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Originally published in the Historic Nantucket, Vol. 44, no. 2 (Summer 1994), p. 17-19
The Great Hall
By Frances Page
From the April 1957 Proceedings. The author notes: "Fond Memories Are Brought to Life by the Atheneum Restoration."
In 1847, but one year after the great fire and the destruction of the Atheneum, the rebuilding was complete, and the large upstairs hall was again ready for activity. On February 1, 1847, it was so described: "It is over 19 feet high, arched, well-proportioned, and will seat comfortably more than 600 persons." On February 22 of the next year we read in the Inquirer, "A Bazaar to pay off our debt will be held at the Atheneum during the Festival of Sheep Shearing. The whole building will be thrown open, and the evening's entertainment in the Great Hall will be of such a nature as to please the taste of the most refined and cultivated among us."
And the most refined and cultivated, and we hope others with aspirations to refinement and culture, heard Ralph Waldo Emerson who came several times to Nantucket, and once between May 4-13, 1847, gave six lectures on Representative Men. These lectures were later published, and became a valued volume in any set of Emerson. Maria Mitchell was an excited member of Emerson's audience, and in Sweeper in the Sky we read that she gave her cousin, Walter Folger, a spirited account of the lectures. And, if Nantucketers were thrilled with Emerson, he reciprocated, for we find in his diary of May 23rd, 1847, "The air of Nantucket comes into your face and eyes as if it was glad to see you. The moon comes here as if it was at home, but there is no shade." He also gave lectures in the Great Hall before the fire, and between 1840 and 1850 courses of lectures were given each season, one dollar for the course, by Henry Thoreau, Theodore Parker, Louis Agassiz, Horace Greeley, Wendell Phillips, William Ellery Channing, and John James Audubon, to name a few of the most famous. Interest in cultural activities must have been high at this period as is shown also in the high quality of books that were presented to the library after the fire.
The original Atheneum was built in 1820, and in old files of the Inquirer, later the Inquirer and Mirror, endless activities of the original and restored Atheneum are described.
County Fair Activities
In 1836 the Nantucket Agricultural Society was formed, which existed for many years. The cattle show was in a vacant lot at the corner of Federal and Chestnut Streets, and later at the Fair Grounds. Its first exhibition was in October, 1856, and the Great Hall was used for the display of fruits, fresh and canned, jellies, hand work known as "fancy work," wild flowers, cakes, bread, and doughnuts. George Gardner received $8 as first prize for his collection of vegetables; B. F. Worth was awarded $1 for his fancy potatoes; W. W. Mclntosh received 75 cents for oats and beets, and W. H. H. Smith 75 cents for his squash. School children were in penmanship competitions, and when Grace Brown Gardner was seven years old she won $1.50 as first prize, but before she could collect the prize she was asked to join the Agricultural Society whose dues were one dollar.
In 1870 the fair was held in August, lasting for three days and it was advertised that "articles of needlework in great abundance, objects of virtu, and refreshments of rare excellence, will constantly be exposed for sale." And speaking of "virtue," there was an early exhibition of statuary in the Great Hall, "to be viewed by ladies and gentlemen separately."
Debates, Dramatics, Concerts
The Sherburne Lyceum was apparently a very energetic debating club, and the following were a few of its debates: Resolved, That in educating children, few studies are better than many; Resolved, That the theatre is not beneficial; Resolved, That Nantucket is morally worse as a watering-place than it was in the whaling days; Resolved, That a rate of interest fixed by law is neither beneficial nor right; Resolved, That biographies of great military man are injudicious reading for the young.
Dramatics were a strong drawing card, especially in the 1880s, and amateur groups composed of Nantucket residents, as well as theatrical companies from "off," drew large crowds to the Great Hall. "Jam packed to suffocation" the operetta Pauline, or the Battle of Saratoga was presented on March 22, 1888. This was for the benefit of the Relief Association, and netted $51.35. On April 5,1881, the Pixley Club presented Among the Breakers. Tickets were 15 cents, reserved 25 cents, on sale at the door.
