MAY WE PRESENT...

...the Bullis Room's volunteer of the week. Please take note of his proper attire (white glove) for handling a rare book. Also please note his steady focus on the reading material.

When he comes to the end of that book, he can study Increase Lapham's family tree, which is under the table's glass covering, or chose another book from the shelves (with the help of another volunteer, of course).

We are enjoying this unusual volunteer's company as we go about our various duties. Sometimes, we find ourselves occasionally making a remark or directing a question to him.

We would also enjoy setting up a time for you to stop by and take a look at the collection. You may contact us through this blog or by calling 315-986-5932, Option 3.

NATIONAL DAY OF SERVICE AND REMEMBRANCE

Tomorrow we will pause to remember those who lost their lives in the attacks on September 11, 2001, and to give thanks for people like Nettie Bullis who reach out to their communities and individuals in need.

Miss Bullis quietly helped many people during her lifetime, and through her legacy she is continuing that service to others through various programs. Her response to such needs is an inspiration to the rest of us.

BACK TO SCHOOL

A list of 2009 school supplies may be longer than a list from the early 20th century, but it still includes some standard #2 pencils, which is what 15-year-old Charles R. Bullis probably used when he wrote this essay in 1906. And it also contains an element of that familiar assignment, “How I Spent My Summer Vacation.” We hope you enjoy it.

How I tried to make a Steam Engine

Last summer I was much interested in trying to make a little steam engine. I used a baking powder can cover fitted into a shoe blacking box which I intended to solder together for the boiler and a thirty two caliber cartridge in which I filed a hole near each end for the piston cylinder For the steam valve I found some solder which I melted and with much difficulty molde into the proper shape and filed smooth. I used a piece of a bicycle spoke with screwerheads on the end so that two pieces of metal could be screwed up together and hold packind to prevent steam leakage. The plug is the open end of the cartridge through which the piston rod passes I made of two pieces of lead one to screw into the other so as to hold packing. I molded the ballance wheel of lead and filed an exceentric on it but when I melted my remaining solder which I intended should hold the parts in place I fit it into the fire. I then tried babbit metal but it bubbled and was no good for so slender a casting and as I did not have any more time before school commenced I did not finish it. Sometime when I have time I will finish it and see if it will run. It is to have a safety valve but no governor.

Charles R. Bullis, A thursday lesson from page 14 in the rhetoric

Good

Save the date

On October 4, 2009, there will be an Open House at the Macedon Public Library celebrating the life of Miss Nettie Bullis, her historic family and her contributions to our community. So please save the date : October 4, 2009 4-6 PM. There will be more information to follow.

WOMEN'S EQUALITY

On August 26, 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed. Since that day, women have exercised their right to vote. Fifty-one years later August 26 was designated as Women's Equality Day to commemorate the passage of that Woman Suffrage Amendment.

Nettie Bullis was 27 years old in 1920. She began working for Gleason Works that same year, and held the position of Assistant Secretary of the Company at the time of her retirement in 1967. It was not common for a woman to advance to a high level of management in those days. This leads us to the conclusions that (1) Nettie Bullis was an extraordinary woman (which we already knew) and (2) the management at Gleason Works recognized early on the importance of equal opportunity, regardless of gender.

Nettie Bullis's father undoubtedly influenced his young daughter to think beyond traditional "women's work" when he allowed her to accompany him and take notes for his surveying projects. Both of her parents may also have encouraged her to read some of the books on great women from their collection. (Please see the list of books on the subject of women in our March 26, 2009 post entitled "Women's History Month.")

One other book in this collection that may have planted some seeds in Nettie Bullis's professional mind is THE LIFE AND WORK OF SUSAN B. ANTHONY F, by Ida Harper, published in 1899 by Bowen-Merrill in Indianapolis. And another document that Nettie Bullis may also have read with interest is ADDRESS TO LEGISLATURE OF NEW YORK, by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1854. (Unfortunately, this document was destroyed in the library fire eight years ago so it can't be accessed here, but it is available from other sources and worth taking the time to read.)

The achievements of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton influenced our whole country. Nettie Bullis's achievements and generosity benefit the women, men, and children of this community and county. We are grateful for all three of these women and others like them who furthered women's equality.

PICTURESQUE AMERICA

Windmill, opposite Detroit (page 545)







Open Volume 1 or 2 of PICTURESQUE AMERICA and take a pictorial-text tour of our country through their more than 700 pages.

These volumes are subtitled The Land We Live In, A Delineation by Pen and Pencil of the mountains, rivers, lakes, forests, water-falls, shores, canons, valleys, cities, and other picturesque features of our country with illustrations on Steel and Wood, by Eminent American Artists. They were published in New York by D. Appleton & Co. in 1872 and were edited by William Cullen Bryant.

Mr. Bryant wrote in the Preface: “It is the design of this publication entitled “PICTURESQUE AMERICA” to present full descriptions and elaborate pictorial delineations of the scenery characteristic of all the different parts of our country.” Looking through both volumes here in the Bullis Room convinced us that the descriptions truly are full and the pictorial delineations, elaborate.

These volumes are a "must see." We're hoping you'll stop by the next time you're in the library and take their tour.

(If you have thoughts or questions about any of our postings, we'd love to hear from you. Just click "comment" below.)

ANOTHER ART OF COMMUNICATION

Last week we turned our thoughts to written communication; this week, to oral communication.

How often do we take or make time to converse with someone? To have an indepth conversation about a specific topic. Or a rambling talk about this and that. Something more than a “How’s it going? Good. Yeah, things are okay with me, too. See ya” kind of chat. People who lived a century ago would not have been satisfied with that kind of exchange, for conversation was not only a way to communicate; it was a source of entertainment in their world void of radio and television.

Abram Bullis, Nettie’s father, must have been an avid conversationalist. Once his wife Josephine sent Abram to town to buy kerosene. He started talking to people downtown and returned home empty handed. Josephine sent him back and he again returned without the kerosene. He had gotten involved a second time in talking to people and forgotten his task! Now that is true conversation; being so caught up in talking, listening, and thinking about what was said that you put all other thoughts completely out of your mind.

Where did Nettie’s father get this gift of gab? Perhaps it was an inherited trait. Or perhaps he was motivated by books he had read. We’ve found two books on the shelves here in the Bullis Room on that topic. First, there’s THE ART OF EXTEMPORE SPEAKING: hints for the pulpit, the senate and the bar by Louis Bautain. It was published in 1898 and Abram may have purchased and read it. The other book, author William Elder’s PERISCOPICS: or, Current subjects extemporaneously treated, was published in 1854 and has a sticker on the inside front cover that reads, “Library of Abram R. Bullis.” When he read this collection of articles, we surmise that he paid special attention to a section that describes Frederick Douglas’s great speaking skills and took note of Mr. Douglas’s methods.

We’re adding both of these books to our reading list. Perhaps they will motivate us to take time for a real conversation now and then. They are on shelves W-1 and G-3, respectively.