As we all know, renovations or remodeling in the older buildings in the Ardens can take many unexpected turns.  This has happened at the Craft Shop.  It is not really too surprising when you remember how old our building actually is.  When Frank Stephens purchased the Derrickson Farm in 1900, our building was one of the structures already on the property. It became know as The Red House and was the center of much of the social activity in the village before the Gild Hall was renovated in 1910 as a home for the Arden Club.   

The Arden Craft Shop Museum community celebrates and honors the life of our dear friend and supporter, Linda Eaton. Linda passed away on August 18th, after a courageous battle against a long-term illness. Linda came to Arden in 1993 after getting a position as a textile conservator at Winterthur Museum and Gardens. She went on to have a long and distinguished career at Winterthur, retiring as the John T. and Marjorie McGraw Director of Collections and was a recognized authority in her chosen field of textiles.

Linda wholeheartedly embraced life in the Ardens and became a founding member of the Arden Craft Shop Museum, Inc. Board in the 2002.  She served as one of the board's presidents, helping to preserve the unique history of the three Ardens. ​

Her professional museum expertise helped to make the Craft Shop Museum an important center for the history of the three villages. Not withstanding her demanding schedule at Winterthur, she never missed an event at the Museum. Linda was generous with her time and her talents, whether it was navigating a tricky board meeting, writing a perfectly worded grant request, or guiding our fledging museum into the future.  She was also known for offering sage advice and giving support to friends and neighbors during difficult times.

She had a playful side to her as well, playing baseball on the village green in games of Winterthur vs. Arden, sharing her love of single malt scotch in tastings at her home, and always being there to cheer on the participants in the ACRA games on the green at the fourth of July celebrations or at an art show in the Ardens; as well as arriving at a dinner party with a batch of homemade shortbread – fresh from the oven.
She will be missed by so many as a good neighbor and an even better friend. 

At this time the Arden Craft Shop Museum is temporarily closed for remodeling and we wanted to make our community aware of the reason.  
 
On August 4th the museum experienced water damage due to a sprinkler head going off in the apartment above the gallery.
 
Museum staff and volunteers were already onsite and, once ascertaining that it was safe to be in the building, immediately began moving collections and laying down plastic sheeting and buckets. They implemented our recently approved disaster response plan, which included alerting building manager Jamie Jamison and board chair Peter Slattery.  Both were onsite promptly.
 
Many thanks to the speedy response of the Claymont Fire Company, who arrived promptly!  Fortunately, their services were not needed.  A number of community members also pitched in to assist.
 
A local remediation company was called, and they came to the museum that evening, and, once the water stopped pouring, began the process of vacuuming and cleaning up. They also removed the damaged carpet and drywall.
 
Thankfully, the water only directly impacted the gallery space.  Due to this and the prompt work of staff, museum volunteers, and community members the damage to the collections was negligible.  Repairs will begin shortly, and we look forward to welcoming you back to the museum for our new exhibition Images from the Ardens: 1900-1960.
 
Many thanks to the museum volunteers and community members who helped out including: Jamie Jamison, Peter Slattery, Beverly Hawkins, Lindsey Sherwood, Liz Jones-Minsinger, Keith Minsinger, and Barbara Macklem.
 
 
The Past Has a Future in The Ardens
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​Due to the 4th of July holiday the Museum will be closed Sunday the 4th.  Please enjoy these photos of Independence Day celebrations from the past!

One of the nicest features of the Archives Collections at the ACSM are the many tributes and articles written by unnamed folk about their favorite neighbors and friends.  One of these pieces, by an unknown friend, provides a beautiful portrait of Jimmie Ware.  The writer details Jimmie’s many accomplishments and her special qualities.  Among these are Jimmie’s reputation as a Gardener Extraordinaire.  She is remembered in her straw garden hat who could “… coax the most recalcitrant of plants to accept a home in her garden.”  The author continues with memories of Jimmie’s strong black coffee served at community breakfasts, of her participation in theater and music activities, her involvement in many political causes, and the loss of her son James during World War II.  All these qualities provide a picture of a most remarkable individual.  

  Prior to arriving in Arden, she was a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in Philadelphia.  Her Mother, Marian Von Wattenburg was reported to have been a member of several professional acting groups, so the younger woman’s interest in the theater probably came from an early age.  Just what drew her to the Ardens is not known, but her life in the community mirrors the lives of so many who made the villages the special places they are today.​

     
Edith “Jimmie” Ware arrived in Arden in 1906 – almost at the very beginning of the communities now known as the Ardens.  Very little seems to be known about the origin of her very boyish nickname, but the woman herself was an admired artist and a valued friend and neighbor.  She was only 18 when she moved to Arden and was soon involved in the weekly Shakespeare performances that took place in the Field Theatre. In 1917, she married Hamilton D. “Buzz” Ware.  According to her 1983 obituary, “…the pair became outstanding leaders in the comprehensive cultural development of the village…”  The wedding must have been a grand Arden celebration – among the gifts they received was a set of silver teaspoons and a silver mug, made by village silversmith Margaret Wood.  The family grew to include daughter Joan in March 1919 and twins James and John in December 1924.
 
