North Parlor, c. 1883

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Date

1883

Description

A photograph of the north parlor at Cherry Hill. This is the family parlor at Cherry Hill. This is where members of the household spent time together, played games (like dominoes), read books, and played music. The piano was in this parlor. Parlor music was popular during the Victorian Era. Families sometimes invited musicians to play in their homes or hosted sing-a-longs. Harriet Elmendorf “Hattie” Gould and William James Knapp played music in this parlor. Hattie was the great-grandchild of Philip and Maria Van Rensselaer. James was the great-grandchild of Dinah Jackson, the last person who was enslaved at Cherry Hill. After his mother died in 1854, James became a ward in Richard Van Rensselaer’s household. They lived on State Street in Albany, N.Y. James worked as a butler for the family. Throughout his life, James also worked as a musician, a sales clerk at Hideley’s Music Store, a hospital porter and a nurse. James lived at Cherry Hill for about sixteen months between 1880 and 1884. James played the violin, piano, flute, and more instruments. This item was added as part of the Diversity and Collaborative Knowledge Program funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

Type

Photograph

Region

Capital District

Era

Industrialization

Topic

Architecture, Community

Repository

Historic Cherry Hill

Identifier

5589-northparlor

Source

Historic Cherry Hill

Rights

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