Stephen P. Broker
(1) Maps and photographs of Wellfleet Village and Duck Creek Harbor. Students compare and contrast 19th century and modern photographs, maps, and engravings of the Duck Creek region of Wellfleet, and they make note of changing land use practices. The early maps of this region often show the names of home owners and commercial establishments along Duck Creek. More recent maps contain less information about ownership but are more complete in representing topographic features of the land. The maps to use are: the 1858 Atlas of the Counties of Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket, Massachusetts, Village of Wellfleet, by Henry F. Walling; the 1884 Atlas of Barnstable County, Village of Wellfleet, by George H. Walker; the 1907 Atlas of Barnstable County, Village of Wellfleet, by Walker Lithographic & Publishing Company, and the 1972 U. S. Geological Survey Topographic map of Wellfleet. Students should ask questions of the following types: What are the natural features on the map? How was the system of roads developed? Who were the land holders? What stores, shops, and other commercial buildings are noted on the map? What type of activity took place at each store? What is the relation between the natural features on the map and the human modification of the environment? How did movement of people and goods take place in each section of the map? What forms of negative environmental impact were occurring in the vicinity of Duck Creek? The Wellfleet Historical Society/Rich Family Association publication, “Wellfleet, Truro, & Cape Cod Cemetery Inscriptions,” contains vital statistics for virtually everyone listed as a property owner on the selected maps. I would have students look up data on Commercial Street property owners, for 1858, 1884, and 1907, to determine their ages at the times the maps were made.
(2) Study of an artifact. Select an object from the study collection, and prepare an analysis of the object, including description, deduction, and speculation. A list of objects in the study collection is provided in the Study Objects section above. For this activity, I would have students select one object from the collection of artifacts and study it in some depth. The students should develop a detailed description of the object, including its size, shape, two-dimensional and three-dimensional features and geometric forms, articulations, materials of construction (brass, iron, clay, porcelain, glass), and iconography or ornamentation. They should develop some deductions about why the object has its present appearance, whether there are missing parts, how the object was manipulated when in use, what it was used for, where it was put to use, and any other deductions which emerge from the description of the object. Finally, students should speculate about the object, considering how it wound up in the mud flats of Duck Creek, who made it, the methods of manufacture, where it was made, who bought it and owned it, the value that it had to the owner, and any metaphors that can be applied to the object which help shed light on the culture that produced and used the object and the relation between that earlier culture and the culture and society of today. In developing this unit, I tested this methodology of study of an object - a Winslow Homer painting - with several of my students, and I found that they had wonderful interest in describing and ability to deduce and speculate about the painting.
(3) Technological change. Research the changing technologies of the type of object selected, including changing methods of lighting (whale oil lamp, kerosene lamp, electric lamp); changing health care practices (home remedies, medicine doctor formulas, bitters, curealls, and present day drugs); kitchen processes such as refrigeration and the presentation of food. This activity involves a comparison of related objects from the Duck Creek collection of artifacts. It leads to an understanding of the technological advances that are made over time, and the social and environmental consequences of these advances. It is here that students begin to consider environmental problems such as species endangerment, habitat loss, solid waste disposal, water quality, recycling and reusing, energy consumption, environmental health, and the relationships among ecology, economics, and ethics. The lighting devices are a particularly good collection of objects to illustrate this aspect of the study, as they represent a number of ways of solving the problem of providing a source of light for indoor activities. The brass lamps for candles, the glass candlestick, the whale oil lamps, the kerosene lamps, and modern day electric lighting each has its source of renewable or nonrenewable energy, its energy efficiency, and its environmental consequences. These are the directions in which we spin off from this unit to a more in-depth study of environmental isues.
(4) The Slide Sets. The following three sets of of color slides are to be used in class to introduce students to the early New England village which is the focus of their study of material culture and environmental issues. Set #1 provides an overview of Cape Cod, Massachusetts and the Outer Cape town of Wellfleet, presenting some historical information and a flavor of life in this summer resort town. Set #2 deals with the freshwater habitats which have been listed as critical habitats for Massachusetts and which are in some instances globally significant habitats. Set #3 focuses on the Duck Creek Harbor region and on the archaeological work that I have conducted there since 1970, including the artifacts which I have recovered from this tidal creek area. I am developing a set of study questions for each slide set, so that my students assimilate content and concepts as they learn about Cape Cod, its ecology, and its history.
