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[FEATURE ARTICLE] What’s New at the Varnum House Museum: A Chat with Varnum VP Barbara Weaver

May 9, 2016 By Brian Wallin

Barbara Weaver with a flax spinning wheel at the Varnum House.

Last fall, longtime Varnum Continentals member and trustee Barbara Weaver took on a new role as Varnum House Museum Vice President. Since then, she and her husband Bill, another member and trustee, have been hard at work assessing the needs of this valued historic asset and putting hours and elbow grease — along with volunteer assistance — to improve the appearance of the house. This month, we sat down with Barbara for an update.

Q. You and Bill have been longtime Varnum Continentals members and you’re also very active in the state chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Where did you develop your interest in history and historic preservation?

A. As a prospective member of the DAR back in the 1980’s, I traveled to many locations and historical sites throughout New England and New York tracing my family’s roots. The importance of history to me grew as I connected personally to my own family’s ancestry. For example, I learned that during the Revolutionary War my direct ancestor, David Lyon, then a 23-year-old Connecticut soldier with a wife and two small children, was captured by the British and later died in a dungeon in New York. This made the understanding of our country’s history very real and personal.

Q. Why did you agree to take on this new role as Vice President in charge of the James Mitchell Varnum House?

A. I have spent many hours cleaning the museum and serving as a docent in the Varnum House Museum prior to my new role. During that time, I grew to appreciate the artifacts and the grandeur of this stately mansion. It is an exciting challenge.

Q. A visit to the Varnum Continentals website will provide a thumbnail sketch of the house and some details of its contents. How about sharing a few little know facts. For example, the house property on Pierce Street is relatively modest in size today. What was the area like when General James Mitchell Varnum and his wife built their home?

A. The actual size of the property remains the same as when James Mitchell Varnum and his wife Martha (nee Patty) lived there. The carriage house that stands at the rear of the property was not there at that time, but was built in two parts over the course of about a century: the north section about 1800 and the south part, which is the larger, about 1900. Many changes have taken place since: the bay windows on the south side were added in 1903 and on the north in 1910. The beautiful front grand entrance was added in the late 1800s.

Q. The Varnum Continentals Board of Trustees is working on its strategic plan that will take our organization into the future. What do you see for the Varnum House as part of this initiative?

A. In addition to restoration of and improvements to the house itself, I visualize large tents for outdoor weddings, anniversary parties, birthday celebrations, and much more on the beautiful grounds.

Volunteers for yard cleanup at the Varnum House Museum.

Q. Tell us a little about some of the improvements you have been working on over the winter.

A. My husband Bill has helped with many repairs over the winter. We painted the entire meeting room with its many doors and window shutters and the adjoining restroom. With numerous helpers, we also cleaned the museum room, polishing furniture and the MANY pieces of brass and silver. We have now begun working on the grounds, raking leaves and cutting down broken branches. There’s always something to do and we are very grateful for our volunteers and docents who have helped so much in our ongoing restoration and maintenance efforts.

Q. The House has been a popular site for weddings and receptions over the years. What do we need to do, in your estimation, to make this a more popular venue for a social event?

A. Signage for the parking lot, keeping the building and grounds in excellent condition, plus lots and lots of publicity on social media, TV, and print media.

The Varnum House Museum has an active volunteer docent (tour guide) program. To become a docent, email house@varnumcontinentals.org or call 401-884-1776. — The Varnum House Museum has an active volunteer docent (tour guide) program. Email house@varnumcontinentals.org or call 401-884-1776.

Q. You are working on expanding the docent program. What are your goals in that effort?

A. The docent program is coming along nicely, as we have many new docents. Training sessions and orientation are important so that all docents provide the same information to our guests. The docents will be dressed in period costume or in the new Varnum shirts that I am working on.

Q. Why do you feel that it is so important to preserve and protect the Varnum House and its contents? How does it fit into our organization’s mission?

A. It is important to preserve the museum and it is a particular privilege to me. General James Mitchell Varnum was one of General Washington’s most trusted Generals in the Revolutionary War. He began building his home in 1773 prior to the Revolutionary War. Sadly, he never was able to spend a great deal of time in it. Today it is recognized as a very important structure in East Greenwich and, of course, is on the National Register of Historic Places. When I provide tours, it is amazing to see how people of all ages are interested in the history and background of this beautiful and historic “treasure chest.” Our organization’s mission of “Promoting Patriotism” certainly connects with the house.

