Ronald Epp Research: : Talks / Publications. 2003-2011. George B. Dorr Archive Ronald H. Epp Addresses & Publications Contained in these files are lecture notes, outlines, correspondence, and in many instances a written address. Marginal notations reflect last minute rewording of content. Given my teaching experience and familiarity with the topics contained herein, not only did I often deviate from the written word but in many instances I thought that the physical venue was best suited to a less formal delivery. In rare instances audio tape or video was made of the event. Whether these have withstood the test of time can only be determined by the host institution. Some addresses were reworked and subsequently published; researchers should compare the presentations listing against the publications list in my curriculum vita. ABBE MUSEUM BAR HARBOR HISTORICAL SOCIETY "Establishing Dr. Abbe's Museum in Mr. Dorr's Park" SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2003 3-4 p.m. Abbe Museum Slide Program by Dr. Ronald Epp, director of the Shapiro Library at Southern New Hampshire University. Dr. Epp will speak on the relationship between museum founder Dr. Robert Dr. Robert Abbe Abbe and one of Acadia's "founding fathers," George B. Dorr. Dr. Epp's recent archival research on Mr. Dorr and Dr. Abbe reveals fascinating insights into the founding of the Abbe Museum in the context of Acadia National Park. Fee: $5 for Abbe and Bar Harbor Historical Society members, $10 for nonmembers; pre-registration required. George B. Dorr Christmas The Lafayette National Park (Duseum of the Stone Age. SLA New Directions Seminar "From Harvard to Bar Harbor: Researching the Origins of Acadia" A Presentation by Dr. Ronald Epp, Director, Shapiro Library Associate Professor of Philosophy Friday January 16, 3:30-5pm [2004] Robert Frost Hall, Room 301 (6) SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE UNIVERSITY contact: Nasha Foulks at 603.629.4620 FROM HARVARD TO BAR HARBOR Researching the Origins of Acadia Preface Historian of Philosophy/Ethicist/Environmental Philosophy Summer vacations on MDI Questions: Who built these trails? When? How? A/B How did the Park originate? When? Who? Unlike oither National Parks, all lands were private gifts to the U.S. Government. In an era when philanthropy was not highly regarded, whose generosity was involved? Why? Prominent Names: Charles Eliot John D. Rockefeller Jr. George Bucknam Dorr Beatrix Farrand Robert Abbe as well as the Pulitzer's, J.P. Morgan, Vanderbilts, Kennedy's Background reading left me unsatisfied. Most of it was anecdotal and I biased either for these "rusticators" or hostile to their class-based society. It was commonly ayccepted that Harvard's President provided the vision for what would become Acadia National Park, George Dorr executed that vision and brought the park into being and administered its development for the next thirty years, while "Jr" shaped the development of sixty miles of carriage roads and a motorized road system traveled by 3 million vistors annually. This is the "TRIUMVIRATE." But why did they invest so much of themselves in a 110 square mile piece of real estate far removed from the Boston of Eliot & Dorr, the New York City of the Rockefeller Empire? would Why Dorr and Jr. acquire at their own personal expenses hundreds of parcels of real estate and then offer thousands of acres of Maine to the U.S. government as a gift--there was no precedent for such generosity? 2 None of the secondary sources adequately explained this historical process. As was clear from the start, no one had systemmatically analyzed the archival sources. No dissertations, surprisingly. Identification of Relevant Repositories: Method continued to be (a) to move from the well-known to less familiar, (b) the most current to the more historically removed, (c) the well documented event to the impressionistic, 1. NARA, College Park for NPS administrative records Characterize experience. Research suite, own photocopying 2. Acadia N.P. Archives 2 Gloved examination of files, own photocopying. "Pulling teeth." 3. RAC, Sleepy Hollow, NY 60 million records, Topics sent to archivist in advance, typed indexed cards photocopied, folder secured in advence of visit, identify relevant documents, institutional photocopying with copies received in 3 weeks. 4. MDI libraries, and historical societies scientific laboratories. Micrcofilms of local newspapers, surviving memorabilia of G.B. Dorr, image collections, and initiation ceremonies revealing great caution. Increasing amounts of personal time invested in travel and reading primary sources. Later I would begin interviewing notable people, some descendents (e.g. Ann Rochefeller Roberts) of histone figures, The Elusive Mr. Dorr: Timeframe: 1853-1944, the decade before the Civil War to the end of WWII. Why this timeframe. Because within the year I had decided that Mr. Dorr's life was so rich that a biography was required. Epp as biographer? New role was intimidating given the enormity of the timeframe and the extent of the project. However, whereever I turned those who had written about Mr. Dorr acted as if his meaningful life began in 1901 when he joined forces with Eliot. HCTPR- explain 3/4 3 The published accounts basically ignored his first 48 years of life. The son of a wealthy Brahmin family, we are told in condescending language that his family's wealth enabled him to dabble and avoid commitment to a profession. The Harvard Archives online finding aids are marvelously detailed foots! The Harvard Archives enabled me to to access his college transcripts, the unanticipated evidence of his involvement with the philosophy department (of James, Santayana, Munsterberg, etc.), that led in time to an entirely new details about Dorr's involvement with the American and English Psychical Society. While other published accounts had falsely claimed that he had done postgraduate work at Harvard and Oxford, everyone had overlooked his key role in the 1903 building of Emerson Hall, the "new" home for Harvard's philosophers and psychologists. Mr. Dorr's activities were being fleshed out. Disciplinary Extensions Choice as training ground for interdisciplinary meta-scholarship * Pursuit of primary documents Blessings of online catalogs & sometimes finding aids Contacting hundreds of repoitories for more details, creating a paper filing system, updating it periodically. New content being added daily to digital catalogs: hence, re-search * Sieur de Monts Publications 5 Only nine locations worldwide where located. Contacting each especially one's listing entire holdings None had entire run contrary to cataloging (Smithsonian Institute). Five of 22 missing. Where they published? Are they in someone's attic, a family hand-me-down, unknown the homeowners? * Exploration of Gilded Age Literature via Mary Dorr 6 Hostess of great reknown in both Boston and then Bar Harbor Hosted political, educational, business, literary figures. Friend of Annie Fields, wife of James Fields, preeminent New England editor, author, and publisher (Ticknor & Fields) of Emerson, 4. Longfellow, Lowell, Hawthorne, and beyond these shores Tennyson, Browning and Dickens. In Annie Fields's Memories of a Hostess she refers to one of Dicken's visits to America and their Xmas eve dinner in the early 1870's with the Dorr"s. Where? At Dorr's? Was George present to meet Dickens? What does Dickens have to say about this? What do his biographer's report? Dorr's family summered in the Bershire Hills and opened property in Lenox. There he made the acquiantaince of Edith Wharton who valued Mr. Dorr's gardening experience, naming a path in her gardens after him. * Historical Scope: 1850-1950. Think of the changes that have transpired. When I read about travel from Boston to Bar Harbor then to Washington, what time, risk, and transportation means were available? As a young man, George spent years abroad touring Europe and the Mediterranean with parents & brother. In the 1890's and early twentieth century we lean from his memoirs great detail about travel to California to trek through the Sierras. When Rockefeller & others opposed permitting the automobile onto their MDI community roads, what was Mr. Dorr's stand? Mr. Dorr developed a profound appreciation for the arts at a time when the Maine landscapes of Hudson River School (Church & Cole )were sustaining interest in visiting MDI. * The scientific literature also received my attention. Village Improvement society concerns with sanitation (Eagle Lake and power of eminent domain). MDIBL/ Jackson Lab Glaucoma literature. What therapies available? Read the primary sources and seek out contemporary interpreters. Dr. S. Weir Mitchell & Dr. Robert Abbe. Read everything about both! * Psychology had not been clearly defined and separated from its philosophical roots. Dorr's work at Harvard, led effort to raise $ for building Emerson Hall. Shared with William James deep interest into unexplained psychological phenomena. English and American Societies for Psychical Research. Invesitigate archival documents from archives of both Societies. Try 5 and relate this behavioral science to emerging discussions about societal classes which is at the heart of Judith Goldstein's research. Somes Pond. * Mr. Dorr's scholarly interests extended to almost every imaginable aspect of the natural world. He solicited from experts detailed studies of MDI bird life, geology (Dorr ownwed several quarries) insects--as shown in the Sieur de Monts Publications. He was keenly interested in forestry, the impact of the Maine logging industry, and had a lifelong relationship with Gifford Pinchot, first director of U.S. Forest Service. Explain tracking down Pinchot's manuscripts, largest private collection in the Library of Congress, 2 million items occupying 1,100 linear feet of LC. No good finding aid! * Mr. Dorr embraced his mother's love of gardens, established the first nursery on MDI, and developed himself into a horticultural expert. Collaborated with F.L. Olmsted on planning the park road network. His work with America's first female landscape acrchitect, Beatrix Farrand, is a fascinating study in its own right. Reef Point & work for JDR Jr. * Business acumen was a family heritage with both sides of the family (tracking back its American roots to the 17th century). Wealth from mercantile shipping and mills that enambled him to talk the capitalists talk. Frequented their clubs : Cosmos Club in D.C., University Club in NYC., but especially the Somerset Club in Boston. This was a major source for the political connections that would be vital for securing the authority of the Federal Government to establish a National Park. Conclusion interesting I've not discussed facinating aspects of Dorr's administrative role within the NPS. I've yet to plum the legalities and informalities of his property acquisition activity. Much non-reimbuseable travel and living costs will be associated with scholarship. b. The original project has expanded to include many secondary projects, derivative publications beyond the scope of the biography. Much remains to be done: more genealogical research; further investigation of manuscripts at Harvard, Temple, Yale, and throughout Maine. My wife believes I have taken a "mistress," a male Boston Brahmin who died sixty years ago. More curious, this so-called obsession leads one to focus every perception through the lens of Mr. Dorr's life. At times there is disappointment at false starts, unproductive inquiries, and disorganized and erroneous archival documentation. I'm still unable to resolve why the NPS Service would raise Old Farm within a few years following his death. Discovery of Mr. Dorr's sled in a shed behind Storm Beach Cottage. How could they destroy the site where the Park was born? The dependency on textual material is frustrating. There are fixed images but the photographic record is slight. (Ray Strout) I have never heard Mr. Dorr's voice. Harper's Ferry WVA visit and their fixed image collection. I've been in hot pursuit of moving images and to date have a thirty-second clip of him with at the ceremony opening the Cadillac Mountain mortor road. "Common Sense" screams that there must be more but film archivists inform me to the contrary. Refer to Katahdin climboby Theuster/Warr 11 Serendipidity often functions here. Look for one thing, discover another. No detail is irrelevant. Backtracking is a way of life. Improtant benefit is the collaborative network that this project has created. "Mr. Dorr's Family" is what I call these communities, institutions, and people who have brought me this far. As a bachelor, Mr. Dorr had no known offspirng but his work has created a legacy as potent as biological agents. Read conclusion from "Establishing Dr. Abbe's Museum in Mr. Dorr's Park." Mount Desert Islander THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2005 Epp to lecture on Dorr By Anne Kozak love of nature is easily recog- nized, no one has written about ACADIA NAT'L PARK his development as a scholar or Ronald H. Epp, one of the com- precisely what constituted at mittee members organizing the that time being a gentle man or celebration of the founders of gentleman. These qualities Acadia National Park and the how Mr. Dorr acquired them, author of a forthcoming book how they are expressed today on on George Bucknam Dorr, will Mount Desert Island and why lecture on Mr. Dorr at 7 p.m. the trustees chose them to June 30 in the Gates Auditorium honor Mr. Dorr - will consti- at College of the Atlantic. tute the basis of Dr. Epp's lec- Considered by many to be a ture and be a pivotal part of the principal catalyst in the forma- biography he is writing. tion of Acadia National Park, This lecture, which is spon- Mr. Dorr (1853-1944), a bache- sored by the Champlain Society lor, began using his extensive at College of the Atlantic, is the fortune in the 1890s to purchase first in a series of events sched- land along Schooner Head uled for this summer and hon- Road, Cromwell Harbor Brook oring all of those whom helped and Great Meadow to construct found Acadia between 1901- connector trails - walking FILE PHOTO 1916. This summer's events are paths that would allow year- George B. Dorr not just homage to one man, round and summer residents to said Dr. Epp, but rather a way to walk, bike or drive a carriage pay homage to all the individu- from the center of Bar Harbor lar action in the future, Mr. als who gave of their time and to Sand Beach. Dorr began seeking federal pro- personal resources. In the early 1900s, Charles B. tection for the lands, which The group spearheading the Eliot, president emeritus of Har- eventually formed the nucleus of 2005 Spirit of Acadia Celebra- vard and a Seal Harbor summer Acadia National Park. He made tion has been meeting monthly resident, invited Mr. Dorr and countless trips to Washington since November 2004. Events others to form the Hancock and used his connections with scheduled for this summer in- County Trustees of Public many prominent people in all clude an, entry in Bar Harbor's Reservation. Based on a similar aspects of government to ensure Fourth of July parade, exhibits group in Massachusetts, the that Congress would act