Preservation Month this May

Preservation month is something to celebrate across the nation and in our local communities! It is a time to engage in shared histories, promote the benefits of preservation, and take pride in community. Established in 1973, preservation month continues today, and we are thrilled to participate and share our efforts!

Built in 1752 by Moses Porter, the rooms and architecture of the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum remain as they were arranged by members of the family to accommodate the procession of relatives, neighbors, community leaders and workers who crossed the house’s threshold. From farmers and businessmen, to religious leaders and social workers, to servants and enslaved people, the stories of many men, women, and children spanning 250 years of American History are told within the house. The Porter-Phelps-Huntington House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

After almost three centuries, the house remains in excellent condition due to preservation efforts made by The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Foundation Inc. In order to preserve the integrity of its history, the house regularly requires routine maintenance and repairs, including painting, roofing, and carpentry. This work is made possible through generous grants and donations from members of the public. Over the past forty years, the museum has received grants from the Massachusetts Historical Commission, and the Mass Cultural Facilities Fund, which we are also honored to be a grant recipient from this year.

Your generous donations and interaction with the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum allow for projects that preserve this historic house for community events and engaged learning. Under normal circumstances, we would invite you to take a tour, explore the grounds, and join us for “A Perfect Spot of Tea” or our Wednesday Folk Traditions. This year we encourage you to visit our online resources, check out the musicians that would have been performing this summer, and share a cup of tea from home! 

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is located at 130 River Drive, Hadley MA on Route 47 just two miles north of the junction of Routes 9 and 47 North in Hadley.  For information concerning tours or special events, phone (413) 584-4699 or check the museum website: www.pphmuseum.org .

PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON MUSEUM WILL BE CLOSED FOR ITS 2020 71st SEASON

PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON MUSEUM 

WILL BE CLOSED FOR ITS 2020 71st SEASON 

      HADLEY – The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum, a historic house museum dating to 1752 in Hadley Massachusetts determined that it will not open, or hold public programming for its 71st season due to the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic. After doing historical research into past pandemics in the 19th and 20th centuries, it is clear that the impact of Covid 19 will be with us for a long time. Until there is an effective vaccine the Museum will be closed for all tours, Wednesday Folk Traditions, “A Perfect Spot of Tea”, Corn Barn exhibits, Community Days, and the many other programs held at this historic site.  

With the shut down of the Museum’s programming, we hope to continue encouraging historical understanding with the PPH collections and research through our website and social media. We are fortunate to have several new summer interns that will be cataloguing recent collections, organizing archival papers, and working with proper distancing. They will be updating the website and Facebook with their research and findings throughout the summer, and look forward to introducing themselves and their interests with a bio on Facebook. Without the Museum’s programs that bring community engagement and critical financial support for all of the operations of the PPH Museum, we hope all will go to our website to learn more about the museum’s collections and the important research our Museum Interns do each season. 

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is also the Way-Point Center for the National Connecticut River Scenic Byway. The Museum hosts a panel exhibit on the natural history of the Valley, the Museum’s history, and sites along the by-way for travelers. While this interpretive center is closed along with the Museum, a trail system beginning at the Museum and traversing the farm fields along the river and to the old buggy path to the top of Mount Warner, where the family grazed their cattle in the 18th century, remains open. This trail system was created with the help of the PVPC and cooperation from several organizations and land owners including TTOR, the Nature Conservancy, Kestrel Trust and the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Foundation. The Museum asks that any users practice regular social distancing and carry masks in case they encounter others on the trail. Parking is best at the Museum on the outer circle where there are Please Park Here signs.

The Wednesday Folk Traditions concerts and Teas were all scheduled and programmed with a great list of performers representing the best in folk traditions across our broad cultural roots. Grants were in place from our local and state agencies and business support letters, and Foundation Grants had been sent to our generous regional sponsors. Many businesses have responded with support. However, we are concerned about all our local restaurants, farm family supporters, florists, and small grocers who donate to the teas. They need your help! Please find our 2019 Tea donor list and celebrate their past support of PPH in whatever way you can.

Given this shutdown we also hope to highlight the musicians that had agreed to perform at PPH this summer. Performances of each will be linked on our website and Facebook the week they were scheduled to perform. We hope we can successfully do this with their support and our limited technology. These are artists that could use your support too, so please see if they have albums you can purchase from them directly, or share their work on social media!  

We appreciate everyone’s support during this time, and while the house will be closed, supporters can donate to keep the museum going until next season through the museum’s website, www.pphmuseum.org.

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The Porter-Phelps-Huntington House, known as Forty Acres, is an 18th-century farm on the banks of the Connecticut River that today interprets life in rural New England over three centuries.  Through the words, spaces and possessions of the women and men who lived here, the Museum portrays the activities of a prosperous and productive 18th-century farmstead. Members of this household along with numerous artisans, servants and slaves made "Forty Acres" an important social and commercial link in local, regional and national cultural and economic networks.  Through the 19th century the generations transformed the estate into a rural retreat. In the 20th-century the house was preserved as a museum by family members and now contains the possessions of six generations of this extended family. 

