NEWSLETTER

Eastern Shore of Virginia Barrier Islands Center

Fall 2012

ba rrie r is l ands ce nter@li ve .c om /7 57 -67 8- 5550 /ww w.ba rri er is la nds ce nte r .c om

Heart of the Community, Soul of a Culture

Academy Award Nominee james spione presents...

...a new Barrier Islands Center

documentary about the heritage of duck

hunting and carving on the Eastern

Shore of Virginia.

The Barrier Islands Center is pleased to announce the premiere of the

new BIC documentary - Friday, October 19th. There are two scheduled

screenings that night - 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Cost: $10 - R.S.V.P. required.

The film...made by the same filmmaker/director of “Our Island

Home,” features celebrated carvers and hunting guides from the area

discussing the history of waterfowl traditions and how the heritage is

being passed down to younger generations. The film features

celebrated Virginia carvers from the area, including Cigar Daisey,

Grayson Chesser, Mark McNair, P.G. Ross, and Carleton “Cork”

McGee, as well as noted author/historian Curtis Badger.

Mr. Spione will discuss the making of the

movie at the premiere. The film will be

part of a permanent exhibit at the museum. Copies of the new documentary will be

available in the museum gift store before Christmas. Pre-orders will be taken.

The director...Jim Spione has been a director, producer, writer, and editor of both

documentary and fiction films for more than 20 years. His most recent documentary,

"Incident in New Baghdad," was nominated for an Academy Award for Best

Documentary Short in 2012.

Thank you!

Art + Music = Fun for the Community

Thanks to everyone who came out for a fun-filled day of music, art and friends on

the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. We had a wonderful time celebrating the

talent of Eastern Shore artists and musicians from around the great Commonwealth.

Photos of the day are available on our website, barrierislandscenter.com.

Special Thanks

The event would not have been a success without the efforts of so many, including

some 30 volunteers from Broadwater Academy, Exmore Rotary, BIC members, and

BIC board. FM Lighting and Sound delivered excellent sound for the day of music.

Great food and drink was provided by Chatham Vineyards, Eastern Shore Coastal

Roasting Company, Holly Grove Vineyards, Debbie Kozak and Crew, Machipongo

Trading Company. Thank you to Andy Buchholz of Eastern Shore Signs. And, finally,

a big thank you to Eastern Shore Nursery, Hermitage Nurseries, Tankard Nurseries

and Wescoat Nurseries.

Funds raised go directly to the Barrier Islands Center’s work helping the community

as a history preserver, gathering place, and creative educator.

We hope you will join us again on May 25, 2013, for another day of art, music,

friends and fun!

LISTEN!

to “Our Eastern Shore”

Radio Vignettes

Every Wednesday and Sunday,

WHRO and WHRV public radio

stations air 90-second vignettes

exploring the history and culture

of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. The

vignettes were produced in

partnership with the Barrier

Islands Center and WHRO.

Listeners can also visit whro.org

to hear archived podcasts of “Our

Eastern Shore.”

WHRO FM (90.3)

Wednesdays at 3 p.m.

Sundays at 9 a.m.

WHRV FM (89.5)

Wednesdays at 6:33 a.m.

Sundays at 8:34 a.m.

This project was funded in part by

Virginia Foundation for the

Humanities, in collaboration with

WHRO and the Barrier Islands

Center.

My First Fieldtrip

Update by Sally Dickinson,

Educational Director

I am pleased to report about the

successful, multi-faceted cultural

program for Pre-K students in

Northampton County initiated in 2011

by the Barrier Islands Center and

supported through PNC Foundation’s

Grow Up Great award. A priority of the

Barrier Islands Center is to expand our

mission of educating our youngest about the unique coastal history of the Eastern Shore

through innovative and engaging hands-on art, music, and history lessons.

Description of “My First Field Trip”: The Barrier Islands Center offered an educationally-

rich program involving art, music, and local history for children. Student groups from

Northampton County Public Schools visited the Barrier Islands Center one morning each

month for 4 months to enhance their cultural literacy by learning about the area’s coastal

heritage through a developmentally-appropriate, multi-faceted program. Students learned

about barrier islands all over the world, in addition to the plant, marine, and animal life on

and around our local islands. They also created framed artwork featuring birds, sea life, and

other aspects of life on the barrier islands.

The children enjoyed music classes, entitled, “Sing and Play,” taught by instructor Martha

Giles. In the program, children experienced songs and flannel board song-stories, movement

to music, bells, glockenspiels, lyres, and traditional hammered dulcimer music with a water

theme - telling of our lakes, rivers, and oceans. Children joined in by experimenting the

joyful music-making with unusual instruments from across the seas.