favor- in the various museums and li- trustees' purpose was "purchas- ably and give federal protection braries on the island, featuring ing, owning and holding lands to Acadia. In 1916, Congress es- the Tracy family, Hancock and other property in Hancock tablished Acadia as a national County Trustees of Public County for free public use." Al- monument. As recounted in Reservation, a view of everyday though initially little land was "The Story of Acadia National life on MDI from 1860-1940 and donated, by 1906 they were Park," Mr. Dorr in 1919 hand Charles Eliot. Additional lec- given a large tract which in- delivered the bill changing the tures will cover the Green cluded the Bowl and Beehive. status of the park from a na- Mountain Railroad, George When lumbering activity threat- tional monument to a national Dorr and the origins of the ened Cadillac, they purchased park to President Wilson for his Mount Desert Island Biological land on the western side of signature - a signature ac- Laboratory and the controversy Cadillac that included Pemetic quired the night before the pres- around Mr. Dorr's renaming of and the Bubbles. ident left for the Versailles Con- many of the mountains in Aca- When the Maine legislature ference. dia. in 1913 considered revoking the A monument honoring Mr. This summer's events will group's tax-exempt status, Mr. Dorr at Sieur de Monts Spring culminate in a Founders Day Dorr rushed from his home in refers to him as a scholar, lover Celebration on Aug. 13 at the Boston to Augusta in time to of nature and a gentleman. In an village green. thwart the effort. Because he be- interview earlier this year, Dr. news@mdislander.com lieved the state might take simi- Epp said that while Mr. Dorr's George Bucknom Dorr : Father of Academational Park" College of the atlastic June 30, 2005 1 Dorr Memorial Outline College of the Atlantic June 30, 2005 GENTLEMAN 1. Memorial Sieur de Mont plaque, rectangular bluestone, 28 by 41 inches on granite boulder, HCTPR replacement for '47 fire Gentlemanly origins in Massachusetts Ward and Dorr families track back to England and migration here in early 17th century Lawyers, seafarers, merchants, bankers Families moved in elevated social, literary, and aesthetic circles (Margaret Fuller, Emerson, Anne Fields, and visiting Charles Dickens) Thomas Wren Ward & Baring Brothers George's birth in Jamaica Plain 2. Park Street (north view) 2 Park Street adjacent to the Common 3. Park Street (south view) Beacon Street headed West to Back Bay Neighborhood of privilege and Unitarian values Boston academic circles of 19thc. unitarian moral Q was 4. Park Street (north view) the successor of docturnal theology. * Recreation on the Common and the adjacent public gardens 5. Back Bay Marshy Western limits being filled in-late 1850's 1858 image A It encompassed study of human nature F 20th C. social sciences- stressing ethers not dogma, respect for classical rouning charitable and philanthropic to social illi I Don't 4910 2 6. Commonwealth Avenue (1877) View looking east to Common, 18 Commonwealth Avenue address in 1863 Landscape modification impressed juvenile George Civil War, Charles Dorr enlisted soon found medically incapacitated. Family supported women's rights and emancipation George attended Mr. Dixwell's School Spent summers in Lenox, Nahant, Newport 7. Harvard Graduation Not the usual four years His freshman year begins as Charles W. Eliot's first year as President concludes Visual difficulties begin Summer travel to the U.K., Paris, Riviera with tutoring European travel-Rome, Brittany, Spain--as Haworth castle Death Enrouk of 903 William in 1876 Visit c George } Mary Howard, by fatherited to whitellts., Champlain, Adirondacks mechanism to deal with grief they toured for nearly four years Taught Down to revere the landscape 1880 depressive illness Mental Healing 8. Old Farm (long view) beginning 1872, 1875. Charles purchases Compass Cove property 1878 siting Designed by architect Henry Richards, two decades later modified by Fred Savage following Mrs. Dorr's death 9. Old Farm (front) 6,000 + square feet atop knoll overlooking Frenchmen Bay 3 10. Old Farm front foyer 11. & 12 Old Farm Drawing Room 13. Old Farm from Dorr Point 14 & 15 Old Farm Gardens 16. Mrs. Mary Gray Ward Dorr Mr. Dorr states repeatedly that his vision for the park as a sanctuary had its origins Dorr's continue to travel abroad, 1888, 1891-92 to Central Italy, Sicily, Palestine, and Nile trip George Dorr still living with parents at 40 years of 1/28/93. age when his father Charles died: his will directs his estate to millionaire anthropologist Charles P. Bowditch Mother and son both involved with BHVIA Death of llrs. Dorr, fall 1901. VS. HCTPR 10/21/ 17. Lawn party at Old Farm Dorr was now middle aged, unmarried, holding a superior social position, participating in Club life in Boston during winter months, and establishing the Mt. Desert Nurseries-his first entrepreneurial act. Mary Dorr and Spiritualism in Goldstein's words, "he lived off his intellectual and social capital, "only in 1896 did he 4 SCHOLAR What constitutes scholarship? For most of us in the academy it has many dimensions: research organization of knowledge creativity discovery collaboration dissemination All of these elements were present. 18. Dorr classic image Empiricism built on inch-by-inch familiarity with the island landscape Sieur de Monts Publications "PR" for the NPS and the new island National Monument Image also reflects the overly-dressed gentleman who is a historian of 17th-19th c, French/English culture Ward and Dorr family genealogist Friendships were most frequently with academics: Professors Royce & James, Dr. Abbe, and President Eliot Command of ancient Greek literature 19. Emerson Hall Long standing relationship with his alma mater Focus was the philosophy/psychology department faculty who brought about "the Golden Age of American Philosophy" 5 Josiah Royce's dedication of his Spirit of American Philosophy to Mary Dorr who "commissioned" lectures William James, who like Royce, frequently was an Old Farm guest From 1890-1910 both Dorr and James would be central figures in "Psychical Research" Over same timeframe Dorr would chair a Visiting Committee at Harvard to provide oversight of the Department, raising funds for Guy Lowell's Emerson Hall 20. Robert Abbe, M.D. Dorr's relationship with Abbe spanned 3 decades Historical interest in the Island For Abbe earliest native American settlement but for Dorr focus remained on European impact. Net effect was a beneficial balance 21. Duck Brook inlet into Frenchman Bay Swans Marie and Pierre 22. Gardens at Brook End 23. Abbe's 1915 MDI Relief Map 24. Abbe Museum architect drawings 25. Abbe Museum (1929 internal) 26. Abbe Museum (1929 external) 27. & 28 . Year-round resident (c. 1905) 6 29. & 30. Charles W. Eliot These two images date from the first decade of the 20th century Their relationship has been explored by Somesville historian Judith Goldstein Their working relationship has scholarly aspects but it is basically a study in the practicalities of collaborating to realize the mission of the Trustees 7 LOVER OF NATURE 31. Tarn Bridge If there be a "heart of the park" for Mr. Dorr it is the Sieur de Mont property and adjacent Tarn 32. & 33. Children at Spring House Although a life long bachelor, Mr. Dorr's writings reveal sensitivity to the necessity to expose children to the natural world in all its dimensions Many references to the negative impact of industrialized city life 34. Old Farm Gardens Many concepts of "nature" recur in Mr. Dorr's writings. Nowhere is there the Hobbesian notion of nature as mindless and brutal 35. Cadillac Mountain Nowhere is there a sentimental literary "nature" as one finds with other Gilded Age New Englanders, exemplified here in the rarefied views atop Cadillac Although Dorr counted the first director of the National Forest Service (Gifford Pinchot) as a close friend, they were at odds on the permissible circumstances where nature be should be exploited 36. Bar Harbor Building of the Arts Bar Harbor Building of the Arts. Naturalistically, "Out of place"? 37. Walks in the Park Raising awareness of cultural needs of Bar Harbor. Dorr's peripatetic strolls to enlist their support for: Building of the Arts, Jesup Memorial Library, MDIBL, Bar Harbor Horticultural Society, and the Jackson Lab subscriptions 38. Mr. Dorr and Mrs. Frances Morgan 8 Celebrating nature by insuring that the Tracey Log of 1855 was preserved. 39. Cog Railway Defending nature against technological exploitation by working with JDR Jr. in limiting the kinds of vehicular access to the park 40. Cadillac Visitors Mr. Dorr had to make manifest his natural philosophy to park visitors and government officials 41. NPS Director Stephen Tyng Mather 42. NPS Asst. Director Horace M. Albright 43. & 44 NPS Superintendent Conference, Mesa Verde, NM Professional development and making the case for additional funds and services 45. Stephen Mather and Interior Secretary Lane REMOVE NEST FOUR SLIDES] 46. Anemone Cave 47. Poised Path Committee Photo at Jordan Pond 48. Still the outdoorsman : Katahdin (1926) 49. 1937 Congressional gathering at Old Farm At 84 years, persuading "the suits" about natural values 50. Mr. Dorr drawn to the visitas of Frenchmans Bay REMOVE OLD FARM SLIDE 9 51. 1919 Peace Tree Planting with Dr. Eliot 52. Immersing oneself in Nature, irrespective of the Season 53. & 54. Expanding and sustaining the park requires solitude. 55. In Nature as manefest on MPI, Dorr not only satisfeed an urge for permanency" but through his work c JDRIr. andthe Truestees he found in Handscape at the enduring the consolation unavailable in the corropolitan Boston of his day Doris philanthropy consisted in shape his and efforts preserve to this land cape for us and our progery. The Dorr Memorial Gentleman Scholar Lover of Nature 1 Z 2 3 3 4 4 5. CEEN 5 9 9 7 8 9 National Pack 9 10 10 Founder showed spirit of Acadia By Anne Kozak how other countries viewed these. Their wealth gave them the abil- BAR HARBOR - The spirit of ity not only to travel but to have Acadia was strong in George Buck- leisure time to enjoy being outside nam Dorr (1853-1944), says Ronald doing things like exploring the Epp, who recently lectured on the mountains of Mount Desert Island. topic at College of the Atlantic. Dr. To further that exploration, many Epp is a member of a committee or- summer residents, including Mr. ganizing a celebration of the Dorr, designed trails or paths. founders of Acadia National Park Mr. Dorr, a bachelor, purchased and the author of a forthcoming land near his home to construct book on Mr. Dorr. connector trails - walking paths This spirit was visionary, and the that would allow year-round and people who embodied that spirit summer residents to walk, bike or were concerned about development drive a carriage from the center of on Mount Desert Island and the Bar Harbor to Sand Beach and Sieur need to preserve land so future gen- de Monts Spring. erations could both explore natural The other interesting point con- places and find solitude there. veyed by Dr. Epp's images is how In the early 1900s, Charles B. these people dressed while exploring Eliot, president emeritus of Har- nature. The pictures portray Mr. vard, invited Mr. Dorr and others to Dorr with his handlebar mustache form the Hancock County Trustees wearing a suit and bow tie. Even the of Public Reservations - a group slides of Mr. Dorr with other park that held donations of land on the staff show them in uniform and hé island until ownership was trans- in is signature outfit. But interest- ferred to the federal government in ingly, a slide of Mr. Dorr and Mr. 1916. Eliot standing on a rock - both With the death of his mother in men in suits - shows that Mr. Eliot 1901, Mr. Dorr inherited consider- was even more formally dressed. able wealth and he used that money Like many of the summer resi- to purchase land, secure funding, dents who help found and maintain and maintain facilities and the land- Acadia National Park and who are scape of what eventually became committed to the island's many in- Acadia National Park. stitutions, Mr. Dorr inherited from Dr. Epp's images and commen- his mother a sense of civic commit- tary evoked both a different time ment. Mr. Dorr's parents were origi- and a different pace. The homes like nal incorporators of Bar Harbor's Old Farm, Mr. Dorr's family home Village Improvement Association. on Compass Harbor, were stately The spirit of Mr. Dorr and other and well appointed. founders of Acadia still lives on, said After graduating from Harvard Dr. Epp. The qualities of. "Scholar, with honors in 1874, Mr. Dorr spent lover of nature and gentleman" that the next four years traveling in Eu- are inscribed on a monument to Mr. rope and living off income from in- Dorr at Sieur de Monts Spring will vestments. He was particularly inter- constitute the basis for a biography ested, said Dr. Epp, in looking at of the man which Dr. Epp is writing. landscapes and gardens and studying inews@mdislander.com Mount Doest Islander, 7-2005 CHAMPLAIN SOCIETY EVENTS cheeses their distinctive flavor and to talk about the life of a small dairy farm in Maine in the 21st century. There will be sheep, goat and cow cheeses, both raw milk and pasteurized. to give participants a thorough taste of the excellent cheeses produced in Maine. June 30th George Bucknam Dorr: Father of Acadia National Park 2:00-4:00 p.m. Afternoon Demonstrations Lecture by Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D 4:00-6:00 p.m. Wine and Cheese Reception The Sieur de Monts memorial to Mr. Dorr describes him as a gentleman, scholar. and lover of nature. This talk will develop the historic basis for these personal August 17th Ordering the Cosmos: Charles Willson Peale and the characteristics and how they express themselves today on Mount Desert Island. Philadelphia Museum 7:00 p.m. Lecture - Gates Community Center Reception to follow Lecture by Robert McCracken Peck In 1790 Charles Willson Peale announced that he would open a museum that he August 5th Lobster Quadrille hoped might one day be recognized as a cultural and scientific repository for the Indulge in a spirited evening of a Maine lobster bake with lively music, conversation nation. Peale's museum set standards for other American museums that still apply and dancing beneath the summer sky. today. Mr. Peck will use slides of Peale's remarkable collection to discuss his contri- 5:00-9:00 p.m. - College of the Atlantic's North Lawn butions to American art and science, and place his museum in its broader cultural. artistic and scientific context. August 11th Making and Tasting Maine Cheese 5:30 p.m Lecture - Gates Community Center College of the Atlantic's Beech Hill Farm in Somesville, together with the Maine 6:30 p.m. Exhibit/Cocktail reception - George B. Dorr Muscum Cheese Guild is hosting a tasting of Maine-made boutique cheeses. Cheesemakers will be on hand to explain how cheese is made, to describe what gives different For more information about THE CHAMPLAIN SOCIETY events, please call Lyn Berzinis at (207) 288-5015 ext. 254 Curated by Susan Lerner Please indicate your interest on the enclosed response