Cambodia. The paintings combine traditional motifs with modern illustrations that express their fear and grief surrounding the Pol Pot genocide and Khmer Rouge regime during the 1970s. The exhibit was designed in collaboration between Khmer language teacher Daveth Cheth, illustrator and Salem State graduate Cindy Sous, and MassArt graduate Davey Chhoeun. All three work at the Khmer Identity organization based in Lynn. This exhibit was sponsored by Lynn Cultural Council, along with a grant from Historic New England, which demonstrates the important contributions of Khmer language and traditions to New England culture as a whole.

Also on the first floor were permanent installations related to Lynn history. An oversized can of Marshmallow fluff adorned the wall behind the admissions desk, while an enormous woman’s boot hung from the ceiling. In each of the windows was a round piece of stained glass highlighting different parts of Lynn history, including sailing, boot making, electrical engineering, and early colonial settlement.

Lynn Historical Society

While only the three exhibits were on display at the time, the museum had no shortage of Lynn history. From a cute yet educational diorama to political pieces from the abolitionist movement to the standard fire buckets and clocks that populate all historical museums, the building is chock full of great artifacts and excellent signage.

Todd Gieg’s Narrow Gauge Diorama

I love miniatures and dioramas of all sizes, so this 19^th century recreation of the Lynn cityscape created by local artist Todd Gieg was a great find. The diorama gets its name from the Boston, Revere Beach, & Lynn Railroad, which had narrow-gauge rails measuring three foot wide (one yard). The railroad opened in 1875 after a $300,000 investment by Alpheus Perley Blake. The railroad closed in 1940 after the Great Depression and the rise of cars led to its abandonment. Today, the MBTA’s Blue Line uses the railroad stations built for the BRB&L, but the tracks have been increased to standard-gauge, or a width of four feet, eight and a half inches. Alongside the diorama is a television playing a series of videos where Gieg describes the on-going research and construction process. Visit the Lynn Museum / Lynn Arts Vimeo page to watch the videos.

Industry & Craft: People at Work in Lynn

Like many cities and towns throughout New England, Lynn was heavily shaped by the Industrial Revolution during the 19^th and 20^th century. The way of working change from the artistic creativity of craftsmen to the mass production of factories. The exhibit argues that “industry and craft are intertwined”, as industrialists scaled traditional medicine for systemized manufacturing or enabled an ice harvest to cool communities into the summer. One case displayed packaging for Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compote, a medicine debuting in 1875 as an equivalent to a women’s multivitamin plus ibuprofen with a main ingredient of alcohol, much like vitameatavegamin of I Love Lucy fame. This combination of ingredients is somewhat surprising, as Lydia Estes Pinkham was born into a Quaker family in Lynn. While Pinkham’s success as an entrepreneur was more thanks to her skills in marketing than the effectiveness of her product, she did contribute to the abolitionist and women’s rights movements. A version of the product with a somewhat lower alcohol content is still sold today.

Many other artifacts were on display in this exhibit. A Krippendorf calculator invented by Lynn resident Paul Krippendorf was accompanied by a newspaper article explaining how the machine was used to make shoes in the 19^th century. A full shoe making machine and several displays of lasts, the wooden foot-like forms used to shape shoes during production, demonstrated the interplay between machines and workers during the production process, a system still used by modern footwear manufacturers. A small loom showed the transition between hand powered to machine powered weaving, while a firebucket painted by Lynn Fire Club member Gideon Phillips in 1839 blurred the line between craft and art.

Collecting for: The Artifacts of Lynn

This clever exhibit combines the history of manufacturing and abolition in Lynn with the techniques used to collect for a museum and curate an exhibit. One exhibit sign explains how collecting is used to preserve fragments of a larger building and uses its golden eagle as an example. The patriotic bird previously graced the top of Lynn Academy. This building was across from First Parish of Lynn, now called Iglesia Evangelica Luz y Vida. Fun facts about the Eagle include its creation by famous local carver Samuel McIntire of Salem (who also built homes for the wealthy and heterochromatic Elias Hasket Derby family), the purchase of the eagle by Reverend Thomas Cushing Thatcher of First Parish, and the twenty-eight layers of paint removed from the eagle during conservation in 1991.

Another major theme in the exhibit was abolition and women’s rights. Because of its status as a Quaker town during the early to mid 19^th century, Lynn was at the forefront of political movements. As sign introducing “Collecting For: Social Issues” mentioned my favorite abolitionist, Abby Kelley Foster. This section juxtaposed the work of the Lynn Female Anti-Slavery Society who worked with other abolitionists like Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison to ban slavery in the United States. They collected and sold gifts like the white ceramic pitcher depicting a slave auction and the pincushion with the famous image of a Black man arguing for his freedom. However, shoe manufacturing companies in Lynn greatly benefitted from the slave trade. Wealthy factory owner Cyrus Houghton made cheap brown shoes for his equally wealthy brother John W. Houghton to give enslaved workers on his plantation.

The Hutchinson Family Singers were notable abolitionist siblings who used music to spread their message. Their piano, an edition of their songbook, and a portrait of the guitar playing sister, Abby, were all part of the exhibit. A thorough sign notes that they worked with with Frederick Douglas and William Lloyd Garrison along with other famous abolitionist figures, including President Abraham Lincoln, lecturer Susan B. Anthony, author Lydia Maria Child, and poet John Greenleaf Whittier.

Conclusion

If you are short on time and cash but want to support local artists and learn a lot of history, this is an ideal museum. The museum is open Thursday and Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and the second Saturday of the month from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults; $5 for Lynn residents; $2 with an EBT or WIC card; and $0 for children under 12, Lynn Museum members, students, NEMA members, and Saturday visitors. You have a high chance of visiting free of charge! The main entrance is wheelchair accessible, and the museum has an elevator. Seating is available on the second floor near the diorama. Some of the exhibit space on the second floor suffers from low lighting. The gift shop has an impressive range of souvenirs.

Abby Epplett’s Rating System

Experience: 8/10

Accessibility: 8/10