The SenTry - Sag Harbor Historical Society

SAG HARBOR
ORICAL SOCIETY
HIST
The Sentry
174
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Vol. 26, No. 1
Spring 2011
Appreciating Heritage—Encouraging Preservation
2011 Exhibit
Opens May 28
“The Many Aliases of Cappy Amundsen”
Cappy—The Life and Art
of C. Hjalmar Amundsen
News
➤ Cappy
Amundsen Exhibit
➤ Gala
2011 Announcement
➤ Presidents
Message
➤ Annual Meeting
May 28
Time 3:00 p.m.
➤ Annual
Fund Preview
➤ Upcoming
Events ➤ In Memoriam
History
➤ Annie’s Shed
by Terry Wallace
In the summer of 2011 we celebrate the one
hundredth birthday of local painting legend, C.
Hjalmar “Cappy” Amundsen. Festivities include
art exhibits at the Sag Harbor Historical Society
and the Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum.
At the Annie Cooper Boyd House, the Sag Harbor Historical Society is hosting The Many Aliases
of Cappy Amundsen. This is an extensive exhibit
surrounding the many assumed names that Cappy
used during his lifetime. At the Sag Harbor Whaling
& Historical Museum, a retrospective features the
paintings that made Amundsen famous: dock scenes
and historical views representative of the whaling
era. The exhibit also includes a small selection of
photographs of the artist taken during his last days
in Sag Harbor. These events will be accompanied by
a birthday party for the artist at the American Hotel
on June 9, 2011.
Casper Hjalmar Amundsen was born in New
York City on June 9, 1911 as Casper Hjalmar Emerson,
III. Since he was a third generation family member
Continued on page 2
Cappy 1961
Save the Date–July 9
GALA 2011—
•
Join us in celebrating
our historic village
with neighbors & friends
•
This year’s fund-raising gala
will be a village party held in the garden
of Whitney & Peter Hansen’s home
on Rogers Street.
•
Toasting the past, present and future
of our village. Featuring surprising local
history, including film footage
of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard
set in Sag Harbor.
•
In addition to a wonderful
cocktail buffet and
live music, silent auction
prizes include
an I Pod Touch from Twin Peaks Geeks,
a Gurney’s Getaway,
premier tickets to the Yankees, Mets,
Knicks, Giants and Jets,
golf at two top Hampton courses,
lunch at the American Hotel and more.
•
Tickets are available at $150 each.
Contact Society headquar­ters
for your reservation
and additional information.
631-725-5092
E-mail: sagharborhist@gmail.com
H
SAG HARBOR
ICAL SOCIET
ISTOR
Y
FOUNDED
1985
Mailing Address
Sag Harbor Historical Society
PO Box 1709
Sag Harbor, NY 11963
Location
174 Main Street, Sag Harbor, NY
The Annie Cooper Boyd House
& Museum
(631) 725-5092
www.sagharborhistoricalsociety.org
sagharborhist@gmail.com
Officers
President: Nancy French Achenbach
Vice President: Tucker Burns Roth
Recording Secretary: Peter Hansen
Treasurer: Robert Espach, Esq.
Parliamentarian: James D. Tripp
Trustees
Nancy French Achenbach
Frank Ahimaz
John Bjornen
David Bray
Robert Espach
Muriel Hanson Falborn
Peter Hansen
Jean Held
Martha Potter
Tucker Burns Roth
Diane Schiavoni
James Tripp
Jack Youngs
Dorothy Zaykowski
Priscilla Ciccariello, emeritus
Joan Bates Tripp, emeritus
Jean Vielbig, emeritus
Welcome New Trustee, 2011
Muriel Hanson Falborn
The SHHS Sentry
Published Spring and Fall
In Memoriam
David Haug Cory
Olin Miller Edwards lll
Robert Schwartz
From Our President
Moving forward from our last Sentry, there is much for which we can be
thankful. During our very cold and harsh winter, Annie’s house was buzzing.
We had a very festive Holiday Tea. Alexandra Eames, a devoted member, gave
a talk and slide presentation based on her publication, Sag Harbor Historical
Society—The First Twenty-Five Years, followed by an informative Q&A. The
decorated house was brimming with visitors and the season’s spirit.
If you pass Annie’s house at nighttime, you will notice that the porch is
fully illuminated contributing to safety and letting everyone know we are there.
We are constructing shelving and reorganizing the kitchen to give us overflow
office storage and more efficient work space. We have added a new Mac and
printer to the office. We have been able to make these improvements with the
financial help of very loyal SHHS supporters. I have thanked each donor but
the Trustees would like to join me in another THANK YOU for your incredible generosity in enabling these necessary improvements.
