Calendar

  • February 1 -
    March 31

    Quilt Stories exhibit
    A Timeline of Quilting from the 1800s through the 1930s
  • April 17

    We Made Do: the Great Depression in Chautauqua County
    This exhibit will present an eye-opening perspective of the American economy and everyday life in our hometown during the 1930s and today.
  • June 14

    Red, White and Blue: Sharing Veterans Stories
    7 pm at the R. H. Jackson Center
    A roundtable discussion with a representative group of Veterans sharing their experiences and hometown connections. Audience participation is encouraged. WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East wars will be represented.
  • June 19

    Fenton Institute
    Walking Tour of Jamestown's Southside

    1-3 pm
    Explore the beauty and majesty of an era gone by in the south side neighborhoods near Forest Ave. Also learn about the early businesses and people who thrived there. Reservations are required. Free elective for Individual Level memberships (or higher), $10 for members or $15 non-members.
  • July 2010

    Spoon River Project
    Dates are still being determined.
    Be inspired and touched by the moving Spoon River Anthology in the beautiful setting of Lake View Cemetery. Support provided in part by the NYSCA Decentralization Program of Cattaraugus County.
  • July 26-30

    Camp Brown - A Call to Arms...Life as a Civil War recruit.
    Students in grades 4-6 will experience the life of a Civil War private preparing to march into history. Limited spaces, 1-4 pm each afternoon, please register early, $50 fee.
  • August 7

    Fenton's 6th Annual Old Fashioned Day
    9 am to 3 pm - Free admission to the festival and the museum. Experience our hometown's living history: try your hand at many of the "chores" our great-grandparents did everyday-for adults and children alike. Experience the "Make Do" attitude of the Great Depression. Fun, crafts & games for kids, a variety of food vendors, modern crafters, and much more!
  • August 16-20

    History Detectives Camp: Making Do in Jamestown 75 years Ago
    For grades 4-6. Discovery and learning come together as students uncover the life of Jamestown residents during the "other" Depression. Limited spaces, 1-4 pm each afternoon, please register early, $50 fee.
  • September 25

    Blue & Gray 2010 Civil War Encampment
    The 9th Cavalry is returning home! The community is invited to learn more about living during the Civil War from the soldiers and family members camping at the Fenton Mansion. Donations accepted.
  • October 2 & 9

    5th Annual "Saints and Sinners" Lake View Cemetery Tours
    From 3 pm until 8 pm at Lake View Cemetery, corner of Buffalo St. and Lakeview Ave., Jamestown.
    The tour will uncover some of the more than 43,000 personal stories at Jamestown's beautiful Lake View Cemetery. Guests are asked to wear comfortable shoes, dress for the weather, bring a flashlight for the later tours and to be ready to learn some interesting information about Jamestown and Lake View Cemetery. Presale: $8 for adults, $2 for children& youth; at the gate $10 for adults, $3 for children and youth, and half price for Fenton History Center members. Reservations are required; please call 664-6256 to reserve your tickets and time slot. Call early as the later tours fill up fast!
  • October 3 & 10

    Twilight Mausoleum Tours at Lake View Cemetery
    Get a behind the scenes tour of a number of the elegant mausoleums in Jamestown's 1859 cemetery. Light refreshments follow the tour. 8 PM. The cost is $15/single, $25 per couple. Youth and children are $5. Reservations are required; please call 664-6256 to reserve your tickets.
  • November 23

    31st Annual Holiday exhibit
    Members Only Sneak Preview 4-7 PM. New members welcome, join and see the exhibit for FREE.
  • November 26

    31st Annual Holiday exhibit
    opens to the public- through January 15, 2011.
  • December 4

    Fenton Family Day
    Start a family tradition - bring your family for crafts, cookies and fun! Discover your past at the Fenton History Center! Children are half price!
  • December 11

    Girls and Dolls Holiday Tea
    11:00 to 12:30 PM and 1:30 to 3:00 PM. A special holiday event for young ladies, their mothers, grandmothers, aunts and friends. The event includes tea, dessert, a craft and tour of the Fenton Mansion decked out in its seasonal finery. The cost is $15 per ticket. Space is limited. Reservations are required.

Quilt Stories

The Fenton History Center's newest exhibit features quilts from the Center's collections. Over forty quilts of all sizes and materials add to the local history story; many on exhibit were sewn by local women and reflect the lives they lived. Quilts, as we know them today, became popular during the early 19th century. They not only served a utilitarian function in the household, but also were a means of expression for women beyond the printed word. Today quilting is still a very popular artistic outlet for all ages.

Starting with the beautiful, but simple whole cloth quilts and progressing through the Civil War depravations, to the flamboyant crazy quilts, the exhibit provides a visible timeline of the changes in quilting over the centuries. The earliest quilts were whole cloth quilts. They have been made for hundreds of years from the finest silk and linen to the roughest homespun fabrics. They are just as their name suggests, made from two pieces of cloth, a "whole" piece, not individual pieces sewn together.

The signature quilt emerged in the 1840s and 50s, a time when a mass migration westward took place in our country. The quilts were based on friendship. They were made as memorials for the leaving family.

During the Civil War, Union soldiers had urgent need for clothing and blankets. Women first donated family quilts, but then began to sew specifically for the war effort. The military requested quilts be suitable for a military cot and a bedding pack; four feet wide by seven feet long. Over 250,000 such quilts were made for the troops. Very few remain intact today.

There was also a need for funds to help local soldiers. Women used their talents to raise funds by raffling off quilts or selling a signature space on a quilt. Signature quilts became very popular. Sometimes an entire family would sign one block each. More often a quilt was signed with hundreds of signatures and then raffled off, bringing in as many funds as possible from a single quilt. Stories are told about quilts being re-donated by raffle winners, two or three times over, so that the one quilt could make as much money as possible for the cause they all believed in.

Women continued to use signature quilts after the war to showcase their political and religious beliefs. The exhibit has a number of examples of these signature quilts on display from the South Stockton Political Equality Club (a suffrage movement group), the Bemus Point United Methodist Church and Immanuel Lutheran Church.

The crazy quilt got its start at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 as a form of interior art. The crazy quilt was popular into the 1920s. They are truly unique creations that are a combination of whimsical motifs, embroidery, painted fabric, and any variety of materials.

Redwork quilts were also very popular from the late 1800s through the 1920s. The white muslin squares, which were stamped with patterns, were sold for a penny a piece. They were good for teaching young girls embroidery. The stamped patterns were stitched with red thread and then the quilt top was assembled. A number of redwork quilts are on view in the exhibit.

Other quilt styles in the exhibit are appliqué, utility, doll and a wide array of patterns such as Dresden plate, grandmother's fan, cherry basket and pineapple.

The exhibit will run through April 30, 2010. The Fenton History Center is open Monday through Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM. Special tours can be arranged by calling 664-6256.