Make new Friends and Keep the Old . . .

By Cecille Marcato | Published: June 28, 2010

From time to time we have visitors who have unwanted objects or ephemera that they will offer to us.  Recently, a couple from Arizona told their NCHM docent about a scrapbook that had belonged to a distant family member from Austin, Mary Raymond.  I recognized the name as being among Austin’s early elite.  James Raymond was a five-term chief clerk of the Texas House of Representatives.  After annexation, he served as state treasurer.  He lived in an Abner Cook House (on the current site of Austin’s Waterloo Records at the intersection of current Lamar Boulevard and West 6th Street).  He knew Mr. Cook, Governor Elisha Pease, John Swisher, and Samuel Haynie – characters we speak about routinely at the Neill-Cochran House Museum.

The visitor, Doug Freeman (who is a friend of Friend of the Neill-Cochran House Museum member Priscilla Murr) followed through with his promise to send the scrapbook.  Dr. Murr delivered it herself along with a warning that the book was fragile and that, although curious, she had not been able to open it in good conscience.  In addition to the scrapbook, the box contained an autograph book belonging to Miss Mary Raymond that was begun in 1879.

This little gem was in fine condition, and looking inside it was like opening a little Autograph bookwindow into Mary’s life.  Her friends, in keeping with the tradition of autograph books (I had one in the 6th grade (1959), as did my mother when she was in sixth grade (1937) imparted aphorisms along with perfect cursive signatures.  Mary had many “true friends” according to the complimentary closings of her cohorts who signed their autographs and imparted their pearls of wisdom.  Poems showed off more handwriting for good or ill. (One entry is unreadable but all the others are wrought with the care of a master calligrapher – shocking to citizens of a world in which cursive writing is no longer taught in public school!)  In addition to words, beautiful gouache paintings of flowers and butterflies and embellished transfers adorn some pages, with others decorated by the painting-impaired with stickers.  Young Mary studied music, apparently, and the book contains a folded program from a piano recital during which Miss Raymond appeared several times – as a soloist and in duet.

The book spans the times between 1879 and 1882.  Googling Mary, one sees that the Austin Genealogical Society has her graduating from an Austin school in 1882-83.  It doesn’t list the grade, her age, or the school; but one of her friends whose autograph and philosophy appear in the autograph book is listed with her – Mollie Leonard.  At the back of the book were two poems with no attribution, each perfectly typed and each with a handwritten admonition:  Please Return (underscoring, Miss Raymond’s).  One of these poems begins “Within the confines of this bounded life/A perfect thing is rare…”   I don’t know much about Mary’s life; that it was bounded by birth and death, though, is certain.  We will be talking about her decade – the one which saw her as an adult – this fall for Modern Times, so the timing of her appearance (in autograph-book) couldn’t be better.  That rare, perfect thing.

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A Tiny Giant Walked Among Us

By Cecille Marcato | Published: February 24, 2010

Going out with Jean Andrews was like going out with the governor: From the Silk Road to the mountains of Costa Rica to the capital of Texas, she seemed to know everyone, and everyone seemed to know her. You could always find her in a crowd despite her diminutive physique because all present remembered where they had last seen her. If she invited you to a benefit, you quickly learned that you would be sitting at the VIP table because, although she had failed to mention this herself, Jean was the major donor.

I met her for the first time when Kat Helmle, her assistant of over 20 years, rented the NCHM for an art sale benefitting Jean’s foundation. Having worked at the museum only several weeks, I expected a modest turnout and a few paintings. Instead, there was a stampede to purchase a body of work that ranged from art school to the present and comprised oils, botanical prints, and books. I ran into friends of my own I hadn’t seen in years who happened to be groupies of Dr. Jean. There were stacks of early Conte crayon life drawings I couldn’t resist buying that were just as lovely and lyrical as anything she ever did. The talent, focused late in life, was innate.

