Monday, July 30, 2012

Albert Gutterson Wins Olympic Gold in 1912

Article by Lisa Champagne - "University of Vermont - UVM's Albert Gutterson Won Olympic Gold Medal 100 Years Ago Today"
Albert Lovejoy Gutterson, native of Springfield, Vermont, winning the broad jump at the 1912 Olympic Games held in Stockholm, Sweden. Gutterson set a new Olympic record. Photo UVM athletics
"BURLINGTON, Vt. - Former University of Vermont track and field standout Albert Gutterson (Class of 1912) won a gold medal in the broad jump at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden 100 years ago today (July 12, 2012).  Click here to see a photo album of the memorabilia from his Olympic achievements, including the gold medal on the UVM Athletics Facebook page.

Gutterson set a new Olympic record with a leap of 7.60 meters (24' 11 3/4").  Gutterson's Olympic record stood until 1928, when Edward Hamm jumped 25' 4 3/4".  The current world record is held by Mike Powell at 8.95 meters.

Gutterson, who was inducted into the UVM Athletic Hall of Fame in 1969, was a native of Springfield, Vt. At the University of Vermont where he was a member of several campus honoraries, Gutterson spent four years becoming the greatest track athlete in the school's history. His most impressive achievement came in a dual meet against the University of Maine: posting victories in the broad jump, high jump, discus, low hurdles and two sprints, and one second place finish, for an incredible 33-point performance.

But the Olympics capped his great career. As he once put it, "That was a great meet I never will forget. The best athletes in the world were there, the field was wonderful, competition was keen, many records were broken, and I made many friends." When he returned home, he began a long a distinguished career with Springfield's machine tool industry, culminating in his election in 1950 as president of the Lovejoy Tool Co. in Springfield.

Albert Gutterson at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. Photo Wikipedia
Gutterson was a University Trustee from 1954 to 1960, and has been honored by his alma mater with the "varsity letter in life award," and the Distinguished Alumni Service Award.  The hockey arena (Gutterson Fieldhouse) is named to honor his achievements and his generosity and service to his alma mater. Gutterson passed away in Burlington on April 6, 1965.

Sports Illustrated selected Gutterson as one of the Top 50 Vermont athletes of the 20th Century. The magazine's editors composed a list of the "Top 50 Athletes" in each state in its December 27, 1999 issue to commemorate the millennium. Gutterson ranked fifth among the Top 50 Vermonters."


 
Albert Gutterson during the long jump competition at the 1912 Summer Olympics. Photo wikipedia
For additional information on Albert Gutterson, please see the article - "A Flying Leap - Remembering Vermont's Summer Olympics gold medalist" by Thomas Simon


Photo by Matthew Thorsen
For additional photo please see the photo album of the memorabilia on Facebook

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Article about our new exhibit from "The Shopper"

“A Love Story in Painting and Letters” Eldredge Summer Exhibition at the Miller Art Center”