    The rooms in the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum remain as they were arranged by members of the family to accommodate the procession of relatives, neighbors, community leaders and workers who crossed the house’s threshold.  From farmers and businessmen, to religious leaders and social workers, to servants and slaves, the stories of many men, women, and children spanning 250 years of American History are told  within the house. The Porter-Phelps-Huntington   House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

  The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is located at 130 River Drive, Hadley MA on Route 47 just two miles north of the junction of Routes 9 and 47 North in Hadley.  For information concerning tours or special events, phone (413) 584-4699 or check the museum website: www.pphmuseum.org .

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Clifton Johnson Photography

Click HERE check out the new page on our website that features Clifton Johnson's photography of PPH and Hadley from the "Clifton Johnson Collection" at Jones Library!

Thank You

Thank you to all who supported the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum’s 70th season. Especially to those businesses, foundations, government agencies, musicians, young volunteers and summer interns that donated their gifts and talents to realize our summer programs: the 38th season of Wednesday Folk Traditions, the 40th season of “A Perfect Spot of Tea,” and Community Days, among others. And a hearty thank you to our loyal public who came out to attend and engage in all the Museum has to offer.

We will be closing for the 2019 season on Monday, October 14th, but keep an eye on our blog and Facebook page for new posts throughout the winter! And we will be back up and running next May!

Thank you all.

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum will be closing for its 70th season on Monday, October 14th.

PPH will open for its 71st season on Saturday, May 16th, 2020.

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum will be closed this Monday, September 23rd.

Regular hours will resume Tuesday, September 24th.

The PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON MUSEUM PRESENTS PAN MORIGAN: “I Sing Earth!” Sunday, September 29th, 2019 at 3 pm

HADLEY – The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum concludes its 38th season of Folk Traditions concerts with a performance by Pan Morigan on Sunday, September 29th, 2019 at 3 pm. Morigan will present “I Sing Earth!: Songs for the Fragile Waters and the sweet Dirty Ground: A musical meditation on the times we're livin' in”. Pan Morigan, vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist uses innovative, original songs and passionate, unbridled vocals in multiple tongues, to reflect on migration, home, creativity, and love. Stirring sounds of the imagination with influences that range from traditional Irish, American, and Greek music, to Jazz, she offers something ineffable and timeless. This performance will be held at 3 pm in the Sunken Garden at the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum, 130 River Drive, Route 47, Hadley MA 01035. Admission is $12, $2 children 16 and under.  Picnickers are welcome on the museum’s grounds starting at 1:30 pm. The museum and its grounds are a smoke-free site. For further information please call (413) 5844699 or view www.pphmuseum.org.

Pan Morigan, a dual citizen of Canada and the U.S., was influenced by many stellar musicians growing up, from Irish fiddlers, and folk and blues artists who jammed in the basement on weekends, to Jazz innovators, Persian classical musicians, Flamenco players, and Greek folk singers who were neighbors, friends and family. Pan respects her musical influences by integrating them into an authentically innovative songwriting path - honoring roots by finding a new voice. She takes her first inspiration though, from the vast, stormy skies and great lakes of the Midwest where she grew up. She hopes audiences will hear that primeval influence in her singing. Singer Lisa Fischer says that “Pan’s music is a gift to all who really listen.”

Pan Morigan has an extraordinarily wide vocal range and is a passionate powerhouse on stage. She plays hunter’s harp, banjo, guitar, violin and viola and will be accompanied by local greats: Joe Belmont on guitar, Tony Silva on guitar, and Rudi Weeks on bass. Local poet/playwright/producer Lenelle Moise, writing about Morigan’s recent recording Wild Blue, says that Pan’s voice: “Wails, sails, cartwheels, back flips, sashays, dives, soars and absolutely inspires.” 

The Porter-Phelps Huntington Museum’s Wednesday Folk Traditions is funded, in part, by grants from: the Marion I. And Otto C. Kohler Memorial Fund at the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts; the Amherst and Hadley Cultural Councils, local agencies, supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency; Massachusetts Cultural Council Festivals Program; Easthampton Savings Bank, Eversource Energy, Gage-Wiley & Co., and with generous support from many local businesses. 

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is located at 130 River Drive (Route 47) in Hadley, two miles north of the junction of Routes 9 and 47. The Museum is open for guided tours throughout the summer and fall; hours are listed at pphmuseum.org. The house, which remains unchanged since the family’s occupancy, tells the story of six generations of prominent Hadley residents. The family, prosperous traders turned farmers, fought in both the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars, rose to prominence in local government, and embodied a consistently progressive social consciousness. Tours highlight both local and regional narratives, from architecture, material culture, and labor, to early-American theology, economics, women’s history and social movements. For further information about tours or other programs, please call the Museum at (413) 584-4699 or visit our website at http://www.pphmuseum.org .

The PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON MUSEUM ANNOUNCES CHANGE IN HOURS FOR THE FALL SEASON: Friday-Tuesday, 1-4 pm

HADLEY – The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum announces a change in the hours of operation for the fall season. Starting on September 6th, through the museum’s closing on October 15th, the museum will be open for tours Friday-Tuesday, from 1-4 pm. Admission is $5 for adults and $1 for children under 12. Guided tours are approximately an hour long.