The Momus Club gave numerous Minstrel Shows which must have been a bit on the lusty side, and apparently they had been losing their more sensitive customers, as they advertised at one time, "Refined, but a bunch of fun," and at another time, "Nothing of low character will be enacted." The Energy Club, of which Dr. Will Gardner was an enthusiastic member, presented thrillers in the Great Hall, three or four times each winter. He remembers especially The Stolen Will given in the winter of 1889, when the realism of the climax so affected a member of the audience that he shouted, "Damn the boy, for giving up the will!" Dr. Gardner was the boy, and has never forgotten the angry voice of John Chinery. Each play of the Energy Club was given for two nights. The proceeds of first night were divided among the actors, and the second night's take was given to the Helping Hand Relief Association. At this time the hall was heated by two stoves, and the stoking of these was a major activity.
A group of eight girls who met at each other's homes for candy making and fooling around, was encouraged by Rev. John R. Savage, the Unitarian minister, and father of one of the girls, to find a purpose. They formed Our Octagon Club with the motto, "To give is to live, to deny is to die," and they proceeded to do good. On Nov. 23, 1887, they gave an "ice cream Sale and Entertainment in the Great Hall, doors open at 6:30, admission free and ice cream, 5 and 10 cents." A musical and literary entertainment, including a military drill by the young ladies of "Our Octagon" from 7:30-8:30, and no ice cream will be sold during the entertainment. All proceeds were to be given to charity.
Many concerts were given by individuals and school groups. I was told that Norman Giffin's rendition of "Orphan Annie" when he was 10, brought down the house! Minnie Smith was a favorite elocutionist who always gave as a demand encore, "Stamp your feet and raise 'em high." This caused thunderous applause, Addie King rendered, with touching pathos, her solo, "A Home by the Waves."
In January, 1879, a concert by Miss Priscilla Morris was postponed by a violent storm, but a "hasty notice by the town crier brought out a full house for the next night," and "we need not seek for artists abroad when we have such as these native to our soil." On July 5th, of the same year, the Coffin School entertainment netted a "snug sum."
Off-Islanders Provided a Variety of Entertainment
Among the professional entertainments from the mainland were Austin and Stone's Variety Show. Mrs. Kenyon recited the "Face Against the Pane" with tender pathos, and "many an eye was dimmed with tears by the touching earnestness of her presentation." In July, 1860, came Pike's Star Troupe in one of their "classical comical costume concerts and Ethiopian Parlor Entertainments," and the General Tom Thumb Company performed in the Great Hall. When the Jubilee Singers came in August, 1879, they announced "Musical culture need not be expected."
An event remembered by many Nantucketers was the annual visit of the Kickapoo Indians whose snake oil liniment was good for all outside ills, and Sagwa for all internal miseries. We wonder what happened to the Snake Oil and the Sagwa with the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act. Tents were pitched on the Atheneum lawn at the corner of India and South Water Streets, and entertainment was given in the evening in the Great Hall. Indian barkers advertised their medicine and taffy, "A Yankee Doodle Yard, 36 inches for 5 cents."
Old residents remember the Swiss bell ringers, the players on water glasses, Will Carlton reciting his ballads, the celebrated Lucier family, "monarchs of the musical world," the Rev. Mr. Abbott's Shakespearean recital of "Julius Caesar" and "As You Like It," Peter Newton, the "bewildering magician." And, in a day that no one now living can remember, on December 30,1859, came Mrs. Francis T. Young of Boston, "A spiritual medium who will lecture in a trance state (influenced by spirits of a high order). Admission 15 cents."
Political and Temperance Rallies
There were political rallies, at one of which in 1879, "a mere handful of the Republican Party came to the meeting." Temperance Rallies were frequent, especially close to voting days. Lips that Touch Liquor Will Never Touch Mine; Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight?; Father, Dear Father, Come Home With Me Now; were favorite solos. Mr. Ernest Tyson, of the schooner, Uriah B. Fisk, addressed the meeting, giving some personal experiences, and much good advice to young men. In a true measure of democracy, the liquor dealers on the island were allowed to say a few potent words. In 1886, a Women's Suffrage Convention was addressed by Lucy Stone.
