Writing

"There are several Edward Hopper examples in the collection of The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, including this beauty, the 1926 House by ‘ Squam River . Can you name its Gloucester location? There are notes indicating that it’s in the general direction heading into Annisquam. IT’S NOT. I admit to clinging to this suggested area with some unreasonable hope because of personal bias (my parents lived on Wheeler’s Point for 30 years and the charm and power of those panoramic vistas)…"  Continue

"...Looking back with a hundred years of distance, we can only begin to imagine how talented, determined and adventurous Ethel Mars and Maud Hunt Squire must have been. Coming from mid-western families (Mars's of very modest financial means) they left home at a young age and attended one of the top art schools in the United States where, though they were women, they were among the best students. Throughout their lives they sought out the most exciting artistic milieus wherever they were to be found, whether near Gertrude Stein in 1906, Provincetown in the great summer of 1915 or along the south of France in the 1920s--even in the midst of two World Wars..." 

Catalogue design: Amy Bernstein. Special thanks to  David Hamill.

"Come on inside the Virginia Lee Burton Writing Cottage which was once the acclaimed artist’s former studio of her own. Virginia Lee Burton’s personal studio was rescued and nestled into the Lanesville Community Center property. The center’s clubhouse and grounds, established in 1954, seem to be the ideal spot for a summer rec program, even more so now. As one enters the cottage through the custom built door, there’s a brand new window straight ahead where the stove and chimney – and asbestos– had been. Virginia Lee Burton needed a wood stove. Today’s visitors won’t. New materials and insulation make the cottage cozy and warm..." Continue

"...The variable terrain of Cape Ann impacted outhouse design. If a farmer didn't own enough land with suitable soil, they might opt for a basic "dig, bury & move" or "slide & fill" solution, rotating the outhouse footprint after it filled--faster with a bigger family--like a handheld number slide puzzle.

When digging a deep enough pit latrine was not an option, or the property was solely ledge, mucking out with rake and spreading ashes (later lime) was necessary. Waste and refuse was portable. Compost could be used for backyard gardens. Whether collected from a vault hatch, pail & sawdust, custom cabinet drawer, bucket & lid sanitary ware, or chamber pot, it did not matter. Filth, euphemistically "night soil", could be dropped off or conveyed (eventually with a license only, and limited by off season dates) to designated collection sites near and far, sold, or even stolen--as late as 1915--see below! 

Those who could afford to hired help or contracted with a subscription company. Municipalities like Gloucester had line items in the budget for waste collection, incineration and plumbing inspectors: These were thriving businesses.

Prior to sanitary reform in Gloucester and all of Cape Ann, the surrounding streams, marsh and ocean were availed as unmitigated dumps. The natural topography of Gloucester--all that water! all those hills!--was considered an enviable benefit for city infrastructure and street plans, and likely delayed the city's modern sewer system. (When public water carriage lines were introduced they could flow downhill into the harbor from densely populated areas or directed into the sea anywhere along the coast, whether for public or private owners. Out of sight. Out of mind.) Dilution was the solution.

Efforts to improve municipal services--to manage public and private waste to keep it out of the water table--were increased. Separate water and sewer lines would be regulated; eventually outhouses were a thing of the past and (quality) food scrap or compost value from home garbage was reduced to nil. You have to skip ahead a full century to find the Gloucester Harbor Clean Harbor swim milestone.

Below is a chronology illustrated with famous vs. local American outhouses, and a **selection** of Gloucester's sewer and sanitation milestones. I've written a fair amount about Gloucester art and public works so a few links are provided for those as well. You have to love Public Works..."  continue

 Good Morning Gloucester

2016

Art Review: Peabody Essex Museum | Hasten to Hassam

Charles Hassam survey

by Catherine Ryan

History of Stacy Boulevard Construction Series:

Part 6 - 

Part 5 - 

Part 4 – Gloucester’s majestic public works construction stats: bringing the Stacy Boulevard plans to life 

Part 3- Stacy boulevard public works construction Part 3: compare high res plans from 1922 and 1923 with today

Part 2: Stacy Boulevard Public Works  stunner | Gloucester is an early client for the Harvard and Olmsted trained landscape designer, Thomas Warren Sears. His 1908 photos are a must see!