SPRINGFIELD, VT -A love story between two artists, their art and careers during the early1930s plays out on the walls of the Springfield Miller Art   Center’s summer exhibition of paintings which opens on
Thursday, July12, 2012 and continues through Monday, October 8, 2012.
  Entitled ‘A Love Story in Paintings and Letters’ the works on display depict the burgeoning art careers of Springfield artists Stuart Eldredge and his wife to be Marion Schumann during the years when they
first met as students in New York in the early 1930s and entered the art world.
  Marion was born in Brooklyn in 1903, she graduated with a bachelors degree in Costume Illustration from Columbia University Teacher’s College in 1924 then worked as a fashion artist at Bergdorf Goodman. 
She met Stuart while taking night courses at the Art Students League.
  Stuart was born in South Bend, Indiana in 1902, he graduated from Dartmouth College in 1924 with a degree in English. He returned home to work in art and design for Wyman’s Department Store owned by his family. Many of his paintings are landscapes of the Mid-West showing farming activities. But he wanted to study in New York and subsequently enrolled at the Art Students League where he met Marion
and their friendship began.
  The couple’s letters were discovered in a box, tied with ribbon, when their daughter Betsy and her husband Denis Rydjeski were insulating the attic of the family farm in Springfield. The Eldridge family has
retained a number of their parents’ early works and from the letters matched them with the paintings and illustrations the artists discussed and were working on in the early 1930s.
  Excerpts from the letters are exhibited alongside the works so visitors can read of progress, or lack of, trouble painting trees -- Stuart admires Marion’s expertise, Stuart taking his paints out in a boat and the time taken for oils to dry. Some illustrations in the letters show how work progresses; visitors can then view the finished piece.
  Their work is prolific; Marion has several portraits and paintings of people and trees. Stuart paints still lifes, landscapes and nature. Stick insects and praying mantis interest the couple, caterpillars and
chrysalis. In 1932 Stuart received a Fellowship at the Tiffany Foundation in Oyster Bay, Long Island. The couple wrote to each other almost every day and the letters follow their friendship as it develops.
  Their styles also develop with both artists painting abstracts. Stuart began work on advertising for New York stores and received commissions for book jackets, a couple of which are on display.
  They were married on Christmas Day in 1933.
  Stuart taught at Cooper Union and the Art Students League, he had studied at the Beaux Arts Institute of Design Mural Atelier and painted murals for private homes and offices. He also painted for the textile building of the 1939 New York World’s Fair, later the mural of Springfield at the current Employment Office and the circus mural at the Springfield Library.
  The Hood Museum at Dartmouth is home to one of his paintings as are many public and private collections. He was a member of the National Society of Mural Painters, Academic Artists, and the National Watercolor Society.
  The couple moved to Vermont where they painted, farmed and raised their four daughters. Marion recorded the growth of their daughters in drawings and paintings, but she also painted Vermont landscapes,
flowers from her garden and belonged to the Southern Vermont Art Center where she exhibited as well as other galleries throughout the region.
  Not to be missed at the exhibit in a small upstairs room is Marion’s 1924 Columbia Yearbook when she was Art Editor of the Year.
  Visit the exhibit to learn and appreciate more about the art and lives of this Springfield couple.
  The summer opening hours for the exhibit are: Thursday evening 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Fridays through July, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. For viewing by appointment call 802-885-4826
or the Miller Art Center 802-885-2415."

This article is from "The Shopper" and can be found here. The photos below are from the opening reception held on July 12th.



Friday, July 13, 2012

1789 Tavern License

An original manuscript from Springfield's early history recently came to our attention here at the SAHS. It was sold on Ebay back in May. Sadly we were unable to purchase the document due to a lack of funds. However, we were able to obtain some excellent color copies which have been added to the our collections.

The document, dated Springfield [Vermont] March 29, 1789, nominates Captain Abner Bisbee and Captain James Martin as suitable "persons to keep Houses of Publick Entertainment in the said town ... ". "Houses of Publick Entertainment" or public houses, were terms used to refer to taverns or inns in the 18th and early 19th centuries providing food and drink to travelers. Individuals were required to have a license from local officials in order to operate such establishment legally. The document below was signed by town officials in approval of Bisbee and Martin's tavern.

Captain Abner Bisbee (1734-1805), as some may know, was an important leader in the early history of the town of Springfield. He was one of the first settlers, and served as an officer in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution.

This document is roughly 6" x 8 1/2" and made of laid paper.


"Springfield March 29th, 1789

We the Subscribers Being the Magistrates Selectmen Constables and Grand Jurors of the town of Springfield Doth hereby Nominate Capt. Abner Bisbee and Capt. James Martin Suitable persons to keep houses of publick Entertainment in the Said town for the Insuing year.

Simon Stevens
Sam'l Cobb - Magistrates

Abner Bisbee
James Martin
Jothan White - Selectmen

Roger Bates - Constable

_amness Whitney - Grand Juror"


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