Bill and Barbara Weaver at the Varnum House's main entrance. — Bill and Barbara Weaver at the Varnum House’s main entrance.

Q. I’m sure our members and their guests will be looking forward to the June meeting and open house. Do you have any surprises lined up that you can share now?

A. Among the surprises will be a beautiful, newly painted and restored meeting room, a new antique toy display in progress, and many new volunteer docents to meet. I’m really looking forward to sharing the progress we have made over the past year with our members and guests attending the June 13th open house.

Thanks to Barbara for all her work and for taking the time to fill us in on the developments at and plans for the Varnum House. Don’t miss the June Meeting/Open House. You will definitely enjoy a great time, good fellowship AND a chance to see first hand the improvements underway in this very special historical venue.

Varnum House Museum Operating Hours

The Varnum House Museum is closed for tours at this time. Contact the the Varnum House by calling 401-884-1776 or email house@varnumcontinentals.org.

[FEATURE ARTICLE] The Only Nazi Bomb To Hit North America: An East Greenwich Connection

April 10, 2016 By Brian Wallin

This story takes us up north to Canada’s Gaspe Peninsula and involves a well-known East Greenwich resident. Our tale starts in 1942. Canada was under attack by marauding German U-boats that were sinking ships carrying vital supplies to Great Britain as they ventured down the St. Lawrence River and out to sea.

Faced with the Nazi threat of torpedoes (and spies), local residents endured blackouts plus increased military presence. One incident has a special connection to Robert Merriam, Founder and Director of the New England Wireless and Steam Museum on Frenchtown Road.

During the summer of 1942, Bob had worked at the Rheem Shipyard at Field’s Point in Providence between his freshman and sophomore years at Harvard. Before starting classes again, Bob decided to visit some New Hampshire school chums and his Canadian cousins. His transportation was a third-hand, 1928 Indian Scout motorcycle. “It was in good shape,” recalls Bob, “because during the Depression we took care of things.” He packed some of his father’s WW I army gear: mess kit, sleeping bag, a full-length black rubber raincoat and boots, goggles plus tools for roadside repairs. After stops in New Hampshire, Bob headed for his English-speaking cousins in North Hatley, Quebec.

“The Canadian Customs officers said USA motorcycles could only get one gallon of gasoline, due to strict rationing,” he said. “But my Scout would run on un-rationed kerosene if you primed it with a little gas. Presto! No more rationing problem. A little gas to start the engine each morning and I was all set.” With a one-gallon can of gas, Bob started out on the thousand-mile circuit around the Gaspe Peninsula. “I slept on the ground or under bridges, but who cared? I was young and on an adventure,” he mused. Little did he suspect the adventure ahead.

German U-boats were attacking shipping well up into the St. Lawrence River. On May 12, 1942, some 80 survivors of the torpedoed British steamer SS Nicoya came ashore at the village of Saint Yvon. Rumors remained rife about further attacks and spies. When Bob arrived at the village on September 6, there had been another scare the day before.

The German U-165, under command of Oberleutnant Zur Zee Rudolf Hoffman, had attacked the SS Meadecliffe Hall. The torpedo missed and plowed into the shore by the village, blasting a 7-foot wide crater and sending fragments everywhere, breaking nearby windows and scaring the daylights out of the residents. A passing Canadian Navy armed yacht, HCMS Raccoon, likely startled the U-boat skipper and caused him to miss his shot. The steamer safely passed on its way to Ogdensburg, New York. The U-boat stole out to sea (two days later other U-boats sunk the Raccoon off the Canadian coast. Heading black home, the U-165 hit a mine and sank in the Bay of Biscay).

The explosion had put the village on high alert. Bob Merriam innocently rode into town, clad in that black rubber raincoat, goggles, and boots, riding a black and red chromeless motorcycle with military gear strapped to the back: the perfect image of a Nazi spy to the people of this isolated village.

“A gang of fishermen dragged me off the bike while others rolled the Scout into a barn,” he said. “They were jabbering away in French and didn’t understand a word I was saying. I saw them studying a beam over the door as a place to tie a rope and string me up. It was clear what they intended to do, but I didn’t have a clue why.” Things were not looking good for Bob Merriam. Then fate stepped in.

