An Unexpected Look in Norfolk’s Past

By Jude Mead

It was a typical afternoon at the Norfolk Historical Museum. Executive director Barry Webber was busy adding the final touches for the museum’s 2018 exhibition, An Extraordinary Legacy: The Photography of Marie H. Kendall, featuring Kendall’s images of Norfolk during the mid-1880’s through the turn of the century.

As he sorted through the hundreds of Kendall’s photographs, he happened to get an email from a close neighbor and friend of Margaret Donovan, the ninety-one year old last surviving granddaughter of Marie Kendall. Apparently, Donovan had inherited many rare family pictures, important documents and other personal items from her grandmother. She wanted to know if the Historical Society would like to have them. “Getting that email right when I was reviewing Kendall’s images was simply serendipitous,” said Webber.

Marie Kendall was a professional photographer who understood composition, lighting and detail. She knew just when to click the camera and was able to capture those rare moments in time that can draw a viewer into the past. Kendall moved to Norfolk village in 1884 at the age of thirty and opened her own photographic practice. During her time here Kendall recorded its landscape as well as the people and their connection to the surrounding environment as she photographed farm scenes, architectural structures, and school children. Kendall even braved harsh conditions to document the Great Blizzard of 1888 in pictures.

Her museum collection includes 3,000 photographs and 450 glass-plate negatives. When Webber discovered that there were more pictures, he was thrilled.  He also learned that Donovan not only had a wealth of never before seen photographs taken by Kendall but also had many pictures of Kendall herself. He said his heart practically stopped at this news. “We only had one picture of Marie Kendall herself at the Historical Museum, so to find out that many more existed was very exciting,” he said.

The good news did not stop there. Donovan invited Webber to visit her in Maryland. “I didn’t hesitate at all and immediately called to accept her offer,” he said.  Several days later he was on the road.

When he arrived, Donovan greeted him with a warm welcome and the two of them spent the afternoon going over all the material. “Everything was remarkably well preserved and organized,” said Webber. The collection included glass-plate negatives, family letters and photographs, birth certificates, and other family articles. Two photographs in particular stood out for Webber, a daguerreotype of Marie taken in 1872 when she immigrated to the United States and an early photograph of the Kendall home on Grant Street in Norfolk.

Webber also learned that Donovan had visited Norfolk as a child and had experienced many of the same simple pleasures the community shares today, such as a swim in Tobey Pond or a hike up Haystack Mountain. Webber said she was “thrilled that many of the things she remembered were still a part of the town.”

Donovan appreciated that the Norfolk community supports its historical past and pursues ways to protect its future. According to Webber, The Norfolk Historical Society received a grant from the Connecticut Humanities Council (CHC) to help fund this exhibition. A grant from the Norfolk Foundation has helped with the digitization of 450 glass-plate negatives of Kendall’s works, all scanned by Norfolk native Babs Perkins. In keeping with the historical preservation of Kendall’s photography, the Norfolk Historical Society (NHS) also received a grant from the Hartley Foundation to help with the publication of an upcoming book on Marie Kendall by Robert Dance, Barry Webber and NHS Curator Ann Havemeyer.

The newly discovered photographs will be part of the Norfolk Historical Museum’s Marie Kendall exhibition, which is open for visitors from June 2 through October 7 on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. and by appointment.

Photo by Marie Kendall, courtesy of the Norfolk Historical Society.