Slide Set #1. Introduction to Cape Cod. 1. Cape Cod, Massachusetts (map in National Aquarium, Baltimore). 2. aerial view of the Outer Cape. 3-4. The Great Outer Beach. 5. aerial view of glacial kettle ponds, Wellfleet and South Truro. 6. 3500 year old Native American archaeological site, East Orleans. 7. grave of reinterred Wompanoag Indian woman, Sunset Hill, Wellfleet. 8. Norse ship post hole, Bass River, Dennis. 9. Norse carved stone seat, Jarvie house, Long Pond, Wellfleet. 10. plaque, the first landing place of the Pilgrims, Provincetown. 11. plaque, First Encounter Beach, Eastham. 12. early English map of Cape Cod and New England. 13. Provincetown Harbor and the Outer Cape from Pilgrim Monument. 14. the Dorothy Rawson gravestone, 1683. Lothrop Hill Burying Ground, Barnstable. 15. the Hoxie house, Sandwich. 16. the Captain Hendricks house, Chatham. 17. oldest house in Provincetown, West Commercial Street. 18. the Atwood house, Chatham. 19. the Samuel Ryder house, Newcomb Hollow Road, Wellfleet. 20. the Fred Dill house (c1750), Long Pond Road, Wellfleet. 21. the figurehead house, Commercial Street, Provincetown. 22. the Captain Penniman house, Fort Hill, Eastham. 23. Mayo Beach Lighthouse, Wellfleet. 24. Concregational Church, Wellfleet. 25. gingerbread house, Holbrook Avenue, Wellfleet.
26. Morning Glory house (former windmill), Holbrook Avenue, Wellfleet. 27. East Orleans windmill. 28. Eastham windmill. 29. Highland Lighthouse (Cape Coid Light), highlands of North Truro. 30. aerial view of Highland Lighthouse, North Truro. 31. Nauset Lighthouse, Eastham. 32. one of the twin lighthouses, Nauset, Eastham. 33. shipwreck off South Nauset Beach, Orleans. 34. Humane hut/halfway housefrom Wellfleet Outer Beach, now at Mystic Seaport. 35. gravestone commemorating the loss of 60 lives in mid-nineteenth century nor’easter, South Truro. 36. Thomas O. Broker on U. S. Coast Guard Station life saving tower, Cahoon Hollow, Wellfleet. 37. Humpback Whale flipper slapping off Nauset Beach, Eastham. 38. Humpback Whale calf, Dolphin Fleet whale watch, Provincetown. 39. Beached Fin Whale, Sunken Meadow Beach, Eastham. 40. Stranded Atlantic White-sided Dolphin, Great Island, Wellfleet. 41. Stranded Ocean Sunfish, Mayo Beach, Wellfleet. 42. baleen whale jaw bone and Eastham Historical Society. 43. aerial view of Great Island, Wellfleet (site of Smith Tavern). 44. fishermen unloading catch of the day, Chatham. 45. dumping salt into fish crates, Provincetown. 46. Hatche’s Fish Market, Wellfleet Center. 47. Wellfleet fishing fleet, town marina. 48. the last oyster shack, Duck Creek, Wellfleet. 49. clamming at Egg Island, Wellfleet Harbor. 50. Aerial view of cranberry bog, Orleans. 51. derelicts at Duck Creek, Wellfleet. 52. the Outermost House (Henry Beston lodgings), North Nauset Beach, Eastham. 53. ”Welcome to Wellfleet” dory, Main Street and Commercial Street, Wellfleet. 54. Sandwich Glass Museum, Sandwich. 55. Fourth of July parade, Wellfleet. 56. Wellfleet art galleries. 57. Cape Cod Canal, Bourne.