Members of our Friends of the Neill-Cochran House Museum community are accomplished in their fields; Jean was a master of many. From Kingsville, Texas, Jean Andrews attended the University of Texas at Austin where she studied fashion design and earned a B.S. in home economics – now human ecology. She earned a master’s in education from Texas A&I (now A&M Kingsville) and a PhD in art from the University of North Texas — the first awarded in that department. She was also the first woman to be named to the Hall of Honor in the College of Natural Sciences at U.T. and also received the Distinguished Alumna Awards from both U.T. Austin and North Texas.

Jean collected folk art and textiles from all over the world, along with seashells; she wrote about them and painted them. Her book jackets announced, “Written and Illustrated by Jean Andrews.” All of them – and it’s quite a list:

  • A Field Guide: Shells of the Florida Coast
  • Red Hot Peppers
  • The Pepper Lady’s Pocket Pepper Primer
  • The Peppers Cookbook:
  • 200 Recipes from the Pepper Lady’s Kitchen
  • The Pepper Trail:
  • History and Recipes from Around the World
  • The Texas Bluebonnet
  • An American Wildflower Florilegium
  • Texas Monthly Field Guide:Shells of the Texas Coast
  • Peppers: the Domesticated Capsicums Texas Shells: A Field Guide
  • Shells and Shores of Texas
  • Sea Shells of the Texas Coast

One of her final acts of generosity was directed toward the museum. Shortly before her death in January, she and Kat Jeanpic2invited us to discuss a bequest to the Neill-Cochran House. She had always supported the museum with her presence — even when she couldn’t hear what was going on that well. (If she misheard something, she laughed at herself to make you comfortable.) She was one of fifty founding members of the Friends of the NCHM with a generous contribution, In addition to her museum bequest, Dr. Andrews endowed visiting university lectureships, scholarships, and two faculty fellowships.

Known as the Pepper Lady (a moniker she actually trademarked) for her pioneering work on the Capsicum, Jean’s life had a sadder side. She was frank about the serious difficulties that included losing her daughter Jinxy at fourteen. These travails postponed her many accomplishments and global travels but they never made her bitter; they made her generous. Zipping around in her little peppery car or one-on-one, she was funny and salty, gracious and giving, courageous and intrepid. There was no one like Jean — a tiny person who leaves a huge hole in the world. First and last, she was a Friend.

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Behind the Scenes at the NCHM: The Construction of the Neill-Cochran Gingerbread House

By Amy Hollister | Published: December 11, 2009

Gingerbread dreams have been haunting me for the last month. Haunting may be too severe a word, but nonetheless, construction techniques occupy my mind nightly.

Last summer when developing our Modern Times – Kids Only! classes, Cecille expressed her dream to have children make miniature Neill-Cochran Houses from gingerbread.  Excited about expanding our youth program, I never imagined that this project would be such a large undertaking. The last time I made a gingerbread house I was sporting an oversized sweatshirt with stretch pants and two – yes two — sets of socks, each a different color. I was one stylin’ second grader who was, needless to say, oblivious to the work behind the project.

For the Gingerbread House-Raising at the Neill-Cochran House Museum, the first challenge was baking mass quantities of walls, roofs, and chimneys. There was just no way, with our holiday event schedule that we could accomplish that, so we approached the Austin Art Institute Culinary Program Director Andrea Alexander for help.  Luckily, the school was preparing for an open house, and baking our infrastructures gave the students a task on which to focus while they were being observed by prospective applicants.  With a fleet of volunteers, we constructed 16 houses, leaving only the chimneys for the kids to attach and the walls to be decorated.

On November 14th 17 eager children, ages 6 -11, filled the Meeting Room at the NCHM to learn about Greek Revival architecture and decorate their individual houses  with what-seemed like an endless supply of candy. After completing their own homes, the children rolled out dough for the walls of the Neill-Cochran House replica and cut “limestone” from pina colada licorice.  This beginning of the Gingerbread Neill-Cochran House was fueled by pure youthful excitement. This day, though exhausting, would not be the greatest challenge. The road ahead of us would be far more difficult because our new focus was not quantity but detail. To finish the gingerbread model of the Neill-Cochran House, we had to be creative, precise, and resourceful.  These qualities are all well represented in our volunteers and stalwart supporters.