How many children were reached? Beginning in September of 2011, the BIC started “My

First Field Trip” with 2 Pre-K classes (total of 36 students) from Northampton County Public

Schools. The feedback was so encouraging that we added two more classes (40 students)

for the January-May session. For the 2011-2012 school year, the “BIC” raised and spent

$5,874.38 on students from Northampton County and will do the same and even more for

this upcoming school year.

In April and May we had 83 children from Telemon Corporation and Broadwater Academy

come to the BIC for a similar enrichment activity.

Finally, this summer we offered the same program to 77 children in the Northampton

County Migrant Head Start summer program. The children were divided into 4 groups by

age and came over four days in July. We used some of the grant money to buy each child a

recorder to take home to extend the music lessons they learned at the Barrier Islands

Center.

Thanks to PNC’s Grow Up Great award, we were able to secure another grant from

Gwathmey Foundation to expand this pilot program.

With the generous support from Gwathmey Foundation, we are now able to offer the quality

educational experience of “My First Field Trip” to all six Northampton County Pre-K classes

for the 2012-2013 school year. We will also extend the opportunity to Accomack County

Public Schools.

Food, Glorious Food! Camp Art and Music on the Farm

Time Travelers Camp Pirate Camp

Migrant Head Start Summer Program

Broadwater Academy Kindergarten

Broadwater Academy Kindergarten

What’s been going on around the BIC...

It began with a gift…

and continues with a challenge.

Last December we were thrilled to report that the

Barrier Islands Center was named recipient of a

$1 million Batten Endowment grant made possible by

Mrs. Jane Batten and administered by the Hampton

Roads Community Foundation.

Since day one, supporters of the Barrier Islands Center realized that to sustain the Center, we would need a

restricted endowment fund where only interest from the fund can be spent, not the principal that anchors it.

Members of the board of directors initiated a campaign in January 2011 to create an endowment for the Center’s

educational programs, community outreach, and capital funds for completion of renovations to the historic

property.

As we celebrate our 10th anniversary, we are pleased to report that we have raised over $2.3 million in gifts and

pledges toward our campaign goal of $2.6 million.

In addition to Mrs. Batten’s extraordinary $1 million endowment gift, she has also made a $500,000 challenge to

match dollar for dollar every new endowment gift up to $500,000. We have currently raised over $286,000

towards this match, but we have another $214,000 to go. If you have already helped us meet the challenge, thank

you! If you have not yet invested, now is a great time to help us meet our goal. Thanks so much for considering a

gift to the Campaign, which will be matched 1:1 by Mrs. Batten’s $500,000 Endowment Challenge.

For more information about our Campaign and our Endowment Challenge, please contact Laura Vaughan or Patty

Kellam at 757-678-5550 or barrierislandscenter@live.com. Your support at any level is greatly appreciated!

My gift of $ to the BIC will be paid over a period of years. (All payments are due by

December 31, 2016.)

Enclosed is my initial payment of $ . Balance will be paid in annual, semi-annual,

or quarterly installments of $ beginning the _______ (month) of (year).

□ Please send me pledge payment reminders.

Name (as you wish it to appear on the list):

Address: City: State:

Zip: Phone: Email:

□ Check enclosed, payable to the Barrier Islands Center

□ Please charge my credit card: Visa/MC/Discover Card #

Exp. Date Billing Zip: Signature:

My/my spouse’s company will match the gift. Name of company:

□ I have included the Barrier Islands Center in my estate plans.

Barrier Islands Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. All gifts are tax deductible as provided by the law.

P.O. Box 206 ● Machipongo, VA 23405

Ecological Reflections

Lecture and Exhibit Opening

Thursday, September 20th

5:00 p.m. at Northampton

Middle School

Art Opening to immediately

follow at the BIC

Ecology + Art = Exhibit Showcases

Area Art Teachers’ Talents

Art Schwartzchild, site director for University of Virginia Anheuser Busch Coastal

Research Center, and visiting artist Alice McEnerney Cook, organized a three-day

class for art teachers this past April. The for-credit class provided local and

regional art teachers the opportunity to learn and practice the techniques used in

plein air painting, along with an introduction to the ecology and environmental

issues impacting salt marshes. The teachers came to the Barrier Islands Center

for a lesson in the history behind what they were painting. As an extension of

the workshop, the art teachers will exhibit their seaside plein air paintings at the

Barrier islands Center on Thursday, September 20th in a show entitled,

“Ecological Reflections.” Dr. Schwartzchild will speak at 5:00 p.m. at the former

Northampton Middle School Auditorium about the basic ecology of the local salt

marshes and tidal creeks. A reception will immediately follow next door at the

Barrier Islands Center. Artist-in-residence Alice McEnerney Cook’s paintings will

be for sale. Please RSVP.

