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Anthropologist sorts treasures from Winchester's past
Article Date: Monday, January 21, 2008
WINCHESTER (AP) — A retired anthropologist is bringing to light rare musical instruments, newspaper clippings and other bits of history that for years have been hidden away in the town's library.
A little over a year ago, Diane Ghalib volunteered to help sort through the items that have been stored in a cold room on the third floor of the Conant Public Library. Among the unexpected finds has been clothing dating back to the civil war, rare taxidermic birds and a newspaper announcing the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
Recently, Ghalib and librarian Christy Menard opened a hidden safe and found a gold mine of town documents, including a sheet of parchment on which the town's founder, Josiah Willard, asked for an extension to complete the requirements for town incorporation. The town was incorporated in 1733.
"It was like Al Capone's safe in reverse. We didn't expect to find anything but we found very rare documents," Menard said.
Ghalib also has been photographing and cataloguing items such as organs and horns made in Winchester, portraits, trophies, dolls and signs. Though she has been working on the third floor for more than a year, each time she opens a drawer or cupboard she always finds something new.
"This isn't a treasure hunt. This is the past of Winchester," she said. "Each item has a story. I want to know the stories."
Ghalib said the process of cataloguing everything will take years, but she hopes the traveling exhibit will be developed afterward.
"I'd like these things to be displayed so people can see them," she said.
kenb
Article Date: Monday, January 21, 2008
WINCHESTER (AP) — A retired anthropologist is bringing to light rare musical instruments, newspaper clippings and other bits of history that for years have been hidden away in the town's library.
A little over a year ago, Diane Ghalib volunteered to help sort through the items that have been stored in a cold room on the third floor of the Conant Public Library. Among the unexpected finds has been clothing dating back to the civil war, rare taxidermic birds and a newspaper announcing the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
Recently, Ghalib and librarian Christy Menard opened a hidden safe and found a gold mine of town documents, including a sheet of parchment on which the town's founder, Josiah Willard, asked for an extension to complete the requirements for town incorporation. The town was incorporated in 1733.
"It was like Al Capone's safe in reverse. We didn't expect to find anything but we found very rare documents," Menard said.
Ghalib also has been photographing and cataloguing items such as organs and horns made in Winchester, portraits, trophies, dolls and signs. Though she has been working on the third floor for more than a year, each time she opens a drawer or cupboard she always finds something new.
"This isn't a treasure hunt. This is the past of Winchester," she said. "Each item has a story. I want to know the stories."
Ghalib said the process of cataloguing everything will take years, but she hopes the traveling exhibit will be developed afterward.
"I'd like these things to be displayed so people can see them," she said.
kenb