Slide Set #2. Ecology of the Outer Cape: Critical Freshwater Habitats. A. Coastal Plain Pond Shores: 1. aerial view of Wellfleet kettle ponds (Duck, Dyer, Great, and Long Ponds) 2. aerial view of Long Pond 3. Long Pond 4. Great Pond 5. Dyer Pond 6. aerial view of Gull, Higgins, Williams, and Herring Ponds, Wellfleet 7. Williams Pond 8. Spectacle Pond, Wellfleet 9. Turtle Pond, Wellfleet 10. Grass Pond, Wellfleet. 11. Leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata) on pond edge 12. Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) 13. Swamp Loosestrife or Water Willow (Decodon verticillatus) 14. American Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) 15. Bladderwort (Utricularia purpurea) 16. Fragrant Water-lily (Nymphaea odorata) 17. Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata) 18. Military Rush (Juncus militaris) 19. Water Lobelia (Lobelia dortmanna) 20. Common Pipewort (Eriocaulon septangulare) 21. Pond shore community at Long Pond 22. Virginia Meadow-Beauty, Grass Pond 23. Cross-leaved Milkwort, Long Pond 24. Rose Coreopsis, Spectacle Pond #2 25. Round-leaved Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia)
26. Thread-leaved Sundew (D. filiformis) 27. Freshwater clam (Anodonta sp.) 28. Civil Bluet Damselfly (Enallagma civile) 29. Ruby Meadowfly dragonfly (Sympetrum rubicundulum) 30. Elisa Skimmer or Calico Pennant (Celithemis elisa) 31. Damson Skimmer (Libellula incesta) 32. Wandering Globetrotter (Pantala flavescens) 33. Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) resorbing tail 34. Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) at Spectacle Pond #2 35. Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) Quaking Bogs: 36. aerial view of quaking bog near Round Pond, South Truro 37. Featherbed Swamp, South Truro 38. Dwarf Pitch Pines at Featherbed Swamp 39. Open water at Featherbed Swamp 40. Quaking bog at Round Pond, South Truro 41. Round Pond quaking bog Sphagnum Bogs: 42. Marconi sphagnum bog, Wellfleet 43. Marconi sphagnum bog with blowdown trees Vernal Pools: 44. Vernal pool north of Round Pond, South Truro 45. Vernal pool, Round Pond 46. Spectacle Pond vernal pool with turtle tracks 47. Vernal pool near Long Pond 48. Eastern Spadefoot (Scaphiopus holbrooki) 49. Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) Atlantic White Cedar Swamps: 50. aerial view of Marconi Station Atlantic White Cedar Swamp, South Wellfleet 51. Marconi cedar swamp trailhead 52. boardwalk in Marconi cedar swamp 53. Atlantic White Cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) trees 54. Sphagnum moss 55. Competition between white cedars and red maples 56. Inkberry (Ilex glabra) 57. Paine Hollow white cedar swamp Anadramous Fish Runs: 58. aerial view of Herring River, Wellfleet 59. Herring River, Wellfleet 60. vegetation of Herring River 61. White Perch (Morone americana) from Higgins Pond, Wellfleet
Slide Set #3. The Duck Creek Harbor Site and Duck Creek Artifacts. 1-4. aerial views of Duck Creek and Wellfleet Harbors. 5. late 19th-early 20th century view of Duck Creek and Uncle Tim’s Bridge, high tide. 6. same view, present day. 7-9. late 19th-early 20th century views of Duck Creek, low tide. 10-12. same views, present day. 13-20. contemporary views of Duck Creek and Commercial Street buildings. 21-22. Uncle Tim’s bridge. 23. Timothy Daniels’ house. 24. The Golden Cod galleries. 25. Simeon Atwood’s hardware store.
26. The Bradford apartments. 27. the Masonic Lodge. 28. Cape Cod Railroad bridge and dike. 29. the last oyster shack in Wellfleet. 30. “This area is closed to the taking of all shellfish.” 31. derelict boats. 32-33. Duck Creek mud flats. 33. Stephen Broker digging in Uncle Tim’s Bridge mud flats. 34.18th century pewter rattail spoon. 35-37. Late 18th century brass box iron. 38-39. 1820s brass telescope, “J. J. Messer, London”. 40. iron whaling harpoon. 41. iron whale blubber flenzing blade. 42. wrought iron eel spear. 43. brass candle holder. 44-45. brass kerosene/oil lamps. 46. redware pieplate. 47. redware milk cooling pan/basin. 48. redware milk storage crock. 49. coarse earthenware storage jar. 50. salt-glazed earthenware fragments.
51. yellowware fragments. 52. ironstone pitcher, “White Squall/C.N.&Co./1864/Liverpool” 53-54. ironstone blue transfer print chamberpot. 55. ironstone mulberry transfer print teapot. 56. small creamer from Chequessett Inn table service. 57. “Jules Hauel saponaceous shaving compound, container cover. 58-68. ironstoneware manufacturers’ marks: Elsmore & Forster; W.M. Co.; William Adams; J. Wedgwood; Jones, McDuffie & Stratton; Anthony Shaw. 69. registration number on pink transfer print plate, English pearl. 70. early period Sandwich Glass whale oil lamp. 71. middle period Sandwich Glass whale oil lamp. 72. glass peg lamp. 73. pressed glass containers. 74. glass obelisk-shaped thermometer holder. 75. glass gauze jar lid, amber. 76-80. glass bottles: medicinal, beverage, household, ink, etc. 81. faunal remains. 82. scrimshaw dyed rib bone. 83. carved ivory thread bobbin. 84. souvenir porcelain slipper, “Uncle Tim’s Bridge” 85. souvenir cup, “Congregational Church, Wellfleet” 86. souvenir dish, “Wellfleet Village, Mass” 87. souvenir cups. 88. China trade salt shaker.