Being good Catholics, the villagers summoned the local priest before they started the necktie party. “Of all things, he pulled up in a chauffeur-driven LaSalle limousine,” Bob continued. “Thank goodness he spoke English, having attended the seminary in Chicago.” He quickly got things straightened out. The priest took Bob to the next village, Grand Etang, where an English-speaking couple was staying at a fishing camp. “They got me a cabin and fed me a splendid trout dinner,” Bob recalled, “and the good father came back at midnight to help retrieve my motorcycle.” End of the story? Well, not quite.

The next morning, Bob’s hosts and the camp owner sent him off right into a rainstorm. He stopped inside a covered bridge to wait out the showers. Along came a trio of fishermen. You guessed it. They pounced on Bob and carried him off to a nearby house. “This time one went for the authorities,” Bob smiled. “The other two and the wife of one guarded me, but they did feed me a bowl of boiled cod fish eyes – apparently a local delicacy.” Before long, a Canadian soldier arrived from a nearby post. “He was a worldly fellow from Montreal who spoke English,” said Bob, “and again, quickly straightened things out. Off I went and completed my tour with no more arrests.” Bob Merriam returned to Harvard to finish his education and get on with life that included war service with the Army’s 3160th Signal Service Battalion in Belgium, marriage, and a career in marine electronics in Rhode Island.

A small fragment of the Saint Yvon torpedo.

Bob never forgot his adventure. In 1961, he asked the Canadian Navy for information on the Saint Yvon torpedo incident and that year, returned to Canada with his wife Nancy and their two children. They found a roadside marker in Saint Yvon commemorating the U-boat incident reading “Torpedo Alemande (sic) a Visiter,” or “the visiting German torpedo.” The local postmistress generously gave the Merriams a small fragment of the torpedo that had crashed through her uncle’s cellar door. In 1993, Bob donated it to the Naval War College Museum. The deed of gift records it as “the only German weaponry to hit and explode on the North American continent during the war.”

The torpedo’s remains are displayed at the Musee de la Gaspesie in Quebec. The Indian Scout was meticulously restored and now belongs to a collector in Massachusetts. If you visit the New England Wireless and Steam Museum and are lucky enough to find Bob Merriam in a storytelling mood, maybe he’ll share a little more about his Canadian adventure or one of the many other tales that encompass his long and very interesting life.

[FEATURE ARTICLE] The Quonset Hut: A Rhode Island Original That Went to War – Worldwide

April 10, 2016 By Brian Wallin

It was 1941 and like it or not, America was gearing up for war. One major challenge was how to house people and supplies around the globe. The answer came from right here in Rhode Island: the Quonset hut. This writer recently became interested in this simple, multi-purpose structure while researching another story. As it often happens, one takes a turn off the main road and finds something even more intriguing. Come along and we’ll take a look at a ubiquitous symbol of American know-how that survives to this day.

The major construction firm of George A. Fuller, based in Chicago, was involved in the building of the Navy’s major facilities at Quonset Point when the government approached a Fuller engineer, Peter Dejongh, and the company’s only staff architect, Otto Brandenberger. Both were working on the Davisville section of the base. Could they also come up with a design for an easily manufactured and assembled building based on the WWI British Nissen hut … and could they do it inside of two months?

Their answer was an updated corrugated steel, semi-cylindrical building. A Providence firm, Anderson Sheet Metal, created a way to curve ribbed sheets using a lightweight metal developed in the 1930s by the Stran-steel division of the National Steel Company. (The Pittsburgh-based company still markets modern Quonset style buildings.) Using these curved corrugated panels, a crew of 6 to 8 men could assemble a hut in a single day. They used ordinary hammers to drive a specially hardened nail with an attached lead washer through the corrugated sheets into a ribbed metal frame. The kits included Masonite interior paneling, insulation and flooring, along with doors, windows and end panels that could be interchanged to accommodate weather conditions (screened for warm climates and enclosed for cold). Some models used plywood or canvas for the end panels to save on steel. So what to call this marvelous invention? A Navy engineer, Commander R.V. Miler, CEC, came up with the idea of naming the building after its origination point (Quonset being a Narragansett tribal word meaning “boundary”).

The project quickly got underway in a major production facility built on an 840-acre site in West Davisville (now part of the QPD Industrial Park along Route 403). The first hut kit came off the assembly line within 60 days of the original contract award (even as the design was evolving and the production facility was not fully complete). Eventually, additional private contractors around the world were engaged to produce the Quonsets, but the overwhelming majority were built right here in Rhode Island.