The template for the mini-museum was larger and more complicated than that for the children’s houses.  For this we turned to a gingerbread-house expert Tom Neuhaus, the founding partner of Sweetish Hill Bakery in Austin, now a science professor in California.  The next challenge was locating an available oven large enough to bake the gingerbread walls that were 16 by 24 inches.  Despite a hectic holiday schedule, Joe Cook of Joe Cooks! Catering rose to the challenge, offering up his kitchen to Cecille for six hours.

Gingerbread NCHM

Gingerbread NCHM in the French Parlor at Champagn & Carols

The assembly process itself was truly symphonic, with everyone contributing ideas, picking up where others left off, and really focusing on making the best (and most accurate) gingerbread replica possible that even included our museum cat Olive.  With the children’s cut candy stone and the walls, we were ready for the “glue” and the “snow.”  Thursday docent Gale Webb really dived into the project, whipping up 30 quarts of royal icing and perfecting the butterscotch-candy antique glass for the windows.  Renee Sutton, Abby Webber, and Karen and Alex Pope stepped in with supplies at a moment’s notice and assisted with repairs.

Like any project, this one was not without problems. Down to the last column, the house challenged us with surprises – walls that wouldn’t stand, icing too thin to solidify properly, broken candy canes, and countless others.  Each and every day, something happened that could have brought the project to a halt.  But somehow – I believe it was a combination of volunteer dedication and holiday magic – we finished it in time for Champagne & Carols.

As for me, part of my youthful naivety about gingerbread house production is gone. I now know how much work my teachers and parents put in to create the houses I so gleefully decorated.  (I am in the process of writing belated thank you letters.)  My belief in the positive side of human nature was strengthened, though, after witnessing the dedication of everyone who participated in the project. I am proud to be associated with such an amazing feat of teamwork and would like to thank everyone for their contributions – dollars, manual dexterity, and patience!

For all of us, the Gingerbread House-Raising had a happy ending.  The candy-covered mini-Neill-Cochran House – gingerly – was moved to Austin’s Helping Hands Home for Children on December 17th so that the residences of that amazing program and the staff and visitors could enjoy it.  Acting director Margaret May accepted it and gave the House pride of place in the lobby by the Christmas tree; a tour of the facility left no question that the House had found its rightful home.

And my dreams?  Well, this winter and spring bring more programs and events.  Perhaps it’s time to start dreaming of Abner Cook’s birthday cake!

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Good-Bye to an Unexpected Friend

By Cecille Marcato | Published: December 1, 2009
Snow

Neill-Cochran House, c. 1929 - 1930

Invitations to this year’s Champagne & Carols sported a photograph taken in the winter of 1929-1930 when a thick blanket of snow covered the Cochran grounds at 2310 San Gabriel.  The picture is the last taken from the northeast angle, now impossible because of the Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs building.  Look closely at the back House to see the breakfast porch built by the Cochrans when they brought the kitchen indoors; look closer to see a screen door leading into it.

In 1979, when Bell Klein and Hoffman added the meeting room, the breakfast porch was enclosed with windows, and the door was removed.  A Canary Island date palm was planted outside the spot where the door had been, and it flourished even though not native to the area.  It grew to frame gracefully  the south gate to the front lawn and make the Centennial Terrace feel cozy to visitors and brides.

In the spring of 2006, NCHM resident cardinals – Bob and Carol – built an extraordinary home in the palm, which is right outside my office (the erstwhile porch).  Back then, the desk faced the windows (bad feng shui that nonetheless offered a great vantage point for viewing the following construction project).  One day, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a white flash; about 20 minutes later, another, then another.  I looked up for the second one and saw Carol flying into the palm tree with what looked like a strip of white cotton tee shirt.  She used three such strips to tie two massive palm fronds together creating a vee-shaped floor.  Over the next couple of days she built a  beautiful nest cradled by the joined palm branches.  The  positioning of the apartment was such that a third palm frond cantilevered above the floor to create a roof.  Frank Gehry would have been proud.

