Our New Cookbook is Here!

Discover Giles County Historical Society article from the Virginian Leader, November 25, 2009

Though it seems that Christmas is thrust upon us earlier and earlier each year, Thanksgiving is the traditional start of the holiday season. Family, friends, festivities, and food are all front and foremost this time of year. What would Thanksgiving be without turkey, gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and any number of other family favorites? And Thanksgiving leads into Christmas cookie season: gingerbread men (and women), sugar cookies, linzer, shortbread, molasses – oh my!

By all accounts, the last family member to live in the Andrew Johnston House, Dr. Harvey Green Johnston II’s wife, Marjorie Johnston, was a wonderful cook. The kitchen that you see in the house today is the kitchen she expanded in the 1940s to provide more space for cooking, baking, and visiting with friends and family. Many of the cabinets and drawers are still filled with Mrs. Johnston’s dishes, cookware, and utensils. There is even a junk drawer! Fortunately for us, her cookbooks and recipe boxes are in one of the cabinets as well so we can try some of her favorite recipes.

Just in time for Christmas, the cookbook, A Taste of History: Favorite Recipes from the Giles County Historical Society, will tempt your taste buds with recipes from Mrs. Johnston and current and past members of the Historical Society. Historical Society board member, Ellen Woodyard, the driving force behind the cookbook project, included a number of Mrs. Johnston’s recipes in the book. With over 280 recipes, there is sure to be a recipe that can become a new holiday tradition in your house this year!

Stop by our Museum Shop to purchase your copy or use the order form at our website.

Museum Assessment Program Collections Assessment

Discover Giles County Historical Society article from the Virginian Leader, November 18, 2009

Earlier this year, Giles County Historical Society was the recipient of a Museum Assessment Program (MAP) grant from the American Association of Museums (AAM) and the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS). The focus of the MAP grant has been on a Collections Management Assessment. The Historical Society contains a variety of collections representing different facets of Giles County history. From books, letters, and tax records to furnishings, clothing, and a hearse, the collections of the Historical Society are widely varied in size, shape, and other characteristics. Each provides a different challenge for care, exhibits, and management. The Collections Management Assessment focuses on collections policies, planning, access, documentation, and care within the context of the Historical Society’s total operations.

The first step of the MAP process was a self study. The Historical Society completed this very thorough 60-page study in August which included questions about how the collections are used, how items are accepted into the collection, collections care, and institutional governance. The questions were thought-provoking and helped identify strengths and weaknesses in our current collections management policies.

The second step of the MAP process is a peer review. Ms. Lee Langston-Harrison, the Executive Director of the Museum of Culpeper History will visit the Giles County Historical Society on November 18th and 19th critically review the Historical Society’s operations from a fresh perspective. She has reviewed the Historical Society’s self assessment and other documents and will visit all four buildings – the Andrew Johnston House, Doctor’s Office, Research Office, and Museum – and interview staff and volunteers about collections issues. Once Langston-Harrison’s review is complete, she will write an Assessment Report which summarizes the visit and makes recommendations for change.

The third step of the MAP process will be for the Historical Society to incorporate the self assessment and peer assessment information into our planning process. The information will help the Historical Society to formulate goals and strategies to improve its collections management and focus grant writing and fundraising activities for several years to come.

Pearisburg Garden Club and Boy Scouts Plant Trees

Discover Giles County Historical Society article from the Virginian Leader, November 11, 2009

While visitors typically come to the Historical Society to discover the historical treasures hidden inside of the buildings, one of the things that lures them to the site are the grounds and landscaping. The Andrew Johnston House sits in the shade of old maple trees, its front walkway flanked by boxwoods like those that surround the Doctor’s Office. The dogwood trees between the house and museum show their flowers in spring and red leaves in fall. Flower gardens bloom with bulbs in spring and fall and annual and perennial flowers in summer. Love and Alex Witten’s Rose Garden provides an explosion of color in spring and fall.

One particular corner of the Historical Society’s grounds between the parking lot and the Doctor’s Office could not be described with such superlatives. Members of Pearisburg Boy Scout Troop 34 earned community service hours and learned a valuable life lesson by volunteering their time and energy on November 5 to plant trees, shrubs and perennial flowers at the Giles County Historical Society. “Part of being a Boy Scout is giving back to the community,” explains troop committee chair Brian Squibb. The new greenery was donated to the Historical Society by the Pearisburg Garden Club to help landscape an unsightly hillside at the edge of the Society’s property. Next Spring will bear witness to the scouts’ hard work, with a profusion of rhododendron, daffodil and iris blossoms.