By Leslie Wagner, Historian
Are you in the habit of visiting the History Center? The white building behind the Daweswood House Museum features a new exhibit every year that tells the history of The Dawes Arboretum or the Dawes family. I have been installing these exhibits since 2014 and so far, my inspiration well has not run dry!
This year’s exhibit shows the other four homes owned by Arboretum co-founders Beman and Bertie Dawes. In addition to their Newark country home, they owned a farm in Marietta, a mansion in Columbus, a winter residence in Florida and a fishing lodge and camp in Ontario, Canada. I was able to pull this off thanks to Bertie for her excellent interior photography. This is my tenth year at The Arboretum and I am very familiar with the majority of objects in the historic collection. I was able to look at these photos and say “I know we have that in storage, that’s in the living room at the house… I can recreate this room!” The room representing each house was chosen based on the furniture and household accessories that still survive in The Arboretum’s collection. As always, the installation requires many staff to assist as well as volunteers to keep the Center open to you.
Check out the History Center on Wednesday through Sunday from noon-3:00 pm. The exhibit will be open till October 29, 2023.