The original Quonset design had a 16 by 36-foot footprint, later expanded to a standard 20 by 48-foot general purpose size with some 86 different interior configurations (barracks, medical, chapel, classrooms, repair, supply, offices, mess halls, bakeries, etc.) and to warehouse styles of 40 by 100 feet, called “Elephant Huts.” The small models cost $800 in 1941 (around $12,000 today). The largest wartime Quonset hut was built on Guam: a 54,000 square foot warehouse. The beauty of the Quonset hut lay in its simplicity. Not only could it be quickly and cheaply produced, it could be transported as easily as a comparable sized tent, and with greater end-use versatility.

During the war, the Quonset design evolved through five different models, each one becoming cheaper and/or more adaptable. The second version, or “Redesign Hut,” for example, could be assembled with hand tools. The kits’ packing crates could be employed as staging for the workers putting up the building. The Redesign also had 4-foot vertical sidewalls improving interior space, and overhangs at each end for some protection against the elements. This design became one of the most common, and its elements were used in all future models.

More than 153,000 Quonsets, often called “tin cans” by their occupants, were eventually produced. Many were directly transported to the European theater from Davisville’s Advanced Base Depot, located on the waterfront of the massive naval base. Additional depots in Mississippi and California increased shipping efficiency.

At stateside bases, civilian contractors usually assembled huts. But overseas, military personnel, often Navy Seabees, did the job. The Seabee Museum in North Kingstown contains seven examples of vintage Quonsets, rescued from demolition when development began for the industrial park that stands on the site of the WWII Camp Endicott Seabee Base. The main museum is in a recently completed large Quonset warehouse. Although several WWII-era large warehouses still stand in the industrial park, those round roofed, cement block structures should not be confused with Quonsets.

Major WWII Quonset installations were set up at the Navy’s Training Center in Newport, the anti-aircraft school at Price’s Neck, and the torpedo firing range on Gould Island. The Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training Center in Melville was also a major Rhode Island Quonset facility. In addition to warehouses and classrooms, huts there were used for officers’ and enlisted quarters: eight officers or twelve enlisted to a hut. As the base grew, the number of men assigned to each increased. The officers enjoyed inside showers and a head (toilet), but enlisted had to walk outside to freestanding facilities (a chilly trip on a Narragansett Bay winter night). Huts were heated – sort of – by oil-fueled stoves. Eventually, 154 Quonsets were built at the Melville base.

After the war, as bases worldwide were decommissioned, the huts were torn down or sold off by the thousands for pennies on the dollar as surplus. Many of these wound up in post-war residential and commercial use. Although many have disappeared over the past decades, here and there, you can still find the familiar half-round shape serving as out-buildings, barns, homes, garages, diners, or even churches.

In one unusual post-war use, the fledgling Decca Record Company used a surplus Quonset as a recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee. It seems that the shape and the steel construction made for excellent acoustics. Stars such as Patsy Cline, Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, and the legendary Man in Black, Johnny Cash, recorded in that Quonset hut studio early in their careers. Closer to home, in the early 1950s, the student union at the URI Kingston campus was housed in a large Quonset on the northern end of the campus. Still in South County, if you drive down Middlebridge Road between Route 1 and Boston Neck Road, you’ll see several Quonsets, with additions, that remain in use as living quarters.

At Battleship Cove in Fall River, a surplus 40 by 100 foot Quonset warehouse shelters one of the museum’s two PT boats. It was assembled onsite using the same wartime methods. Near the Korean DMZ, the US Army still uses Quonsets at Camps Red Cloud and Casey as well as at the Pohakuloa Training Area on the big island of Hawaii. Numerous Quonsets also survive in Alaska.

Even today, the unique shape of the Quonset makes it particularly adaptable due to its weather resistant shape. Quonsets have been known to withstand hurricane force winds, tornadoes, earthquakes, and blizzards. As long as these venerable buildings are cared for, who knows how long the survivors will last? Certainly, a lot longer than their original designers intended.

Special thanks go to CWO Jack Sprengel, USN (Ret.) of the Seabee Museum for his input and for the images used in this story.

[FEATURE ARTICLE] The Famed Colt Model 1860 Army Revolver Joins the Varnum Memorial Armory Collection

January 28, 2016 By Brian Wallin

Colt Model 1860 Army revolver added to Varnum Armory collection.

