Independence Hall and Mount Vernon are architectural symbols of our nation’s history; threats to these and other historic buildings were the catalyst for the preservation movement. In Boston, the battle to prevent the demolition of the John Hancock House in 1863, though unsuccessful, spurred the local preservation movement. It became a battle cry for many subsequent preservation efforts -- people said, ‘Remember the Hancock House’.

The Preservation Movement Then and Now highlights other areas in New England preservation as well. There is a section on one of the first preservationists, William Sumner Appleton, founder of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now Historic New England) describing how Appleton realized that many early buildings throughout New England were disappearing and was concerned that little would remain. The exhibition also explores how the movement changed from saving historic sites to downtown revitalization, environmental conservation, land and shoreline preservation, and saving not a single building, but whole neighborhoods.

About Historic New England

Historic New England is the oldest, largest, and most comprehensive regional heritage organization in the nation. We bring history to life while preserving the past for everyone interested in exploring the New England experience from the seventeenth century to today. Historic New England owns and operates thirty-six historic homes and landscapes spanning five states. The organization shares the region’s history through collections, publications, programs, museum properties, archives, and stories that document more than four hundred years of life in New England. For more information visit www.HistoricNewEngland.org.

West End neighborhood in the late 1950's and early 1960's had on its residents, including Berde's family, and, ultimately, on the artist's life and artistic development.

Berde's works focus on three overlapping events from her childhood: Her family's forced eviction from the neighborhood as part of Boston's urban renewal; the tragic drowning of her brother in the Charles River; and her medical battle with congenital scoliosis. Berde's art reflects how the young girl witnessed the tragedies of death and disability that befell her family and her.

The exhibit uses painting, sculpture, collage, period furniture and clothing, sounds, and other media to recreate the life and death of the neighborhood, and to document how Berde came to terms with its destruction at the same time she confronted the death of her 9 year-old brother.

To cope with these traumas, Berde discovered art-expanding on her early interest in drawing to create powerful images of the neighborhood. As her family sought comfort in the Church, Berde used art as a therapeutic tool. Among the works included in "Leaving the River" are unconventional renderings of familiar religious images.

The installation captures the reminiscences of surviving West End residents who describe the pain of watching the wrecking ball destroy the neighborhood-and the sense of home and family they lost. "Leaving the River" interposes these sad reminiscences with other, happier ones through photographs and works of art documenting the stark contrast between the vibrancy of the West End of the 1950's and the desolation and rubble that remained after it was bulldozed to the ground.

Duane Lucia, Executive Director of the West End Museum, will serve as curator for this exhibit which runs through October 8, 2011.

The exhibit will feature paintings, drawings, films, lectures, walking tours and children's events highlighting the building of the canal; its function and purpose; and its contribution to the Massachusetts economy.

In 1793, Massachusetts Governor John Hancock authorized the building of the canal between the Merrimack River in East Chelmsford (now Lowell) to the Mystic River in Medford. A private company later extended the 27-mile channel to Boston Harbor. The Middlesex Canal was the greatest public works project of its time and transformed post-Revolutionary Massachusetts. Before the railroad was built along the canal route, the waterway was the state's first superhighway.

The canal enabled the transport of manufactured goods to Boston Harbor for export, produce for families in Boston, and granite from Chelmsford and Tyngsborough for use in the construction of Beacon Hill's grand mansions and the new Massachusetts General Hospital.

In the 19th Century, the West End developed as Boston's transportation hub. Today, the West End Museum celebrates that history and embraces Boston's evolution. A number of free events are planned in conjunction with the exhibit-running from June 4-July 9, 2011-designed to educate, inform and delight families, children and transportation buffs (a listing of events follows).

The Middlesex Canal was the most important transportation development of its time, but its story has rarely been told. The Middlesex Canal Association and the West End Museum wish to thank the exhibit sponsors for helping to bring this celebration to life.