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NEWS
ARCHIVE
Selected Highlights from the Sotterley Times
Published four times yearly by the Sotterley Foundation,
Inc., a subscription to Sotterley Times is one of the benefits
accruing to our membership.
December 2006
June 2006
March 2006
September 2005
September 2004
June 2004
March 2004
December 2003
December 2006
A New Entrance to Showcase our Grand Lady
A major new landscaping project will soon be taking place at Sotterley! After many years of talking, action is finally about to be taken to renew and replant the Sotterley entrance allee. The old silver maples are long past their prime. Mrs. Ingalls never liked them, but never got around to replacing them. Interested members over the years have considered all sorts of trees, including dogwoods, cedars, maples, oaks, and bald cypress. So many other areas of Sotterley were in such desperate need, however, that the allee remained on the back-burner. But now its time has come. (page 1 and 6)
MONEY MATTERS…….. Sotterley 302
Since its creation in 1961, The Sotterley Foundation has operated without an endowment and not one dollar of general operating support from the federal, state or county government. This truly amazes people and they continually ask how we are able to fund our wonderful events and programs and keep this important National Historic Landmark property open to the public year after year. (page 3)
June 2006
Sotterley Reaps the Benefits of Student Service
Service learning projects are partnerships with schools, students, parents and their communities. These projects are an important means by which students directly support worthwhile organizations or events while tying their service to their studies in the classroom. This spring, three different schools showed their support of this historic site by completing projects with enthusiasm and spirit which directly benefited Sotterley Plantation. (page 3)
History, Heritage and Hard Work
Preservation of an historic site is about more than buildings. The entire site, the buildings and the land hold memories, history, and the experiences of our forefathers. Sotterley encapsulates the family history of those who lived, loved, and worked here. It holds the history of this nation, the great State of Maryland, our local heritage, our cultures and much more. Preservation is not a simple exercise but is complex to say the very least. (page 1 and 5)
March 2006
Sotterley
Enters the Classroom
Imagine experiencing
life in the 18th and 19th centuries without leaving the classroom.
That is what students in the fourth and fifth grades at Green
Holly Elementary School experienced on January 19th when Program
Instructors from the Education Department took Sotterley
Plantation's history on the road. Instructors brought a wide
variety of activities and a wealth of information to the school
and let the students immerse themselves in the colonial lifestyle
using hands-on lessons in history. (page 1)
Teaming for Success
Corporate Sponsor
BAE Systems recently teamed with Sotterley Plantation and the
Leonardtown High School Art Department to the benefit of both
organizations. BAE Systems has long been a partner with
Sotterley, and has demonstrated true dedication towards community
involvement and education. During 2005, a team from the
Integrated Electronic Solutions unit in St. Mary's County began
work on both the inside and the outside of the Educational Complex
at Sotterley Plantation. These restorative efforts impact
Sotterley's programs and events throughout the year. (page
5)
_______________________________________
September 2005
Esperanza Middle School
Keeps History Alive
The 8th grade students from Esperanza Middle
School during 2005 raised $2,000.00 for Sotterley Plantation as
part of their student service learning project. Funds will
help to renovate the plantation home for use by future students as
part of their Slavery to Freedom unit. To date Esperanza has
raised over $4,500.00 to aid in the restoration of Sotterley.
(page 3)
RECOLLECTIONS OF
SOTTERLEY
Lee Soderberg began volunteering at Sotterley
Plantation in 1977. Nearly thirty years ago, Sotterley was a
different place and so were the times. You could sit on the
furniture, fresh flowers were allowed in the house, and fires
burned in the fireplaces. The stock of the Gift Shop were
remarkably Sotterley, and homemade jams, dried herbs and rose
petals from the gardens, and hand-printed recipes were sold.
Mrs. Ingalls was alive during these years, and always ran a tight
ship.