card. We will contact you regarding dates and time. Touchstones - Co-curated by June LaCombe This exhibition features the work of Maine artists who explore our experience of Bird Walk in Acadia National Park the natural world by creating sculpture out of earth materials. On exhibition in the Explore the avian wonders of Sieur de Monts Spring and Great Meadow on Blum Gallery from June 8 through July 4 are sculptures which bring the natural this morning outing with COA staff member and ornithologist Rich MacDonald. world into our indoor lives. Installed on the COA campus are pieces which exist on another scale, whose purpose and placement help create space to meditate on the Natural History Tour of Dorr Mountain spirit of sea, sky and garden. The outdoor element of Touchstones will be in place from Don your hiking attire for an ecological trek up Dorr Mountain with COA June 8 through September 30. Opening reception on Sunday, June 12 from 15:00-7:00 p.m. staff member Rich MacDonald. A Rare View - Everyday Life on Mount Desert Island 1860-1940 Inter-tidal Zone Trips The Raymond Strout Collection Learn and explore the tidepool wonders of Acadian shorelines with COA Early maps, posters, broadsides, ledgers, letters, wooden signs, handblown glass marine ecology professor Chris Petersen and COA invertebrate zoology bottles, oyster crocks and Soderholtz pots tell a special story of the everyday life professor Helen Hess. of villagers of Mount Desert Island of the nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. Local historian Raymond Strout, who as a Bar Harbor schoolboy became fascinated with collecting "ordinary" objects from the past, reveals how eloquent simple objects and papers become over time. On exhibit from July 8-August 6. Opening reception July 10 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Form, Light, Spirit - Recent Paintings and Drawings of Mount Desert Island in Four Seasons by Ernest McMullen. Essay by art historian John Wilmerding. A College of the Atlantic faculty member, McMullen has been painting year-round on Mount Desert Island for over thirty years. He combines a scholar's knowledge of traditions in philosophy and art history with technical finesse and deep famil- iarity with the nuances of the natural world of Mount Desert Island. On exhibit August // -September 22. Opening reception August 14 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. About COA College of the Atlantic traces its origins back to several historic and social events, including the development of Acadia National Park, the economically devastating Bar Harbor fire of 1947, and the social and environmental crises of the 1960's. Its earliest statement of purpose supported liberal arts, ethical development, community service and ecological and environmental study, later to be known as "human ecology." A human ecological perspective integrates knowledge from all academic disciplines and from personal experience to investigate, and ultimately improve, the relationships between human beings and our social and natural communities. The human ecological perspective guides all aspects of education, research, activism and interactions among the college's students, faculty, staff and trustees. The College of the Atlantic THE CHAMPLAIN SOCIETY community encourages, prepares and expects students to gain expertise, breadth, values and practical experience necessary to achieve individual fulfillment and to help solve problems that challenge communities everywhere. "The Mission of the Houcock County Tuestaes of Public Reservations" Woodlown llessum August 3, 2005 P.O. Box 1478 WOODLAWN Phone: 207/667-8671 Ellsworth, ME 04605 Fax: 207/667-7950 M u S E u M The Black House "Woodlawn, including the land, buildings, furniture, and pictures therein shall be kept as a public park" -George Nixon Black, Jr. www.woodlawnmuseum.com THE HANCOCK COUNTY TRUSTEES OF PUBLIC RESERVATIONS CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO THE MEMBERS' RECEPTION ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2005 AT 4 PM A lecture by Dr. Ronald Epp on the history of the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservation & the MDI Mountain Naming Controversy Remarks by Stephen C. Shea, President & Joshua Campbell Torrance, Executive Director Please RSVP by Wednesday, July 27, 2005 Suggested donation of $5.00 per person. Light Refreshments will be served. A Property of the HANCOCK COUNTY TRUSTEES OF PUBLIC RESERVATIONS Stephen Shea- President - Douglas Endicott- Vice President - Jeffrey Dow- Treasurer ~ Laurie Williams Secretary Nancy Payne Alexander - Sandra Hylander Collier ~ James Day - Jackie Dearborn - Karen Dickes Gregg Hannah ~ Lisa Heyward - Jerry Kaufman ~ Natalie Knox ~ Emma Remick Richard Schloss ~ Jane Shea ~ Teresa Sargent Smith Lowell Thomas, Jr. ~ Rick Will ~ Dale Worthen "The Mission of the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations and the Mountain Naming Controversy" NOTES Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. The Woodlawn Museum HCTPR Members Reception Ellsworth, ME August 3, 2005 1. Background Source of Interest: research for George B. Dorr biography History of development of ANP is conceptually inseparable from HCTPR 2. Conventional Foundation stone for HCTPR is Harvard President Charles W. Eliot Northeast Harbor resident called Music Room meeting 8.13.01 Woodlawn Archives contain most Trustee Minutes for 1901-1933, when minutes lapse as the Trustee mission shifts to Woodlawn property under direction of Richard Hale. Until his death in 1926, Eliot was Trustee President and routinely attended summer meetings; however, Dorr stood in for more than 40% of the meetings when CWE had other responsibilities. The Minutes reveal how the mission--demarcated in Samuel Eliot's 1939 History-- was executed by what they state as well as what these documents did not report! These Minutes also shed light on themes that resonate today for the Trustees: (a) membership cultivation, (b) strategic planning, and (c) relationships with like-minded organizations. 3. Trustees of Public Reservations (Massachusetts): 1890-present HCTPR is the offspring of an organization established in Massachusetts by Dr. Eliot's son, Charles Eliot, the renown landscape architect (18 - 1897). Namely, the Trustees of Public Reservations (TPR) who would later drop the "Public" from their name to avoid the misperception that they were a public agency. I proposed to Josh that we could better understand the early history of the Hancock Trustees if the Minutes of the Massachusetts organization (TPR) were examined. What characteristics were common? What processes and actions differed over the first three decades of each organization? In July 2005 I traveled to Long Hill in Beverly MA and examined TPR annual reports and minutes from 1890-1930. 4. Commonalities -- General Thrust of Mission: preservation of our historical and beautiful places. -- Mission Builds on activities of local Village Improvement Societies -- Executive Committee administers By-Laws TPR: Steering Committee where Secretary (Charles Eliot) is executive agent. TPR President 1890-1901 (George F. Hoar) absent from 1892-1903. TPR 2nd President: Charles W. Eliot 1904-1926, member since 1901. Important: President of BOTH organizations! Was this known? TPR welcomes G.B. Dorr as a member, 1919-31. -- Leadership Model Small group who value cause, demonstrate to State worthiness of project, a State public agency might be developed-this is the TPR model. -- Advocate and establish memorial gifts, arguing that a "living landscape is a more fitting monument than a work of marble or stained glass." --Stability In its first 40 years, there were roughly a dozen officers of the TPR. Five of these Massachusetts Standing Committee Trustees held office an average of 28 years. The HCTPR executive Committee stability approximates this commitment. Eliot (25), Dorr (40), Stebbins (40), Melchor (15+), and Lynam (10+); the average is 26 years, quite comparable to the TPR. 5 Differences (sometime not of kind, but of degree only) --PPR is statewide --PPR emphasizes gift and usual requirement of an endowment to cover ongoing maintenence expenses. Liken selves to art museum Trustees, taking care of objects put in their charge --PPR stresses collaboration, the "need" to connect with existing societies and cooperate with them where common objectives can be realized --PPR stresses internal shared responsibility, whereas Mr. Dorr's role as First Vice President was more dominating in its creativity and execution. --TPR establishes ever changing "wish list" of desired properties --TPR funds strategic studies, topographic and legal --TPR publishes and distributes thousands of copies of annual reports from year one, sent to hotels, town clerks, public libraries, every newspaper in state, etc. --TPR promotes properties by publishing site photographs, maps, and access directions --TPR keenly involved in property maintenence (fence repairs, shoring up stone walls, tree removal, erosion remediation, etc.) and appointment of custodians --TPR develops Property Public Use Rules: re fires, flower picking, firearms, etc. --PPR frequency of meetings (76 meetings in first 15 years VS. 15 for HCTPR). --TPR annual report publishes memorial essay to President Eliot, HCTPR minutes are silent. --PPR very modest accomplishments regarding property acquisition. This is the most IMPORTANT difference! Despite all this organizational energy, in its first 15 years TPR held seven properties comprising 337 acres (260 alone on Monument Mt.); after nearly forty years, 9 properties totaling 783 acres. Despite the overly-cautious wording of Mr. Dorr in his Memoirs about the HCTPR being "dormant" for its first several years, more than 5,000 acres were assembled by 1915, nearly 10,000 by 1919. The HCTPR met five times in 1901-1902. Unless Minutes have been lost, the next Meeting (9/13/09) took place seven years later. What activity takes place During this timeframe is a very intriguing question. By 1916, 75,00 acres Were deeded to HCTPR, 40 properties averaging nearly 190 acres each. Largest single gift from John Melchor and George L. Stebbins. Largest number of deeded granted by George B. Dorr. 6. Conclusions? Given these facts, how do you account for the incomparable HCTPR success? If you have an explanation hold onto it; I'll digress for a few minutes on the mountain- naming controversy. 7. Due to time constraints, offer summary remarks regarding forthcoming Woodlawn Newsletter article on "The Mountain Naming Controversy." Copyright Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. University Library Director Southern New Hampshire University Manchester, NH 03106 "George B. Dorr and the Early Development of MDIScientific and Cultural distitation MNI. Biological Lab august 15, 2005 Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory August 15, 2005 MDI Biological Lab "George B. Dorr and the Early Development of MDI Scientific and Cultural Institutions" Presented by Dr. Franklin H. Epstein, M.D. William Applebaum Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Physician-in-Chief Emeritus at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. & Dr. Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Philosophy Director, Shapiro Library Southern New Hampshire University 1. George B. Dorr and the Early Development of The Mount Desert Island Scientific and Cultural Institutions Notes for a Lecture Shared with Franklin Epstein, M.D. Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory August 15, 2005 Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. I. Mr. Dorr's Priorities 1916-23, objectives that both helped and hindered the establishment of MDIBL. II Background for the Establishment of MDIBL I. Competing Priorities Achieving National Park Status The principle fact which stands out above all others [during 1919-1920 I is the creation of LNP, marking an "important new departure in park policy by the secretary of the Interior and the Director of the National Park Service" The first national park in the Eastern States and the first bordering on the Sea. [First Annual Report, 1920] MDIBL provides the opportunity for not only local applications of marine research but also serves as a foundation stone for the development of the marine sciences within the National Park Service (RHE) ! Expansion of the Road System: October '21: Construction starts by Govt. on 4 mile long motor road to Cadillac summit. Survey for initial 4,000 foot road began August 1920 to an elevation of 519 feet above sea level. Cadillac Mountain Road survey & design work "under the direction of the superintendent" Who becomes Secretary of the Interior in 1920 (Lane departs) with the new Federal administration? The 1917 Rockefeller-Dorr plan regarding "a connected bridle path and driving road system extended across the Island from north to south" needs to be updated and resubmitted to Mather & Cammerer "while they still remain in control." Dorr to Jr. 7.2.20, follow up 9 page Dorr letter 7.22.20. Asst. Director Arno Cammerer's report on road and trail system inspection of ANP recommended an extension of trails ( less demanding one's), a new route from Eagle Lake Road to Jordan Pond House as well as a route to the summit of Cadillac Mountain; the 4,300 foot section from Eagle Lake Roads to Cadillac Mountain Road was the first built, completed July 1924, the oldest section of Acadia's Historic Motor Road system. Enter Senator Pepper. In his NPS 1921 Annual Report Dorr stresses the need to prepare for the "rapid" development of motorized camping. In July 1924 Mather visited the Park and inspected the work in progress on the Summit road. He told Bar Harbor selectmen that he had thought that the supervisor for the construction of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park had "had the last word in road construction without landscape marring.." After this visit he now believes that engineer Hill's work reflected the best efforts in road planning. He announced that he would convene a September 1924 meeting on MDI of all NPS engineers so that they could "sit at the foot of your chief engineer" and study the Cadillac Mountain Road approach where "the very minimuym of marring has been so well demonstrated. Interior Secretary Work arrived in the Park that summer and also praised the new road. Improving Access to Sanctuaries within the Park Dorr and Jr. had developed a system of roads and carriage trails with Jr. emphasizing the importance of construction proceeding equally from both north and south terminus, with Dorr doing the direct supervision of northern terminus. 