Carol’s engineering feat was so spectacular that I set up a ladder in the office, and all sorts of visitors – from out-of-town tourists to our local Friends and Olive’s vet – came to see it.   She laid three eggs that turned into three squawking babies.  Bob bent a palm leaf back from the frond to make a little door so that he and Carol could execute quick takeoffs after feeding their progeny and hide from predators.  Spoiler alert: This story does not have a happy ending, nature being if not cruel at least    indifferent to our emotional anthropomorphizing.

The cardinals’ structure survived three late, violent spring storms that year but not Bluto, the predatory neighborhood blue jay.  The babies disappeared.  Carol and Bob were devastated, as was their audience;  everyone mourned for weeks.  The duo comes back every year but never again executed anything like this daring masterpiece.

This year, the NCHM has experienced differential movement caused by a number of factors.  It prompted concern and a comprehensive report from John Volz of Volz & Associates, an award-winning architecture and design firm specializing in historic properties.  A structural engineer and a window specialist, both of whom also specialize in historic restoration, are working on proposals.  The NCHM is collecting estimates and raising funds to stabilize the building and avoid problems in the future. Recommendations on the Volz report include removing foundation plantings and automatic sprinkler heads from the beds to stop moisture flow through the mortar in the structural footings.  Ultimately, complete removal of the trees and shrubs is a matter for a garden interpretation  committee; historic photos of the Neill-Cochran House depict the traditional 19th-century approach – no foundation plantings – but for now, we are trimming all foliage that touches the House and removing what is causing major damage.  Sadly, on the list of culprits is the glorious palm.

Centennial Terrace during a March wedding

Centennial Terrace during a March wedding

Transplanting it is not an option within our financial reach, and, of course, there is the issue of garden interpretation.  Palms are not native to this region except for a few trees – or the Cochrans – they maintained a peach orchard, planted pecans, and grew plumbago.  The palm’s fate hinged on both structural integrity and historical accuracy.

Friends who spend time at the NCHM know that I am not a nature lover.  I prefer cement sidewalks to lawns and would just as soon hear sirens wailing and the subway rattling as birds chirping.  But I grew attached to this tree, both because of Carol’s ingenious plan, which, had her babies lived, would probably have been repeated each spring, and because of, yes, its stunning beauty.  My desk faces the door now, which is just as well.  That way, I won’t have to see the palm tree’s phantom limbs.

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Little Things Mean a Lot

By Cecille Marcato | Published: August 31, 2009

Every newsletter, for the last four years at least, has included a wish list for the Neill-Cochran House Museum.  Items on this list have included everything to make daily life easier (exclusive of the amazing gifts to the museum’s collections that began in 1958 and continue to the present day).  Remarkably, Dames across Texas have fulfilled each and every desire expressed in the newsletter since 2005!

On a recent Saturday when we greeted VIVs (very important visitors), we made iced tea quickly and painlessly thanks to the contribution of a long-wished-for electric tea kettle.  It struck us that over the past four years, the fulfillment of our wishes has been immediate and generous.  Each newsletter has thanked the member who donated a wish-list item, but these gifts have contributed so much to the operations of the NCHM that they bare mentioning again.  So . . . thank you for the electric tea kettle, steam machine, beautiful table cloths, paper cutter, camera, carpet, office furniture, and  kitchen knives, laptop, coffee pot, rolling file cart and portable desk, carpet, tea towels, aprons, and footed cake stands. We think of our donors we use these items and want you to know once again how much they help us!

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The End of a Successful Summer

By Cecille Marcato | Published: August 24, 2009

Even oppressive summers such as this one, with its daily doses of triple-digit temperatures, go by too quickly.  Group tours whizzed through, polite children have come and gone, Lady Baltimore cake disappeared from plates, all in a blur.  Fall is closer than the thermometer indicates, and soon the doors of the Neill-Cochran House Museum will open for two Museum Days, the Landmark Tea, and the fourth season of Modern Times followed closely by holiday decorating and more events.

