Author Archive

Oct 31, 2012

On the Occasion of Halloween, Some “Haunted” Glass

To celebrate Halloween we present some spooky-looking glass artifacts from the Wing collection. These images aren’t from a mad scientist’s laboratory…just a regular laboratory. The glass photographed below are all colorless, the result of chemical additives in the glass making process. Many of these compounds are reactive to ultraviolet light. We use a small UV […]


Oct 15, 2012

Cast of Characters Part II

The Wing of Offices is also known interchangeably as the East Wing of Dependencies. This collection of outbuildings was an addition of the main house, and contained four separate rooms. The functions of these rooms are debated by academic scholars, but the possibilities include a kitchen, smokehouse, cook’s quarters, laundry, spinning/weaving room, dairy, or storage […]


Sep 10, 2012

Cast of Characters Part I

Using written evidence from letters and other historical documents we begin by identifying some of the people who were involved with the construction of (and later repairs to) the wing. The details include a brief biography of the individual and their likely connection to the wing of offices. Unnamed workers: In September of 1813, digging […]