Notwithstanding all her activities, as well as raising a family; Ware found time to paint.  In a review of her show at the Warehouse Gallery in 1968, Betty Burroughs (a newspaper columnist who also lived in Arden) wrote that many of Ward’s watercolors showed her love of the nature.  There were pansies, pussy willows, and apple blossoms; as well as seascapes from Maine.  The column also quotes Joan Ware Colgan, Ware’s daughter, discussing the abstract paintings that appear in the show.  Colgan explained that her Mother disliked the early abstract work when she first saw it and framed her color-splattered paint cloth as a rebuff to those artists.  Burroughs reported that even Ware’s abstracts found acceptance due to her “…fine sense of color.”  Ware’s work continues to be treasured in many homes in the Ardens. ​

Almost everyone knows the name Frank Stephens and the role he and Will Price played in founding the communities we now call the Ardens.  We know Stephens to be a proponent of Henry George and his economic ideas, a sculptor, and the founder of several other single-tax enclaves.  Today, however, few of us remember the extensive amount of writing he did – and not all of it in support of the single tax movement.
 
In 1935, after Stephens’ death, a collection of his poems was published in the book, Some Songs.  These poems cover a wide variety of themes.  There are birthday greetings, campaign songs, memorials, and even 13 poetic advertisements for the Arden Forge. The book also included essays about Stephens written by his friends. The book has long been a favorite among Arden Folk and indeed the Museum has a number of copies.
 
As the weather warms and the evenings grow longer, the following stanza from “The Day’s End” seems like a fitting way to remember Frank Stephens and all he has meant to the Ardens.
                       
​                        Would I might see and know the days,
                        As in some wonder-mirror clear,
                        That, alien, exiled as I stray,
                        Beyond those Hills of Far-away
                        Still lies the Land of Always-near.

It's no great surprise that Frank Stephens, a lover of Shakespeare, the founder of Arden, and an artist, would have a way with words. 

​Enjoy this poem "To Eleanor" from Some Songs:

O! Heart--hold closer by me, for this life
Hath really neither breadth nor height nor depth
Other than love; and all material forms
That hedge us round and seem to bound our world
Are rough daubed scenes upon whose little stage
We play this tragic comedy of life--
That mirrors forth some larger world beyond--
Only the purpose, born of love, is real.

The Ardens have a long history of being politically diverse.

In 1950, Don Stephens said about Ardencroft:

“You are welcome hither, for here in Ardencroft we do not ask about a man’s religion nor his beliefs nor do we hold to any theory of racial superiority.”

​This philosophy was a continuation of the spirt of Arden and Ardentown, epitomized in the words of the stile:

                                              "You are welcome hither"

Many Ardenenites have been politically active.  Arden was home to Mother Bloor, a founder of the American Communist Party.  Frank Stephens, who founded Arden, was a Single Taxer who followed the economic and political theories of Henry George and participated in the Delaware Single Tax Invasion of 1896.   ​

On April 27th, 1935, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited the Ardens.  She was visiting WPA projects, of which the cobblestones around the Arden Green are one.  Mrs. Roosevelt was greeted by Marie Holcomb of the local girl scout troop as seen below.

The newly inaugurated 46th President, Joseph Biden, lived for a short time with his family in a rental on Harvey Road in Ardentown.  Maria Holcomb Burslem, niece to the girl scout who gave Mrs. Roosevelt flowers,  remembers President Biden as the local paper boy. 

The Arden Craft Shop Museum has in it's archive a newspaper article from 1986, when then Senator Joe Biden, gave greetings to Charles Pettit on the occasion of his 100th birthday at the Candlelight Dinner Theatre.

In 2020, the museum opened an exhibition called "Equality in the Ardens" which highlights the work of suffragists and other activists from the Ardens in the early 20th century.  This work allowed women across the United States to celebrate the 100th anniversary of casting their ballots in the federal election of 2020.  This exhibition will be transitioning into the museum’s main gallery along with our other current exhibition “15 Treasures”.  Be sure to see both of these through September 2021.

As part of our commitment to telling the history of the Ardens, it is our pleasure to highlight work on the preservation of the historic structures that make up the Ardens.

Rest Harrow was probably built around 1912 and designed by architect William Price.

To learn more about tis restoration by fellow Ardens residents please visit Delaware Today Magazine's website here.

EQUALITY IN THE ARDENS
ARDEN CRAFT SHOP MUSEUM
OPENS NEW EXHIBITION
October 18, 2020
 
 
 
Our new exhibition, opening October 18th, celebrates the traditions of Equality in its many forms in the Ardens.  Of course, nationally 2020 has marked the 100th Anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, bringing equality to the voting booth, but equality has many forms. In the Ardens we have seen it at work in many ways though out our history.  We look forward to displaying these traditions in the new exhibition.
 
The Covid-19 epidemic, of course, has had an impact on our plans.  We will be open from 1-3 PM and the new show will be on display in the Bernie Schwab Community Room.  We ask that guests wear masks and line-up to enter though the front door – we will monitor the number of visitors.  As you exit through the BSCR, we plan (weather permitting) to offer some limited refreshments and hope that socially appropriate gatherings can be held on the Green.  We will miss our usual opening celebration, but we hope many of you will be able to join us.
 
Our current exhibition 15 Years – 15 Treasures is still on display and well worth a visit.
 
*If you would like to visit the Museum during our regular hours, please send an email to ardencraftshopmuseum@gmail.com at least 24 hours before your visit.  That way we can keep track of the number of visitors.
*We will only be able to receive up to 9 visitors at a time.
*We will be sanitizing all touch surfaces before and after visits.
*All visitors and staff must sanitize their hands before entering the Museum and wear a face mask while inside.  We have hand sanitizer already inside the door.
 
The Past Has a Future in The Ardens