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is located at 130 River Drive (Route 47) in Hadley, two miles north of the junction of Routes 9 and 47. The house, which remains unchanged since the family’s occupancy, tells the story of six generations of prominent Hadley residents. The family, prosperous traders turned farmers, fought in both the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars, rose to prominence in local government, and embodied a consistently progressive social consciousness. Tours highlight both local and regional narratives, from architecture, material culture, and labor, to early-American theology, economics, women’s history and social movements. For further information about tours or other programs, please call the Museum at (413) 584-4699 or visit our website at http://www.pphmuseum.org .

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THE PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON MUSEUM CONCLUDES ITS 2019 SEASON OF “A PERFECT SPOT OF TEA” WITH A PERFORMANCE BY DANSE CAFÉ ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 24TH

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum concludes its 2019 series of  “A PERFECT SPOT OF TEA” on Saturday, August 24th. There has been a change in performers, and this event will now feature Danse Café. The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum invites guests to partake in its 250 year old tradition of afternoon tea with good company, interesting conversation, and lively music. Admission is $12 per person. There are seatings at 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. For an additional fee, guests may also tour the Porter-Phelps-Huntington House Museum. Tours will be every hour on the half hour; at 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30.

Danse Café performs traditional dance music from France and Brittany. Their performance will include lively tunes for Breton line dances such as the an dro, hanter dro, gavotte, and rond, energetic bourrées and scottishes from the Auvergne, slinky mazurkas from the Occitan, French circle dances, and waltzes, both 3 and 5 beat. The group includes Cynthia Thomas on the fiddle, Doug Feeney on the guitar and banjo, Peter Stolley on the accordion, and Thomas Gajewski on the clarinet and mandolin.

Elizabeth Porter Phelps, a resident of the house from its construction in 1752, regularly hosted teas until her death in 1817, and noted the teas often attracted ten to fifteen couples weekly. Elizabeth’s daughter met her future husband, Dan Huntington, at one of these events. Visitors would “tarry” a while over a beverage that “cheers but not inebriates.”

The series is made possible through generous donations from area musicians, volunteer servers, restaurants, grocers, florists, and other businesses who provide the music, engagement, tea, pastries, and flowers for this program.

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is located at 130 River Drive (Route 47) in Hadley, two miles north of the junction of Routes 9 and 47. The Museum is open for guided tours Saturday through Wednesday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The house, which remains unchanged since the family’s occupancy, tells the story of six generations of prominent Hadley residents. The family, prosperous traders turned farmers, fought in both the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars, rose to prominence in local government, and embodied a consistently progressive social consciousness. Tours highlight both local and regional narratives, from architecture, material culture, and labor, to early-American theology, economics, women’s history and social movements. For further information about tours or other programs, please call the Museum at (413) 584-4699 or visit our website at http://www.pphmuseum.org .

THE PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON MUSEUM CONTINUES ITS 2019 SEASON OF “A PERFECT SPOT OF TEA” WITH A PERFORMANCE BY BOX SHOP BLUES ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 17TH

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum continues its 2019 series of  “A PERFECT SPOT OF TEA” on Saturday, August 17th with a performance by Box Shop Blues, playing original folk, blues, ragtime, and rock. The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum invites guests to partake in its 250 year old tradition of afternoon tea with good company, interesting conversation, and lively music. Admission is $12 per person. There are seatings at 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. For an additional fee, guests may also tour the Porter-Phelps-Huntington House Museum. Tours will be every hour on the half hour; at 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30.

Box Shop Blues will perform original folk, blues, and ragtime. The duo is comprised of Pioneer Valley residents Walter Burnham, a prolific singer-songwriter and pianist, and Mitch Mulholland, the lead-guitarist, and University of Massachusetts professor emeritus in anthropology. Both men work with Leverett Crafts & Arts, a non-profit studio, gallery, and education space in a historic building in Leverett, MA. 

Elizabeth Porter Phelps, a resident of the house from its construction in 1752, regularly hosted teas until her death in 1817, and noted the teas often attracted ten to fifteen couples weekly. Elizabeth’s daughter met her future husband, Dan Huntington, at one of these events. Visitors would “tarry” a while over a beverage that “cheers but not inebriates.” The series is made possible through generous donations from area musicians, volunteer servers, restaurants, grocers, florists, and other businesses who provide the music, engagement, tea, pastries, and flowers for this program. 

The “A Perfect Spot of Tea” series concludes on Saturday, August 24th, with a performance by Celtic Calamity,  a group of amateur musicians consisting of two fiddles, three mandolins and two Irish bouzoukis. 

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is located at 130 River Drive (Route 47) in Hadley, two miles north of the junction of Routes 9 and 47. The Museum is open for guided tours Saturday through Wednesday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The house, which remains unchanged since the family’s occupancy, tells the story of six generations of prominent Hadley residents. The family, prosperous traders turned farmers, fought in both the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars, rose to prominence in local government, and embodied a consistently progressive social consciousness. Tours highlight both local and regional narratives, from architecture, material culture, and labor, to early-American theology, economics, women’s history and social movements. For further information about tours or other programs, please call the Museum at (413) 584-4699 or visit our website at http://www.pphmuseum.org .

