In 1981, a group of determined preservationists, led by the Waterfront Historic Area League (WHALE), embarked on a mission to safeguard one of New Bedford's iconic historic properties: the Rotch-Jones-Duff house. The WHALE board approved the property purchase from Mrs. Duff for $150,000 (in today’s dollars, $520,298). The acquisition was met with widespread community support and marked the beginning of a new chapter for the house, transforming it from a private residence to a public-serving museum.

On January 4, 1985, the Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum was incorporated, and by March of the same year, ownership of the property was officially transferred to the newly established nonprofit organization. RJD trustees, volunteers and staff wasted no time, creating an exciting calendar of events and publishing a newsletter for the fledgling museum. This exhibition features covers of each newsletter published, from the RJD’s founding, to today. As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the RJD, we honor the dedication and vision of those who made it possible.

This exhibition was created with the help of volunteers Lauren Kavanagh, Mary Ellen Rogina, and Kennedy Silva.

NEWSLETTER HIGHLIGHTS

The RJD newsletter was called “The Record” from 1985 until the spring of 2011. Calendars were produced from summer 2011 until the spring of 2018 when the newsletter was redesigned to the format used today.

1985 

• The Garden Club of Buzzards Bay receives a $15,000 award for the Wildflower Walk garden. 

• A three-year campaign is begun to eliminate mortgage debt, restore the interior, restore the garden, expand collections, and begin an endowment.  

• Museum membership is over 400. 

• A restoration of The William Rotch Junior lodging room is started.  

• Celebrate the Season, a showcase of specialty shops, holiday greens, and entertainment, is held in the house.

1986 

• RJD obtains private nonprofit status from the IRS. 

• The Jones sideboard is donated by Dr. and Mrs. James Meath of Dublin New Hampshire. 

• Museum admission is $1.50. 

• The mortgage is paid off.

1987 

• November 21: the museum store opens. 

• A second staff member is hired as an administrative assistant for marketing, the museum store and long-range planning. 

1988 

• A four-post bed owned by Mrs. Marc M. Duff returns to her bedroom. 

• Over 1100 hours are donated by volunteers. 

1989 

• A portrait of Helen Rotch is donated by Sarah R. Delano. 

• A silver framed photo of Mark Duff is donated by Beatrice Duff Hirschlag.

• 120 attend the first concert in the garden.  

1990 

• The museum’s Annual Appeal raises $45,000. 

• RJD is on the New Bedford Preservation Society house tour. 

1991 

• The RJD newsletter is redesigned. 

• A restoration of Beatrice Duff’s bedroom is completed.

1992 

• A Mount Washington chandelier which belonged to Rotch descendant, Catherine Crapo Bullard, is donated.  

• Museum membership is 640.

1993 

• The original wallpaper of the parlor is reproduced by Waterhouse Wall Coverings in Boston.

• The parlor walls and ceiling are restored. 

• Museum membership is 802. 

1994 

• RJD is first considered for nomination as a National Historic Landmark. 

1995 

• The RJD monograph is designed by Maggie Duff. It is still used today!

• A summer exhibition features Portuguese craft, a lecture on Portuguese gardens, and a concert of Portuguese music. 

1996 

• 142 people participate in the James Arnold Garden symposium. 

• The south side of the house receives exterior painting, and protective UV window treatment.  

1997 

• The museum offers a garden lecture series each week for a month featuring prominent local gardeners sharing their expertise.

1998 

• Donated to the collection are a silver teapot belonging to Emma Jones, an original silhouette of William Rotch Junior, a framed engraving of the Rotch ship Maria, and a genealogical chart of the Rotch family lineage. 

1999 

• Architect Debbie Durland and AMC Construction replaces the decking on the south and east sides of the museum. 

• The museum holds Heirloom Discovery Day, a kind of “Antiques Roadshow”; more than 200 area bring family heirlooms to be appraised. 

2000 

• The original wood apiary is re-created to serve as an educational display for school programs. 

• A lift is installed, providing access from the lower level of the museum to the main floor of the building.   

2001 

• The board establishes a capital campaign, “building for the future “.  

2002

• A pencil drawing of William Rotch, Jr. by artist Edward Seager, 1842, is donated.

• The museum hosts a Smithsonian Institute exhibition: Exploring Garden Transformations. 

2003 

• The museum receives $50,000 in endowment funds from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

2004

• A major restoration of the south façade begins; the project addresses the deteriorated condition of the clapboards, windows and shutters. 

• Rotch family descendants raise a total of more than $370,000 for the Capital Campaign. 

2005 

• The official bronze plaque, recognizing the house as a National Historic Landmark is unveiled.  

2006 

• The coachman’s house is painted and receives a new roof.  

• 25 years ago on December 1, the documents that saved The RJD from commercial development were signed. 

