Monday, March 24, 2008

Sarah Wyman Whitman


One of the reasons I love Boston is that you can't turn around without coming across some little bit of history that you didn't know before...and that statement is especially true when you're standing on a street in Beacon Hill. I was walking down the street just taking pictures of the houses that I liked when I saw this little plaque on a fence. Since I had never heard of Sarah Wyman Whitman before, I had to do some (internet) research, so here's what I learned:

Sarah Wyman Whitman is famous for her stained glass and paintings, some of which are part of the collection at the MFA here in Boston. Some of her stained glass windows hang beside Tiffany windows at Memorial Hall at Harvard.

In looking for info on Sarah Wyman Whitman, part of what I found is about the house itself! Turns out that the house was, at one point, the club house for the Club of Odd Volumes - a society of bibliophiles that started in 1887.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is nice to make discoveries like this. I share your enthusiasm for discovery even if it is on television.

Abraham Lincoln in Brookville, Ohio

George Townboy said...

Great post! I like your in depth reporting style. Awesome photo, too.

Sarah G said...

Haha! George, I never would have considered my blurbs on here "in depth reporting", but I'll take that as a compliment!

I guess I'm just curious, so when I see these things I wonder who the people are and why there's a plaque noted that the lived somewhere. Maybe someday there will be a plaque outside of the home I grew up in: "Here lived Sarah, in depth reporter and blogger."

Abraham - a former coworker once told me that I was like a sponge who just tried to soak up as much knowledge and info about the things around me as I could, so I guess that's why I get excited about little discoveries like this one!

Janet Kincaid said...

I love stuff like this. I'm always finding odd little plaques here and there in D.C. that commemorate some something or other. In fact, the other day, I photographed one on the side of an office building that said, "On this site, the Star-Spangled Banner was sung for the first time..." Amazing!

Great information about Ms. Whitman. As I often say, when I pass stuff like this, "Who knew?!"