THE PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON MUSEUM CONTINUES ITS 2019 SEASON OF “A PERFECT SPOT OF TEA” WITH A PERFORMANCE BY 56 STRING DUO ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 10TH

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum continues its 2019 series of  “A PERFECT SPOT OF TEA” on Saturday, August 10th with a performance by 56 String Duo, a local musical group featuring Robert Markey and Andrew Jenkins playing Indian inspired guitar and sitar improvisations. The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum invites guests to partake in its 250 year old tradition of afternoon tea with good company, interesting conversation, and lively music. Admission is $12 per person. There are seatings at 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. For an additional fee, guests may also tour the Porter-Phelps-Huntington House Museum. Tours will be every hour on the half hour; at 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30.

56 String Duo is comprised of Robert Markey and Andrew Jenkins playing Indian-inspired guitar and sitar improvisations. Robert Markey studied classical and blues guitar and then sitar in Boston and in India. His music is based in the North Indian (Hindustani) music tradition, playing a mix of ragas from North and South India and raga-like improvisations from Persia, Japan, Hungary and Indonesia. In addition to his work with music, Robert Markey is a visual artist working in mural, sculpture, and mosaic whose work has been displayed throughout the Pioneer Valley and the world. Andrew Jenkins is a twelve-string guitarist who studied at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, and has been playing music for 38 years. Since relocating to Northampton, Andrew Jenkins performs regularly, and hosts and produces the local TV access show Thoughts and Sounds from New England.

Elizabeth Porter Phelps, a resident of the house from its construction in 1752, regularly hosted teas until her death in 1817, and noted the teas often attracted ten to fifteen couples weekly. Elizabeth’s daughter met her future husband, Dan Huntington, at one of these events. Visitors would “tarry” a while over a beverage that “cheers but not inebriates.” The series is made possible through generous donations from area musicians, volunteer servers, restaurants, grocers, florists, and other businesses who provide the music, engagement, tea, pastries, and flowers for this program. 

The “A Perfect Spot of Tea” series continues on Saturday, August 17th, with a performance by Box Shop Blues, a Leverett based duo playing original folk, blues, ragtime, and rock. 

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is located at 130 River Drive (Route 47) in Hadley, two miles north of the junction of Routes 9 and 47. The Museum is open for guided tours Saturday through Wednesday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The house, which remains unchanged since the family’s occupancy, tells the story of six generations of prominent Hadley residents. The family, prosperous traders turned farmers, fought in both the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars, rose to prominence in local government, and embodied a consistently progressive social consciousness. Tours highlight both local and regional narratives, from architecture, material culture, and labor, to early-American theology, economics, women’s history and social movements. For further information about tours or other programs, please call the Museum at (413) 584-4699 or visit our website at http://www.pphmuseum.org . 

THE PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON MUSEUM PRESENTS THE SWEET MANDOLIN ENSEMBLE ON JULY 28TH, 2019

HADLEY, MA - Around the end of the 19th century, dozens of mandolin orchestras sprang up in Massachusetts and New England. Now, one local ensemble revives that tradition. The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is excited to welcome the Sweet Mandolin Ensemble for a special afternoon performance on Sunday, July 28th from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m in the Corn Barn. Admission to the concert is free, however donations are greatly appreciated.

The Sweet Mandolin Ensemble was formed in 2014 by Adam Sweet, who has taught fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo locally since 1986. The group is based in Granby, Massachusetts and recently made Sweet Mandolin Ensemble its official name. Formerly known as the South Hadley Mandolin Orchestra and a part of Mandolin New England, Sweet and his co-performers have given concerts at The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum since 2015. The ensemble performs Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical works and includes a wide variety of its namesake instrument, such as the mandola and mandobass and Mando Mo Strings instruments like “The Whale,” a hand-carved F5-style mandocello. On July 28th, the ensemble will perform the World's Premier of the Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 for two Mandolas, featuring the Higginsonic 8 and 10 string instruments, and Mozart's Dissonance Quartet featuring "The Whale" mandocello. Performed by musicians world-wide since 1721, the last of the six Brandenburg Concertos originally featured “two viole da braccio, two viole da gamba, cello, violone, and harpsichord.” It comes to life anew with this first-ever mandola arrangement.

The Museum itself has a link to these fretted instruments; the Long Room in the home displays an ornate mandola supposedly given to Elizabeth Whiting Phelps by her brother around the year 1790. To see this and other collections currently on display, guests may tour the Porter-Phelps-Huntington House Museum on the day of the concert. Tours will be held at 1:00 p.m. and immediately following the performance. Admission for a guided tour is $5.

Sweet’s Irish music ensemble Celtic Calamity will also be performing at the Museum’s final “A Perfect Spot of Tea” event on August 24th.

The house, which remains largely unchanged since the family’s occupancy, tells the story of six generations of prominent Hadley residents. Porter, Phelps, and Huntington family members were prosperous traders turned farmers who fought in both the Seven Years’ War and the Revolutionary War, rose to prominence in local government, and embodied a consistently progressive social consciousness. Tours highlight both local and regional narratives, ranging in focus from architecture, material culture, and labor, to early-American theology, economics, and social movements.