Lee's memories of her years of service at
Sotterley are warm, yet she has also witnessed the evolution of
Sotterley toward being a stronger organization. We want to make
sure that people do know the efforts that Lee and others have made
and continue to make here at the Plantation. (page 6)
_______________________________________
September 2004
SOTTERLEY AND THE CIVIL WAR
Education Director, Marylin Arrigan, explores the
conflicting Civil War roles of Sotterley’s owners and inhabitants
in the era of America’s Civil War. She also reviews the
general perspective of the area and the State amidst the inexorable
war build up and conclusion. (see page 1)
RESTORING ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL
ROOMS
 Thanks
to very generous fund raising efforts of the van Heerden family,
Esperanza Middle School, and our good friend Janet Rowland, restoration
of the fine woodwork and finishes in the Mansion’s Drawing
Room has started. John O’Rourke, Sotterley’s Restoration
Manager, describes the painstaking work involved. (page 3)
RECOLLECTIONS OF
SOTTERLEY
Jerry and Pat Birch have frequented Sotterley off
and on over the past 35 years. In this article, Jerry shares some
of his family's fond Sotterley experiences. (page 6)
June
2004
Restoration Efforts
In his latest article, Restoration Project Manager John O’Rourke
says, “Although we all loosely refer to what we’re
doing here as restoration, we have in fact made a very conscious
decision that except, in specific cases where there is a clear
reason, we would preserve not restore.” He explores
this and other aspects of preservation and restoration at
Sotterley. (Page 1)
The 2004 Quilt & Needlework Show
As a celebration of the arts of quilting and needleworking
the 14th Annual Southern Maryland Quilt & Needlework Show,
May 21-23, was outstanding. To quote one of the judges this
was, “…a bad year to be in full pieced and full
applique categories. Competition was stiff!” (Page 3)
Education: The Summer Center, the Junior Docent Program
Sotterley Plantation is again hosting the Summer Center for
the Gifted and Talented. Plans for this year’s program
are reviewed. Education Director Marylin Arrigan also highlights
the Junior Docent Program. These students interpret and act
out the scripted roles of selected historic Sotteley figures.
(Page 5)
A Sotterley Remembrance
Chef William Taylor, The Dinner Designer and Sotterley volunteer
since the 1970’s, supervised Sotterley’s dining
arrangements for many years. This article gives us vignettes
of events connected with Maryland’s 350th birthday celebration,
in 1984, as they occurred at Sotterley. (Page 6)
March
2004
Education: Black History Month, 2004 Programs,
Global Positioning and More
Education Director, Marylin Arrigan, reviews February's
tribute to Mrs. Agnes Kane Callum at Sotterley's program, "The
Other Half: Slavery and the Enslaved at Sotterley Plantation.
The 2004 education programs are coming into full swing, including
the partnership programs with St. Mary's County schools. The
cotton, broom corn, and tobacco crops are in the planning stages
as elements of student experiential education. Plans for a new
unit using Global Positioning System technology are highlighted.
(page 1)
 Changing
of the Guard
The Sotterley Board of Trustees and our membership are pleased
to welcome R. Lorraine Fulton, Ed.D., who replaces Michael Whitson
as President of the Sotterley Foundation Board. Her inaugural
newsletter remarks appear in this issue. (page 2)
Money Matters
Sotterley Foundation preserves, researches and interprets the
Plantation's many cultures and environments and serves as a
public education resource. This article reviews the Foundation's
funding sources and describes projects targeted for immediate
funding. (page 4)
December
2003
Sotterley Foundation, Inc. Membership
The Sotterley Foundation, Inc. raises money for Sotterley Plantation
maintenance, preservation, and operation; provides educational
and interpretive programs; and facilitates events held on Plantation
grounds. This issue of Sotterley Times publishes the Foundation's
membership, December 1, 2003-2004, as one means of acknowledging
member support for these essential activities. (see page 4)
A Brief Update and a Few Restoration Reflections by John O'Rourke
John O'Rourke, who directs Sotterley restoration efforts, provides
a brief update of current activities along with engaging in some
insightful speculation about building decisions of Sotterley's
historic owners, including:
- The New Roome, c. 1727, the only historical part of the house
with a basement;
- Questions about Richard Boulton and whether
he designed and built the Mansion staircase and Parlor; and
- The larger question of why Sotterley has survived three hundred
years and counting. (see page 1)
Flagpole Dedication Ceremony
An October ceremony at Sotterley Plantation dedicated a flagpole
replacing one that stood on the Plantation grounds decades earlier.
Spurred by the events of September 11, 2001, the Sotterley Garden
Guild undertook restoration of the flagpole. Restoration expert
John O'Rourke oversaw the choice of an appropriate tree from Sotterley's
woods and its subsequent trimming and treatment. Flagpole dedication
ceremony attendees saw the American flag raised, honoring our
freedom and our Nation, with a Navy color guard. Herbert Satterlee's
granddaughter, Sandra Ingalls van Heerden, provided a much-appreciated
perspective. (see page 6)
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