Saturday, Nov. 3rd and Saturday, Nov. 10th

9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Preregister on Nov. 3rd at 8:30 a.m.)

This class will teach safe boating skills to help lay the groundwork for years of boating fun. The course is designed for the average boater and will cover topics such as the various types and features of boats, trailering, safe fueling and basic maintenance, the rules of navigation and finding your way on the water, loading, operating, anchoring and docking your boat; state and federal legal requirements and how to

handle boating emergencies. Participants will take the test at the end of the class to satisfy the new law that all recreational boats who operate a vessel having a 10 hp motor or more have to take and pass a safe boating class. Virginia is phasing in the law over a few years, and by 2016 all boaters will have to meet the requirement.

Cost: FREE

Boat Safety Course

taught by the

US Coast Guard

Auxiliary Flotilla 12-02

Dogs on the Farm

Basic Obedience: Learn the fundamentals of

companion obedience and how to communicate with

your best friend. Your dog will learn mouth manners

(take it, leave it, get it, drop it), control behaviors (sit,

down, stay) and safety behaviors (wait, recall). We’ll also

work on polite leash walking and more, and add games

and tricks to keep your dog engaged and learning. No

prerequisite - this is where your dog’s education starts!

Class starts Sunday, Oct. 7, noon. 6 weeks. $110.

Intermediate Obedience: Build your relationship with

your dog through leash work, including heeling, and

pace and direction changes. Further develop a reliable

recall with long-line work, and perfect stays with

duration, movement and distraction. We add useful

door manners and tricks to further challenge the dogs.

Practice at home is required, as this is a fast-paced

class. Prerequisite: Basic Obedience or permission of

instructor.

Class starts Sunday, Oct. 7, 1:30 p.m. 6 weeks. $110

Introduction to K9 Nose Work ®: The next fun activity

for dogs is here on the Eastern Shore! Nose Work is a

new activity and sport, based on detection dog training

techniques. Help your dog recover his ability to follow

scent to its source. Any dog can do it, regardless of

training and social skills. Dogs are crated between

runs, and work one at a time on boxes to develop

consistent “hunt drive” and confidence. If you’ve taken

this class before but are feeling a little out of practice,

join us to get ready for instruction to Odor (to be taught

in January). No prerequisite.

Class starts Sunday, Oct. 14, 3 p.m. 6 weeks. $110

Come Learn With Us...

Saturday, Sept. 29th

10 a.m. until Noon MV Oyster Catcher

Sunday, Sept. 30th

2 p.m. until 4 p.m. Barrier Islands Center

Adult 3-Part Carving Class

with P.G. Ross

Participants will carve an oyster

catcher bird under the guidance of

carver P.G. Ross. The first class will

take place aboard the MV Oyster

Catcher located at Oyster Harbor.

Class size is limited to 4 adults.

Cost: $120

Tuesday, Oct. 2nd

6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Barrier Islands Center

Barrier Islands Center

Coffee Hour Lecture Series

“Weather and Mother Nature: Are Old Folktales True?”

Friday, Sept. 21st at 10:30 a.m. Fay Crossley will

explore the folklore surrounding weather. He will retrace where the “old wives tales” come from and whether they are good indicators of coming weather events or just idle talk. Attendees will be asked about any weather “tales” they can add to the collection.

Mr. Fay Crossley joined the Navy in 1959 and spent 22 years as a weather observer, weather spy, and flight forecaster. He had assignments on three carriers: the Ticonderoga, Ranger, and Enterprise. His out-of-country assignments included Japan and Diego Garcia island, with several assignments on both coasts. In 1987, he accepted a job with NOAA’s National Weather Service, with

assignments in MD, NC, NY, UT, and VA. He was the Data Acquisition Program Manager for much of his career and retired from the National Weather Service in 2006.

“Singing the News: American Broadsides and Ballads” presented by Dr. Gregg Kimball from the

Library of Virginia. Friday, November 16th at

10:30 a.m. Before mass circulation newspapers and the internet, news often circulated among common people through printed and performed songs. Popular ballads told of notorious crimes, heartbreaking disasters, and important political happenings. These tunes documented both famous international events and local tragedies. The sinking of the Titanic spawned hundreds of songs, while the Carter Family’s plaintive

“Cyclone of Rye Cove” memorialized the children killed by a tornado at a Scott County schoolhouse. Some songs simply stated the facts of the event and let the audience draw its own conclusions; others clearly aimed to teach a moral lesson. Many songs were no less salacious than much of our current “news,” describing violence, sexual improprieties, and general bad behavior. Gregg Kimball, director of Public Services and Outreach at the Library of Virginia, will explain the history of the songs and perform versions of the early ballads. He will also bring

and play early period recordings.

