Calendar

  • July 27 - August 1

    Spoon River Project
    Be inspired and touched by the moving Spoon River Anthology in the beautiful setting of Lake View Cemetery. Performance and ticket information is on the FHC Spoon River web page. For more information on the project you can visit The Spoon River Project website. Support provided in part by the NYSCA Decentralization Program of Cattaraugus County.

  • 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!

  • 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.


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We Made Do

Plunging stock prices, high unemployment rates, mounting debt, an untested president, grassroots protesters. Sound familiar? It could be today, but it was 1932. Looking to the 1930s can help us understand how we have arrived where we are today. The Fenton History Center's newest exhibit is not meant to be a comprehensive look at the cause and effect of the Great Depression in Jamestown; it is a snapshot of a number of interesting facts and stories about what happened in Jamestown during the worst years of the Depression, 1930-1935.

A pair of large format photographs shows East and West Second Street during the 1930s. The shop fronts are all occupied, there are cars parked on the street, the trolley is active. The photos, while not bustling with shoppers, give the impression of a downtown that is successful regardless of the economy.

One of the keystones of the exhibit is a report titled "Dear Mr. Hopkins," written in the fall of 1934 to Federal Emergency Relief Administration Director Harry Hopkins. He sent 16 Reporters to investigate the social and economic conditions around the country. The Reporter, Martha Bensley Bruere begins the report with the following:

"The problem of getting people back to work in Jamestown is not primarily a problem of relief. The emergency there is not one which will be cured by a general revival of business throughout the country, not even if there comes a boom. Their problem is to find a new basis of livelihood for over 7000 people formerly employed in establishments which have either moved away, gone into bankruptcy, or been torn down. It is a problem of reconstruction."

"The report is filled with a straight forward assessment of the local handing of the welfare issues, the federal work projects programs and the needs of the community. It is a great snapshot of the period" says Joni Blackman, Director. "I really hope some of our older residents stop in to see the exhibit and share their stories of the Depression. What was it like growing up in that time?"

The exhibit also features a recreated living room scene where the new technology of the radio is the centerpiece of the room, much like our flat screen TVs of today. Archival materials tell us a little about the challenges of running a home and preparing meals on an average income of $1,300 per year - for everything. A number of the federal sponsored Works Progress Administration, W.P.A., and Public Works Administration, P.W. A., projects are shown. The Jamestown High School building was constructed with P.W.A. funds. Other projects were the NYS Armory and upgrades to Allen Park.

The exhibit is open through September 30th.

The Fenton History Center is open Monday through Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM. Admission is nominal and free for members.