3. June 1920 letter from Senator Pepper delivered to G.B. Dorr requesting that road expansion stop. Even though Jr. Had authority to continue he gave it up because of Northeast Harbor opposition. In August 1921 Jr. wrote four letters to Paul Simpson outlining a greatly expanded vision for the carriage road system in the Park, the fruits of the end of the War andc the great expansion of Jr.'s wealth: Carriage road circuit from Jordan pond Rd. to north end of Bubble Pond Connect Asticou-Jordan Pond Road at each end creating a circuit of Jordan, Sargent, Little Brown, and Cedar Swamp Mts. Connecting carriage road from above with eastern road along Eagle Lake Auto road from Eagle Lake Road to Jordan Pond Rd (Dorr's goal). In fall of 1920 Jr. terminated work on the Asticou-Jordan Pond carriage road because of opposition to the portion of the road which passed through the Amphitheater. Project would remain dormant for more than a decade. September 12, 1922 letter from Dorr to Jr. appreciative of "the work you have done constructively within the Park under the authority given through me by Secretary Lane when he was here in 1917 [which] is of the highest order in its thoroughness, its forward vision,, and its attention to the details that make or mar the beauty of a road or landscape." Dorr is giving Rockefeller authority to expand road system. Energetic Public Relations March 28, 1924 hearing on behalf of Lafayette N.P. before Secretary Work. Dorr brought to Washington Maine Senators, Congressmen, the President of the U. of Maine (C.C. Little) VIA/VIS officers, Chamber o Commerce officials, Publishers, National Parks Association officials, regional attorneys-more than two dozen men and women supportive and seven other opposed to the road building program. 4. Sieur de Monts Publications Preparatory work to build a graphic reference collection, to systematically organize photographic and other illustrative material for "a thorough landscape and physiographic study of the park as a whole." [Ranger Work in LNP, May 7, 1919]. Active cooperation of Town of BH re signage to Park and construction of bridle paths "leading to or extending those built or building in the Park." Mountain naming activity, Spring & Summer, 1919. Public Relations efforts in March 1920 where Town of BH voted unanimously to appropriate $6,500 for making others aware of the "town's new asset"-LNP, a "wholly new departure on the town's part." Dorr credits Mr. Hadley for this achievement due to his "clear understanding of national park ideals and opportunities [Dorr letter to Mather, 3.3.20]. Hadley succeeds Mrs. Daly in April as clerk-stenographer and Dorr argues for added compensation given other interpretative and administrative abilities. Establishing a Park Organizational Apparatus Rapid advance of park in both territory & public recognition of its place in the National Park system. 1921 Annual Report Priority Other 1919-1920 objectives have been: Establishment of an office and administrative staff Organization of a Ranger Service Many notable individuals visit "New England's National Park, Including Frederick Law Olmsted who was Dorr's guest at Old Farm Scientific inquiries by geologists, entomologists, ornithologists, climatologists, botanists, and marine biologists Conforming to External Administrative Control June 1922 : NPS Director Stephen Mather had instructed all National Park superintendents to prepare maps, estimates, and other data covering road projects to be submitted to Congress, attempting to apply an effective uniform method that would be congressionally effective. Cooperating with the Expectations of J.D.R. Jr. Work on carriage roads on park property followed a method designed to avoid controversy. Jr. would choose a route, provide $ for engineering and road construction, while Dorr served as NPS official technically in charge of the work. While Jr. would prepare contracts for Dorr's signature, Dorr exercised a great deal of independence and this working relationship would be similarly followed with the motor roads. Environmental Research Most important event is "the establishment on [the Park] border, attracted by its presence, of what promises to become one of the great biological stations, marine and land, of the world." Ultimately it is "intended to cover every field of biology, animal and vegetable, represented on Mount Desert Island or in its neighboring ocean ..[which] will add an element of extraordinary scientific interest to the National Park." 1921 Annual Rpt. Priority Land Donor Cultivation for HCTPR Financial stress. In July 1921 Dorr's indebtedness is considerable. He sells off real estate to reduce debts in excess of $85,000 at end of 1920 (source Harry Lynam to Jr. Seventeen properties bought by Dorr in 1921. How many were transferred to HCTPR? Late September 1922, initiated efforts to exapand the Park beyond MDI to include John C. Moore Schoodic property. Complicated multi-year process. II Establishment of MDI: Background In 1907 the Salisbury Cove land was purchased by Mr. Dorr for the purpose of proving "good wharfage" for anticipated transit company alternative to the "threatened" trolley line on the road to Trenton and Ellsworth. At that time Dorr owned the "old lava point by Emery Cove" and had been much interested in the geology of the area. Weir Mitchell's death in 1914 set in play a couple lines of inquiry and one that would be vital for the migration of the Harpswell facility. Dorr and Mitchell shared interest and friendships with researchers at the Carnegie Institution in D.C., especially since Mitchell was a member of the Carnegie Executive Committee. Dorr may have first met him in 1916 while in D.C. working on Monument status. Mayer visited MDI in 1916 and looked over the Salisbury tract when given tour by Dorr's friends, and still on Island when Dorr returned from D.C., speaking at the Building of the Arts ceremony August 22, 1916. Important to recognize that Dorr is envisioning this laboratory as a strategic component of Island-wide development while laboring to preserve the land holdings of the Hancock County Trustees. Through Dorr's relationship with both Mitchell and Mayer, he became aware of the Carnegie Marine Biological Laboratory in Key West and thought of it as a pioneering example of what be adapted to Maine. Patrick L. Colin's 1980 "Brief History of the Tortugas Marine Laboratory" traces the history of this facility from its start in 1905, three years after the Carnegie Trustees approved Alfred G. Mayer's suggestion that studies in tropical marine zoology be realized by establishing a research laboratory in Dry Tortugas. In Spring of 1905 on an operational budget of $15,000/year, a half dozen investigators began their work in marine biology and geology, including U. Dahlgren & Mayer. Carnegie gave Mayer wide latitude to apply marine biology globally. Mayer's little known remarks at the opening ceremonies for the establishment of Lafayette National Park attest to his wide ranging expertise and hopes for science on MDI, fresh from his 1918 first published quantitative ecological survey of a coral reef. In 1918 the lab was closed due to WWI, reopened in 1919 to be hit by a hurricane that forced the lab to be closed summer 1920. Mayer spent much of 1922 in a sanatorium recovering from TB, an died in June 1922 when he fainted in shallow water and drowned. In the 1930's without a director within the Carnegie Institution, there was resistance to funding and the station began to be regarded as "outside" the institution. Closed in 1939 it burned in 1964. Remaining vestige: memorial stone in honor of A.G. Mayer. In October of this year a three day international Centennial Celebration of the Carnegie Laboratory at Dry Tortugas will be held in Key West. To backtrack, in 1916 (perhaps through Mayer's intervention), Dorr received letter from Dahlgren about the Harpswell station in Casco Bay and suggested a unifying their separatre interests in Salisbury Cove "where conditions were better and more permanently assured." In 1917 the Harpswell Trustees agreed to turn over to WGA sufficient funds to relocate to MDI where building construction began Summer of 1918. Dorr emphasized in these negotiations that Salisbury Cove is "in delightful contrast to Bar Harbor's fashionable life and far more in keeping with the true character of the region " According to Mary Frances Williams (in her 1985 essay), the Harpswell Laboratory in 1918 faced a "severe setback.' Declining research participation (reduction of faculty from 12 to 3 during WWI was not offset by faculty involvement after the war's end (only 7 in 1919, 6 in 1920). Abandonment of the lab was considered-a major disadvantage was the "absence of wealthy [Harpswell] residents who might support scientific research." A note in Science (6.24.21) recognized that Professor Dahlgren had entered into negotiations with the Wild Gardens of Acadia. But change was already in the air since during the Summer of 1921 Williams reports that the "biologists mingled with the owners of great [MDI] estates at fund-raising teas and receptions." She also claims that Dahlgren's "persuasiveness elicited the financial support that Harpswell could not provide." That Dorr was an agent of such institutional advancement is nowhere documented but is not unlikely. In 1921 the Harpswell facility moved to Salisbury Cove and was designated as the Weir Mitchell Station. Salisbury land, first leased to the lab, was offered to the Trustees as a gift if they would change the name to MDIBL. On 11.23.23 the new certificate of incorporation was signed. 9. One of the requirements of this document was that the Wild Gardens of Acadia was given the right to place a bronze tablet near the MDIBL main entrance with a description of the history of the land. Was this goal realized? Moreover, Dorr was astute enough to add a requirement that if the land was not used for three consecutive years for biological research, it would revert to the WGA. J. Wendell Burger, MDIBL Director 1947-54, refers to the lab as "a spin-off of the formation of Acadia National Park. Moreover, Dorr was "no administrative fool, full of only philanthropic motives. He laid down strictures for MDIBL, whereby if the enterprise failed "he" could recover the tract." Odds & Ends Bipolarity Issue? Dr. Epstein hypothesized that Dorr might have been bipolar. While we will not settle this issue tonight, in 1993 landscape architect H. Eliot Foulds wrote that "Dorr was gregarious, outgoing, and had an impulsive streak which made him rush headlong into projects, oftentimes without a great deal of planning and forethought. This made him a perfect alter-ego for John D. Rockefeller Jr. To be certain, Acadia National Park owes its existence to the enthusiasm and tenacity of George Dorr. The human aspects of the story of the cooperation between these two bi-polar personalities makes the story of the park and the roads only more interesting. Even though their relationship was publicly cordial, it was often privately tense. However, they managed to lay aside their differences, and word toward a common goal, each recognizing and respecting the others commitment and affection for the landscape of Acadia National Park." Compliance Documentation for the Rehabilitation of the Historic Motor Roads, Acadia National Park, p. 7. "The Wild gardening of George B. Dorr and Edith Wharton" The llount may 20, 2006 See Epp publications file for copy of this address at conference. WILD GARDENS AND PATHWAYS AT THE MOUNT: GEORGE B. DORR AND THE MOUNT DESERT ISLAND INFLUENCE RONALD H. Epp T he Beinecke Library at Yale University contains a handful of Edith Wharton letters to pioneer conservationist and horticulturist George Bucknam Dorr (1853-1944). 1 This correspondence is commonly passed over by scholars.² The ten Wharton letters written between 1902 and 1907 are unremarkable when isolated from the richly diverse social context of the Gilded Age. They are remarkable if attention is given to previously unrecognized interactions between the Dorr and Jones families that began twenty years earlier in Bar Harbor, Maine, where Wharton's brother and sister-in- law Frederic and Mary Jones summered. Furthermore, the connection of the Dorr family with Lenox, Massachusetts-site of Wharton's own summer house-tracks back another fifty years to the era of Catharine Sedgwick and Fanny Kemble. 3 The Wharton correspondence to Dorr ranges in length from a few sentences to several hundred words. All but two letters were written during an eighteen-month period between September 1904 and February 1906. Some specialists might describe them as technical, narrowly focused on Wharton's solicitations of Dorr's horticultural expertise. Yet this is not inconsequential, for The Mount's garden historian, Betsy Anderson, indicated on a recent site inspection that there is little evidence of Wharton's use of expert landscaping advice outside her family. Unfortunately, no correspondence from Dorr to Wharton has survived. There has been no inquiry into the connection between the location and naming of gardens and paths at The Mount and Dorr's professional and cultural life on Mount Desert Island. What character traits did he bring to the table in relating to Wharton that encouraged her to invite him repeatedly to her home? What motivated her to involve this little-known Boston Brahmin in her wild gardening? Wharton's letters to Dorr refer frequently to a path at The Mount named for him. Why would she choose to honor him in this way? It is intriguing that Dorr left us no documentation of his relationship with her, especially since his advice to Wharton is the only recorded case of his engaging in a horticultural consultancy removed from Mount Desert Island. Many of these questions will never be resolved since, following his death in 1944, the National Park Service disposed of most of the contents of the Bar Harbor estate that he had gifted to the government. However, in 2006 new primary evidence for the Dorr-Jones family relationship came to light. Both families developed their Bar Harbor properties in the 1880s, and their social interactions are 7 75 2006 Garden Conference at The Mount Edith Wharton and the American Garden May 18 - 21, 2006 It IN Lenox. Massachusetts Kick-Off Special Event: chedule of Events Gertrude Jekyll's Munstead Wood Thursday, May 18 Conference weekend kick-off special event * 4:00 Martin Wood, Gertrude Jekyll's Munstead Wood Thursday, May 18, 2006 4 o'clock in the afternoon 5:00 High Tea on The Mount's terrace This event is open to the public and requires separate registration. *This event is open to the public and requires separate registration Please join us for an illustrated lecture by author Martin Wood, who will Friday, May 19 speak about Gertrude Jekyll and her famous English garden (visited by Edith Wharton and 9:00 - 11:00 Registration - Stable Auditorium Tours available of the house, gardens and grounds described in Mrs. Wharton's autobiography, A Backward Gertrude Jekyll 11:00 - II:IO Welcoming remarks Glance). Mr. Wood will present Selected and Edited by Martin Wood his forthcoming collection of Miss 11:10 - 11:55 Robin Karson, A Genius for Place: American Landscapes of the Jekyll's lesser known writings, Country Place Era The Unknown Gertrude Jekyll 12:00 - 1:45 Lunch (Frances Lincoln, 2006). I:45 2:30 Nina Antonetti, American Villas and Their Gardens, 1750-1900 The lecture will be followed by a book signing and high 2:30 3:15 David H. Bennett, Sensations of the Unexpected: The Untamed Forms and Disciplined Lines of The Mount, Edith Wharton's tea on The Mount's terrace. American Villa and Its Gardens THE UNKNOWN 3:15 - 3:30 Coffee Break GERTRUDE JEKYLL Martin Wood is an established garden and interior designer and writer. He is the author of Nancy Lancaster: English Country House Style and the co-author, with Judith B. Tankard, of Gertrude Jekyll at Munstead Wood. His next book for Frances Lincoln is The Unknown Gertrude Jekyll, to be published in Summer 2006. 