Part 1 STACY BOULEVARD NEARING THE FINISH LINE  – Walk this way: Gloucester’s stately Stacy Boulevard public works project is breathtaking and one for the ages! 

September 12 2016- Stacy Boulevard construction update: historic Blynman the Cut Bridge project scope plans and engineering details

August 2016 Stacy Boulevard construction details. Gloucester DPW is impressive

 Good Morning Gloucester

April 3, 2017

Walk this Way: Gloucester's Stately Stacy Boulevard Public Works Project is breathtaking and one for the ages! Part 1

by Catherine Ryan

"...Another life cast that's for sale is this vividly detailed and lovely Perseus and Andromeda, 1965 ($39,000).  There's a rescue and great tension so effective with the mixed materials, florid and fascinating. There's poor Andromeda sacrificed by her mother Cassiopeia to appease Poseidon and beg off a sea monster. You can pick out the anger and emotion in that sea. The bag with Medusa's severed head was captivating, bounced just so, side quests are still to come after all. Don't miss the sword and winged sandals Hermes gave Perseus." Catherine Ryan

Gloucester art at Sotheby's. Stuart Davis Painting hints to memories and impressions of Gloucester, Paris, and New York, and 192 East Main St., 51 Mt. Pleasant Ave, and Romany Marie.

Day trip tips & photos. Concord Museum. Home of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Louisa May Alcott | home of Little Women Orchard House. Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau Walden Pond. Gropius House. Marcel Breuer House 1. Moon Hill Road. Decordova. Drumlin Farm.  Mass Film Map. Mass Modern Trail. Thoreau in Gloucester. Emerson in Gloucester. Alcott in Gloucester. Mass Modern in Gloucester.

Good Morning Gloucester

2018

 Williamstown Art Conservation Center caring for Gloucester's WPA murals & 1950s murals 

by Catherine Ryan

Good Morning Gloucester

2021

 Wall Street Journal features New Deal Public Art across America | Gloucester WPA Murals are a treasure! Learn more about their history. 

by Catherine Ryan

Good Morning Gloucester

Jan 30, 2023

Heroic Rescue at Sea in January 1905: Coming Home after 6 Weeks RT to Grand Banks, Gloucester Schooner "Theodore Roosevelt" Saves Nova Scotia "Ohio" Crew and Brigantine Wreck, Undone by Violent Blizzard at Sea

by Catherine Ryan

“#16 Fort Square Road, Gloucester, MA. Turn around with your back to Gloucester harbor and face “Tony’s House” at the angle shown here. In the painting, note the hint of  city skyline lower left, and the slight  slope along the right of the harbor. The double house, chimneys, and outhouses were irresistible and inevitable subjects.” Catherine Ryan, 2010. 

2023 update: Shingles gone. The home was for sale in 2020, sold, and renovated. Blue cladding is recent. Photo with snow 1/24/2023. Note Birdseye in 2010 photos where Beauport Hotel is now. 

James Connolly (1868-1957) Irish American best selling author, active in Gloucester

Good Morning Gloucester

Rituals of Solace and Gratitude on Memorial Day. Poppies and Liet. Col. John M. McCrae's Poem In Flanders Fields   

by Catherine Ryan

Rediscovering William H. Haskell. A misspelling clouded his history.

short form

Good Morning Gloucester

2017

Review:Ocean Liners Exhibit at Peabody Essex Museum  

by Catherine Ryan  

 Good Morning Gloucester

March 1, 2014

1894 and 1902 Poem and Photo series on the business of fishing and the beauty & charm of Gloucester | Clarence Manning Falt 

#GLOUCESTERMA ESSENTIALS

by Catherine Ryan