Research: Rensselaer County Historical Society

Rensselaer County Historical Society, Troy, New York. June 20, 2012

I spent several days researching Wiawaka at the Rensselaer County Historical Society in Troy, New York. They have a great library and archives, including an extensive Wiawaka Holiday House archive. The Wiawaka archives includes annual reports, receipts and bills, financial statements, guest registers, advertising pieces, and newspaper clippings, to name just a few. Bonus: it's air conditioned.

Just up the street from the RCHS is St. John's Episcopal Church. Founded in 1830, Wiawaka founder Mary Wiltse Fuller was a member of this church. The short history of the church on their website tells of the active involvement of other members, including women, in other areas of reform.

St. John's Episcopal Church, Troy, New York. June 20, 2012

Noted Architect Linked to Wiawaka

In researching individuals associated with the Wiawaka Board of Directors, I found mention that Mr. Charles S. Peabody helped design the new boat house that was completed during the 1916-1917 season.(1) This boat house is still in use at Wiawaka; with it's bright red color and curved entryways, it serves as a recognizable landmark both from the lake and overlooking Lake George from high up on Prospect Mountain.

Wiawaka boat house, designed by Charles S. Peabody. Photo by Megan E. Springate.

Charles S. Peabody was an American Architect born April 8, 1880 in Brooklyn. He graduated from Harvard University in 1903 and enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, graduating in 1908 the second highest in his class of three hundred. Peabody worked for the architectural firm of Ludlow & Peabody of New York, well known for public buildings including churches, hospitals, and college buildings as well as skyscrapers. Charles S. Peabody was decorated by the Greek Government for his work designing a Temple of Youth in Athens, Greece commissioned by the Greek Government, the Greek Church, and a group of American philanthropists.(2)

Other buildings designed by Charles S. Peabody (several of which are on the National Register of Historic Places) include:
The Lake George Club
The Royal C. Peabody Estate (Wikiosco), Lake George
A "daring" plan for Brooklyn's Civic Center
Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka, Alaska

I don't have a full run of Wiawaka Annual Reports, but the ones I do have show Charles S. Peabody serving on the Advisory Board between 1923 and 1933. His wife served on Wiawaka's Board from at least 1913 through 1940.(3)

Charles S. Peabody died on September 10, 1935 at his summer home on Lake George.(4)


Sources:
(1) Wiawaka Holiday House (1917) Wiawaka Holiday House Annual Report 1916-1917. Wiawaka Papers, Box 2, Rensselaer County Historical Society, Troy, New York.
(2)  archINFORM (2011) Charles S. Peabody.
(3) Wiawaka Holiday House (various) Wiawaka Holiday House Annual Reports 1913-1940. Wiawaka Papers, Boxes 1 and 2, Rensselaer County Historical Society, Troy, New York.
(4)  archINFORM (2011) Charles S. Peabody.

Locating the Original Pine Cottage

While I was up at Wiawaka the other weekend, one of the regular volunteers and I got chatting about the site. I forget exactly what we were talking about, but she mentioned that there was an image showing the location of the first Pine Cottage, built circa 1873 (at the same time as Mayflower and Rose cottages). It burned down in 1905, along with the Crosbyside Hotel and other buildings on the property. The current Pine Cottage, located near Route 9, was built in 1907. One of the questions I had was, "Where was the original Pine Cottage?"

A copy of the photo was located, and as the sun burned the mist off the lake the next morning, we went out to recreate the view. Here's a copy of the photograph:

Photo by Seneca Ray Stoddard, ca. 1876 to 1904.

We originally thought that the building on the left was Fuller House, but by standing outside, in the landscape, it became clear that it was actually the Crosbyside Hotel. The next building to the right is Fuller House. The presence of both the Crosbyside Hotel and the Fuller House indicates this photo was taken between 1876 (when Fuller House was built) and 1904 (the Crosbyside and Pine Cottage burned before the 1905 season opened).

View from approximately the same place, October 8, 2011. Photo by Megan Springate.

We then compared the other two buildings visible in the Stoddard photo with the buildings left standing at Wiawaka. In the photo above, you can just make out Fuller House in the distance, behind the pine trees; to the right is Rose Cottage. Comparing the location and shape of the buildings, it becomes clear that 1) the fourth building to the right in the Stoddard photo is Rose Cottage, and that therefore the third one from the right is the original Pine Cottage; and 2) that somewhere along the line, Rose Cottage got a new roof -- perhaps its roof burned during the 1905 fire?

Why am I interested in the location of the first Pine Cottage? Because it burned within the first few years of the founding of Wiawaka Holiday House. Things that were in the building when it burned (as well as in the Crosbyside Hotel, which was also used by Wiawaka to house guests) can tell me about the material experience of guests at the site in those very earliest years.

The amount of landscaping, specifically the raised roadway running in front of the Crosbyside Hotel in the Stoddard photo is quite impressive, and doesn't appear in the current landscape. It also doesn't appear in earlier photos of the Crosbyside that show a dirt lane (vs. raised road) running in front of the hotel. This makes me suspect the Stoddard photo above was taken closer to the 1904 date than the 1876 date; someone more familiar with clothing trends of the time may be able to offer some insight.

I wonder where the landscaping and the remains of the Pine Cottage and the Crosbyside Hotel ended up?

Artist Georgia O'Keeffe at Wiawaka

In 1908, Mary Fuller bought several acres of land adjoining the Wiawaka property to the north. This parcel was the location of a two-story Adirondack-style building that Katrina Trask built circa 1905 and used to house visiting artists. Katrina named the property Amitola; the building is now known as Wakonda Lodge. The visiting artist residence is a precursor to Yaddo, the Trasks' artist retreat which remains in operation in nearby Saratoga Springs, New York.

Several famous people are reported to have spent time at Amitola, including the artist Georgia O'Keeffe. In 1998, when the National Register of Historic Places nomination was written, no proof of her visit to the site was known.

During preliminary research for the Wiawaka Project, documentation of Georgia O'Keeffe's stay at Wiawaka was found in an issue of American Art News dated June 13, 1908 (Vol. 6., No. 31). An image of the article is below, with the sections mentioning Georgia O'Keeffe highlighted (click on the image for a larger, readable version):

News about the Art Students' League, American Art News, June 13, 1908 (Vol. 6., No. 31)

In the spring of 1908, Georgia O'Keeffe, then 21 years old, won a general scholarship to the Art Students' League in New York City for her untitled oil painting of a dead rabbit with a copper pot. That summer, she was one of twenty Art Students' League students to spend a month at Wiawaka. That fall, she stopped painting, convinced that she could never compete artistically with others in the realistic style. Four years later, she began painting again after taking a class that introduced her to a more expressionist approach to painting, and she went on to create a spectacular body of work.(1)

Georgia O'Keeffe, Untitled (Dead Rabbit With Copper Pot), oil on canvas, 1908. Collections of the Smithsonian Institution, Control No. IAP 82380053. Photograph of the painting by Peter A. Juley and Son, Smithsonian American Art Museum. (2)

References:
(1) Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.
(2) Search Results: O'Keeffe Rabbit