Opening on May 28, we have scheduled an exhibit in conjunction with the
Whaling Museum. It is the celebration of the one hundredth birthday of local
painting legend C. Hjalmar “Cappy” Amundsen. Our part of the exhibit will be
titled “The Many Aliases of Cappy Amundsen” featuring the paintings under the
many assumed names Cappy used during his lifetime. Terry Wallace of the Wallace Gallery in East Hampton will be curating this exhibit and giving several talks.
We are anticipating successful Fridays on the Porch again this summer, and
talks by authors of books on local history. It stands to be a lively, informative
and pleasant summer at Annie’s House.
We are looking forward with great excitement to a very festive GALA to
be held at a private residence in the village. SAVE THE DATE—JULY 9, 2011.
Do join us for our Annual Meeting and opening exhibit on Sat., MAY 28,
2011. See you then. The old jail will also be open May 28-29 from 1:00-4:00 p.m.
—Nancy French Achenbach, President
Cappy—Continued from page 1
with the given name of Casper, he became
known from birth simply as “Cappy.”
Cappy’s father, Casper Emerson, Jr.
(1878-1948) was an important artist. He
began to make a name for himself in 1902
creating The Emerson Girl for the Broadway
Magazine in the New York Herald-Tribune.
Working for publishers, he illustrated
numerous books including The Arabian
Nights. In 1918, Emerson won third place in
a World War I poster competition, making
the artist a household name. Despite these
accomplishments, Emerson became involved
in one of the most publicized marriage scandals in America. News coverage about the
affair continued from 1907 to 1934.
As a young boy, Cappy spent many
hours in his father’s studio, learning first
Cappy, 1966
Sag Harbor Historical Society ➤ The Sentry ➤ Spring 2011 ➤ Page 2
hand the basics of drawing and painting.
After graduating from high school, Cappy
attended the Grand Central School of Art
where he observed other perspectives in
the techniques of illustration and painting.
In the spring of 1932, Cappy founded
the Washington Square Outdoor Art Show
in New York City with Jackson Pollock,
Willem de Kooning, Beaufort Delaney
and others. Exhibiting there for over thirty
years, he was awarded first place in show
many times.
In 1934, Cappy participated in an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
He exhibited a caricature of Adolf Hitler
entitled His Best Foot. Cappy portrayed
the German Dictator as half human and
half devil. After a strong objection by the
German Chancellor’s wife, the Metropolitan Museum removed the cartoon from the
exhibition. This brought strong protest of
censorship by artists. Controversial news
articles about the caricature appeared
in Time magazine and daily newspapers
throughout the country.
For the next seven or eight years,
Cappy traveled along the eastern seaboard
in a 33-foot yawl. Unable to make a living
as an artist, he worked as a commercial
fisherman. During this time, he lived in
Gloucester and Provincetown where he
became an active member of the famous
Beachcombers Club. Becoming a skilled
marine artist, he signed his earliest paintings Hjalmar. By the late 1930s, Cappy
used another pseudonym, A. Emerson.
Sometime in 1943, Emery Blum &
Co. of New York published a portfolio of
prints under the name of Hjalmar Emerson
Amundsen. This extensive folio of U.S.
Navy ships was meticulously executed
detailing every aspect of a ship’s construc-
Passing
Culloden
tion. The portfolio became a popular
collectible during the war selling thousands
of editions.
Cappy’s naval themes continued to
be popular with the public. In 1944, he
illustrated scenes inspired by the U.S. Navy
for two covers of Motor Boating magazine.
Paintings used for these illustrations were
signed Hjalmar Amundsen, while the byline
inside the publication credited C. Hjalmar
Amundsen.
Cappy moved from New York City
to Sag Harbor in early 1946. He legally
changed his name from Casper Hjalmar
Emerson, III to C. Hjalmar Amundsen
the same year. At this time, he signed his
paintings with another alias, J. J. Enwright.
He became a highly respected and
popular figure in the small waterfront
village. One of his accomplishments was
the founding of the first Outboard Racing Regatta which became a forerunner
of Old Whalers Festival. In the late 1940s,
Cappy established two art schools in the
village. He became a licensed U. S. Coast
Guard Captain and an almost unbeatable
sailor in racing competition. As a member
of the Sag Harbor Recreational Committee, he helped obtain a Charter from the
Boy Scouts of America, establishing the
Sea Scouts. During the Pelican tragedy
in Montauk, he reported to the National
Geographic Wire Service. As a Curator, he
assisted Ralph Carpentier in a popular
exhibition at Guild Hall Museum which
led to the formation of the East Hampton
Town Marine Museum. Cappy made
contributions to numerous local groups and
participated in other positive endeavors
during his lifetime. His paintings can still
be found throughout town in many commercial buildings: the Wharf Shop, Apple
Bank, Barons Cove Marina, the old Sandbar, now
the Blue Sky Restaurant,
Yardley & Pino Funeral
Home and other public
places.
