North Carolina Daughter combines creativity and imagination with historic preservation
Gay Chatham knows that historic homes tend to attract a certain type of patron, one who is typically older and has a heart for historic preservation. While she admits that she fits the profile, she’s also working hard to change it.
As the president of the Cupola House Association, which oversees the fundraising and operations of the circa 1757 Cupola House in Edenton, N.C., Mrs. Chatham looks for opportunities to invite and endear the town’s younger residents, families and children to the home, conspicuously situated in the heart of downtown. (Read more about the Cupola House on page 18.)
When she moved to Edenton in 2010, Mrs. Chatham began volunteering at the Cupola House, picking weeds in the expansive, original 18th-century garden. She’d let her mind wander to dream up ideas for creative events and programs.
First, there was the Easter Festival, with an 18th-century Easter Bunny.
“That was right when I moved to town,” said Mrs. Chatham, a member of the Benjamin May Chapter in Farmville, N.C. “No one said, ‘Are you out of your mind?’ They just said, ‘What a great idea, go for it.’”
It helped that she had run a successful catering business for more than 30 years before moving to town. Mrs. Chatham’s creativity and excellent organizational skills set up the Easter Festival and future programs for success.
Next came the Valentine’s Tea Party for the local Boys and Girls Club. “We met at the Cupola House, served tea, talked about history, and made the most adorable tea party hats out of paper plates, silk flowers and ribbons,” she said. “They loved it, and some of them even made hats for their mothers.”
Then she had the idea for the Cupola House Activity Book, a notion which was co-sponsored by the Edenton Tea Party Chapter and was awarded a DAR Special Projects Grant in 2015. It is still distributed to children who visit the house.
She also got her start in acting thanks to her work with the Cupola House. She is co-creator of “Two Colonial Women,” a costume performance for schoolchildren focused on Edenton’s and North Carolina’s Revolutionary War history.
“Our costumes have come a long way since we started,” she said. “In our first performance, we may have been wearing nightgowns with lace trims. Each time we performed, our costumes got stronger and stronger until they were true 18th-century costumes.”
A Passion for Preservation
The pandemic has limited the number of visitors to the house and gardens, but Mrs. Chatham is making sure the 12-person board of the Cupola House Association is using the downtime wisely. Board members have digitized and cataloged all of the home’s documents, some of which date to the 17th century. They also are eagerly awaiting the end of the pandemic, so the home and gardens can be opened once again without occupancy limits.
“Edenton is a very social town,” Mrs. Chatham said. “We’ll have a party or an event at the drop of a hat. The pandemic has forced us to reinterpret that. Luckily, our community has risen to the occasion and continues to offer its support.”
A membership drive for the Cupola House used to involve a gala party, but last year’s event looked a lot different—it was a mailed membership packet. Still, Mrs. Chatham approached it with creativity and imagination.
“Historic preservation doesn’t need to be stuffy or boring,” she said. “We can make it exciting and whimsical and something that lets people relax, unwind, be present and just enjoy the moment.”
Mrs. Chatham has left a strong mark on Edenton, and she’s not even a full-time resident. She and her husband, Ted, split their year between North Carolina and East Boothbay, Maine, where they recently completed a three-year renovation on a Colonial Cape Cod house. She just installed the garden, whiling away the time and dreaming up new ways to engage younger generations in historic preservation.
