Photo Provided by the Claremont Opera House
On June 25th, the Claremont Opera House and City of Claremont will celebrate the 125th anniversary since the public building was dedicated in 1897. Many organizations have come together to plan celebrations for the occasion, including the launch of a commemorative book Stage Whispers — A Living History, Retold. One such organization is Claremont Custom Framing & Art Restoration that has been assisting behind the scenes to restore and capture many historic images, including one item that we thought to be beyond repair.
The front page of The National Eagle on June 26, 1897 read “Town Hall Dedicated. Interesting Ceremonies in Connection to the New Building. Fine weather and a big crowd for Claremont’s great day.” A copy of this paper was given to John Bennett, past President of the COH, by Charles Emond, who was the Stage Manager at the COH in the 1950-60s. Charles passed down the article and a collection of photos he had accumulated while at the COH. These items were stored for many years and time had deteriorated them. “The paper was rolled up and in such a fragile state that we wouldn’t unroll it for fear it would crumble into pieces,” Bennett said.
The paper along with many old photographs of interest for the book were shared with David and Cindy Putnam and Andy Lafreniere from Claremont Custom Framing & Art Restoration. “I’ve known David, Cindy and Andy for many years and asked them for help to digitally photograph the images,” said Felicia Dalke, current President of the COH. They immediately offered to help, including work with a local expert to restore the newspaper front page.
“We received this newspaper in eight tightly rolled pieces. To work with it, the pieces had to be relaxed, flattened, and mended. Archival transparent mending tissue on a vacuum table was used to realign those pieces to make the paper whole,” said David Putnam. “Using conservation materials, the newspaper was then framed using UV plexi-glass to protect it from moisture and UV light.” This restored 1897 National Eagle front page will be hung in the entrance of the Claremont City Hall Complex as part of the 125th celebrations.
In addition to the newspaper restoration, Putnam also photographed the COH stage for the Stage Whispers book cover, and he captured high resolution digital images of the many old photographs and images for the book. “The Claremont Opera House is forever grateful to David, Cindy and Andy for their expertise to preserve pieces of our history”, said Dalke.
More information about the June 25th celebration is available on www.cohnh.org. Tickets may be purchased online or at the door.
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