When I was growing up in Connecticut, my father was a state government executive based in Hartford and I can recall often passing by the Colt Firearms Company with its signature dome located just outside the city. The reason why I love guns today and keep checking https://gun.deals/content/moriarti-armaments for the new attachments I can use to modify them is probably because of the Colt incident which happened when I was young. When I was a youngster, I had the chance to tour the factory and remember seeing some of the famed weapons that were the product of Samuel Colt’s inventive mind. One of them, the .44 caliber Colt Model 1860 Army Revolver, became the most widely used sidearm of the Civil War. A later variation, the famed Model 1873 .45 caliber “Peacemaker” gained fame as the preferred handgun of the Wild West. Let’s take a look at Mr. Colt’s contributions to firearm evolution.

Samuel Colt was born in Hartford in 1814, one of eight children of textile manufacturer Christopher Colt. From his early childhood, Sam demonstrated an inventor’s curiosity but without any scholarly bent. By the age of 16, he had dropped out of school. Colt went to sea and while working on shipboard, became fascinated with the workings of the ship’s wheel. This led him to his first steps in the development of a firearm with a rotating cylinder. In the early 1830’s, Colt wisely patented his idea for a revolving cylinder holding five or six bullets in both Europe and the United States. But, gun owners were not yet ready to give up their single shot muskets or hand weapons and accept a firearm that could fire multiple rounds without having to stop and reload.

However, Colt was a born marketer as well as an inventor. It was once said of him, “Abe Lincoln may have freed all men, but Sam Colt made them equal.” He opened his first manufacturing plant in 1836 in New Jersey at the age of 22. At first, his business failed to gain momentum. But, as word came back from front line soldiers that his revolver was instrumental in defeating the Indians in Florida and Texas, business picked up. It took the 1846 Mexican War and a commission by the U.S. Government to popularize the Colt revolver. Colt secured a government contract for 1,000 handguns. He built his now famous factory in Hartford in 1855 and soon had offices in New York and London. The Civil War was looming and Colt went into high gear.

Taking the .36 caliber Model 1851 Navy revolver, Colt re-engineered the frame to enable the use of a .44 caliber cylinder as well as interchangeable parts. The 1851 Navy Colt had an octagonal barrel, whereas the Army Model 1860 had a rounded 8-inch barrel. The Model 1860 uses a small copper percussion cap to ignite a 30-grain charge of black powder and fire a spherical lead ball or conical shaped bullet. Soldiers usually used paper cartridges consisting of a measured load of black powder and a ball wrapped in nitrate-soaked paper (to make it more flammable). These cartridges were inserted into the front of the cylinder chambers and rammed into place with the loading lever. A percussion cap was seated into a raised aperture (or nipple) at the rear of the chamber on the back of the cylinder. The hammer was cocked and the trigger pulled to fire the weapon. The hammer had to be manually pulled rearward with the thumb to fire each round. Depending on the amount of powder used, the muzzle velocity of the fired ball would be between 550 and 1000 feet per second. Compare that to the muzzle velocity of a modern Colt 1911A1 .45 ACP at 825 feet per second. At .44 caliber, the old Colt Model 1860 had great knockdown power with an effective range of between 50 and 75 yards.

More than 200,000 Model 1860s were produced between 1860 and 1873 (with nearly 130,000 going to the U.S. Government). Although the Colt factory supplied had both the North and South just prior to the start of the Civil War, the vast majority of Colt revolvers carried by Southern fighters were captured. Colt’s patents eventually expired and this opened the door to numerous other smaller gun manufacturers to make copies – some poor, some excellent- that added to the plethora of percussion side arms carried by many of the 2.75 million who served in the War. Nevertheless, the Army Model 1860 and other Colt pistols were certainly weapons of choice on both sides from 1861-1865. Early models of the Model 1860 sold for $20, a little pricey at the time. Eventually, the price was lowered to $14.50.

Colt’s company continued to dominate the handgun market after the Civil War. The company’s most legendary pistol, the Colt Single Action Army in .45 Long Colt caliber, also known as the “Peacemaker”, was introduced in 1873. Various models of this weapon were used by the military during the Indian Wars, the Spanish American War and the Philippines Insurrection. This revolver remains extremely popular today as a reminder of the “Old West” and is still manufactured by Colt.

Colt died in Hartford on January 10, 1862, one of the wealthiest men in America. His company has continued to grow over the many decades since.

