VIEWPOINTBy BRIAN BROWNING 2007 “History has the benefit of being essentially just a really long, subjective, highly interesting tale with several million characters, hundreds of thousands of plot lines, and a series of vaguely unsatisfying resolutions. And no editor.”
-Pete Vonder Haar, Writer and Critic
2007 is a year of transition for us, with a new governor and first family living at Terrace Hill and the possibility of changes in staff and organization. It is indeed an interesting time to be affiliated with Terrace Hill. Serving as administrator at this time is a heady experience; the future is uncertain as we experience history in the making. This uncertainty also carries the seeds of greatness. We must make the plot lines clearer, those resolutions more satisfying. In this sense, each of our staff and volunteers is an editor of the history we present to the public.
In this issue, you will read about Seymour Thomas. Thomas painted at least five portraits of the Hubbell family, and we continue to learn more about his connection with the family. When two of our portraits return from conservation later in 2007, they may become part of an exhibit of Thomas’ Hubbell portraiture featuring all three displayed together for the first time.
The magnificent sleigh owned by F. M. Hubbell is now on display, as is B. F. Allen’s restored Chickering square piano. We continue to learn how these items fit into the lives of the families who lived here.
The carpet in the main halls of the first and second floors has served Terrace Hill well for more than 25 years, but is ready to be retired. We’ve begun the process of commissioning and installing new carpet, using a design based on the carpet runners in the home circa 1910.
Isaac Cooper, father of Francis Cooper Hubbell, was an early Des Moines pioneer, with California ties from his being a “Forty-Niner.” You’ll read more about Isaac in a future Landmark, as we develop ideas that could grow from an article to an exhibit or part of our programming.
Visit Terrace Hill. See history come alive.
Brian Browning was named interim administrator at Terrace Hill in December 2006. For the past 10 years, Browning served as a historic preservation technician at Terrace Hill. He has an MBA from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, and a BA from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Browning and his wife, Mary Kay Reser, live in a circa 1913 house in Des Moines. The couple has four children: Amelia, 17; Lillian, 15; Sam, 13; and Madeline, 11. Also in residence are a dog, two cats and a very noisy parrot.
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