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is located at 130 River Drive (Route 47) in Hadley, two miles north of the junction of Routes 9 and 47. The Museum is open for guided tours Saturday through Wednesday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and by appointment. For further information about tours or other programs, please call the Museum at (413) 584-4699 or visit our website at www.pphmuseum.org.

THE PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON MUSEUM CONTINUES ITS 2019 SEASON OF “A PERFECT SPOT OF TEA” WITH A PERFORMANCE BY PETER WEST AND BURT JACKSON ON SATURDAY, JULY 27 TH

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum continues its 2019 series of  “A PERFECT SPOT OF TEA” on Saturday, July 27th with a performance by Peter West and Burt Jackson, a duo performing instrumental jazz, pop, and original songs. The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum invites guests to partake in its 250 year old tradition of afternoon tea with good company, interesting conversation, and lively music. Admission is $12 per person. There are seatings at 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. For an additional fee, guests may also tour the Porter-Phelps-Huntington House Museum. Tours will be every hour on the half hour; at 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30.

During tea on Saturday, July 27th, Peter West and Burt Jackson will perform instrumental jazz, pop, and original songs. Peter West has been playing guitar professionally since 1980 and takes his audiences on a melodious and stimulating turn through instrumental jazz, pop, and original songs. He has been giving wonderful performances at the museum's “A Perfect Spot of Tea” for over a decade. At his side is Bert Jackson, another highly skilled guitarist with over 25 years of playing experience in blues, jazz, and other styles.

Elizabeth Porter Phelps, a resident of the house from its construction in 1752, regularly hosted teas until her death in 1817, and noted the teas often attracted ten to fifteen couples weekly. Elizabeth’s daughter met her future husband, Dan Huntington, at one of these events. Visitors would “tarry” a while over a beverage that “cheers but not inebriates.” The series is made possible through generous donations from area musicians, volunteer servers, restaurants, grocers, florists, and other businesses who provide the music, engagement, tea, pastries, and flowers for this program. 

The “A Perfect Spot of Tea” series continues on Saturday, August 3rd, with a performance by Same Old Blues, a group which performs 1920’s and 30’s Piedmont and East Coast blues. 

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is located at 130 River Drive (Route 47) in Hadley, two miles north of the junction of Routes 9 and 47. The Museum is open for guided tours Saturday through Wednesday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The house, which remains unchanged since the family’s occupancy, tells the story of six generations of prominent Hadley residents. The family, prosperous traders turned farmers, fought in both the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars, rose to prominence in local government, and embodied a consistently progressive social consciousness. Tours highlight both local and regional narratives, from architecture, material culture, and labor, to early-American theology, economics, women’s history and social movements. For further information about tours or other programs, please call the Museum at (413) 584-4699 or visit our website at http://www.pphmuseum.org . 

WEDNESDAY FOLK TRADITIONS at the PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON MUSEUM CONCLUDES WITH SAYREAL & REBELLE JULY 24th, 2019

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum concludes the 38th season of the Wednesday Folk Traditions concert series on Wednesday, July 24th with the return of SayReal & ReBelle, the coming-together of a family of musicians. These seasoned international performers plus a collective of young musical revolutionaries ignite a narrative of lyric, rock, and reggae. This and all other performances are held Wednesday evenings at 6:30 pm in the Sunken Garden at the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum, 130 River Drive, Route 47, Hadley MA 01035.  Admission is $12, $2 for children 16 and under. Picnickers are welcome on the museum grounds starting at 5:00 pm. The museum and its grounds are a smoke-free site. For further information please call (413) 584-4699 or view www.pphmuseum.org. 

SayReal represents the new generation, a pop-reggae band based out of Los Angeles, CA, whose rhythms and tones have roots here in the Pioneer Valley. Naia Kete leads the group with vocal chops that brought her to a top ten finish on The Voice. She performs with her brother, multi-talented musician Imani Devi-Brown, and with bassist and percussionist Lee John. Naia and Imani are the children of ReBelle performer and founder Kalapana Devi, and went to school and began their musical careers locally, influenced by the powerful musical traditions of their parentage. The band and its members have received accolades including mention in Rolling Stone magazine, People, US Weekly, and more. They have played at major West Coast reggae festivals, sold out the Iron Horse Music Hall, and opened for Ziggy Marley at the Calvin Theater in Northampton. They recently completed a six week tour of the U.S. and Canada with members of David Bowie’s original ensembles. SayReal has distinguished itself by bringing focus on social justice issues into pop culture. They are currently fundraising for their community outreach initiative, Concerts and Conversations. Concerts and Conversations provides special programming at schools where the band members perform, teach, and engage with students in conversation about relationships between creativity and social responsibility.  