3:30 5:45 Panel Discussion: The Restoration of Edith Wharton's Gardens at 2:15 4:30 Panel Discussion: Edith Wharton: The Garden Writer and the Writer The Mount in the Garden Gordon Clark, Chair Betsy Anderson, Chair Cynthia Zaitzevsky, A Mountain of Images: Photographic Research Eleanor Dwight, A Look at Edith Wharton and Beatrix at The Mount Farrand as Gardencrs and Garden Writers: The Romantic Martha E. Pinello, Archaeology and Landscape History at The and the Practical Mount Helen Pratt, Garden Books in Edith Wharton's Collection Susan Child, The Artist in the Garden: Impressionism with Flowers Honey Sharp, Edith Wharton in the Berkshires David Andersen, A Look at the Process Paula Panich, All These Roots and Tendrils: Edith Wharton and the Ben Webster and Tom Ingersoll, Challenges and Rewards of The Cultivation of Voice, Authority, Passion, and Privilege Mount Garden Restoration 4:30 - 4:45 Coffee Break 6:00 - 7:30 Wine and cheese reception on The Mount's terrace 4:45 - 5:30 Betsy Anderson, Edith Wharton's Literary Garden: The Foreground of the Landscape and the Background of a Life Saturday, May 20 5:30 - 7:00 Wharton in the Garden: Actors read from Edith Wharton in the gardens at The Mount 8:30 - 9:30 Morning refreshments in the Carriage Wash Café Cocktails on The Mount's terrace: hors d'ocuvres and cash bar 9:30 - 10:15 Rebecca Warren Davidson, Opposites Attract: The Garden Art of Charles Platt, Maxfield Parrish, and Edith Wharton Sunday, May 2I 10:15 - 11:00 Ronald H. Epp, The Wild Gardening of George B. Dorr and 9:00 - 10:00 Morning refreshments in the Carriage Wash Café Edith Wharton 10:00 - 10:45 Hugh Hardy, The Culture of Nature 11:00 - 11:15 Coffee Break 10:45 - 11:00 Break 11:15 - Noon Diane Kostial McGuire, Edith Wharton's Plants: Her Influence on the Riviera and in Southern California 11:00 - 11:45 Hermione Lee, Edith Wharton's English Life Noon - 12:45 Ethne Clarke, Circles of Influence: Edith Wharton and the Gardens Noon Closing remarks of the Anglo-American Expatriate Community Schedule is subject to change 12:45 2:15 Lunch 2000 2000 2002 2002 2005 & Page 1 of 2 Epp, Ronald From: Betsy Anderson [banderson@EDITHWHARTON.ORG) Sent: Monday, December 12, 2005 2:08 PM To: Epp, Ronald Subject: RE: George Dorr Dear Ron (if I may), Thank you for your e-mail. I am eager to read your articles on George B. Dorr and to receive any other information that you might be able to send me. I was aware that Mr. Dorr established Mount Desert Nurseries, which it seems was a source for some of Edith Wharton's phlox. We had long supposed that Mrs. Wharton may have been introduced to Mr. Dorr and Mount Desert Nurseries through her niece Beatrix Farrand, a lifelong inhabitant of Bar Harbor, but Nini Gilder recently explained to me that the Dorrs had very early connections with Lenox, and owned a summer house on the current site of Blantyre. Have you by chance come across any information that points to how Mrs. Wharton came to know Mr. Dorr? I would be very interested. We do have a rather extensive archive of photographs of the gardens and grounds at The Mount during the Wharton tenure. Unfortunately, there are few that give any indication as to the design and development of the woodland gardens - there are a couple that show the path to what Wharton called her "wild garden," and there are a few of the wooded entrance drive, but nothing illustrating what I would call a development. This isn't to say they aren't out there, because we are always coming across previously unknown images, but our photo archive encompasses photos from the primary repositories for Wharton's papers - the Beinecke Library at Yale and the Lilly Library at Indiana University (both of which I'm sure you know about). I think it would be worth visiting the property again, however, if you are in the area, so that you can take a look at what we do have. Also, if you were to visit in the spring or early summer, I could show you some naturalized plantings in the woods throughout the property that I suspect are from the Wharton era and may reflect the influence of George B. Dorr. Nini was here last week and told me a bit about your research. We both think it would be wonderful if you could discuss your findings on George B. Dorr and Edith Wharton in a conference I am organizing next May called Edith Wharton and the American Garden. This is the first annual landscape symposium at The Mount, and it will run from May 19-21, 2006. The conference will address Edith Wharton's contribution to American garden design and the particular significance of the landscape at The Mount to the history and development of the American garden. Conference proceedings will be published in an effort to enrich interpretation of the gardens and grounds and establish The Mount as a center for original scholarship. Speakers will include Robin Karson, Rebecca Warren Davidson, Diane Kostial McGuire, Hugh Hardy, David H. Bennett, Eleanor Dwight, Paula Panich, Ethne Clarke and Hermione Lee, as well as all those involved in the restoration of The Mount's gardens. We would be able to cover your expenses for the weekend and offer you an honorarium, and we would be most honored if you are able to participate. There is so much emphasis on Wharton's embrace of classical design that her equally significant interest in woodland garden is often sadly neglected - a discussion of her relationship with George B. Dorr would bring her love of "wild gardening" to light. I hope you will consider our invitation, and I look forward to exploring this subject further with you. All best, Betsy Betsy Anderson Garden Historian The Mount 2 Plunkett Street, Box 974 Lenox, MA 01240-0974 (413) 637-1899 ext. 109 From: Epp, Ronald [mailto:r.epp@snhu.edu] Sent: Friday, December 09, 2005 12:19 PM 12/14/2005 Page 1 of 5 Epp, Ronald From: Betsy Anderson [banderson@EDITHWHARTON.ORG] Sent: Monday, December 19, 2005 4:11 PM To: Epp, Ronald Subject: RE: George Dorr Dear Ron, Thank you for your e-mail and for the resume. There should be no problem with fitting you in on Saturday, and perhaps it makes sense to have your talk follow Rebecca Davidson's, considering the Platt connection. Her e- mail address is rdavids5@twcny.rr.com. I've attached a speaker confirmation form for you to fill out at your leisure. You'll see that there is a field under lecture title - although I need this as soon as possible for program and publicity purposes, I certainly understand that it will take some time to develop, particularly as I have just sprung an invitation on you. Unfortunately, we are posting the conference schedule on our website as soon as possible after the first of the year, and I would like to have some sort of a title posted that represents your lecture. Could I perhaps propose a preliminary subject title such as The Wild Gardening of George B. Dorr and Edith Wharton (or another of your choice) until you are able to determine the final title? Your final title would of course appear in the official program for the event and could be changed on the website as soon as you have it. Thank you so much for contacting Patrick Chasse - we would be thrilled to have Mr. Chasse speak as well, with you, or preceding or following your talk. It would be the perfect opportunity to elaborate on Beatrix Jones and Mount Desert Island. Each speaker is currently scheduled for approximately 40 minutes each, but there is still some flexibility in the schedule should you have another preference. In addition to the speaker confirmation form, I have been requesting short biographies (one to two paragraphs) and a photo from all speakers. I can certainly draft a bio for your review from your CV, but perhaps you would rather write one yourself. If you could send a photo as well, we would be much appreciative. These are for use on the website and in the official conference program. Finally - and I apologize for providing and asking for so much information at once - I am arranging for speakers' accommodations for the weekend of the event. We are having a kick-off lecture to the conference weekend on Thursday, May 18: Martin Wood will speak about his forthcoming collection of Gertrude Jekyll's shorter writings, The Unknown Gertrude Jekyll; this will be followed by a high tea with the author. Many of our speakers have thus opted to stay in the Berkshires for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, i.e. for the entire event. We initially planned to arrange for accommodations for all of the speakers at the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, but I have recently received an exciting invitation from Catha Grace Rambusch, who offers her marvelous Tyringham farmhouse as accommodation for those presenting. We would be happy to put you up with a guest in either location, but I would need to know which you prefer and for which dates. Let me again reiterate how delighted I am that you will be able to participate in this exciting event. I look forward to hearing from you, and please don't hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or if I can be of assistance in any way. Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season, Betsy Betsy Anderson Garden Historian The Mount 2 Plunkett Street, Box 974 Lenox, MA 01240-0974 (413) 637-1899 ext. 109 12/19/2005 Page 1 of 1 Epp, Ronald From: Betsy Anderson [banderson@EDITHWHARTON.ORG] Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 2:46 PM To: Epp, Ronald Subject: 2006 Garden Conference at The Mount Dear Ron, I was pleased to receive your speaker confirmation form when I returned to the office this week - thank you so much for sending it along so quickly. Your lecture, tentatively titled The Wild Gardening of George B. Dorr and Edith Wharton, will follow Rebecca Davidson's talk on Platt, Parrish and Wharton. You will have 40 minutes for your talk, including an additional five minutes for questions. I hope this is amenable to you. Also, I will be sure to notify you before we print the program that will be handed out to delegates so that you may change the title of your lecture, but feel free to let me know as soon as you've selected your final title, and I will be happy to make changes to the program posted on the website. Additionally, as I mentioned in an earlier e-mail, I would be delighted to arrange for your accommodations while you are in the Berkshires. Many of our speakers have opted to stay Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, as this will allow them to attend the entire conference as well as a kick-off special lecture by Martin Wood on Gertrude Jekyll, scheduled for late Thursday afternoon, May 18. We have two lodging options - either the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge or Catha Grace Rambusch's delightful farmhouse in Tyringham. We'd be happy to put you up - alone or with one other guest, if you choose - but I do need to know which lodging option you would like and for which days. Catha's farmhouse is the more flexible option, if you think you may need more time to decide. And finally, for our mailing and the website, we will be including a short biography (one to two paragraphs) as well as a photo for each speaker. If you could provide me with these items I'd be very grateful. I would be happy to draft a biography for your review from the CV you sent me, or if you prefer to submit the biography yourself - even better! I may have mentioned this before, but we will be able to cover your expenses for the event and offer you an honorarium. We would like to publish proceedings from the conference, in an effort to enrich interpretation of Edith Wharton's Berkshire landscape and establish The Mount as a center for original scholarship. I look forward to hearing from you. Please don't hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or concerns. With best wishes for the New Year, Betsy Betsy Anderson Garden Historian The Mount 2 Plunkett Street, Box 974 Lenox, MA 01240-0974 (413) 637-1899 ext. 109 1/6/2006 THE MOUNT Estate & Gardens March 27, 2006 Ronald H. Epp 47 Pond View Drive Merrimack, NH 03054 Dear Ron, I hope this letter finds you well, and that spring is finally beginning to show itself in New Hampshire! I've enclosed a copy of the mailing for the garden conference for your review, as well as a brochure for the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge. Currently there is a room reserved for you and your wife for the nights of Thursday, May 18; Friday, May 19; and Saturday, May 20. Please let me know as soon as possible if my records are in error or if you would like to change your reservation. My colleagues Genevieve Neumuth and Conny Isby will be coordinating travel reimbursements and other details with conference speakers, and one of them will be in contact with you in the next couple of weeks with information about the travel reimbursement form and per diem rate for food and other incidental expenses you may incur during your visit to the Berkshires. We will be able to cover all of your travel and lodging expenses and will reimburse you up to $50.00 a day for food costs in addition to covering all meals included in the conference program. We will also be able to provide you with an honorarium of $500.00. I trust that these details are satisfactory, but please contact me should you have any questions or concerns. You mentioned at one point that you hoped your wife would be able to accompany you for the weekend. We would be most pleased to reserve a seat for her at the event, but as seating is SO limited, I need to know as soon as possible whether she will be able to attend and for which days. Additionally, I would be most grateful if you could tell me which picnic lunches you (and she) would like to order for Friday and Saturday. The picnic lunch descriptions are on page 15 of the enclosed mailing. