Neither Snow Nor Wind Nor Floods…

...will stop this CoreWeb Team.  As we set out for our second volunteer day of the season it seemed somewhat reminiscent of the first…only this time we were met with a heavy douse of rain, rather than snow.  No matter.  Record flooding couldn’t hold back this crew from diving head first into the historical treasures hidden in the vaults of the Trustees of Reservations Archives and Research Center—or the  “ARC” in Sharon, Massachusetts.

The Trustees of Reservations, a nonprofit organization devoted to protecting the natural and historic places of Massachusetts, dates back to the late 19th Century, and the historical archives that the Trustees have inherited dates back even earlier.  Artwork, furniture, tools, historical documents, and much more belonging to prominent Massachusetts families are housed in the ARC.

Upon stepping into the old stucco building we were warmly greeted by Mark Wilson, Manager of the ARC and our host for the day.  He told us the story of how the building had come into the hands of the Trustees.  Even the ARC itself is rich in history, having originally been used as a tuberculosis sanitarium and later as a whaling museum.  As Mark led us through the climate-controlled rooms chock full of artifacts and the nooks and crannies of the basement we couldn’t help but ask if there were any ghost stories to tell.  (Although we didn’t get any out of Mark, I’m not so sure I would explore the basement of the ARC alone late at night… )

 With the building tour over, we had some work ahead of us.  Our mission for the day—re-organize, scan and photograph inventory in the ARC.  John Whalen volunteered to flex his muscles for the afternoon, lifting, moving and sorting boxes of files and legal documents while John Hutchinson and I did our best to wrap our brains around that tricky little orange button on the scanner, digitizing giant maps of various properties of the Trustees in an impressively massive machine.   As for Kat and Erin, they were our artistic team for the afternoon, sifting through and photographing all kinds of antiques from bullet molds to irons (actually made of iron), to quite a few objects that simply left me scratching my head.   Each piece was tagged with a label for cataloging and photographed. 

Given that our crew has some serious history buffs among us I wasn’t sure how or when we would make it out of there, but as incentive for completing our tasks we were rewarded with a peek into some of the closely kept artwork, photographs and documents of the ARC.  (And I thought grandma’s attic had some cool stuff!)

Despite the gloomy practically apocalyptic weather, spending a day out of our usual surroundings and contributing to the efforts of a worthy organization certainly lifted our moods and rejuvenated us once back in the office.  The Trustees inherit some seriously cool stuff--we all felt lucky to have been given the chance to explore such interesting parts of Massachusetts’ history. 

It’s been great to continually contribute to diverse causes.  Look out for the chronicles of our next adventure shortly…