We do take time each summer to look back at the previous season, though.  Thanks to you, we were able to hold our ground last year while many museums suffered.  For the eight worst months of the recession, we increased visitation and achieved our membership goal thanks to your awareness-building efforts, volunteer hours, and steady, generous    contributions.  In the coming weeks, we will need you more than ever.  Please visit the NCHM with your friends for a tour or host an event in this magnificent antebellum home that works for teas and galas.  Come to Austin for the weekend and catch a Modern Times talk, and don’t miss Champagne & Carols, one of the nicest holiday events you’ll ever attend.  Above all, let us thank you in person and help you enjoy the many benefits of Friendship!

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Birthday Wishes from the NCHM

By Cecille Marcato | Published: August 15, 2009

After a certain age, most people celebrate their birthdays with a piece of cake (maybe) and a few gifts (maybe); they tend to mark only the milestone years, at that – 30, 40, 60.  However, if you are a friend of Dr. Priscilla Murr’s – and she has many – you will know that a birthday can involve travel, education, fundraising, and, yes, cake.  As a birthday celebration this July 12, 2009 (not her real birthday, by the way), Dr. Murr decided to explore early Austin architecture and staged her party at the Neill-Cochran House as a museum fundraiser.  She invited Dr. Kenneth Hafertepe, author of Abner Cook:  Master Builder on the Texas Frontier and chair of Baylor University’s Museum Studies Department, to speak about Cook’s 19th-century buildings, one of which is the NCHM.

Dr. Murr is a Jungian analyst practicing and teaching in Austin.  She graduated from the Jung Institute in Zurich and received a PhD in English from the Universitat Zurich, where she lived for 14 years.   Nurturing a lifelong interest in archaeology and history, she has taken many groups to West Texas and beyond to examine Native American sites and geologic phenomena.   There isn’t much that doesn’t interest her, though.  Staying close to home for the museum party, Dr. Murr was able to facilitate a sizeable gift to the NCHM through donations of guests at the door.  In exchange for their generosity, her friends heard a lively talk by Dr. Hafertepe, which included his most recent research on Mr. Cook’s buildings; toured the Neill-Cochran House Museum; and enjoyed birthday cake and punch.

As an educator, Dr. Murr appreciates the programs that the Neill-Cochran House Museum offers fourth-graders through its curriculum unit The Story of the Neill-Cochran House, the general public through the Modern Times speaker series, and children of all ages through interactive classes.  The proceeds from Dr. Murr’s event were earmarked for public awareness of these programs, with immediate results.  Many thanks and Happy Birthday, Priscilla Murr!

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A Matter of Manners

By Cecille Marcato | Published: August 4, 2009

One of the hallmarks of the Fourth-Grade Curriculum Unit is that the school children enjoy being in the Neill-Cochran House  seeing first hand what they have learned in the classroom.  Whether they are crimping paper on the pleating machine or  listening to Mary Cochran Bohls play the melodeon, for the 90 minutes the students are here, they are in a positive learning   environment.  In keeping with our mission of offering programs to children that are educational and entertaining (fun engenders at least fond and possibly useful memories), we developed our first-ever Summer Youth Program.

Included this summer was an etiquette class that certainly resonated with parents, and Minding Your Manners filled   immediately.  Kids aged 6 to 12 gathered at the House to learn about 19th-century customs and modern niceties that will broaden their social world and help them feel comfortable in it.  Susan Kaiwi, owner of the Etiquette School of Austin, kindly donated her time and special expertise to make the class perfect.  She greeted the well-turned-out      children with lessons in shaking hands and making proper introductions and explained to them why manners matter so much.  The students then created personalized calling cards patterned after Victorian versions on display and, entering through the front door of the NCHM, deposited them in a silver basket for the “lady or gentleman of the house.”  They toured the House, learning about its architecture and amazing history and then, two by two,  entered a dining room set with china and silver (yes, many forks!) for a four-course luncheon.  Mrs. K., as she is known to her Anderson High School students, talked the young guests through the meal during which they learned – yes – which fork to use when, how to ask for condiments, how to excuse oneself and mark one’s seat, how to indicate to the wait staff that a course is finished, and, in general, how to behave at table.  A demonstration in silver-polishing prepared the  children for the fine utensils – including ice cream forks – they used during the meal.