Last fall, the Varnum Memorial Armory Museum’s collection was enhanced with the acquisition of a Model 1860, cap n’ ball paper cartridge revolver. Armory Vice President and Museum Curator Patrick Donovan has also obtained a matching military-issued holster in excellent condition (both revolver and holster are illustrated in this article). We continue to enhance our collection of Civil War firearms and other memorabilia, with a special focus on the First Rhode Island Cavalry, a unit whose men would have carried the Model 1860 as a standard-issued sidearm. Watch for more developments in the future.

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[FEATURE ARTICLE] A Conversation with Armory Curator Patrick Donovan

January 16, 2016 By Brian Wallin

Departing from our usual article of historic interest, this month we spoke with Armory Vice President & Museum Curator Patrick Donovan about some of the exciting developments going on both in the Varnum Memorial Armory Museum building and our collection.

Q. Tell us a little about yourself. What brought you to Rhode Island? How did you become interested in history and in the Varnum Continentals?

A. I moved to Rhode Island just after graduating from Indiana University in ’95. American Power Conversion (now Schneider Electric) hired me to help start up operations in China as Chinese and Chinese politics were my areas of focus at that time. But I’ve been studying and enjoying history ever since I can remember. Partly because my father and older brothers were into it … and I come from a military family having grandparents and great uncles who were combat veterans in WW2, Korea, and Vietnam. I grew up listening to their war stories with great fascination and awe.

I think anyone who loves history has this odd, insatiable desire to “know” what it was like to live and experience times past … a period that is forever gone and unreachable except through whatever skeletal remains survive in the historical record as art, photographs, literature, and artifacts. The past is very mysterious and intriguing to historians, both amateur and professional. Not only is there the sublime satisfying of curiosity, but there’s excitement and learning to be had from these epic, and often deeply personal stories that speak to us still today.

So I think people like me who are interested in history also feel a duty or, at least, have an appreciation for the need to preserve the historical record. And that’s what drew me to the Varnum Continentals. Our fundamental mission, basically, is preservation … preservation of the James Mitchell Varnum estate and the wonderful and broad collection of military artifacts in the Armory museum. This makes me an enthusiastic volunteer and proud and honored to be entrusted with the care of the museum’s historically valuable contents.

Q. Is there a particular period of military history that most interests you?

A. For me, it’s always been the American Civil War. It was such an epic and seminal event in American history. It is recent enough for us to have so much material to view … its battlefields are near to us and often so well preserved. Yet it is distant enough for all of its pain and ugliness to fade sufficiently for us to want to study it and relive its adventure and epic stories. I’ve always liked author Shelby Foote’s statement on the Civil War in the first episode of Ken Burn’s documentary, The Civil War: He said, “Any understanding of this nation has to be based, and I mean really based, on an understanding of the Civil War. I believe that firmly. It defined us. The Revolution did what it did. Our involvement in European wars, beginning with the First World War, did what it did. But the Civil War defined us as what we are and it opened us to being what we became … good AND bad things. And it is very necessary, if you are going to understand the American character in the twentieth century, to learn about this enormous catastrophe of the mid-nineteenth century. It was the crossroads of our being, and it was a hell of a crossroads.”

Q. You took over as acting curator in the summer of 2015 and were elected at the October Annual Meeting as Armory Vice President and Museum Curator. We’ve seen quite a bit of activity of late, especially in the Armory physical plant. Tell us about some of the more visible changes.

A. Well, priority #1 was to engineer, purchase, and install a state-of-the-art climate control system to ensure our valuable collection will survive for generations. This project is now complete. And I’m happy to report that Champlin Foundations has approved our grant request to retro-actively pay for all of the expenses incurred! Another visible change is a thorough and ground up cleaning of the museum facility itself. One by one, artifacts are being meticulously cleaned and preserved being very careful to not affect their original patina.

Q. Within the strategic plan laid out by the Board of Trustees, you have been working to assess our collection, pinpointing items of special significance and determining the most effective way to display them as well as identifying pieces which might be divested to enable us to fill gaps in the collection. Can you tell us more about your plans?

