Smith-Harris House renamed, rebranded
Building is now called Brookside Farm Museum
East Lyme — The Smith-Harris House will now be called Brookside Farm Museum, with the tagline “Cultivating the Story: Avery, Smith and Harris, 1845-1955,” in a move to encompass its 110-year history.
The name change is part of a rebranding effort by the groups that run the museum to expand the historic home’s interpretation and tell the story of changes in society, agriculture, industry, and technology through the eyes of the men and women of the three families who lived there over the years.
The name, Brookside Farm, dates back to when the Smith and Harris families ran a farm on the site in the 20th century, but could possibly date back even further, she said.
“This is allowing us to embrace the entire history of the house,” said Joanie DiMartino, the museum’s director.
The Smith-Harris House Commission and the Friends of Smith-Harris House had approached the town with their proposal to rename the historic home on Society Road. They had gone through a twoyear program, StEPs-CT, overseen by the Connecticut League of History Organizations and Connecticut Humanities, that covered best practices for small organizations, she said, and received a grant from
“They’re going back to an authentic name, the longest used name, and trying to better articulate to everyone who they are and what they are doing today and what they want to be doing moving forward, as well.”
SCOTT WANDS, MANAGER OF GRANTS AND PROGRAMS AT CONNECTICUT HUMANITIES
Connecticut Humanities to complete a strategic plan. Through the strategic planning process, they decided to change the name of the house.
The groups that run the museum wanted to adopt an umbrella name so they could expand the interpretation of the house, which is currently decorated for the period when the Avery family, the original residents, lived in it. Visitors also had been confusing the Smith-Harris House with the Samuel Smith Farmstead, a 17th century farmhouse that the town purchased in 2012, and with Smith’s Acres in downtown Niantic, so the name change would also be an opportunity to eliminate confusion and distinguish the museum from other sites in town, she said.
“They’re going back to an authentic name, the longest used name, and trying to better articulate to everyone who they are and what they are doing today and what they want to be doing moving forward, as well,” said Scott Wands, manager of grants and programs at Connecticut Humanities.
The East Lyme Board of Selectmen approved in June an ordinance for the name change, with the ordinance going into effect early this month. The Smith-Harris Commission will become the Brookside Farm Museum Commission, and the friends group will be named the Friends of Brookside Farm Museum.
The Avery, Smith and Harris families
The history of the house, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, spans 110 years, beginning with the original inhabitants, Thomas Avery, a farmer, his wife, Elizabeth, and their three children, including a daughter who had died, DiMartino said. Thomas Avery also sold part of the house to his sisters.
Thomas Avery’s sons inherited the property when he died, and his eldest son, William, maintained the farm, with the younger son, Charles, selling his part and moving to Kansas, said DiMartino.
When William died, his distant cousin, William H.H. Smith, purchased the property. William H.H. Smith, a civil servant who lived in Washington, D.C., summered in Niantic. He asked his brother, Herman Smith, and nephew, Frank Harris, to manage the property in his absence, she said.
Herman Smith and Frank Harris, and their wives, sisters Lula Munger and Florence Munger, ran a dairy farm, called Brookside Farm, at least from the early 1900s to 1955, with William H.H. Smith officially deeding the property to the couples in the 1920s, she said.
They produced bottles of milk with a cap that said “SMITH & HARRIS APPROVED,” harvested vegetables, had chickens and hogs, and maintained an orchard, according to DiMartino and Donna Massung, the president of the friends group.
The Brookside name could even date back to the Avery period, so the groups will be researching to see what they can find out, DiMartino.
In the 1950s, the town purchased the house and surrounding acreage, which includes the land where East Lyme Middle School, Lillie B. Haynes School and East Lyme Community Center now stand. In the 1970s, a group of residents petitioned the town to turn the house into a museum, she said.
A new vision
The name change is the first step in the groups’ overall goal to re-brand the museum.
“We are re-looking at how we’re envisioning the entire site,” added DiMartino, and not simply stopping at interpreting the house at the Avery period. The groups want to tell the history, from the building of the home in 1845, through wars, the Depression, and changes in industry, agriculture and social movements, up to 1955.
A temporary exhibit gallery is now in what was the dining room, so the museum can showcase changing exhibits.
The current exhibit is “Women’s Work — Laundry,” curated by Kathleen Patterson, vice president of the friends group and the chairman of the collections committee, with Massung. The conceptual display shows how laundry would have been done during the different periods of 1845, 1900 and 1955 and features a washer with an agitator, glass and metal washboards, flat irons, homemade soap, and early electric irons, among other artifacts.
The back kitchen of the home will serve as an orientation space for visitors and will be named in memory of Fred and Barbara Odgers, East Lyme residents who helped save the house. Fred, a carpenter, helped restore the house, and Barbara, a long-time commission member, was one of the founders of the commission.
The name Brookside Farm Museum highlights that the site is a museum, an ongoing living entity with changing exhibits that will hopefully draw in more people, Gary Lakowsky, a longtime commission member, said at last month’s public hearing. It also enables the groups to show changes in farm life — which was an important part of the town— from 1845 through 1955.
DiMartino said the groups are excited about the name change and rebranding effort. They plan to seek grant funding to develop new signs and a refreshed logo to replace the current one from the 1970s.
“It’s time to bring us into the 21st century,” DiMartino said.