The NCHM staff and volunteers always seize the opportunity to combine learning facts about architecture and history with having a good time.  Creating a new generation of preservationists depends on this approach.  Similarly,         perpetuating a civilized society requires passing on to  youngsters all those rules of good behavior our mothers, grandmothers, and teachers instilled in us.  Minding Your Manners allowed the House to work its spell on the children while they expanded their social frontiers.   Mrs. K. and the NCHM staff hope that the ladies and gentlemen who participated in the inaugural class will come back with their parents and friends.  Please.  Thank you.

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On the Up & Up

By Cecille Marcato | Published: May 5, 2009

A recent meeting of the new, expanded Friends board made me think about the evolution of the Neill-Cochran House Museum in the last four years.  I always tell people that my mission is to never, ever hear, “I never knew about this place” from a visitor.   Long before the Strategic Plan called for professional director, a property manager lived on the premises to pay the utility bills, open the doors to the occasional tourist, and assist the Colonial Dames at their seasonal meetings. Things have changed.  Amy Hollister, our Project Coordinator and second staff member, has been at the job for over a year, now, and the two of us never have down time.

I hope that the new board members and, indeed, all of the Friends are proud to be a part of an entity that is growing in quality and breadth.  This fall, we will begin our fourth season of Modern Times, a speaker series that has something different to offer its audience.  It seems impossible, but we have just given our fourth Abner Cook Award!  I hope that all the recipients have been as happy to win as we are proud to be associated with them.  Facility rentals have increased with beautiful weddings, teas, and conferences.  Tourism is up at the NCHM even as people cut their travel, and our docent team is top-notch and still growing.  Our media presence has grown, too, with valuable radio time, two major spreads in the local paper, and much more.  We have firmly established roots in the neighborhood of U.T.’s West Campus with open houses and broadened our community outreach to children with the Easter Egg Dye-o-Rama, a fall event in the works, and proposed classes.

All of this is possible because of our Friends — in other words, you.  Your contributions have helped us actually achieve goals that started out as dreams.  Thank you.

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The Not-So-Fickle Finger of Fate

By Cecille Marcato | Published: January 1, 2009

I’m not sure to what extent historians search for meaning in facts they turn up, but I can speak for writers:  We look for and find it everywhere.  When I came to the Neill-Cochran House Museum as the first full-time professional staff member, the planets were apparently in perfect alignment.  Seemingly small coincidences revealed themselves even at my interview, but it really wasn’t until I read Ken Hafertepe’s finely researched book Abner Cook:  Master Builder on the Texas Frontier that I understood how remarkable my coming to the NCHM truly was.

In “Celebrating Abner Cook” (Among Friends, Winter 2009, available here) Sue Moss mentioned Samuel G. Haynie, a friend of Cook’s who lived in one of his late Federal-style homes on what is now Colorado Street, just down from the Governor’s Mansion.  This “lively” gentleman (as he was described by his peers) occupies the first limb of the Texas trunk of my family tree.

Dr. Haynie, a physician and merchant, was mayor of Austin around 1851.  During the 1850s, the town became a place filled with possibilities, and Haynie was deeply invested in it.  He bought parcels of land around town, two of which — just north of the city — he sold to William de Normandie, who later sold them to Washington Hill.  If that isn’t enough coincidence, Dr. Samuel Haynie was also named as the third superintendent of the Asylum for the Blind, which, at his hiring, was located at the Neill-Cochran House.  As the supervising physicians lived on premises, Dr. Haynie’s family would have moved into the House except that Abner Cook finished the new campus right after Haynie accepted the position, and the Asylum for the Blind moved to its permanent location (now, MLK at IH-35 in Austin).

When Samuel Garner Haynie died in 1877, Abner Cook and Elisha Pease were pallbearers at his funeral.  All three gentlemen are interred at Austin’s Oakwook Cemetery.  Haynie’s picture, which usually hangs in the museum of the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, is on loan to the Neill-Cochran House Museum while the TSBVI is under construction.

As a teacher, I frequently told my students that everything is connected.  Sometimes it really is; sometimes Fate’s proverbial finger isn’t fickle at all!

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