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Best wishes, Betsy Betsy Anderson www.Edittwhartm.org 2 Plunkett Street Box 974 Lenox, MA 01240-0974 phone 413-637-1899 fax 413-637-0619 email admin@edithwharton.org 'My Thought Turns Forward' Sierr de Monte Spring August 22, 2006 Harbor Historical Society features a permanent exhibit orge B. Dorr and the history of Acadia National Park: or Historical Society lawn Avenue, Bar Harbor Monday-Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. (June to October). eum is open by appointment only in the winter; call 3807 or 207-288-0000. Free admission. Commemoration of Sieur de Monts National Monument August 22, 2006 Event Schedule "I have been asked to tell how Acadia Ninety years ago this month, the members of the Hancock National Park came into being, took County Trustees of Public Reservations gathered to celebrate the root and grew. Origins gain interest establishment of Sieur de Monts National Monument. Today's event honors the spirit of these early founders and introduces the as events recede. Whatever changes newly completed renovation of the facilities and grounds at come, the Park as a possession of the Sieur de Monts Spring. people will be as permanent, doubtless, as man's need for recreation and Welcome Sheridan Steele enjoyment of great coastal scenery." Superintendent, Acadia National Park - George B. Dorr, Acadia National Park, Origin and Background, 1942 Speakers Joshua Torrance Executive Director, Woodlawn Museum (Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations) Dr. Ron Epp Biographer of George B. Dorr Sheridan Steele Superintendent, Acadia National Park John Courtin President, Friends of Acadia Visit the patio of the Nature Center to view photographs of Closing Remarks Sheridan Steele the 1916 ceremony and the pen used to create the national Superintendent, Acadia National Park monument. George B. Dorr's The Story of Acadia National Park is available for purchase on the patio and inside the Ribbon Cutting Nature Center. "My Thought Turns Forward" The 90th Anniversary Celebration of the Establishment of Sieur de Monts National Monument Fourteen years before his elevation as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Maine, Bar Harbor attorney Luere B. Deasy offered the following remarks at the 1916 Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations celebration of a land preservation process that began fifteen years earlier: "The establishment of this Monument guarantees that it will be perpetually open for the use of the public, under due restrictions, not as a matter of sufferance but as a matter of right; it guarantees that [this place] will be protected against devastation or commercial exploitation, that its animal, bird, and plant life shall be conserved- something that could not be accomplished under private or even corporate ownership." Ninety years later we don't give much thought to how unorthodox, indeed how radical, was this advocacy of federal ownership and wise land management-all for the sake of the public good. On this Centennial of the Antiquities Act, I've been asked to relate this piece of legislation to efforts to establish Acadia National Park. As the nineteenth century came to a close, professional organizations like the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Archaeological Institute of America drafted legislative proposals to protect prehistoric artifacts against commercial exploitation. However, scientific expertise alone was not sufficient to secure congressional approval due to jurisdictional disputes between governmental bureaucracies and uncertainties about the scope of the proposed legislation. 2 Numerous versions were drafted but it was not until 1906 when an archaeologist named Edgar Lee Hewett successfully introduced legislation that moved quickly through both Houses. Iowa Representative John Lacey championed the seemingly innocuous legislation that enabled the Executive branch to quickly respond to the counsel of experts, to circumvent a fundamental part of the checks and balances that we believe to be essential to democratic life. Moreover, Lacey's legislation greatly broadened the scope of Monument status to include archaeological, historical, and scientific sites and structures because of their commemorative, scenic, or inspirational associations. Theodore Roosevelt and his successors have used this power to circumvent protracted congressional deliberations and achieve results believed to be in the public interest. Historian Hal Rothman (in America's National Monuments, 1989) states categorically, that "no piece of legislation invested more power in the presidency than the Antiquities Act." Moreover, Rothman targets the establishment of Sieur de Monts as a "strategically far-sighted move. It was much closer to American centers of population than any of the western parks [and] its creation made a parklike area seem accessible to the majority of the American public, offsetting cries of elitism. [its] establishment was the first step toward making the national parks and monuments truly national." Lest we become too enthralled in democratic zeal, we need to be mindful that in the years immediately preceding the establishment of Sieur de Mont National Monument there were legislative efforts to dismantle the Trustees. While Mr. Dorr thwarted this assault on land conservation, he countered in 3 1913 with an unorthodox proposal to the Trustees. That is, the sacrifice of local corporate control in order to realize the benefit of federal protection; and to take such a step at a time when the Trustees could not yet find shelter in the protective policies of a national park service. Furthermore, energetic Trustee advocacy sought to heighten public awareness of the uniqueness of the wildness of Mount Desert. Dorr, Eliot, and later Beatrix Farrand wrote articles for national publications-like National Geographic Magazine-on the importance of preserving tracts of biological interest, not only because of their wild charm and beauty but because scientific inquiry can bring to life their hidden potentialities. As the fateful summer of 1916 neared, Mr. Dorr also used his newfound Town Selectman status to rally local support and partnered with Island newcomer John D. Rockefeller Jr. to quietly plan a system of paths, carriage roads, and motor roads that enlarged access to these hidden sanctuaries. Quite appropriately, at the August 22nd 1916 celebration, Mr. Dorr's opening words declare that "My thought turns forward to the great opportunity that springs from what is now achieved." Following its establishment, Mr. Dorr would continue to administer these parklands for the next twenty-eight years. Following his death in August 1944, the Park Service honored him by renaming this mountain and on August 29th 1947 the Trustees erected the Dorr Memorial to my right; the renovation of this area rightly draws our attention to this memorial. 4 In closing, it gives me great pleasure to introduce Eleanor Dwight whom I met this May at the Lenox home of Edith Wharton where we both were presenting conference papers. Mrs. Dwight is the daughter of photographer and author Sargent Collier. It is our good fortune that the Trustee Archives in Ellsworth have what appear to be the only surviving photographs of the 1947 Dorr Memorial dedication. Mrs. Dwight will speak briefly about her father's documentation of the closure of the Dorr Era. Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. August 22, 2006 Address at Sieur de Monts Springhouse Acadia National Park Park celebrates its 90th birthday By Anne Kozak 1916, Mr. Eliot said that the great- ticularly Friends of Acadia and for projects that enhance the visi- est satisfaction in doing good work Maine Coast Heritage Trust, to en- tor experience. Calling the fee rev- ACADIA NAT'L PARK - Ap- for the public is that it endures for sure that George Dorr's vision be- enue extremely important to na- proximately 100 people gathered generations. In 1919, Congress comes a reality," said Mr. Steele. tional parks, Mr. Steele said at Sieur de Monts Spring Tuesday changed Acadia's standing to a na- "We are all working together to visitors like to see their fee money to celebrate the 90th anniversary tional park and it was renamed preserve what is special about Aca- being used to repoint bridges of Acadia's designation as a na- Lafayette National Park in honor dia, and this is a real team effort." along the Park Loop Road, build tional monument. The gathering of the French general who assisted Following the celebration of restrooms and rehabilitate Black- was also the official opening for colonists during the Revolution. In Acadia's 90th anniversary, Mr. woods and Seawall campgrounds. the newly renovated Sieur de 1929, the name was finally Steele and others cut a ribbon to Designed by Roc Caivano and Monts Spring area. changed to Acadia National Park. open the renovated area at Sieur Sam Coplon and constructed by Superintendent Sheridan Steele While parcels on Mount Desert de Monts Springs between the na- Harold MacQuinn Inc., the Sieur opened the festivities by saying Island originally held by the ture center and the Wild Gardens de Monts project includes a new this celebration was a time "to trustees for public reservations of Acadia. entrance plaza, a seating wall, un- honor the efforts of many individ- have all been transferred to the The $250,000 project was sup- derground utilities, new exhibits uals who made and keep Acadia federal government, the group still ported by park entrance fees - 80 and new plantings. National Park the special place it exists. It oversees the Woodlawn percent of which remain in Acadia news@mdisiander.com is" - a theme reiterated by Friends Museum in Ellsworth. As the mu- of Acadia President John Courtin. seum's executive director, Joshua In 1906, the Antiquities Act was Torrance, said on Tuesday, the established, allowing the president trustees have recently voted to - without congressional authoriza- support new initiatives in research, tion - to designate an area as a na- education and public outreach, tional monument. In part this was Mr. Courtin said that in review- done to protect prehistoric arti- ing materials about the intent of facts, particularly those artifacts Mr. Dorr, Mr. Eliot and other found in the West, said Ronald founders, one thing that impressed Epp who is writing a biography of him was that Mr. Eliot referred to George Dorr, one of Acadia's those active in creating the park as founders. lovers of Mount Desert Island. For In the early 1900s, Charles B. Mr. Courtin these words also char- Eliot, president emeritus of Har- acterize the staff, volunteers and vard, invited Mr. Dorr and others members of Friends of Acadia. to form the Hancock County Mr. Steele reminded those at- Trustees of Public Reservations - a tending the celebration that his group that held donations of land goal as superintendent is to extend on the island until ownership was Mr. Dorr's vision and to acquire as transferred to the federal govern- many parcels of land as possible ment in 1916, a practice Dr. Epp within the established 1986 Acadia said was radical for its time. boundary on a willing seller/will- In celebrating Acadia's status as ing buyer basis. "The park is work- a national monument on Aug. 22, ing with several key partners, par- George Dorr Ronger Lore" C.N.P. Headquarters may 18, 2011 Acadia N.P. Staff Meeting, May 18, 2011, Rev. 5/5/2011 Greetings. We all know the saying that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In the case of the park founder, imitation has given rise to some groundless claims that are based almost entirely on the writings of three individuals: Richard W. Hale Jr., The Story of Bar Harbor (1949) Sargent Collier's The Triumph of George B. Dorr (1964) Judith S. Goldstein's Triumphs & Tragedies (1992). For more than six decades, popular publications and park cultural landscape reports have repeated the claims made in these three works, and through imitation have contributed to a park legacy built without consulting the archival resources against which these derivative publications ought to be measured. NPS historian Richard Quin and Neil Maher are widely acclaimed for their monumental HABS Survey of Acadia's bridges and carriage and motor roads (Historic American Building Survey/Historic American Engineering Record). They avoided falling into the imitative trap but neglected to undertake an exhaustive study of Dorr's development since it was peripheral to their purposes. My manuscript, The Making of Acadia National Park began with my first meeting with Quin at a historic trails conference organized here by Margie Coffin Brown eleven years ago. From the inception of the research, I situated the evolution of this park within the larger story of the establishment of the national park service, relying heavily on the correspondence and publications by and about Interior Department officials Frederick Lane, Stephen Mather, Horace Albright, and Arno Cammerer. First I would like to respond to staff questions and then concentrate on the 1914- 1924 decade when the NPS & the national park on Mount Desert were in their infancy. 1 A discussion initiated by Rebecca Cole-Will between Acadia National Park Interpretative staff and Dorr biographer Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. on misinformation and the historical facts about the first park superintendent. George Bucknam Dorr (1853-1944). Bar Harbor: ANP HQ. May 18, 2011. 1. Jonathan Gormley is curious about Dorr's finances and the Dorr family history on MDI. A. The Dorr family first arrived on MDI in 1868. Property stretching from Compass Harbor to Bear Brook was purchased at that time. A decade would pass before construction began at Oldfarm. B. The family wealth derived from both sides of the family. The Dorr family prospered through managing international sea trade. All we know definitively about his father's occupation (Charles Hazen Dorr) is that he was a "merchant." His wife, Mary Gray Ward Dorr, was the daughter of Thomas Wren Ward, whose wealth resulted from his role as the sole American representative of the powerful London banking firm of Baring & Brothers. On the death of Mr. Dorr's mother in 1901, Dorr inherited an indeterminate sum that over the next two decades he invested in purchasing land that became ANP. C. Was he a dollar a year park superintendent? Yes, initially, but his salary increased to $1,000 annually for the last twenty years of his life. 2. Following his graduation from Harvard in 1874, Dorr intended to become an attorney, to follow in his elder brother's footsteps. MYTH In 1876 his brother William was an apprentice to a New York City attorney before he succumbed to typhus (the designation used in that time for typhoid fever) in May 1876. There is no evidence that Dorr intended to follow his brother's lead even though he was frequently mailed letters with "Esq." following his name, an elitist convention of the day. 3. When the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations (explain context) came into being and Dorr's mother passed away (i.e., 1901), "Dorr did not have a profession, did not work for a living, [passing his days] living off his intellectual and social capital." MYTH This claim is based on an MDI-centric view of Mr. Dorr. A staff member asks whether Dorr ever worked before the family summered in Bar Harbor. Clearly by the most conservative standards Dorr was a successful businessman as owner of the Mount Desert Nurseries-but this was self-employment at 43 years of age and there is no documentation that he took a salary. Yet the business was successful for several decades and produced revenue for its owner. Years earlier he inherited a portfolio of investments from his Dorr relatives which he apparently managed successfully. Dorr did not receive financial compensation for his land preservation efforts until he was 65 years of age as the new custodian of the Sieur de Monts National Monument. By conservative standards he was a dilettante since he was not compensated for his widely recognized scholarly interests. By any standard he was recognized as a gentleman scholar. Arnold Arboretum nurserymen, landscape gardener Beatrix Farrand, and her aunt, the novelist Edith Wharton, regarded him as a horticulturalist. Most importantly, his SO called "intellectual and social capital" served Harvard University very well when they selected him at this time to raise the funds necessary for the construction of the first academic structure devoted to philosophy, Emerson Hall. At the same time, the university empowered him to be a major figure in expanding the footprint of the university to include the second Yard along the Charles 2 River. Clearly, no negativity should be attached to these practical applications of his social and intellectual capital. 