The Howland Stone Store Museum
Our name tells our story! In 1837
Slocum Howland built this store in Sherwood,
a crossroads between Cayuga and Owasco
Lakes to the west and east and Auburn and
Ithaca to the north and south. Cayuga Lake
gave it easy access to the Erie Canal. Our
collection details the sale of local products
such as wool and pork, and importation of
manufactured products. The building is made
of small stones called cobblestones, which
were picked up in local fields.
The Howland family was prominent in
important reform movements throughout the
nineteenth and early twentieth century,
particularly in the abolition of slavery,
education, and women's suffrage. A prized
Museum possession is an Underground
Railroad pass brought by two slaves who
escaped from Maryland and came to Slocum
Howland (1794-1881) seeking freedom in
1840. Miss Emily (1827-1929) first taught in
schools for free blacks in Washington, D.C. in
1857. In addition to building a school in
Sherwood, she founded and financially
supported fifty schools for the emancipated
blacks, teaching in several of them.
Both Emily and her niece, Isabel
(1859-1942), were active in the local, state and
national women's suffrage movements; we
have posters and other memorabilia
representing their efforts. A "Cabinet of
Curiosities," collected by the Howlands on
their travels, includes everything from Arabian
jewelry to coral from Capri.
In 2008, we acquired Opendore, which
was Isabel's home. We are now renovating
Opendore as an expanded part of our Museum.
Howland Stone Store Museum
Presents
A Conversation
between
The
Howland Stone Store
Museum
2015
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
and
Emily Howland
featuring Dr. Melinda Grube
as Mrs. Stanton
~ October 18 @ 3 pm ~
Suggested donation: $10
2956 Rt. 34B
in Sherwood
2015 Special Exhibit
Learn about the Cayuga County Political
Equality Club and the role of the Howlands
in that organization.
~~~~
1837
Sherwood Equal Rights Historic District
Preserving the Howland Family
Collections
Including permanent and rotating
exhibits
www.HowlandStoneStore.org
HOURS
June - September
Thursday 1-4
Saturday 1-4
2956 State Route 34B, Aurora, NY
(in the hamlet of Sherwood)
For an appointment call 315-364-5587
e-mail: [email protected]
HSSM, Box 124, Aurora, NY 13026
SUNDAY SOCIALS--2015
All programs and socials will take place at
the museum. Admission to the Howland
Stone Store Museum and its programs is
free, except for the October 18 Fundraiser. Donations are always gratefully
accepted.
happened in the days up to and including
Lincoln’s 24 hours in
Gettysburg to
consecrate the future National Cemetery, and
how people from Cayuga County influenced its
creation. Presenter John E. Lamphere is
Associate Vice President / Dean of the Fulton
Campus, Cayuga Community College
August 16
May 17
7:00 p.m.
A Whale of an Apple is a discussion of New
Bedford whaling captain George Howland, the
flourishing apple industry in the 19th century,
and the legendary 20-Ounce. Presenter Carrie
Knight is a historian and writer who resides in
Aurora, New York, where she is ever-inspired
by the region's rich heritage. She is currently
dividing her time between a larger history of
George Howland and other scholarly interests
which include architectural and agricultural
history. A brief annual meeting of HSSM will
be conducted prior to the program.
June 14
7:00 p.m.
Parallel Trajectories in the U.S. and India:
Reflections on Emily Howland and Pandita
Ramabai.
Presenters Andrew and Bess
Simkin, who served in India on a three-year
diplomatic assignment, will describe the
historic friendship of two great social reformers
and offer their own perspective on cultural
affinities between the two countries.
July 19
7:00 p.m.
Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address: A Few
Brief Words that Re-birthed America.
This presentation will detail what really
7:00 p.m.
“Nobler spirits I never met”: Scipio and
Farmington, Two Quaker Centers of
Reform. Farmington and Scipio were major
centers of Quaker settlement and reform for
equal rights for African Americans, Native
Americans, and women. Both are now listed
on the National Register of Historic Places (as
the Sherwood Equal Rights National Historic
District and Farmington Quaker Crossroads
Historic District). This talk compares these two
dynamic Quaker centers and discusses
nationally important figures affiliated with
them, including Emily Howland, Harriet
Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass,
the Edmondson sisters.
Presenter Judith
Wellman, professor emerita, SUNY Oswego,
and Director of Historical New York Research
Associates is author of many books, articles,
surveys and National Register nominations
documenting historic sites relating to the
Underground Railroad, African American life,
and women’s rights.
September 20
7:00 p.m.
Jethro Wood.
The story of his great
contribution to agriculture by inventing the
modern plow is an exciting one! Presenters
Jack and Mary Lou Charles live in Wood’s
1805 house in Poplar Ridge.
October 18
3:00 p.m.
A Conversation between Elizabeth Cady
Stanton and Emily Howland. Emily Howland
and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were pioneers of
women’s rights activism linked together by
mutual interests in suffrage, civil and human
rights, and the promises of education. Join
with them as these two old friends reconnect
across the centuries in a dialogue about
freedom, equality, and life in the robust reform
community of 19th century Central New York.
Dr. Melinda Grube (Mrs. Stanton) is an
adjunct lecturer in history at Cayuga
Community College in Auburn, New York.
Her research focuses on women’s reform
activism in the “Burned Over District” of
central and western New York. A descendent
of a Seneca Falls abolitionist family, she fell in
love with local history as a child and now
frequently performs in costume as Elizabeth
Cady Stanton. Trudy Buxenbaum, longtime
museum volunteer and retired SCCS teacher,
will portray Miss Emily. Fund-raiser - $10
November 15
4:00 p.m.
Miss Emily’s Birthday Party: A small group
of local students will present a short play
“Women’s Rights” written by Mildred Myers,
telling the story of Miss Emily collecting
signatures on a petition to give women the right
to vote. Then some old-timers reminisce about
Miss Emily and about Opendore. Celebrate
Miss Emily’s 188th birthday with birthday
cake!
~~Thank you to all our donors~~
You make our work and our
activities possible.