By Chris Frost
EAGLE TIMES NEWS EDITOR
CLAREMONT, N.H. — Big things are underway at the Claremont History Museum, as the collection is cataloged, organized and ultimately digitized.
The museum contains treasures and unique finds, including one room featuring items made in Claremont.
The project aims to identify items related to Claremont’s history and ensure they remain in good shape as the museum shows off Claremont’s proud history.
Volunteer Jill Chastenay said there are “tons of files” in the Historical Society’s cabinets.
“President Dakin Burdick created a spreadsheet where we are documenting what’s in those files and figuring out where things are,” Chastenay said. “When you look at some of the files, it will say there are things, but they are not in the file because it’s an artifact and might be on display or needs storage.”
She and her partner, Cheri Losito, are trying find and catalog everything at the museum.
Chastenay recently fell in love with a catalog of the breeds of horses of William H. Moody.
“He was known for having a lot of horses because he was into horse racing,” Chastenay said. “I also found some cool pictures of Stevens High School, and since I am a teacher, I always pull out pictures of Stevens High School.”
She’s teaches social studies at Stevens and admits to being a “history geek.”
“I just earned my master’s degree in heritage studies and a master’s certificate in historic preservation,” she said. “I’m looking for more ways to get involved in museum science. As much as I love my students, I’m getting ready to get out of teaching.”
She’s lived in Claremont most of her life and finds it fascinating.
“I don’t think I’ll ever stop teaching, even if I’m not at Stevens,” Chastenay said. “I love teaching people about history and want people to be enthusiastic about history.”
Losito is working on the project with Chastenay and said the duo use their communication skills to keep the work moving forward.
“There are several file cabinets in the office at the Historical Society with sheets of paper where people have taken in various artifacts,” she said. “We’re going through every single file cabinet and every file folder in those cabinets.”
The duo identifies each cabinet they’re working on.
“That way, we don’t repeat what each other is doing,” Losito said. “We document everything we’ve gone through on those sheets; some file folders have artifacts. I was quite surprised by all the newspapers, deeds and personal letters.”
Finding artifacts mentioned in the files is the only way to confirm they have it.
“We have to find out where it is and what it looks like,” she said. “There are a lot missing descriptions. Some people put the name of the item but didn’t describe the history. We have to do a lot of detailed work once we identify those items.”
She likes genealogy and enjoys connecting history to the times people lived.
“In the first file cabinet I started in, one of my family members donated an item,” Losito said. “It was a lamp from the 1830s.”
She also found letters from a “Claremont boy” who wrote to a friend during the Revolutionary War.
“In the first letter, he described how difficult it was for young boys and their living conditions,” Losito said.
The Claremont History Museum is located at 26 Mulberry Street. Visit claremonthistorymuseum.org for more information.
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