4. Dorr failed in the single romance of his life, resulting in his lifelong bachelor status (S. Collier). MYTH This contention is exclusively based on an incident that occurred immediately after Dorr's graduation from Harvard. He was traveling through the Alban Hills in Italy and was clearly smitten with the character and beauty of one Linda Peters (the widowed Mrs. Craig Wadsworth). There is no documentation of Dorr's heterosexual or homosexual activity. The simplistic popular conclusion that unrequited love caused Dorr to remain a lifelong bachelor is unjustified. 5. Dorr swam every day at Compass Harbor. Hyperbole! There is no documentation for when Dorr began to swim regularly in Compass Harbor but the published secondary resources attribute a daily year- round swim to him during his senior years-- before the 1930's--when his age began to take its toll. 6. Mainers were strongly in favor of the establishment of a federal presence on MDI. MYTH Most off-island residents were unaware of national monument efforts. What was better known were the legislative efforts in 1911 and 1914 to establish a Mt. Katahdin N.P., efforts which Dorr supported in word and newspaper editorials. 7. Following his 1910 purchase of property on Barr Hill, John D. Rockefeller Jr. quickly allied himself with those who supported the development of a federal presence on MDI. MYTH Drawn to the island by its scenic splendor, relative seclusion, and its automobile prohibitions, for several years JDRJr. focused on his own carriage roads. Not until February of 1915 did he make the fateful decision to respond piecemeal to Dorr's request for funds to cover national monument legal fees. 8. In 1918, Dorr proposed before a federal legislative committee that Somes Sound might serve as a submarine base in defense of the Atlantic coastline. FACT Some have inferred from this proposal that Dorr was willing to use any weapon of persuasion in his efforts to secure national park status. 9. Tim Gerrity, Executive Director of the Mount Desert Island Historical Society wants to know how Dorr defended his renaming of local places. Gerrity refers to an un-named geographer who claims that "Naming a place anew is a widely documented act of political possession in settlement history [and] taking away a name is an act of dispossession." Mr. Dorr's controversial act of renaming geographic features was only carried out after the initial properties were accepted by the federal government. When one reviews the correspondence with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names and other correspondence, one clearly sees the motive as being one of providing historically distinctive names for the majority of mountains that bore names that were conventional and of no geographic distinctiveness (Brown, Green, Dog, Dry). If this be "an act of dispossession" then one may ask, who was dispossessed by his act of providing the visiting public with a memorable point of reference? See my article. 10. Dorr's reputation as a superb political agent on the national and state levels is well established. Is it Fact or Myth that he played no role in Mount Desert village management other than advocacy of the interests of the National Park Service? MYTH 2 3 Although his memoirs and publications are silent on the matter, Dorr was a three term Eden selectman (1915-1917). He refers to this experience in correspondence with President Eliot. On the eve of the establishment of the Sieur de Monts National Monument Dorr saw how leadership experience in local politics would help him advance the case of a national park and anticipate the dramatic social changes that would occur once MDI land was federalized. George and his parents each played key roles in the first 20 years of the Bar Harbor Village Improvement Association. (explain role) Anne Warner was interested in how the year round community was involved in Dorr's project-to grow the park and its accessibility. This is a complicated matter. We have little documentation on this matter but it appears that there was general support for his administration (1916-44) but the local newspaper contains reports about people feeling that they were kept in the dark until a course of action had been undertaken. In the case of property acquisition efforts, correspondence between Dorr and the NPS administration--and especially Mr. Rockefeller, Jr.--shows that there was a deliberate effort to communicate the barest of information to the public out of concern about the inflation of property values where Rockefeller's name was associated with land acquisition. Was Mr. Dorr bothered by such paternalistic behavior? Since the restriction was motivated by a greater good-the growth of the park-the answer would be "No." 11. Dorr was a Boston Brahmin raised in an elitist culture. Nonetheless, he instituted a conceptual shift from membership exclusivity within the HCTPR to demonstrating by example the principle of inclusiveness within a federal bureaucracy. FACT Nonetheless, the myth persists that neither Dorr, Charles W. Eliot, or JDR,Jr. embraced democratic principles. That they recognized in word and print social classes and their behaviors does not mean that they were hostile to democratic objectives for the national parks. Their unwillingness to disclose to the public every aspect of their public service was due to engrained prudence, not opposition to inclusiveness. 12. Dorr is rightly viewed as a superb entrepreneur regarding the acquisition of parcels of land befitting national park status-at the same time he was a poor record keeper who failed to satisfy the accounting standards of Charles W. Eliot, John D. Rockefeller Jr., and the National Park Service. FACT Dorr composed marvelous letters and reports that displayed a level of argumentation and scholarly apparatus far above the expectations of his readers. At the same time, like Eliot and JDR,Jr., he retained in his memory an exceptional command of detail. From Dorr's point of view, why waste time preparing lists of properties when I can rely on Harry Lynam to do this for me-and I can recount the details in letters as needed. 13. By its establishment in 1919, Lafayette National Park offered those living east of the Mississippi a public respite from the doldrums of daily life. Yet for the first time, in the words of Richard W. Hale Jr., the three year old NPS "found on its hands a park that did not obey the rules.." FACT To be sure, the NPS procedures and standards were hardly set in stone. To its credit, NPS officials tolerated this exceptionally well educated and worldly gentleman from Boston, cut from the cloth of a different era. And Dorr wanted to please his superiors, but a couple of issues aroused friction. (1) First, his Harvard education made him intolerant of what we would call mindless routines, using his facility with language to avoid bureaucratic conformity 3 4 (2) again, he adhered to a largely unknown maxim articulated by his friend, the philosopher William James who described to Harvard alums the essential ingredient in a Harvard education: the spirit of unorthodoxy; (3) he displayed this independence in his refusal to wear a NPS uniform; (4) since many within the park service at this time regarded the seventy-six year old Dorr as an emerging patriarch of the NPS, his behavior was tolerated. He was known as a unique park administrator who commanded the power to enlist a vast following of wealthy and influential persons. 14. In 1929 Lafayette National Park was renamed "in order to obtain the land on Schoodic from the Moore sisters." FACT. In 1929, legislation (45 Stat. 1083) changed the name of the park and established the NPS authority to expand the park through donations. With the hostility of the Moore sisters to all things French, Dorr-a stanch pragmatist in the tradition of his friend William James-- admitted that Lafayette was chosen because of the alliances with France during WWI. The subtext, however, is Dorr's desire to acknowledge French culture in Maine as a historical matter of fact. Consequently, he restates this theme and proposes a more archaic French name (Acadia) "because of its old historical associations and descriptive character." 15. Following Dorr's death, "Circling over a part of the island [Dorr] had especially loved, friends scattered his ashes from a plane. Two wealthy matrons, enjoying lunch on the terrace of their summer 'cottage' looked up as some of the plane's wafting cargo drifted into their teacups. 'Oh dear,' one of them exclaimed, "It's Mr. Dorr." MYTH This passage from Dayton Duncan & Ken Burns illustrated history of America's best idea, The National Parks, perpetuates local misinformation. The documentation is found in the most reliable source: Benjamin Hadley, Dorr's successor. The evidence is contained in several official letters to the director of the NPS (Arno Cammerer) and the Secretary of the Department of Interior. Following the return of Dorr's ashes from Mount Auburn Cemetery, Hadley clearly says that he and attorney Serenus Rodick followed Dorr's directives and scattered his ashes in the garden behind Storm Beach. In the Dorr family plot at Mt. Auburn, the trustees of his estate later erected a simple memorial stone the size of a breadbox bearing solely Dorr's name and dates. About 1,500 feet distant are the remains of Charles W. Eliot. 4 "The Making of Jroup Memorial Library: The Legacy of 9.B. Dorr" Jesup Memoral Library may 20, 2011 George B. The Makins Dorr of lesup Memorial Library Historian Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D Date: Friday, May 20th Time: 4:00 p.m. Where: Jesup Memorial Library Mr. Epp will explore the talents George B. Dorr exhibited in creating the Jesup Memorial Library. www.mainememory.net ©Acadia National Park Jesup Memorial Library - 34 Mount Desert Street - Bar Harbor - Maine - 04609 Phone: 207-288-4245 Website: www.jesup.lib.me.us. 5/20/2011 NEW YORKERS AT BAR HARBOR. Mrs. Morris K. Jesup Gives Town a Memorial Library. Special to The New York Times. BAR HARBOR, Me., July 30.-Mrs. Morris K. Jesup, donor of the new Jesup Memorial Library, which is now practi- cally completed, has fixed upon Wednes- day, Aug. 30, as the date for the dedica- tion of the new building. Mrs. Jesup's nephew, Thomas De Witt Cuyler, will make the formal transfer from Mrs. Jesup to the Library Association. Mr. and Mrs. Paul Dana and Miss Janet Dana of New York are the guests of A. Butler Duncan at The Tides for the month of August. Mrs. Robert Le Roy of New York came to-day to be the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Casimir de R. Moore at Stanwood cot- tage. Mrs. Souther of Lawrence, N. J., is also the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Moore. Mr. and Mrs. Reginald M. Johnson and family are the guests of Mr. and Mrs. J. Pierrepont Edwards at Eastcote for some weeks. Mrs. Anna Lawson is the guest of her daughter, Mrs. Franklin Ellis, at her Summer home on Clefstone Road. The Rev. Dr. Francis Vibbert of New York was the speaker at St. Savior's Epis- copal Parish this morning. Mrs. John B. Shober and family arrived to spend the Summer at the Rodick cot- tage. Archibald Harrison is the guest of his mother. Mrs. Burton Harrison, at Sea Urchins. He expects to go to Europe next week and to return to Bar Harbor later in the season. William Jay Schieffelln rejoined his family to-day after an absence of several weeks in New York. The New York Times Published: July 31, 1911 Copyright © The New York Times Page 1 of 1 Jesup Memorial Library Centennial From "Roger Brignull" To Date 12/05/2010 08:30:49 PM Dear Mr. Epp, Your friend, Alice MacDonald Long, suggested I e-mail you in hopes that I may impose upon you regarding my project for The Jesup Memorial Library's Centennial Celebration. I was selected to design a historical display, for the month of May, 2011, of George B. Dorr and the Horticultural Room. The Library is celebrating it's 100th birthday with a year-long series of events and displays As a native of Bar Harbor, I knew of Mr. Dorr's involvement in the birth of Acadia National Park but was unaware of his role in the planning of the Jesup Library. I, therefore, wonder if you would share with me any information regarding Mr. Dorr's purchase of the Library property, his involvement in the financing and his horticultural interests which led, I believe, to the use of the current Reading Room as the "Horticultural Room." Alice informed me that your upcoming biography concerning Mr. Dorr made you the perfect source! As a note of interest, I happen to live in the house adjacent to the Library, which was once the original men's reading club, known as "The Oasis Club" and which I now wonder, if Mr. Dorr was a founding father. If you have the time, I would love to hear from you. I can be reached by e-mail or at 207-288-5462. Sincerely, Donna MacLeod Brignull https://webmail.myfairpoint.net/mail/message.php?index=6524 12/6/2010 Page 1 of 1 Re: Jesup Memorial Library Centennial Celebration From To "Roger BBrignull" Date 12/22/2010 10:50:45 AM Dear Donna, Thank you for the invitation! I'm pleased to accept. After discussion with my wife about possible dates in May, I'd like to propose either the 9th or 10th of May, with fallback dates of May 18-20. What location? Regarding the time, I'd be interested in knowing what times work best for drawing an audience. Late afternoon? Early evening? What do you think? In the next several weeks we should speak to one another and cover some issues regarding the setting of the presentation, a fixed date, anticipated size of the audience, and the format of presentation that you would like me to adopt. What other events are planned? My only concern at this time is my voice. After decades of teaching it now lacks the "throwing power" of earlier years and tends to fail me when overtaxed. A small clip on "mike" would be necessary even if the event is in a room no larger than Dorr's horticultural room. I've tried to contact Bob Pyle for some additional insight into the early years of the Northeast Harbor Library but my email bounced back to me. Do you have his address? Wishing you and yours the merriest during this holiday season. And do call me "Ron." Ron Epp Quoting Roger Brignull : Dear Mr. Epp, Thank you for your kind response together with your list of resources and suggestions regarding my JML Centennial Celebration exhibit on George B. Dorr. My committee would be more than delighted to accept your generous offer to give a talk in May of 2011 as part of our Celebration and, since the Jesup Library calendar is currently open for the month of May, we would accommodate your preference for a date and time. As one who has scanned the "George B. Dorr Papers" on the Library's microfische, I am especially interested in the details of your book, the editing and the epic battle with your publisher. I shall look forward to hearing from you. Cordially, Donna Brignull Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. 