Abby Epplett, Historian

On the same street as Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme Historical Society wrote a self-guided walking tour available on their website . This tour provided brief histories and custom watercolor illustrations of buildings. While an audio tour would have been easier to follow, the tour was straightforward and gave plenty of information without requiring too much reading. Sidewalks for most of the route allowed visitors to safely traverse the fairly quiet center of town.

A few weeks ago, I went on adventure to the Mystic / Lyme area of Connecticut. One of my stops was Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, CT. This is the third of three posts about the experience. After discussing the house and the grounds, I move inside to the exhibits at Krieble Gallery. The exhibits held during my visit were “Impressionism 150: From to Paris to Connecticut & Beyond”, “From Art Colony to Connecticut Collection: Highlights from the Florence Griswold Museum”, and “At First Glance: Highlights from the Westerly Museum of American Impressionism”.

The Men in my illustrations for Part 2 look drastically different from the Men of Part 1. While the first group of Men is perceived as white or European-coded by modern readers, the second group is perceived as non-white or people of color. A major concern, even controversy, for critics of Tolkien’s work is that the text contains racist material, to which I agree, or that the text itself is inherently racist, which I would argue against. This ground has been trod over multiple times with a plethora of essays arguing for both sides. Many of these arguments struggle to separate the perspectives of fictional, in-universe characters from the perspective of the fictional version of Tolkien acting as a translator from the perspective of real-world Tolkien writing the book, and after writing that convoluted sentence, I can see why. While I do not have a PhD in Tolkien studies, I have completed plenty of research in related fields where I do have higher level degrees.

During my adventure to the Mystic / Lyme area of Connecticut a few weeks ago, I visited Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, CT. This is the second post in a three-part series about my trip. In my first post , I described the experience inside the house itself. In this post, I cover the buildings and gardens on the grounds, including an education center, landscape center, studio, and several self-guided walks.

During my adventure to the Mystic / Lyme area of Connecticut a few weeks ago, I visited Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, CT. This expansive property along the river preserves the boarding house of Florence Ann Griswold where the American Impressionist art movement began. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993. Like Mystic Seaport Museum , the full experience cannot be fit into a single post, so this will be a three-part mini series. Today, I will cover the tour of the house itself, with the house restored to its original form on the first floor and galleries on the second floor. The other parts of this series will cover the grounds and Krieble Gallery.

As someone who typically will not read a book or watch a movie with too many men — one reason I dislike Chariots of Fire while acknowledging that it deserves to be considered a technically and culturally significant film — The Lord of the Rings is a notable exception. The main cast of Nine Walkers have all been assigned male pronouns in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “translation” into English from Westron, and more on the technicalities of gendered language will appear in upcoming posts for the Appendixes on languages in Middle-earth. Yet female characters regularly have greater magical power or preternatural ability than their male counterparts: Galadriel was the greatest of the Ñoldor Elves, Arwen influenced Aragorn to reunite an empire, Eowyn killed the Witch-King, and even Rosie Cotton implied she could predict the future, telling Sam upon his return to the Shire, “I’ve been expecting you since the Spring” ( The Return of the King , 312).

I recently had an adventure in the Mystic / Lyme region of Connecticut and spent about a day and a half at Mystic Seaport Museum . This is the sixth post in a six-part miniseries about my visit. My last four posts covered Part 1 and Part 2 of “Seaport Village” along with the “Preservation Shipyard” , “Galleries” , and “Boats, Signs, & Shows” . In “Bonus Houses”, I look at four properties owned by the museum and visible from the street, and then give my conclusion to the series.

I recently had an adventure in the Mystic / Lyme region of Connecticut and spent about a day and a half at Mystic Seaport Museum . This is the fifth post in a six-part miniseries about my visit. My last four posts covered Part 1 and Part 2 of “Seaport Village” along with the “Preservation Shipyard” and “Galleries” . This post includes “Boats, Signs, & Shows” such as the Charles W. Morgan , the Joseph Conrad  and Little Vigilant , many other antique boats, the opportunity to operate small boats, signage, and shows about maritime life in 19 th century New England. The final upcoming post will feature “Bonus Houses”.

I recently had an adventure in the Mystic / Lyme region of Connecticut and spent about a day and a half at Mystic Seaport Museum . This is the fourth post in a six-part miniseries about my visit. My last three posts covered Part 1 and Part 2 of “Seaport Village” along with the “Preservation Shipyard” . Today’s post features the “Galleries”, which hosted exhibits on ship figureheads, glass reproductions of sea creatures, art and diversity in maritime New England, the history of shipping, and a large model of Mystic. Upcoming posts will include “Boats, Signs, & Shows” and “Bonus Houses”.

I recently had an adventure in the Mystic / Lyme region of Connecticut and spent about a day and a half at Mystic Seaport Museum . This is the third post in a six-part miniseries about my visit. My last two posts covered Part 1 and Part 2 of “Seaport Village”. Today’s post focuses on the “Preservation Shipyard”, where I saw the ongoing restoration of several boats along with an exhibit on the materials used to build these boats. Upcoming posts include “Galleries”, “Boats, Signs, & Shows”, and “Bonus Houses”.

I recently had an adventure in the Mystic / Lyme region of Connecticut and spent about a day and a half at Mystic Seaport Museum . This is the second post in a six-post miniseries about my visit. Yesterday, I covered Part 1 of “Seaport Village” , and today will cover Part 2, where I visited the meeting house, two residential homes, a one-room schoolhouse, a pair of shops, and a reading room for sailors. Upcoming posts include “Preservation Shipyard”, “Galleries”, “Boats, Signs, & Shows”, and “Bonus Houses”.