The Mystic Midgets
In talking with many Nantucketers who have been here since they were children, I find that one event of their childhood overshadows all others. This was The Mystic Midgets, A Lilliputian Extravaganza which was presented on August 2, 1895, with dozens of town children and a few summer visitors. This was for the benefit of the North Church, and was directed by a woman from the mainland who provided scenery and costumes, and put on this "Fairy Spectacle" of wicked gnomes and good fairies.
I learned that our recent fire chief, Archie Cartwright, was Ugli, king of the gnomes, and his mission was to steal the queen of the fairies. For this play the hall was "jam-packed, and a goodly sum realized for the North Church."
The First Telephone Call Celebration
On August 29, 1916, a memorable event took place in the Great Hall. This was the first telephone call over the longest submarine cable. Although telephone service had been in operation on the island since 1887, it was entirely local. On this famous night, the Hall was decorated with purple and white bunting and American flags, and every seat in the room was wired and equipped with watch-case receivers. Mr. Philip Spalding, president of the Telephone Company, was present and delivered an "impressive" address.
Then the first message ever made to the island came from the General Manager, William R. Driver, Jr., from the toll test board in Boston. This was followed by a three-way conversation between Joseph Brock, president of the Pacific Club speaking from the Captains' Room, William F. Macy from his home in West Medford, and the Hon. William Crapo from his home in New Bedford. Following this conversation the group heard our national anthem over the wire from Boston, and they spontaneously rose and sang. This was a memorable day for Nantucket. Later there was a general demonstration of the toll lines, and many made calls to friends in Massachusetts. It is interesting to note some comparisons in toll calls then and now.
| 1916 | 1957 | |
|---|---|---|
| To Philadelphia | 2.25 |
.95 |
| To New York | 1.80 |
.80 |
| To Washington | 2.95 |
1.15 |
| To Boston | .95 |
.60 |
| To Providence | .95 |
.50 |
Questionable Public Manners Not a
New Problem
To prove that children, and adults, too, in the good old days exhibited some of the questionable public manners that are deplored today, we find in an old report among the Atheneum records of the 1850s, the following: "The floor and seats are shamefully defiled, not only with nut shells and apple cores, but with the ingrained stains of the extract of tobacco. This is a sad example of the inconsistent elements combined in our natures. That persons who can relish, or who have sense enough of what belongs to good taste to pretend to relish, intellectual performances should degrade themselves and offend their associates with such depravity of manners as is indicated by the floor of our lecture room."
A Sad Closing
On December 16, 1917, a benefit for the Halifax sufferers was held in the Hall. Ten days before this, a French ship carrying TNT hit a freighter and blew up a good part of Halifax Harbor and the city. All the local clergy spoke at this meeting and a fine sum was raised for the sufferers.
This event was one of the last to take place in the Great Hall before it was condemned for use as a public hall. Miss Clara Parker who was librarian for 50 years remembers that the room was increasingly unsafe. With the Kickapoo dancers, the heavy slamming of theatrical trunks, great hunks of the ceiling fell, finally to be replaced by a steel ceiling. It must have been trying to the nerves of any librarian as hundreds of children ran up the old spiral stairways, to an entertainment of the Fair, tooting horns and blowing whistles.
Restoration and Reopening
The beautiful Great Hall, after many years as a dusty store room, has been restored to its original state. The stage, which had been there for years was removed, and underneath it was discovered the original stage, which has been saved. The room has been strengthened with pillars, and is again a safe meeting place. The beautiful scroll work has been cleaned and restored, and the Hall is once more a thing of beauty.
It is a quiet place in which to read or meditate, full of memories for many. The lectern from which Emerson, Thoreau, and others spoke stands at the front of the old stage, the blue harbor waters may be seen from the windows, and with a little imagination one can people the old hall again with hundreds of children and men and women who, knowing nothing of radio and television, found it necessary and fun to hear live speakers and actors and to make their own entertainment.
The Great Hall has had a noble and amusing history, and as it will be used again will still find response in the mind and heart of Nantucket.