A. Well, first, I can say that in assessing everything that we have in the building over the last several months, I have found several items that while historically VERY special, have never been displayed…remaining hidden away in a box or a closet. I’m working to change that and developing a plan to significantly expand our display space as well as grouping objects in a more logical (timeline-wise) layout. I hope to eventually have a section dedicated to the Varnum Continentals and local East Greenwich history as well as one for our collection of military oddities…items that don’t really fit our mission per se, but which are just too cool and interesting to de-access. All of this will take time and money. I’ll share a more detailed plan in the not too distant future.

Q. You touched on our organization’s mission that is to preserve and encourage patriotism. How does the museum collection contribute to that effort?

A. Weapons, field gear, uniforms, and personal correspondence make up an important part of the historical record of our past as Americans. They provide a very direct, tactile connection to history that you just can’t get from reading a book. As you walk through our rooms and now even handle some of the items, you can’t help but think of the sacrifice, bravery, and selflessness of the soldiers of all countries and all eras. I think most people are emotionally moved when they visit. And if that happens, then I think we’ve done our job as a patriotic organization.

Q. The collection ranges from the period of the Colonial and Revolutionary War era up to Korea. Why stop at that point?

A. This was my original thinking when I started. We only have “x” amount of space and had to draw the line somewhere. Being that we are an “historical” organization and given what we had on hand in our museum already, stopping at the Korean War seemed to make sense. However, I think it’s important to represent all American-involved conflicts regardless of time period as history is an ongoing process. So I’m actively accepting new donations from veterans and families of veterans who served in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War, and our current War on Terror in the Middle East.

Q. You spoke about the restoration of artifacts in our collection. You have been fortunate in having some able assistance in the work, I know. Tell us more about this effort.

A. Now that we have the environment controlled from a temperature and humidity standpoint, we’re not under time pressure to clean and preserve the weaponry and other items. Which is a great thing because restoring and protecting a single firearm can require 2 to 3 hours or more … and we have hundreds of items! The challenge is having the patience, the tools, and the know-how to do this type of work properly. If you move too quickly, use poorly sized tools, or don’t understand the fine line between gentle cleaning and removal of the patina, you can easily destroy the value of the item. Until recently, I’ve been doing all of this myself. But, our new Treasurer, Tim Jackson, has been helping me quite a lot lately with this work. He has incredible weaponry expertise and experience from his service in the infantry and as a fellow collector. I trust him.

Q. Every museum curator has a wish list. What would you like to acquire in the future?

A. Well we just recently filled a few big holes by adding a Colt Model 1860 revolver, a very rare 2nd Model Burnside Carbine made in Providence, RI, and in mint condition from its arsenal re-build, a very early 1943 Model 1903A4 Sniper rifle. I’d like to add other Rhode Island made firearms including a Model 1861 Springfield Rifle and M1941 Johnson Automatic rifle. I’m always on the lookout for any RI-related military items. In fact, I’m about to acquire from a friend in Gettysburg some relics and tintype photos of Union Cavalrymen from the 1st RI Cavalry. Another item that comes to mind that we are missing is an M1 Thompson submachine gun…one of the most iconic American weapons of WW2. I have a spreadsheet with a wish list of “missing” items.

Q. Volunteerism and active membership are two vital aspects to the success of any non-profit organization. What are your thoughts on the importance to the Varnum Continentals?

A. A volunteer organization is only as good as its volunteers and members. None of us makes any money doing what we do. And most of us have full-time careers and families that take up the majority of our time. Having team-oriented, positive people with the time to keep things running smoothly is critical. An active, growing membership is also important in helping us serve our mission of promoting American patriotism. Members do this by financially helping us, by celebrating and commemorating the heroism and sacrifice of our veterans, and by helping us get the word out about our organization and museum.

Q. Where would you like to see the Armory Museum in, say three to five years?

A. I’m going to keep my cards close to my vest on this one as I’m still working on the plan But it is safe to say that it will be larger, better conserved, better organized, more protected, and more open! Stay tuned!

By Varnum Trustee & Member Brian Wallin

[FEATURE ARTICLE] What’s New at the Varnum House Museum: A Chat with Varnum VP Barbara Weaver

Varnum House Museum Operating Hours

[FEATURE ARTICLE] The Only Nazi Bomb To Hit North America: An East Greenwich Connection

[FEATURE ARTICLE] The Quonset Hut: A Rhode Island Original That Went to War – Worldwide

[FEATURE ARTICLE] The Famed Colt Model 1860 Army Revolver Joins the Varnum Memorial Armory Collection

[FEATURE ARTICLE] A Conversation with Armory Curator Patrick Donovan

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