I took a three day mini-vacation to the Mystic / Lyme area of Connecticut and visited many museums, houses, and other history stops. Nearly half my time was spent at Mystic Seaport Museum , a living history museum in Mystic, CT. The attraction was so expansive that I am creating a six-part miniseries about the fantastic experience. These posts will include two parts on “Seaport Village”, “Preservation Shipyard”, “Galleries”, “Boats, Signs, & Shows”, and “Bonus Houses”.

In my last post, I covered the first half of “Appendix A, II The House of Eorl”, so this post will cover the second half, which contained the line of succession for the Kings of Rohan. This list reminded me of the succession charts from “Appendix A, I The Númenórean Kings”, especially “(iii) Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur” and “(iv) Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion” . However, the timeline of Eorlingas rulers covered a shorter period, as their country began in T.A. 2510. Even the Hobbits had a longer recorded history, as the Shire was founded in T.A. 1600. Like in previous sections, this post has everything: explanations of names, motifs from folklore, Ancient European mythology, medieval repayment practices, and etymologies of unusual words appearing in the text. More Eorlingas Names! As in past sections of the Appendixes, this segment contained lists of names unfamiliar to modern readers. Many of the names were defined in the aptly named The Lord of the Ring...

For the final leg of my trip back on Sunday, July 14, 2024, I made several quick history stops around Berkley, MA, including the town’s Carnegie library, nearby church, historic homes, and Dighton Rock State Park. That final stop was also part of the Passport to History created by Old Colony Museum in Taunton, MA .

Back on Sunday, July 14, 2024, I visited the Berkley Historical Society , a stop in the Passport to History developed by Old Colony Museum . Located in the tiny town of Berkley with a population under 7,000, this museum told the history of the rural community with a focus on military uniforms and local businesses. The collection lives in the beautifully restored and updated Old Town Hall, which once housed the library. Because of this work, the building had the best lighting system I have seen in any museum.

While in Mansfield, MA last Sunday — July 14, 2024 — I made several quick history stops around the Town Common. Like many New England towns, stops included municipal buildings such as the Town Hall and former town library, a classic New England church, and memorials for soldiers and firefighters located around a central green, while the Old Town Cemetery was located across the street.

Last Sunday — July 14, 2024 — I visited three more stops in the Passport to History developed by Old Colony Museum , along with making several quick history stops. First on my adventure was Fisher-Richardson House of Mansfield Historical Society , a mid-18 th century building with an early 19 th century addition restored in 1930. Similar in appearance to the reproduction house Carpenter Museum of Rehoboth Antiquarian Society , the building contained a main room, kitchen, bedroom, and several miniature exhibits. As an added bonus, the house has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1998; its latest sign was installed in 2019 by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation , best known for hosting National Historic Marker Day . In fact, the house was originally offered to Historic New England , but the town ended up receiving it instead. What differentiates Fisher-Richardson House from the myriad of other small town historical society old houses...

For the third time, I went to Eustis Estate, a property owned by Historic New England. I had previously taken a self-guided tour during the holiday season in December 2022 and attended a quartet concert in 2023. This time, I took both the Design Tour and the Servants Tour, along with seeing the current exhibit The Importance of Being Furnished , which previously appeared on the blog during Day 1 of Historic New England Summit 2023 and a sneak preview webinar .

With “I The Númenórean Kings” completed, Appendix A shifted focus to a different group of Men. “II The House of Eorl” covered similar territory to “(iv) Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion” but with the stories told in the perspective of Eorlingas, the “translation” of the name that people from the House of Eorl called themselves. Men of Gondor called them Rohirrim, which meant “Horse-Lords” in their variant of Sindarin. In the real-world, the House of Rohan was a Breton family who lived in Brittany, France and claimed descent from the hero Conan Meriadoc. This legendary founder of Brittany will receive plenty of future commentary for his familiar-sounding name. Today, Musée du Château des Rohan de Saverne [Rohan Castle Museum in Saverne] allows visitors to learn about the family, along with viewing exhibits on nearby archaeological finds, art and history, and the life of a local female journalist. During The Two Towers, Aragorn noted that the Rohirrim were “wise but unlearne...

This past Saturday — July 6, 2024 — I visited three stops in the Passport to History developed by Old Colony History Museum , along with one bonus stop. The third stop for the passport book, along with the fourth and final stop for the day, was the Carpenter Museum at Rehoboth Antiquarian Society , which included a pair of quick history stops in the area. The museum received its name not from an occupation but a family, as the Carpenters donated towards the construction of the main museum building, which looks like an 18 th century farmhouse.

My bonus stop during my trip last Saturday — July 6, 2024 — was Attleboro Art Museum, a single gallery exhibition space down the street from the Attleboro Area Industrial Museum . Most pieces in the museum were for sale, so if you have the money, purchasing artwork is a great way to support emerging artists. The exhibit on display at the time of my visit was called Morning Noon Night . My favorite piece in the exhibit was a Juror’s Award Winner called “Orange Watercolor” by Natalie McGuire of Saint Paul, MN. I loved how her customized mosaic picture frame extended the landscape appearing in her colorful photograph of sunset by a lake. Another unique piece was “Wild Swans” by Hannah Cole Dahar of Manchester, NH, which showed phases of the moon on one side of the hanging circle and zodiac symbols surrounding a princess on the opposite side. Dahar claimed she was inspired by the Grimm’s Fairy tale The Wild Swans , but that version had six swan brothers. The twelve sw...