National Historic Landmark Vote

The National Historic Landmark Committee has voted to recommend that the John Alden House sites be made a National Historic Landmark. This recommendation now goes to the Secretary of the Interior to sign the declaration that will make it final and official.

We're delighted, to say the least, and already beginning to plan a year-long celebration to culminate in a big party in 2009.

There are only about 2500 National Historic Landmarks around the country -- ranging from Mt. Vernon to Alcatraz. Come and see the Alden House and be a part of history.

HAUNTED HOUSE TOUR OCT 20

The annual Alden Haunted House Tour will be on Saturday, October 20, 2007, from 6-9 pm at the house on 105 Alden St., Duxbury. Spirits invade the house and those who are brave enough will be led through the dark and spooky house to visit them. We never know exactly which spirits will come each year -- sometimes we have to have a seance to lure them out -- but they are always interesting to meet.

Free cider and snacks are served in the heated barn. Adults $3.00; children $4.00. Treat bags for sale. Spooky scale: mild to medium. Great family outing.

Alden House in Boston Globe Sept 2

The Alden House will be highlighted in the Boston Globe Fun Pages on Sunday, September 2, 2007. The article will include an interview with Alden House guide Chris Daley.

Student reporters from the Boston Globe Fun Pages spent time this summer researching the history of the Alden House to report back to other kids.

Chris Daley, Chair of the Education Committee, answers questions from student reporters Sarah and Molly.

A recent view of the Alden house from the barn.

Even the kids enjoyed the meeting.

Oldest and youngest members in attendence at the annual meeting - Elsie (Alden) Clemente and Julia Ryder Sultini.

107th Annual Meeting

The Alden annual meeting on August 4th, 2007, was hot and sticky, but about 80 members and family enjoyed gathering for the 107th annual meeting at the Alden House in Duxbury. In addition to enjoying lunch and the opportunity to tour the Alden House, attendees participated in a silent auction and rug raffle (the raffle alone brought in $900 to help support the homestead). Later that evening some of the members also attended the second Speak for Thyself Award Dinner and Dance where awards were made to actress MaryAnn Leone Cooper (Sopranos, founder of the Jesse Cooper Foundation and AccesSportAmerica to bring the wild world of extreme sports to challened kids), Phyllis P. Godwin (Chairman and CEO of Granite City Electric Supply Company), and Elizabeth Nightingale (local Duxbury activist and advocate for handicapped children).

Speak for Thyself Awards honor Sopranos actress Marianne Cooper and others

The second annual Speak for Thyself Awards Dinner will be held on Saturday, August 4, 2007, from 6:30-11 pm. This year's honorees -- three exceptional women whose lives are representative of Pricilla Alden's strength and character -- are actress Marianne Leone Cooper (Sopranos), an advocate for handicapped children; local children's advocate Elizabeth Nightingale of Duxbury, and Granite Electric founder Phyllis P. Godwin.
Tickets include raw bar, dinner and dancing under the tent at the Alden House with music by Buddy Sironian Orchestra. Master of Ceremonies, Bill Wilhelm. Donation $75 for the benefit of the Alden House Historic Site.
In Duxbury tickets are available at the Alden House and The Studio, Studio 8 Salon, Mermaids, The Finished Window, The Snowy Owl Antiques & Art, or by calling Alden "Rink" Ringquist at 781-934-2879. Questions may also be sent to aldenhouse@comcast.net.

Genealogy questions

My apologies to those of you who have posted questions on genealogy to this blog; I have not kept up over the winter as I should have but will try to e-mail answers as soon as I have researched them.

For all future genealogical questions, please e-mail aldenkindred@aol.com and you should receive a much more prompt reply.

2007 Museum Season

Spring is just around the corner and we're beginning our plans for the 2007 museum season. Mark the following dates in your calendars:

May 14: Alden House opens for the season. Hours, Monday through Saturday, Noon to 4:00 (last tour begins 3:30). Admission $5.00 adults, $3.00 children.

July (date to be determined): Alden History Camp.

August 3-5: Annual Meeting celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Alden Kindred's purchase of the Alden House in 1907 -- Our First Century of Preservation.
Friday: Whale watch boat tour with talk by Curator Jim Baker on Mayflower history around Cape Cod harbor.
Friday evening: reception at the Alden House with talk by Peggy Baker, Director of the Pilgrim Society Museum, Plymouth, about the Alden tour to England in 2006.
Saturday: Annual meeting 10-noon; luncheon with speaker and entertainment to be announced; Alden House open to attendees to walk through at their leisure and ask questions of docents; gift shop open; silent auction and raffle.
Saturday evening: Speak for Thyself Award Banquet honoring one or more women who exemplify the spirit of Priscilla Alden. Last year at our inaugural event we had more than 200 attend dinner and dancing under the stars for the benefit of the Alden House.
Sunday morning: Brunch with a talk on the history of the Alden House by Jim Baker and special tours of the house.

September 24: Alden Golf Tournament at the Duxbury Yacht Club. Sign up now to reserve a foursome and play on this exclusive course.

October 8: Alden House closes for the season.

October 20: Haunted House. The Alden House and grounds welcome brave visitors. Inside the house Alden family ghosts haunt rooms -- Aunt Polly, Capt. Jack, and who knows who! Outside the haunted trail leads through the woods where pirates or aliens may lurk.

New History of Alden House

JUST PUBLISHED - Alden House History: A Work in Progress by James W. Baker, Curator. This is the first comprehensive history of the Alden House to be published. It tells the story of how the Alden family acquired their homestead in Duxbury, about two houses they built on the homestead (and the unsolved mystery of a possible third house), about the people who lived in the Alden House that still stands today, and about the Alden Kindred’s century of stewardship of the house and property. Paper cover, 60 pages, $6.00. To order go to www.alden.org and use the order form under Aunt Polly's Gift shop. There is a $2.00 shipping and $2.50 handling charge on all orders (check out other gift items while you are there). This little book will make a great Christmas gift for family members!

Alden House on TV

Premiering on November 19, the History Channel will have a three-hour special on the Pilgrim's troubled journey and the founding of Plymouth Colony. A number of the interviews of scholars from England and America and several "talking head" segments were filmed in the Alden House. This includes Nathaniel Philbrick, author of the hot new book Mayflower; Prof. Len Travers of UMass Dartmouth; Ramona Peters, Mashpee Wampanoag artist; Carolyn Travers, Plymouth Plantation Research; and our Alden curator Jim Baker.

The press release for the program reads in part:
It's a story familiar to most of us from school. And in many ways, the story of the passengers on the Mayflower is like that of every immigrant who has come to America to start a new life. Yet the true story of the Pilgrims is far more complex than the one we learned as children -- and also more intriguing. This is a decades-long epic tale, filled with real drama, tragedy, and inspiration...

"These are not the sober, gray-haired Founding Fathers of legend -- they're young, passionate and highly educated rebels who believe their kind's religion violates the true faith. Condemned as traitors in England and forced into a life of exile and poverty in Holland, the group decides to risk all and take their chances in the wilds of America..."