“Them that calls on me must come with good hearts, tender feelings, speak the truth to my face and behind my back, but gross sinners must keep away. Strive for the love of God in your hearts.” —Nancy Luce, 1865
Nancy Luce Day is coming up at Martha’s Vineyard Museum on Friday, August 23. It’s a day that we hope you will join us for, as we celebrate the heart of her days here on earth. Nancy could have very well succumbed to any number of things during her life, but she bravely, persistently, and with great strength, pushed through. Challenges, abuses — not even unthinkable cruelty could stop her from living an interesting and self-made life that continues to inspire us. She is an icon for those who choose to exist on the fringe of mainstream society.
In 1865, people could be as awful as they can be today, and because they couldn’t control her, take her land, or force her to do anything, they tried to scare her and sabotage her peaceful little world. These are stories you may have heard before, but they bear repeating. School kids would come to her home to jeer at her and call her names. Knowing of her ailments and the pain loud noise would cause, people would bang on pots and pans outside her door. Some would put what Nancy Luce called “cow dressing” in her entryway and close the door on it. Yet she turned all this horrible treatment, and the community that created the mischaracterization, into a successful business. She created her own booklets, and sold them to tourists. Each one was handwritten, and embellished with drawings from her own imagination. Her heart was in everything she did. Chickens were at the center of her life. That’s why she is remembered as “The Chicken Lady of Martha’s Vineyard.”
Nancy Luce reminds us to be kind and lead with our heart. It takes courage to be different, and it’s never constructive to bully someone just to raise yourself above them. MVM keeps stories like Nancy’s protected because they’re ours, and we must learn from them. We can see from Nancy’s life that brutish behavior is never a good idea, and we need to look at ourselves first before we beat on someone else’s spirit.
Nancy Luce Day will be celebrated from the time we open at 10 am to closing at 5 pm. Our education team will host all-day drop-in activities, including crafts, poetry writing, and interactive play. You even have a chance to dress up and snap your portrait in Nancy Luce style. It’s an entire day to explore the life and legacy of an extraordinary Islander through creativity and fun. Children and adults alike will thoroughly enjoy tomorrow’s MVM goings-on. To top it off, we’ll have a beautiful Nancy Luce Heart T shirt available in our Museum Shoppe as well.
Nancy Luce Day is just one way the museum demonstrates our mission to discover, receive, and preserve stories that inspire.
Wampanoag elder Linda Coombs holds the history of a culture almost lost. She will give a talk on Saturday afternoon, August 24, at 5 pm, called “In Tune With the Earth: A Conversation with Linda Coombs.” She will talk about traditional Wampanoag culture and its relationship with the land and everything around them.
Alfred Eisenstaedt, who you might not know until you reference the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square photograph celebrating the end of World War II, and then we say, “Oh yeah!” This great photographer spent most of his summers on the Vineyard, and thankfully, we have an exhibit that shows the Vineyard through his own words and his lens, going on through August 25 in our Adele H. Waggaman Community Gallery.
On that Sunday, August 25 at 4 pm, there will be a final chance to tour the exhibit with close friends and colleagues — Delores Littles, Alison Shaw, Chris Morse, and Mark Alan Lovewell — and listen to them “Remembering Eisenstaedt” during a panel discussion to precede the tour.
Every day is a wonder at MVM, for kids, adults, and elders to discover, study, and remember. The more we understand about others, the more empathetic we can be, and that can lead to more peaceful neighborhoods. MVM is grateful for your participation as we redefine what it means to be a museum in today’s day and age, searching for the stories that tell a more complete truth, and represent a larger faction of those privy.
Visit mvmuseum.org for more information about upcoming exhibitions and events. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday year-round. Summer-season hours: Tuesday, 10 am – 7 pm, Wednesday through Sunday, 10 am – 5 pm. Admission is free to members; admission for nonmembers is $18 for adults, $15 for seniors, $5 for children 7 to 17, and free for children 6 and under. Islander rates are available.
