Shirley Anne’s Heart

Museums and Bassett Hall in Colonial Williamsburg, VA

Posted By drsao on April 5, 2009

Marla and I were joined by Margaret as we went on our Williamsburg Adventure this Saturday. We had a GREAT ADVENTURE. The weather was perfect and the museums were so fascinating. I loved the Rockefeller Folk Art exhibit and was so glad to hear more about the history of the Rockefeller family. They sure did a lot of good things for other people…….and when I heard that they hired thousands of folks to build the Rockefeller Center during the Depression, I was even more impressed.

If it weren’t for Abby Aldridge Rockefeller we might not be able to enjoy the American Folk Art that we have today! She collected it – but had to keep it contained on the 7th floor of their home so that Mr. Rockefeller didn’t have to enjoy it!!! 🙂 She did get to display her Folk Art in their home in Bassett Hall in Williamsburg, VA.

One thing that I thought was interesting was that both boys and girls (until mid childhood) were painted wearing dresses. So how do you know who is a boy and who is a girl? Sometimes you can tell because boys have dresses with buttons on them and girls don’t – sometimes. Sometimes boys are holding dogs and girls are holding cats. Sometimes boys do NOT wear buttons but are holding toys that are gender specific. Sometimes I guess you just guess! :):) If a child is holding a bird, it might be that the child who is pictured died.

We oohed and aahed over the miniature doll houses, the antique nutmeg graters and the quilt exhibit in the museums. It was inspiring.

I loved walking through Bassett Hall and am so glad that the Rockefellers spent $68 million dollors to restore Colonial Williamsburg. It is a wonderful place to visit.

I will take you on a tour of the museums through pictures…come on!