ReBelle is an intergenerational and intercultural band from Africa and America. Founded by Manou Alkebulan and Kalpana Devi, the ReBelle story has a rich foundation of love and powerful musicianship. ReBelle plays all original music, sung in four different languages: English, Wolof, Creole, and French. Their powerhouse vocalists chant meditations on liberation while the band propels roots reggae soul. The band’s mystical mix of pulsing tribal rhythms, guitar, and tight harmonies is internationally acclaimed. ReBelle is heard on airwaves throughout Africa, Europe, Jamaica, the Americas, and the world. In Senegal and Cape Verde, and in the U.S. from Maine to Florida to California, ReBelle has performed hundreds of concerts at noted festivals, venues, and colleges. ReBelle is committed to love, unity, freedom, and peace throughout the world. According to the Valley Advocate, “ReBelle does some heavy channeling in their live shows… When ReBelle performs, concert halls become churches, and for several hours… people come together.”

The Porter-Phelps Huntington Museum’s Wednesday Folk Traditions is funded, in part, by grants from: the Marion I. And Otto C. Kohler Memorial Fund at the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts; the Amherst and Hadley Cultural Councils, local agencies, supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency; Massachusetts Cultural Council Festivals Program, Easthampton Savings Bank, Eversource Energy, Gage-Wiley & Co., and with generous support from many local businesses. 

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is located at 130 River Drive (Route 47) in Hadley, two miles north of the junction of Routes 9 and 47. The Museum is open for guided tours Saturday through Wednesday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The house, which remains unchanged since the family’s occupancy, tells the story of six generations of prominent Hadley residents. The family, prosperous traders turned farmers, fought in both the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars, rose to prominence in local government, and embodied a consistently progressive social consciousness. Tours highlight both local and regional narratives, from architecture, material culture, and labor to early-American theology, economics, women’s history, and social movements. For further information about tours or other programs, please call the Museum at (413) 584-4699 .

THE PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON MUSEUM CONTINUES ITS 2019 SEASON OF “A PERFECT SPOT OF TEA” WITH A PERFORMANCE BY DANSE CAFÉ ON SATURDAY, JULY 20th

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum continues its 2019 series of  “A PERFECT SPOT OF TEA” on Saturday, July 20th with a performance by Danse Café. The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum invites guests to partake in its 250 year old tradition of afternoon tea with good company, interesting conversation, and lively music. Admission is $12 per person. There are seatings at 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. For an additional fee, guests may also tour the Porter-Phelps-Huntington House Museum. Tours will be every hour on the half hour; at 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30.

Danse Café performs traditional dance music from France and Brittany. Their performance will include lively tunes for Breton line dances such as the an dro, hanter dro, gavotte, and rond, energetic bourrées and scottishes from the Auvergne, slinky mazurkas from the Occitan, French circle dances, and waltzes, both 3 and 5 beat. The group includes Cynthia Thomas on the fiddle, Doug Feeney on the guitar and banjo, Peter Stolley on the accordion, and Thomas Gajewski on the clarinet and mandolin. 

Elizabeth Porter Phelps, a resident of the house from its construction in 1752, regularly hosted teas until her death in 1817, and noted the teas often attracted ten to fifteen couples weekly. Elizabeth’s daughter met her future husband, Dan Huntington, at one of these events. Visitors would “tarry” a while over a beverage that “cheers but not inebriates.”

The series is made possible through generous donations from area musicians, volunteer servers, restaurants, grocers, florists, and other businesses who provide the music, engagement, tea, pastries, and flowers for this program. 

The “A Perfect Spot of Tea” series continues on Saturday, July 27th, with instrumental jazz, pop, and original songs performed by Peter West and Burt Jackson. 

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is located at 130 River Drive (Route 47) in Hadley, two miles north of the junction of Routes 9 and 47. The Museum is open for guided tours Saturday through Wednesday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The house, which remains unchanged since the family’s occupancy, tells the story of six generations of prominent Hadley residents. The family, prosperous traders turned farmers, fought in both the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars, rose to prominence in local government, and embodied a consistently progressive social consciousness. Tours highlight both local and regional narratives, from architecture, material culture, and labor, to early-American theology, economics, women’s history and social movements. For further information about tours or other programs, please call the Museum at (413) 584-4699 or visit our website at http://www.pphmuseum.org

“A PERFECT SPOT OF TEA” AT THE PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON MUSEUM WITH A PERFORMANCE BY DANSE CAFÉ ON SATURDAY, JULY 20TH, HAS BEEN CANCELLED

HADLEY, MA — Originally scheduled for July 20th, “A PERFECT SPOT OF TEA” at The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum with Danse Café has been cancelled due to extreme heat.

 If you want a break from the heat, come into a 'cool' historic environment and take a tour of the museum from 10am-4pm on Saturday!

The “A Perfect Spot of Tea” series continues on Saturday, July 27th, with instrumental jazz, pop, and original songs performed by Peter West and Burt Jackson.

For further information about tours or other programs, please call the Museum at (413) 584-4699, visit our website at http://www.pphmuseum.org, or check out our Facebook page .

WEDNESDAY FOLK TRADITIONS AT THE PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON MUSEUM WITH PAN MORIGAN HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED TO SEPTEMBER 29TH AT 3PM

Originally scheduled for July 17th, Wednesday Folk Tradition at The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum with Pan Morigan has been rescheduled to September 29th, at 3pm, due to forecasted weather. 