47 Pondview Drive Merrimack, NH 03054 (603) 424-6149 eppster2@myfairpoint.net https://webmail.myfairpoint.net/hwebmail/mail/message.php?index=1524 12/24/2010 Page 1 of 1 Jesup Memorial Library Centennial Celebration From "Roger Brignull" To Cc "Judith Swazey" "Mae Corrion" , "Ruth Eveland" , "Tricia Blythe" , "Gail Caruso" , "Nancy Howland" Date 12/23/2010 08:57:12 PM Dear Ron, I was pleased to receive your e-mail of December 22. I have been in touch with my committee and the Library Staff who indicate that Friday, May 20th at 4:00 p.m. at the Jesup would be the best time for your talk as late afternoons seem to appeal to Library audiences. As to the size of the audience, we are, of course, guessing, but for this type of event, we would expect 30-60 (we will be advertising). We plan to set up an area on the East end of the main Library (the big room) in front of the large window for your lecture. We would like the talk to be followed by a question and answer period and later hors d'oeuvres. We will supply a microphone, clip and sound system. A year-long calendar of events is scheduled to celebrate this centennial including the return of the cabaret, poster contest, historical displays, author signings, a rededication ceremony and oral history presentations. I do not have Bob Pyle's e-mail address but his mailing address is P. O. Box 412, Northeast Harbor, ME 04662, phone number 207-276-3995. Christmas festivities are well underway here in Maine with the arrival of the first of our five children and enough snow to sprinkle the trees. I shall look forward to speaking with you in the near future. Happy Holidays. Donna https://webmail.myfairpoint.net/hwebmail/mail/message.php?index=6866 12/24/2010 NEW YORKERS AT BAR HARBOR. Mrs. Morris K. Jesup Gives Town a Memorial Library. Special to The New York Times. BAR HARBOR, Me., July 30. .Mrs. - Morris K. Jesup, donor of the new Jesup Memorial Library, which is now practi- cally completed, has fixed upon Wednes- day, Aug. 30, as the date for the dedica- tion of the new building. Mrs. Jesup's nephew, Thomas De Witt Cuyler, will make the formal transfer from Mrs. Jesup to the Library Association. Mr. and Mrs. Paul Dana and Miss Janet Dana of New York are the guests of A. Butler Duncan at The Tides for the month of August. Mrs. Robert Le Roy of New York came to-day to be the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Casimir de R. Moore at Stanwood cot- tage. Mrs. Souther of Lawrence, N. J., is also the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Moore. Mr. and Mrs. Reginald M. Johnson and family are the guests of Mr. and Mrs. J. Pierrepont Edwards at Eastcote for some weeks. Mrs. Anna Lawson is the guest of her daughter, Mrs. Franklin Ellis. at her Summer home on Clefstone Road. The Rev. Dr. Francis Vibbert of New York was the speaker at St. Savior's Epis- copal Parish this morning. Mrs. John B. Shober and family arrived to spend the Summer at the Rodick cot- tage. Archibald Harrison is the guest of his mother, Mrs. Burton Harrison, at Sea Urchins. He expects to go to Europe next week and to return to Bar Harbor later in the season. William Jay Schieffelln rejoined his family to-day after an absence of several weeks in New York. The New York Times Published: July 31, 1911 Copyright © The New York Times The Making of Jesup Memorial Library: the Legacy of G.B. Dorr On the Occasion of the Jesup Memorial Library Centennial May 20, 2011 Notes for an Address by Ronald H. Epp Ph.D. Objectives A. To highlight popular knowledge about Mr. Dorr prior to 1911. B. To illumine what we know about Bar Harbor library construction. C. To determine why you are not now sitting in a Carnegie Library. D. To show Dorr's multiple roles in establishing a public library. His motivation? E. To conclude with a reminder of Dorr's other cultural philanthropies that benefit Mount Desert and beyond to this very day. A. George B. Dorr is a 57-year old summer resident who owns Mount Desert Nurseries since 1896, employing hundreds of tradesmen during the summer months. He is Vice-President of the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations. For twenty years actively involved in the BHVIA; father was charter member, his mother committed to conservation. GBD: roads & paths, trees & plantings, sanitation, bicycle path committees. Arranged 1910 talk by Gifford Pinchot. He was also a key force behind the newly created Building of the Arts which was designed by a Cambridge architect whom GBD worked with in the building of Emerson Hall, Guy Lowell. Likely rumored that on the recent death of financier John S. Kennedy, that Dorr asked Mrs. Kennedy to purchase the athletic field and donate it to B.H. A trekker, seen constantly hiking the island trails. Only his closest associates knew of the shrinking of his personal wealth as his property list grew. Since his mother's death in 1901, Oldfarm hospitality had declined dramatically. B. Information about B.H. library development is woefully inadequate, especially for an institution (the library) with a preservation tradition stretching back to the Greeks. The Bar Harbor Record did not cover the development process, neither did Town Selectmen. G.B. Dorr provides almost all surviving library information. The Jesup archives contain an undated printed description (c. 1911) of the beginnings of the library movement resulting in the JML. The park archives and BHHS contain Dorr's memoirs, included therein are two versions lengthier versions that detail far more fully (over 13 typed pages) the origin and development of the JML 1 A lengthy newspaper account of the dedication exists but no formal contract with Mrs. Jesup has survived, no architectural documentation, no data on the laying of a cornerstone, no formal agreement by the Town of B.H. to financially support the new public facility. This loss of documentation is of no small consequence. C. The real mystery is: why was it necessary to approach Mrs. Jesup in the first place? Andrew Carnegie library philanthropy in the U.S. began in 1886 and before its decline after 1911, more than $40 million dollars (=$ 2 billion today) was given to erect over 1,400 libraries, 17 in Maine (cost: $238K). Extensive Carnegie publicity precludes the possibility that BH was unaware of this opportunity. A popular portfolio of Carnegie construction stories was published in 1907. By 1908 there were Carnegie libraries in Gardiner, Lewiston, Waterville, Rockland, Houlton, Old Town, Pittsfield, Rumford, Auburn, Madison, Freeport, Presque Isle, and Vinalhaven. Funding requests came from librarians, town officials, ladies organizations, etc. A request included statements about the poor financial condition of the town coupled with requests about the benefits of improved local literacy. Then a town official made application, specifying what the town would do to provide a site and how the town would secure continuing support for the library (10% of the gift). Library sites were frequently donated. Funding was usually at the level of two to three dollars per capita (=$8,600 for BH). Towns could choose their own architect & tradesmen. Nonetheless, the mystery remains. One likely scenario is that in a community known for its prosperity and cultivated residents, the Carnegie funds may have been tainted by the unstated sentiment that Bar Harbor didn't need Carnegie money (which was in point of fact inadequate to the resulting goal) to establish what community activism could secure on its own. D. Mr. Dorr was generally regarded as a scholarly gentleman, versed in ancient languages, a bibliophile whose Oldfarm home contained many collections. As a child one of his most cherished memories is of TWW's Park Street library. Grandfather Ward left a $5,000 endowment to Harvard College Library (1858) Both Ward and Dorr family members had proprietor entitlements to The Boston Athenaeum. But as a Harvard student, Mr. Dorr did not borrow one title from the library. Explanations for this are complex: storage culture, faculty dominance, lack of funding. 2 Of those books in his personal collection, many were horticultural and botanical works which he intended to donate to the new B.H. Horticultural Society. But as a philosophical man, he asked himself: should there not be "a good library" to (a) store resources, (b) care for them, and (c) "provide opportunity for their use" by the public. Important to stress the opportunities implied by public access, quite unlike the fee-based structure of the thirty year old village library, based on subscriptions. In Dorr's words, its lighter titles were "utterly inadequate for B.H.," its fee- structure at odds with the democratic spirit behind the conservation agenda of the HCTPR. Dorr first located this "ideal" site. A year later the site was still available and Mrs. Maria Jesup was responsive to the idea of memorializing her husband with a library. It is unclear who selected William Delano as the architect, though the fact that both she and Delano's partner were members of the Aldrich family-- William Adams Delano was 36 years of age, a Yale graduate, and partner with Chester Holmes Aldrich and presently their most challenging contract was with the Rockefeller family, designing and constructing since 1907 the Kykuit estate at Pocantico Hills near Tarrytown, NY. Dorr makes the point that Mrs. Jesup told Delano what she wanted in terms of the exterior of the structure, while Dorr told the architect what he wanted for the Town in terms of interior space and arrangement--windowed alcoves, generous stacks, wide balconies, two specious rooms at entrance. In his printed essay (one of three versions), Dorr credits the library to the residents of B.H. growing interest over the last thirty years in intellectual resources. The new library is for Bar Harbor a progressive indicator of the civilizing process. Dorr takes great pride in the creation of a horticultural collection, a special collection more characteristic of academic institutions; similarly, he locates the children's library at the entrance, an encouragement for the next generation of library users. This was also a break with convention since their resources were not located in some hard to find place. To continue the planning theme, Delano informs Dorr that the costs will greatly exceed $20,000. Shall we cut quality or size? Dorr answers, "neither, let Mrs. Jesup decide. Both met with Delano in NYC and she signed contract for a $77,000 facility (equivalent to two million 2015 dollars), asking Dorr to administer the execution of the contract. Groundbreaking for the fall of 1910. 3 Thanks to the research of John M. Bryan (Maine Cottages: Fred L. Savage and the Architecture of Mount Desert (2005), we know that Savage was the "supervising architect" for Delano and Aldrich, adding his touch that helped place this facility within the City Beautiful Movement; F.L. Olmsted's plan for the 1893 Columbia Exposition (which Dorr attended) stressed the psyical, psychological, economic, educational and aesthetic wellbeing of local engagement in efforts of this sort. Dorr supplied the exterior stonework, " a splendid fine grained granite," at his expense from his Bear Brook quarry. Nine months later it was completed. Dorr earlier asked Mrs. Jesup about an endowment, an issue that had not occurred to her. While the book budget could safely be left to the users (public), since it is a memorial she couldn't count on others to maintain it. Mrs. Jesup considered $10K, then $25 K. but GBD thought it inadequate. Two days before the dedication, Mrs. Jesup's nephew, Thomas DeWitr Cuyler, apparently got wind of Dorr's concern. He asked Fred Lynam, president of the Village Library, to estimate on going expenses. The next day, Lynam proposed an endowment of $50K to cover $2,500 annual expenses. Mrs. J. then presented her nephew with a check for $25,000. Dorr stepped in and emphasized need for additional revenue. She tore up check and wrote one for $50,000 (roughly 1.2 million dollars in 2015) On her death, an equal sum provided an endowment for the neighboring Y.W.C.A. Consequently, Dorr fulfilled six key roles in the establishment of the JML: 1. He was the visionary, emphasizing the memorial concept to Mrs. Jesup 2. Responsible for site selection 3. Chief institutional advancement officer 4. Designed the facility interior 5. Oversight of contract execution 6. Brokered increased level of funding and the necessity of an endowment. E. In the years that followed, three other major MDI cultural accomplishments would be credited to Mr. Dorr: Jackson Laboratory, the MDIBL, and the Abbe Museum. In his final years, Dorr was sufficiently impressed with the development of Jesup Memorial Library, that he donated the only then known copy of the original 4 diary that we know today as The Tracy Log Book. This is the journal of Charles Tracy, a prominent New York City attorney, often described as the first summer visitor to MDI-joined in that adventure by his extended family and friends, most notably the Hudson River School painter Frederick Edwin Church The original had been donated to the Pierpont Morgan Library by J.P. Morgan Jr., whose mother, Frances, was the daughter of Charles Tracy and a friend of Mr. Dorr. The original was out of the reach of Island residents, but Dorr chose the Jesup Library to preserve for the community a copy of this benchmark work. Published in 1997 by the MDIHS, the book was skillfully edited by Ann Mazlish. As was Dorr's style, he not only annotated the Tracy document but also wrote a brief summary of the diary couched in its historical associations. Lastly, following Dorr's death, the chief executor of his estate, Judge John A. Peters, determined that his estate amounted to a little more than $25,000. Without clear direction from Mr. Dorr, his executors decided that it would be divided threefold. One quarter each to the Abbe Museum and the Hancock Trustees. The largest amount, one half ($12,865) to the Jesup Library. No documentation discloses its application. The director on the eve of the centennial suggested that it likely was added to the endowment. R.H. Epp. 532 Sassafras Dr., Lebanon, PA 17042 eppster2@comcast.net Centennial Notes on the Bibliographic Philanthropy of George B. Dorr The Father of Acadia National Park, George Bucknam Dorr, was responsible for the establishment of enduring cultural institutions on Mount Desert Island. Five years before the federal legislation that established the Sieur de Mont National Monument, Mr. Dorr focused his attention on establishing Bar Harbor's first public library. In an era when Carnegie libraries were rapidly being constructed throughout the United States, it took the ingenuity of the owner of the Mount Nurseries to achieve an intellectual center for Bar Harbor residents. The presentation by historian Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. explores Mr. Dorr's standing in the community at this time, the strategies he employed in cultivating the widow of Mr. Morris K. Jesup, and the talents Mr. Dorr exhibited in creating this lasting institution. 5