O&R donates to Historical Society costume collection

| 28 Sep 2011 | 02:15

    WARWICK-The Historical Society of the Town of Warwick has discovered a hidden treasure. When Dr. Margaret Ordonez, Ph.D., visited Warwick in 2002, she had good news for the Society. Dr. Ordonez is the Director of the historic textile and costume collection at the University of Rhode Island. She was here to assist the Society's collections committee in organizing and evaluating its "long lost" collection of over 400 items of quality clothing and accessories dating from the 1820s to the 1960s. Dr. Ordonez helped compile a detailed description of the items and established that it was an important and valuable collection. The Historical Society members were further encouraged after a discussion with Warwick resident Cathryn Anders who is the curator at Lyndhurst Castle in Tarrytown, NY. The problem, however, was that the Historical Society would need sufficient funds to repair and restore the clothing. The valuable collection would also require proper storage. Society Trustee Thomas Frangos decided to submit a grant application for the project to the Orange and Rockland Co. O&R has a policy of contributing to community organizations that directly benefit customers in its service territory. Funds are then issued through a grant from its Community Investment Program, which places particular emphasis on educational, environmental and cultural projects. O&R subsequently approved the Historical Society's application and recently issued a grant of $1,800. "This generous gift," said Betty Hurd, a collections committee spokesperson, "will be used to begin the work of providing an acid-free proper storage environment for our collection. It will also pay for the mannequins, which we needed for our ‘In the Good Old Summertime' exhibition and which we will need for future exhibitions." Hurd also praised the work of the volunteers and committee members and gave special thanks to Historical Society Curator Michael Bertolini "for his expertise and tireless efforts on behalf of the collection." Anyone interested in working on the collection is encouraged to leave a message for Betty Hurd at 986-3236 or send an e-mail to: info@warwickhistoricalsociety.org. Be sure to sate that you are interested in helping with the costume collection.