From the mid 1940s
to the 1960s, Cappy signed
Point
his paintings with various
aliases. William Ward, Jr.,
F.H. McKay, H. Nansen, J.
C. Bennett, Sven Sagg, J.C.
Tarbox and John Dunne
were some of the names
Cappy used before his
death in 2001.
SHHS Annual
Meeting
Featuring a talk
by Terry Wallace
Curator of our exhibit on
the paintings and life
of Cappy Amundsen
Sat., May 28, 2011, 3:00 p.m.
Place: The Annie Cooper Boyd
House & Museum,
174 Main Street, Sag Harbor
Please join us for the season
opening of Annie’s House and
Amundsen exhibit, and the
election of officers and trustees.
Tea and refreshments will
be served.
$
Membership
& Gift Memberships
Sag Harbor Historical
Society
PO Box 1709, Sag Harbor, NY 11963
Your Membership and
Donations maintain
the Annie Cooper Boyd House
Museum and its programs
and our efforts to support
the preservation of
Sag Harbor’s
historic character.
Donations and Memberships
are tax deductible.
NAME(S)
Mailing address
e-mail
phone
£ IndividuaL: $25 £ Family: $35
£ Senior Citizen: $15
£ Business or Organization: $50
£ Sponsor: $100 or more
£ Donation $
£ Check if this is a gift
Sag Harbor Historical Society ➤ The Sentry ➤ Spring 2011 ➤ Page 3
Upcoming
Events
“The Making and Remaking of
Sag Harbor’s Maycroft”
June 11, 12:30 p.m.
Luncheon and Talk, $45
Place: American Hotel
Reservations: Call 631-725-5092
Architect Jim Merrell and writer
Susan Merrell will discuss their
book on the Maycroft Estate,
the remarkable Aldrich family
that built it, what the building
can teach us about the times
in which they lived, and how it
relates to home design today.
Return of the Popular
Fridays on the Porch
Six Fridays beginning
Friday, July 22, 5:00-6:30 p.m.
Wine and cheese socials—
Some Fridays include informal
talks of historical interest.
Friday, July 22
Carolyn Oldenbusch, author of
Anchor to Windward, will give an
informal reading with Q & A.
July 29 & Fridays in August
Alex Eames will talk on SHHS’s
25 yr. history. Joe Zaykowski will
give tours of Annie’s house, reveal interesting construction features, and talk about dating elements within old houses. Dates
of talks will be announced.
Annual Fund Preview!
This year the Historical Society will
launch its first ever Annual Fund. We are
most grateful to those of you who have
been so generous in the past, and we hope
you will support the Society by making a
special donation this year. We need your
help to keep our doors open, to cover basic
maintenance, and to sustain future and
ongoing projects. It is important to all of us
who treasure our gem of a village, that the
Historical Society be able to continue the
work of historic preservation, research and
education.
We are a lean not-for-profit organization and we have accomplished a lot on a
shoestring due to the exceptional efforts
of stalwart volunteers and contributions
from our membership and loyal friends:
saving and preserving the Umbrella House,
the Municipal Building, the Broken Mast
Monument, the 1916 jail to name a few.
The Historical Society played a significant role in the expansion of the Historic
District and in placing it on the New York
State Register and National Register of
Historic Places. 700
houses have been listed
in The National List of
Historic Houses. We are
all the beneficiaries of
these achievements.
Our next project,
with your help, is the
restoration of the tool
shed behind the Annie
Cooper Boyd House & Museum. When
complete, it will be a wonderful educational
“tool” and whaling industry exhibit space
for the children and adults of the community. An accompanying book of tools with
photos is already in progress.
Why is the building in Annie
Cooper Boyd’s 1893 photo
important to our shed project?
The building Annie described as the
“Shop of Sacred Memory,” was the whaleboat-construction shop belonging to her
grandfather William Cooper (1785-1858)
and passed on to her father William H.
Cooper (1817-1894). The shop, pictured, may
have been pre-existing, or built by Grandfather Cooper after 1818 when he purchased
the lot which is adjacent to the Annie Cooper Boyd House and Museum. Grandfather
Cooper built his family homestead on this
lot, and used the shop for his business.
In 1897, Annie looked to the ancient
timbers and nails of the “wreckage of the dear
shop” to construct a shed to shelter coal and
wood for use in her bungalow. Now, 114 years
after Annie built the
Shop of Sacred shed, it is our objective
Memory to restore her deteriorated shed, salvage some
of those timbers and
nails, and rebuild the
structure for the exhibit
of Cooper’s tools used
during Sag Harbor’s
whaling era.
PO Box 1709
Sag Harbor, NY 11963
Sag Harbor Historical Society
174
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ORICAL SOCIETY
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