On September 29th, at 3pm, Morigan will present “I Sing Earth!: Songs for the Fragile Waters and the sweet Dirty Ground: A musical meditation on the times we're livin' in”. Pan Morigan, vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist uses innovative, original songs and passionate, unbridled vocals in multiple tongues, to reflect on migration, home, creativity, and love. Stirring sounds of the imagination with influences that range from traditional Irish, American, and Greek music, to Jazz, she offers something ineffable and timeless. 

Our next Wednesday Folk Traditions is on July 24th with a performance by SayReal and ReBelle.

RESCHEDULED TO SEPTEMBER 29TH, AT 3PM, DUE TO FORECASTED WEATHER — WEDNESDAY FOLK TRADITIONS at the PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON MUSEUM CONTINUES its 2019 SEASON with Pan Morigan, July 17th, 2019

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum continues its 38th season of Wednesday Folk Traditions on July 17th, 2019 with Pan Morigan. Morigan will present “I Sing Earth!: Songs for the Fragile Waters and the sweet Dirty Ground: A musical meditation on the times we're livin' in”. Pan Morigan, vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist uses innovative, original songs and passionate, unbridled vocals in multiple tongues, to reflect on migration, home, creativity, and love. Stirring sounds of the imagination with influences that range from traditional Irish, American, and Greek music, to Jazz, she offers something ineffable and timeless. This performance and all Wednesday Folk Traditions Concerts are held Wednesday evenings at 6:30 pm in the Sunken Garden at the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum, 130 River Drive, Route 47, Hadley MA 01035. Admission is $12, $2 children 16 and under.  Picnickers are welcome on the museum’s grounds starting at 5:00 pm. The museum and its grounds are a smoke-free site. For further information please call (413) 5844699 or view www.pphmuseum.org.

Pan Morigan, a dual citizen of Canada and the U.S., was influenced by many stellar musicians growing up, from Irish fiddlers, and folk and blues artists who jammed in the basement on weekends, to Jazz innovators, Persian classical musicians, Flamenco players, and Greek folk singers who were neighbors, friends and family. Pan respects her musical influences by integrating them into an authentically innovative songwriting path - honoring roots by finding a new voice. She takes her first inspiration though, from the vast, stormy skies and great lakes of the Midwest where she grew up. She hopes audiences will hear that primeval influence in her singing. Singer Lisa Fischer says that “Pan’s music is a gift to all who really listen.”

Pan Morigan has an extraordinarily wide vocal range and is a passionate powerhouse on stage. She plays hunter’s harp, banjo, guitar, violin and viola and will be accompanied by local greats: Joe Belmont on guitar, Tony Silva on guitar, and Rudi Weeks on bass. Local poet/playwright/producer Lenelle Moise, writing about Morigan’s recent recording Wild Blue, says that Pan’s voice: “Wails, sails, cartwheels, back flips, sashays, dives, soars and absolutely inspires.”

Wednesday Folk Traditions continues on July 24th with a performance by SayReal and ReBelle, the final concert of the season. SayReal, the children of ReBelle, are a local family musical journey, that includes a collective of young musical revolutionaries founded by sister-brother duo Naia Kete and Imani Elija. Their strong local musical lineage ignites a narrative of lyric, Rock and Reggae. Naia made her mark on the national scene with a top ten The Voice appearance.

The Porter-Phelps Huntington Museum Wednesday Folk Traditions is funded, in part, by grants from: the Marion I. And Otto C. Kohler Memorial Fund at the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts; the Amherst and Hadley Cultural Councils, local agencies, supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency; Massachusetts Cultural Council Festivals Program; Easthampton Savings Bank, Eversource Energy, Gage-Wiley & Co., and with generous support from many local businesses. 

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is located at 130 River Drive (Route 47) in Hadley, two miles north of the junction of Routes 9 and 47. The Museum is open for guided tours Saturday through Wednesday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The house, which remains unchanged since the family’s occupancy, tells the story of six generations of prominent Hadley residents. The family, prosperous traders turned farmers, fought in both the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars, rose to prominence in local government, and embodied a consistently progressive social consciousness. Tours highlight both local and regional narratives, from architecture, material culture, and labor, to early-American theology, economics, women’s history and social movements. For further information about tours or other programs, please call the Museum at (413) 584-4699

THE PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON MUSEUM CONTINUES ITS 2019 SEASON OF “A PERFECT SPOT OF TEA” WITH A PERFORMANCE BY HONEST HARMONY ON SATURDAY, JULY 13TH

HADLEY, MA—The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum continues its 2019 series of  “A PERFECT SPOT OF TEA” on Saturday, July 13th with a performance by Honest Harmony, an a capella quartet. The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum invites guests to partake in its 250 year old tradition of afternoon tea with good company, interesting conversation, and lively music. Admission is $12 per person. There are seatings at 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. For an additional fee, guests may also tour the Porter-Phelps-Huntington House Museum. Tours will be every hour on the half hour; at 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30.

Honest Harmony has been performing together for over a decade. The group’s a cappella performances explore a repertoire of small-ensemble singing from the 12th to the 20th century, often highlighting historical pieces and masterfully juxtaposing works of a single style, era, or composer. Their music brings audiences on “a musical journey through the last millennium.” The ensemble is comprised of soprano Barbara Matthews, alto Cindy Naughton, baritone Ijod Schroeder, and tenor John Vance.