Cost for both lectures: FREE

Save the Dates!

Oyster Roast Saturday, Feb. 23rd Tickets go on sale to BIC members first in

early January.

Art & Music on the Farm

Saturday, May 25th

“The Little Things in Life” small oil paintings by Carole Böggemann Peirson

Local artist Carole Böggemann Peirson will be showing small

studio paintings depicting still life, as well as plein-air (outdoor)

paintings of the Eastern Shore landscape done on location.

The opening wine and cheese reception will be on

Saturday, November 10th at 4pm

and the exhibit will be up until November 30.

Cost: FREE

Discover the Art of

Book Illustrators Abrakadoodle art classes

for children (ages 5-12)

Wednesdays, Sept. 19th-Oct. 24th,

3:45 - 4:45 p.m.

Students will create

their own illustrations

as they explore some

of the worlds most

beloved and respected

author/illustrators,

including Eric Carle,

Dr. Seuss and Leo

Lionni.

Cost: $75

New! All aboard the MV Oyster Catcher!

Children’s Carving Class

with P.G. Ross

Saturday, Sept. 29th

2:00 p.m. until 4:30 p.m.

(ages 8-14)

Students will carve their own oyster

catcher bird aboard the MV Oyster

Catcher boat located in Oyster Harbor.

What a setting to gain inspiration as

students carve and paint their birds!

Class size limited to 5 students.

Cost: $40

Christmas with a Twist Children’s Christmas Workshop (ages 4-12) on

Sunday, December 2nd from 2:00-4:00 p.m.

In a new bend this year, children will decorate a surprise!

(Hint: Has a nautical theme and they are located

on some of Virginia’s Barrier Islands.)

Cost: $25

Wyatt

Henry

Mark

BIC Baby Boys!

Dates to Remember

Wednesdays, Sept. 19th through Oct. 24th

3:45 p.m. until 4:45 p.m.

Discover the Art of Book Illustrators (ages 5-12)

***

Thursday, September 20th

5:00 p.m. at Northampton Middle School

Art Opening Immediately following at BIC

Ecological Reflections

***

Friday, Sept. 21st at 10:30 a.m.

Weather and Mother Nature: Are Old Folktales True?

***

Saturday, Sept. 29th - 2:00 p.m. until 4:30 p.m.

Children’s Carving Class

***

Saturday, Sept. 29th (3-day class)

see details for dates and times

Adult Carving Class

***

Sundays, Oct. 7th through Nov. 11th - 12:00 p.m.

Basic Obedience Dog Class

***

Sundays, Oct. 7th through Nov. 11th - 1:30 p.m.

Intermediate Obedience Dog Class

***

Sundays, Oct. 14th through Nov. 18th - 3:00 p.m.

Introduction to K9 Nose Work® Dog Class

***

Friday, October 19th - 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Premiere of the NEW Barrier Islands Center documentary

***

Saturdays, Nov. 3rd and Nov. 10th - 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

(preregister on Nov. 3rd at 8:30 a.m.)

Boat Safety Course

***

Saturday, November 10th at 4:00 p.m.

The Little Things in Life; small oil paintings

by Carole Böggemann Peirson

***

Friday, Nov. 16th at 10:30 a.m.

Singing the News: American Broadsides and Ballads

***

Sunday, December 2nd - 2:00 until 4:00 p.m.

Christmas with a Twist

Two Feuds and Emancipation At Last

(Part Five of a Series)

by Jerry Doughty

At the end of 1863, the well-intentioned Brigadier General Henry H.

Lockwood was transferred from the military command of the Eastern Shore. His

replacement was the notorious political general Benjamin F. Butler. Although

Lockwood had been carefully chosen by his superiors to make a good impression

on our citizenry, Eastern Shore citizens suspect he was happy to be rid of the

frustrations we caused him.

Major General Butler badly wanted the Eastern Shore and ruled us from

Fortress Monroe in Hampton. He is not known to have paid us a social call.

That honor went to Lieutenant Colonel Frank J. White. Gossip stated that while

in residence at Cessford in Eastville, White enjoyed the use of an expensive

billiard table and drank imported fine wines.

Generals on both sides who were

promoted for political reasons were usually a

disaster. They were men with strong political

connections who wanted to play soldier with

little or no military training. Butler was one of the worst.

