For the last month or two, the Clarke has been running a fundraiser to restore our historic lighting, which consisted of bronze chandeliers​​ that were recently rediscovered after being removed about 60 years ago. The project is in the works, and thanks to friends of the Clarke, has been very successful so far. However, we're still a ways away from our goal so consider dropping by the museum or donating through our donation page here on the website or via Facebook. Every dollar helps us get closer to our goal!

When Cecile Clarke purchased the Bank of Eureka building in the 1960s, that kind of elaborate decor was out of style, so the walls were painted over and the elaborate chandeliers removed and given to Cecile's Episcopal church. From there, the chandeliers appeared at Old Town Bar and Grill, a bank at the Mall, back to Old Town Bar and Grill, and then put into storage after being damaged by bricks during an earthquake.

So far, we've been able to get the chandeliers back and take them to Santa Rosa, where missing parts are being recreated as 3D models. The models will be used in creating molds to cast the lost pieces in bronze. The 3D modeling phase is close to finishing up, and Northbay 3D and Design has been sending us updates through the process, including how long it took to do the 3D rendering on the item and how long it took to 3D print the pieces.

Next up is to get the pieces cast in bronze and brought back to the Museum to be rewired for energy efficient  lighting.

We have enough money to cover these initial phases of the project, but we are still raising money to cover the cost of rehanging the chandeliers and updating our lighting in the entire building to be more energy efficient. It's a longer and costly project to tackle the entire building's lighting system but one that makes the most sense to have completed in one fell swoop rather than in short phases. A major lighting projects like this requires us to close our doors for a week at a time due to the lighting fixtures being on high ceilings that can only be accessed via large scissor lifts- meaning that we have to rearrange display cases to accommodate the lifts. We typically close in January for maintenance anyway, so it makes sense to be able to use that time for a major project like this one.

One of the strongboxes used to transport gold in these stage coaches is also in this room, near the door. It is incredibly heavy and requires at least two people to carry when it is empty. This particular box was used to safeguard money en route to the mill at Ridgewood, CA (Cutten) and is similar in style to the boxes Wells Fargo used to transport money and gold.

With the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, long distance stagecoach services declined and the prevalence of messenger guns declined as it was quicker and cheaper to transport goods across the country on the train.

It's been really, really quiet on the blog for the last few months- oh my it's been about 4 months since I last posted! Things have most definitely not been quiet around the Clarke though. Here's what's happened since August:

Over the summer months into fall we were able to host newly made dresses, necklaces and more by local regalia makers as a part of the ongoing exhibit in Nealis Hall Long Ago to Today: Women's Ceremonial Dresses. 

The first set of regalia we hosted over the summer months into Fall was from the Trinidad Rancheria. This set of regalia was made by Trinidad Rancheria Cultural Department with community member assistance as a part of a regalia making program for youth in 2016. It is taken care of by the Trinidad Rancheria Cultural Department and comes out for ceremonial dances and dress walks.
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​Making this set of regalia meant gathering and processing materials like the brain tanned elk hide, clamshells, picking out glass beads, cleaning and drilling pinenuts for the strands. Further cutting materials, laying out the design of the dress and finally assembling it together. Youth program participants assisted in preparing materials and stringing necklaces and dangles for the dress.

In November we were elated to receive as a loan until January, a newly completed set of regalia by Marlette Grant-Jackson. ​She is a Yurok Tribal Member, raised in Hoopa and an alumn of HSU & ITEPP.  She is a mother of four (3 adult children and 1 three year old granddaughter).  She is the ITEPP Cultural Resource Center (CRC) Coordinator, and ITEPP Professional Academic Advisor. Marlette made this dress apron and skirt, finished in September 2019 and beaded cape, finished August 2019, over the past year and a half.
 
She had documented and shared in-progress photos of her project over social media. She had originally planned for the apron to look differently, as can be seen in the photographs at the top. She had made two different designs and had ultimately cut each apart as she started on a new design. Leileanna Brown is shown wearing this dress in the photo at the bottom.
 
The dress is made from deerskin, chartreuse green beads, clamshell discs, pine nuts; deer dew claws, abalone disks, & jingle bells. The dress makes a beautiful sound when moved, due to the dangling sound elements.

We have been blessed to host these newly made sets of regalia from the community to connect to the older regalia items in the collection. Showcasing the revitalized and continued connection to ceremony and making here in our local indigenous communities.