The Museum Gallery at the Greenwich Historical Society’s Bush-Holley Historic Site focuses on how the Cos Cob Harbor and Landing and Bush-Holley House have changed over the last 200 years. This interactive family-oriented exhibit provides a preview to the Bush-Holley House through seldom seen artifacts, photographs, maps, letters and portraits from the collection of the Greenwich Historical Society. The back stories of the old house and the people who lived there for five generations are revealed through engaging exhibits. Discovery Boxes filled with objects from childhood years help answer a multitude of questions: “What did children play with and read? What did people wear? What were the major discoveries, inventions and events of the time?” And “What was happening in Greenwich?”
Another area of the interactive exhibit features paintings and photographs of Holley-MacRae family members to encourage discovery of how portraits tell more about the people from the past than just what they looked like. By looking carefully at these images, visitors will discover how the poses, facial expressions and clothing become clues about the individuals and their time in history. A mirror and step-by-step instructions also give children and adults an opportunity to create their own self-portraits. As families leave, copies of actual postcards mailed to the Holley House are available to write and tell the MacRae twins what was learned and what things prompt further questions. A docent-led portrait tour of Bush-Holley House is available following this gallery visit. Exhibit ends January 31, 2010.
Open Wednesday through Sunday, noon-4 p.m. with docent led tours of National Historic Landmark Bush-Holley House at 1, 2, and 3 p.m. $10/adults, $8/seniors and students, members/free; 39 Strickland Road, Cos Cob. 203-869-6899. For information on other programs and exhibits at the Greenwich Historical Society, go towww.hstg.org.
