| The Wonders of the Howard Weeden Museum |
The Weeden House Museum sits quietly at 300 Gates Avenue in Huntsville. It's charm, secrets, and achievements unknown to the causal passer-by. Inside, it is lovingly cared for by the Twickenham Historic Preservation District Association with Barbara Lauster as coordinator. The City of Huntsville owns the building; the Association adds the warmth.
I mistakenly believed that the house was a museum only because Maria Howard Weeden, nationally-known poet and artist, had been born and raised there. The house has merits of its own for Huntsville, though. It was built in 1819 in the Federal period style. It was listed in 1934 as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey for the Twickenham Historic District. It is a two-story, ell-shaped, brick house with a gabled roof and a center hall layout.
I suggest that you pause before entering the house, and admire the sidelights, reeded columns, and curved, leaded glass above the door. Unlike most starter homes of the period, which were built with only one room on each floor, the Weeden House is unique in that the six-room house was built all at once. No other surviving Federal period Huntsville house has woodwork of the elaboration of the Weeden House. Several of the mantels display delicate reeding and fluting. The centerpiece of the house is it's magnificent curved stairway in the entrance hall, decorated with elaborate scrolls. Don't miss the small ivory button in the center of the bottom stair rail. This signifies payment of all debt on the house.
Maria Howard Weeden was born in 1846, six months after her father, Dr. William Weeden, died unexpectedly while on a business trip to New Orleans. Her mother, Jane, and five other siblings lived in the house. When Huntsville was occupied in April, 1862, the Weeden home was used by the Union Army for their officers' headquarters. Mrs. Weeden and her daughters lived in the servant quarters, but eventually decided to go to relatives in Tuskegee, Alabama. After the war, Mrs. Weeden brought her family back to Huntsville. She spent many hours tending the garden. One of the ongoing projects of the Twickenham Historic Preservation Association is to restore the Weeden Garden to its former glory.
After Mrs. Weeden's death, Howard (as she was known) and her sister Kate lived in the house. Kate tended to the household chores, while Howard used her artistic abilities to make dinner cards and place cards for parties to supplement the family's meager income. Gone were the prosperous days when their parents were alive and the family was cared for by 7 Negro servants. However, Howard Weeden spent most of her time using a 3-horsehair brush to paint portraits of the servants of her neighbors. She also recorded their philosophy of life and sense of humor in poems written in Negro dialect. She became world-famous for her works, many believing that she was a black man because of her name and her sensitivity to the Negro. Most famous of her books, is Shadows on the Wall, printed in 1898. Other books include: Songs of the Old South, Old Voices, and Bandanna Ballards. Francis C. Roberts and Sarah Huff Fisk wrote Shadows on the Wall: The Life and Works of Howard Weeden in 1962. It is available for sale at the Museum.
Maria Howard Weeden died on April 12, 1905, shortly after her fourth volume of poems was published. She never married and is buried in Maple Hill Cemetery. The spirit and talent of Maria Howard Weeden has been kept alive throughout the house. Every room reflects her artwork and presence, from the pictures hanging on the wall to the window where she sat and gazed out at her neighbors and captured their spirit in portraits that speak to people all over the world. Don't miss the opportunity to take an inside look at the Weeden House Museum and all its wonders.
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