The "Hidden Museum"

“I had no idea!”

It’s a common reaction from visitors to the Nantucket Historical Association’s Gosnold Center, the storage facility housing an unbelievable number of Nantucket-related artifacts.  Museums all over the world—from the Smithsonian Institution to the British Museum to the Nantucket Historical Association—are able to display only a limited number of their holdings at any one time.  In the NHA’s case, those artifacts that are not on display at a given time are held in the Gosnold Support Center at 89 Bartlett Road.

On Wednesday, September 7, at 11 a.m., you’ll have the equivalent of an all-access pass to the Gosnold Center on a VIP visit to the facility.  As part of the NHA’s “Hidden Museum” series, Ben Simons, the NHA’s Robyn and John Davis Chief Curator, will lead you through a Back-to-School-themed tour of some of the collection’s finest children’s pieces.  Included on the tour are examples of historical furniture, dolls, dollhouse furniture, clothing, and scrimshaw.  Ben will also show pieces by legendary artists Tony Sarg and Sally Gardner, as well as examples of historical classroom supplies.  In addition, visitors will receive a broad overview of some of the Gosnold Center’s “greatest hits”; participants may ask to see items in the NHA holdings that might be of particular interest.

“It’s back-to-school time, so we wanted to focus on the wonderful relics of Nantucketers’ childhood and early schooling that are in the collections,” Simons said of the inspiration for the tour’s theme.
The tour will begin on Wednesday, September 7, at 11 a.m.  The tour is free to NHA members and $15 for nonmembers; tickets will be available at the Gosnold Center, 89 Bartlett Road, beginning at 10:45 on the morning of the tour.  For more information, contact the NHA’s Public Program Coordinator Melissa Kershaw at 508-228-1894, ext. 117, or by e-mail at melissa@nha.org.

After the tour, you also might just find yourself saying, “I had no idea!”