“Capturing Feathers”
My Aunt Pauline (89) became a poet late in life. She called me last week, bemoaning the fact that she was losing her nouns. Her verbs were also escaping, and pretty soon, she would be left with only dangling participles. She compared memory to feathers drifting on the breeze.
My stint as historian for Exponent II began about 1990 and lasted until 2012. I don’t believe there was any formal historian prior to me, just boxes of memorabilia — minutes of early board meetings, some photographs, Exponent II Dinner announcements, etc. — stored in someone’s attic. It became my job to capture those Exponent “feathers” before they drifted away.
It became my job to capture those Exponent “feathers“ before they drifted away.
My first attempt was at an Exponent retreat in Hillsboro, New Hampshire, featuring the esteemed lobbyist Esther Peterson and her sister, Virginia Sorenson. I had brought my husband’s expensive camera and had a photo session with Esther and Virginia on the porch of one of the cabins. The only photo left from that afternoon is a sweet one of their backs as they strolled off through the woods, arm in arm. It wasn’t until just before that moment that I discovered there was no film in my camera.
From then on, I took hundreds of pictures, mostly of the annual retreats. Some of my favorites include Carrel Sheldon giving her annual “Intention vs Expectation” speech; mother and daughter pictures; talent show participants — like Evelyn Harville and her backup singers, The Heavenly Bodies, and the Red Hot Mamas singing group; Sue Hawes canoeing on the lake; and Victoria Grover in her signature jumper leading a workshop. One photograph never got taken — you skinny-dippers know who you are.
Around 2005, I was convinced by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich to send the Exponent materials to the BYU Lee Library for protection and wider accessibility. John Murphy, the curator of manuscripts, took charge of them. There were several large white binders. One labeled “The Newspaper” had pictures of Grethe Peterson‘s house (the paper’s first home) and the staff at work, various drawings of the Exponent tree logo (a perennial source of debate), job descriptions, and flow charts. The “Minutes” binder included records from the earliest board meetings up to about 2003, when Exponent II Board members were no longer centralized in the Boston area and resorted to conference calls. The “Concerns” binder had correspondence and items like Boston Globe newspaper articles which dealt with Mormon feminists in the era of Mitt Romney. Photos and information on special guest speakers for the Exponent Day Dinners (precursors of the retreats) and social nights were included in the “Special Events” binder. The “Retreats” binders are not yet at the library. Although digital photos are ubiquitous now, many of us still enjoy thumbing through those binders together at the retreat.
Cheryl is a semi-retired English teacher who is lucky enough to live, bake, paint, and sew on Cape Cod. She has served as a proofreader, cover artist, historian, retreat m/c, and copresident with Barbara Taylor.
Orleans, Massachusetts
Categories: Shout Outs
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