undertakes several major
preservation projects
South River society
undertakes several major
preservation projects
BY JOLENE HART
Staff Writer
PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff Iris Schmitt (above, left) and Karen L. Satterthwaite of the South River Historical and Preservation Society stand in front of the war memorial, built in 1926. Local historians are raising money to restore the statue.
As South River evolves with plans to build a new school and examines its redevelopment options, some residents are keeping precious pieces of local history safely guarded.
The South River Historical and Preservation Society, founded in 1988, claims more than 200 members who pledge their support of the society’s mission to preserve the past for future generations.
Since its creation, the society has regularly added to the local historical pieces that are kept in the Old School Baptist Church, Main Street, the building that now serves as the South River Museum. The society gained recognition for the building in 1992 when it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
"We will celebrate the building’s 200th anniversary in 2005," said Iris Schmitt, publicity director for the society.
Inside the Old School Baptist Church, visitors will find displays on the borough’s early families and industries, such as brick- and tile-making, embroidery and dress-making, which were instrumental in the area’s development.
Schmitt said one of her favorite pieces in the museum is an antique stove, complete with an over-the-burner toaster.
Apart from caring for its impressive collection of South River history, the society has undertaken several major historical preservation and acquisition projects since its formation.
The society’s first project is still one of its most important. In 1989, the group brought two 19th-century oil paintings — portraits of the Willett sisters — home to South River, where they remain on display in the public library.
The sisters, believed to be Emily and Louise, are descendants of the Willett family that is recorded as the first to settle in South River in 1720. The rare paintings were owned by a Maine collector of American Folk Art until the society acquired them.
The latest project for the group is the restoration of two prominent war monuments that stand at the entrance to the Old School Baptist Church. The World War I monument, known as the doughboy, was built in 1926, and the World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War monument is dated 1965. Both are badly in need of restoration.
Schmitt believes that the monuments have not been properly cared for since their creation.
"I looked at pictures taken in the 1920s and the doughboy was already there," she said. "It hasn’t changed."
During the restoration, the missing pieces of the doughboy’s hat and rifle will be replaced, the statue will be cleaned and the base will be repaired.
The society is especially hoping to find relatives of the soldiers honored on the monuments to contribute to the restoration fund.
According to the society, members have contacted the Laboratory for Conservation of Fine Arts to complete restoration work on the doughboy and World War II/Korean/Vietnam monument that stand in front of the building.
"We expect it will cost $9,000 to fix those two," Schmitt said.
The group is hoping for contributions from the community to finance the work.
The society also hopes to arrange the restoration of a burial monument, in the shape of an urn, that New Jersey-born sculptor John Frazee created in 1832 as a memorial to his wife, Jane Frazee. The monument now lies in the cemetery behind the Old School Baptist Church.
According to the society’s historical book, the urn has been described as "the most beautiful and most classical of its kind in the [United States]."
Frazee, once a South River resident, is recognized as the first American sculptor to carve a marble bust, placed in St. Paul’s Church, New York, and was the designer of the New York City Customs House.
The society’s members hope to bring the Frazee urn indoors, to a location where the borough’s treasure can be protected and viewed by the community.
The South River Historical and Preservation Society’s War Memorial fund-raiser will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 21, at the American Legion hall on Whitehead Avenue. Admission is $5 and refreshments will be served. Veterans are invited to bring uniforms, pictures or war memorabilia to the event.
The South River Museum is open to the public on the first Sunday of each month, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., and by appointment.