Elizabeth Porter Phelps, a resident of the house from its construction in 1752, regularly hosted teas until her death in 1817, and noted the teas often attracted ten to fifteen couples weekly. Elizabeth’s daughter met her future husband, Dan Huntington, at one of these events. Visitors would “tarry” a while over a beverage that “cheers but not inebriates.”

The series is made possible through generous donations from area musicians, volunteer servers, restaurants, grocers, florists, and other businesses who provide the music, engagement, tea, pastries, and flowers for this program.

The “A Perfect Spot of Tea” series continues on Saturday, July 20th, with a performance by Danse Café of traditional dance music of the French balfolk and Breton repertoire.

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is located at 130 River Drive (Route 47) in Hadley, two miles north of the junction of Routes 9 and 47. The Museum is open for guided tours Saturday through Wednesday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The house, which remains unchanged since the family’s occupancy, tells the story of six generations of prominent Hadley residents. The family, prosperous traders turned farmers, fought in both the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars, rose to prominence in local government, and embodied a consistently progressive social consciousness. Tours highlight both local and regional narratives, from architecture, material culture, and labor, to early-American theology, economics, women’s history and social movements. For further information about tours or other programs, please call the Museum at (413) 584-4699 or visit our website at http://www.pphmuseum.org .

WEDNESDAY FOLK TRADITIONS at the PORTER-PHELPS-HUNTINGTON MUSEUM CONTINUES WITH VIVA QUETZAL JULY 10, 2019

HADLEY, MA-- The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum continues the 38th season of Wednesday Folk Traditions with the return of Viva Quetzal on Wednesday, July 10th. Viva Quetzal is a World/Afro-Andean/Latin/Jazz Fusion group of talented musicians of varying backgrounds that combines folk music from throughout the Americas. This and all other performances in the series are held Wednesday evenings at 6:30 pm in the Sunken Garden at the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum, 130 River Drive, Route 47, Hadley, MA 01035. General admission is $12 and $2 for children 16 and under. Picnickers are welcome on the museum grounds beginning at 5:00 pm. The Museum and its grounds are a smoke free site.

Originally founded in 1986, Viva Quetzal has recorded three albums, most recently Hijos del Sol. They are also included on Putamayo’s Music of the Andes (2014). Viva Quetzal’s unique blending of musical styles and use of over thirty instruments not only delivers a range of melodious rhythms that create a link between the rainforests of Central and South America, the carnivals of Brazil, the high plateaus of the Andes, and the urban barrios of Latin America and the United States.Viva Quetzal’s members-- who hail from Latin America and New England-- feel that merging musical traditions may help reconcile political, cultural, and linguistic divides throughout the Americas.

Viva Quetzal includes Joe Belmont, who has performed with the group since 1992. Belmont’s classical and electric guitar chops are given an added dimension by the Colombian tiple. Roberto Clavijo, originally from Chile, can be heard performing on quenas, zampoñas, charango, Venezuelan cuatro, and vocals. He has toured internationally with other groups and has been a member of Viva Quetzal since 1993. Jon Weeks plays flute, saxophone, wind, synth and more and continues to perform with many jazz, rock, and Latin bands on the East Coast. Rudi Weeks, plays upright and electric bass and has been part of the group for twenty years. He is an experienced musician, having performed with over thirty ensembles ranging in style. Abraham “Abe” Sanchez has provided Viva Quetzal with vocals and keyboard for over ten years. He brings a wealth of musical experience from his native Venezuela, where he was director of a music school and accompanied national and international touring musicians. Eliezer Martinez is their newest member and can be heard playing the drums with the group. He aims to share his love for music in every performance.

Wednesday Folk Traditions continues on July 17th with a performance by Pan Morigan and Friends. Morigan will present “I Sing Earth!: Songs for the Fragile Waters and the sweet Dirty Ground: A musical meditation on the times we're livin' in.” Morigan is a vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist and uses innovative, original songs and passionate, unbridled vocals in multiple tongues, to reflect on migration, home, creativity, and love.

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum Wednesday Folk Traditions is funded, in part, by grants from: the Marion I. And Otto C. Kohler Memorial Fund at the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts; the Amherst and Hadley Cultural Councils, local agencies, supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency; Massachusetts Cultural Council Festivals Program; Easthampton Savings Bank, Eversource Energy, Gage-Wiley & Co., and with generous support from many local businesses.

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is located at 130 River Drive (Route 47) in Hadley, two miles north of the junction of Routes 9 and 47. The Museum is open for guided tours Saturday through Wednesday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The house, which remains unchanged since the family’s occupancy, tells the story of six generations of prominent Hadley residents. The family, prosperous traders turned farmers, fought in both the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars, rose to prominence in local government, and embodied a consistently progressive social consciousness. Tours highlight both local and regional narratives, from architecture, material culture, and labor, to early-American theology, economics, and social movements. For further information about tours or other programs, please call the Museum at (413) 584-4699 or visit our website at http://www.pphmuseum.org.