2007 

• The First Unitarian Church transfers ownership of The Carpenter’s Son painting to the museum for $20,000.  

• Janice Hodgson completes the collections inventory of more than 1490 objects.  

• A portrait of Edward Coffin Jones’s mother-in-law, Hepsa Coffin Luce, is donated.  

2008 

• The Rotch exhibition opens in the former “lodging room” on the first floor, explaining the role of the Rotch family in New Bedford’s whaling industry. 

• A pair or portraits depicting Elizabeth Rotch Rodman and her husband, Samuel Rodman Sr., are gifted to The RJD from the private collection of Christopher M Weld, a Rotch and Rodman family descendent 

• The restored Carpenters Son painting is hung in the parlors. 

2009 

• RJD volunteers form a “friends of The RJD” group to help members expand knowledge of New Bedford history and culture.  

2010 

• Geophysicists from Hagar geoscience in Woburn examine data about subterranean artifacts, looking for signs of old orchards, planting beds, pathways, outbuilding foundations, and reflecting ponds. The cost of the research is $90,000. 

• The eight-minute orientation (still used today) is produced. 

2011 

• Jones descendant, Jane Young, donates her grand piano, a 1911 “O” series Steinway. It is situated in the rear parlor where it stands today. 

2012 

• The Olmsted Center produces a landscape treatment plan for the museum property. The project is made possible in partnership with the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park and The Garden Club of Buzzards Bay. 

• The wooden fence around the property is completed. 

• $38,000 from the Massachusetts Cultural Council Cultural Facilities Fund is used for the perimeter fence, terraces and decking. 

2013  

• As part of a garden rehabilitation project, declining plant is removed, southeast quadrant was reconfigured to conform to its original design, the southwest lawn was graded, and the irrigation system is upgraded and expanded to accommodate new and existing plantings. 

2014  

• The Duff era reflecting pool is covered over to return the property to the Jones era. 

2015  

• Donated to the museum are four books owned and signed William J. Rotch and his son Willie, dated 1852, and a leather-bound copy of  The Poetical Works of Lord Byron inscribed with Helen Rotch’s signature. 

2016

• The museum offers a variety of public programs as highlighted in this calendar.
  
  

2017

• The museum receives a grant from Mass Humanities to underwrite research about abolitionism and activism of the people who lived and worked at 396 County Street and in this neighborhood. 

2018  

• Kate Corkum retires after 24 years as Executive Director. She leaves having brought two major improvements to the grounds:  a rose garden revitalization with all new irrigation, boxwoods, rose plants and gravel, and a re-roofing of the mansion, funded by a $68,000 grant and in-kind donations.

• Dawn Estabrooks Salerno assumes the position of Executive Director.

• The museum acquires a collection of 19th century documents including papers of William Rotch, Jr. and James Arnold. The most exciting of the journal records is one in William Rotch Jr.’s own hand, showing expenses for the construction of the County Street house.  

2019  

• A grant from the Community Preservation Act allows for the historic parapets on the mansion to be rebuilt as part of the reroofing project. The grant also pays for new copper gutters on the Coach house.  

• The RJD Newsletter is awarded first place in the New England Museum Association Publications Awards, newsletter category.

2020  

• On March 13, 2020, the Museum closes its doors per the governor’s mandate and due to the outbreak of Covid 19.  

• Sara Forbes, Jones family descendent, donates a collection of notebooks and handwritten letters from the members of the Jones family. 

2021 

• The Garden Club of Buzzards Bay begins redesigning the southeast quadrant of the garden to more accurately reflect the Jones era. 

• The Board of Trustees approves a new mission statement as part of its new five-year strategic plan. 

• The RJD receives a grant from the Community Preservation Act for $90,000 to paint the main house. Alexander Papo of Architectural Conservation Services does forensic work to discover the original color of the house. Painting is completed in November 2021.

2022

• Renovation of the greenhouse is completed, funded by GCBB member donations. Mark Ward, a greenhouse restoration specialist, supervises the project which includes new benches and shelves, new venting and fans, a new base for the vintage sink, and paint. 

• The new committee “NextGen” is formed to advise RJD on ways to engage millennials. 

2023

• “Home Is Where the Hearth Is” is installed, displaying a Jones era kitchen and highlighting eating and dining experiences of the 19th century.

• The museum receives a donation of piano sheet music: “Piano Classics” belonging to Jane S. Young, descendant of the Jones family.

2024

• An $11,000 grant from The Southcoast Community Foundation helps the Board of Trustees to define what equity looks like across all areas of board activity.

• Iron railings are restored and added across the garden and patio, thanks to funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Executive Directors of the Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum

 1984 - 1988 Susan Cline

   1989 – 1991 David E. Riley

    1992 -1994 Anne B. Brengle

 1995 – 2018 Kate Corkum

          2018 – Present Dawn Estabrooks Salerno