To be fair, it should be noted that General Butler did try to alleviate the plight of

freed slaves and prisoners of war. He falsely claimed to have conquered New Orleans;

he enriched himself and his family by devious means, and had a penchant for huge

showy projects involving vast amounts of blasting powder. This last was his undoing,

and after his disastrous failure to destroy Fort Fisher guarding Wilmington, North

Carolina, President Lincoln relieved him of his command.

This news certainly delighted the Union-backed governor of Virginia, Francis

H. Pierpont. The two men simply despised one another and their long-running feud

continued well after the end of the war. Butler claimed that Pierpont and other “loyal”

Virginians were sneaks and cowards. Pierpont countered that Butler was the most

profound scoundrel in America.

* * * * * *

Most old Eastern Shore families owned slaves or rented slave labor from those who did. Despite the exemption

of Accomack and Northampton Counties in President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation (1862), slaves surely

thought they would be freed with the Union occupation. However, unless their owners fled the peninsula to serve the

Confederacy, they were driven away from the Union camps and, as in one case reported in “The Regimental Flag,” were

politely returned to the owner. “The Regimental Flag” was a newspaper published by the Second Delaware Volunteers

of the United States Army for a few weeks in early 1862 at the newspaper office in Drummondtown (Accomac). It

included local gossip, advertisements, puzzles, goofy stories for the Union troops, and satire at the expense of the

F.F.V.’s (First Families of Virginia) who crossed the Bay to aid the southern cause. The article about the return of a

slave boy is of such crude nature that it cannot be printed in this publication. The Yankees, however, thought it was

hilarious.

Brigadier General Henry H. Lockwood

Benjamin F. Butler

In April 1864, Governor Pierpont ordered that the slaves be freed.

This emancipation would be confirmed by the passage of the Thirteenth

Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865. A few owners

forgot to tell the slaves the good news.

But what about the free African-American residents who had never

been slaves? They had been on the Eastern Shore since the 1600s and

included, at that time, the highly-respected Anthony Johnson.

Fear of slave revolts caused southern legislatures to place

increasingly harsh restrictions on free men of color. They could not live in

a town, had to carry a pass when traveling, and were subjected to a

degrading registration. Sometimes the restrictions were ignored. Free

blacks owned bakeries, barbershops and even the large church in Richmond

which the Confederate government rented for public meetings!

In Northampton and Accomack Counties, the Freedmen’s Bureau

took charge of the newly freed slaves providing them with necessities and

education.

General Butler’s surrogate on the Eastern Shore was Lieutenant Colonel Frank J. White. White assumed that the

free black population should be brought under his personal supervision and that of the Freedmen’s Bureau. The free

blacks were outraged. They had waited over two hundred years to be considered full citizens. White ordered that all

unemployed African Americans over the age of fourteen be put to work. Strikes against White’s authority were

organized by Griffin Collins, listed in the 1860 census as a waggoner, that is, a transporter of goods. He had prospered

in the business. The Union officer could not understand Collins’ behavior. Mr. Collins simply wanted the dignity and

respect due to any American citizen.

* * * * * *

There is an oft told poignant story that has become part of American folklore. It seems that on a very hot day, an

elderly slave with his mule was plowing when he noticed the approach of a tall awkward man wearing a “stovepipe” hat

on the dusty road adjacent to the field. The stranger paused at the fence and politely asked for a drink of cool water. The

old slave obliged with a dipper of well water. The tall man gratefully drank it and thanked him for his kindness. Then

the stranger with the tall hat said, “Sir, your work is over. You are now free to go.”

This story was told in many places in the South and, although it could not possibly be true, former slaves

accepted it as an article of faith that Abraham Lincoln had personally come to them bringing freedom.

Our last article involves activities at Willis Wharf and on the Barrier Islands.

Credits and suggested readings will be included.

Francis H. Pierpont

Thank you

United States Coast Guard

Auxillary for painting the

BIC buoy and installing

solar panel to power the

light on top!

Before After

The Hog Sheep Island Sheep

in a Twisted Christmas Tail by Andrew Barbour and Louise Orlando

Illustrations by Cameron Waff

Coming in December! The Barrier Islands Center proudly

announces the debut of a children's book on Hog Island Sheep.

Sale begins in December at the Barrier Islands Center gift store.

What a perfect Christmas gift! Pre-orders will be taken this fall.

PTSTD STD

Non-Profit Org.

US Postage

PAID

Permit #206

Machipongo, VA

Barrier Islands Center ● PO Box 206 ● Machipongo, VA 23405