PICTURING THE PAST AT MILLS MANSION GREENHOUSE COMPLEX

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1 PICTURING THE PAST AT MILLS MANSION GREENHOUSE COMPLEX Mary Gregorie Burns The title "Picturing the Past" derives from comparing a photograph of the present-day Mills Mansion landscape to a 1920s photograph that includes the now-absent greenhouses. The historic photo (Figure 1) was taken by an unknown photographer positioned to the southeast of the Greenhouse Complex. The prominent building in the picture is the Rose House at the southern end of the Upper C luster of greenhou es. Figure 2 shows the landscape as it appears today. Figure 1. Mills Mansion Greenhouse Complex viewed from the southeast. Photo from 1920s. Photographer unknown. (Courtesy of the New York State Office of Parks. Recreation and Historic Preservation-Taconic Region.) Figure 2. Present-day landscape, viewed from the southeast to where former Mills Mansion Greenhouse Complex was situated. (Photograph by Mary Bums.) Picturing the Past 75

2 Background Comparative photography serves at least two purposes for historical archaeology: it gives definition to an area for archaeological testing,and it helps the public understand how the current appearance of a site relates to the way it looked in an earlier period. Since the advent of photography in the mid-nineteenth century, there has been an opportunity for very specific and direct before-and-after comparisons; a notable example is the battlegrounds of the American Civil War, which were extensively photographed. To look at a site as it exists today, and then to compare it, as explicitly as possible, with a rendering of the site in an earlier era, can tell us much about architectural, landscape, and botanical fashion. Comparison can also provide information about the natural processes of botanical succession and landform alteration, including human-induced changes to the landform. For general information, the comparison of before and after can be casual. In a hypothetical example, a tree on a ridge at Gettysburg has grown since it was photographed in 1863, but it is still there today and can give the observer a sense of where a certain action took place. If, however, the scene is the village of Harper's Ferry and the purpose is to locate the foundation of a house that is no longer there, the project is no longer a casual one. It requires that the present landscape be accurately aligned with that in the historic photograph so that the building's location within the landscape becomes evident (Prince 1988). This latter situation exists at Mills Mansion with regard to the Greenhouse Complex. If we wish to convey to visitors the extent and style of the greenhouses, we can show them a three-dimensional model created as a result of our archaeological findings (Figure 3). Or we may show visitors the 1920s photographs of the Figure 3. Model of Mills Mansion Greenhouse Complex, created with aid of archaeological information. (Courtesy of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation-Taconic Region.) 76 The Hudson Valley Regional Review

3 greenhouses (see this Lindner, Figure 1; Majovski, Figure 3; Foster, Figures 2 and 2). If we wish to show visitors the present greenhouse landscape from the same perspective as the photograph from the 1920s in Figure 1, then mounting the historic photo on an interpretive display in the field will provide such an orientation. If we wish, however, to give visitors a sense of the Greenhouse Complex in precise comparison to the present landscape, then a technique of superimposing the historic image on the present view from the same location is in order. Method for Superimposition A method for superimposition is described in detail by Gene Prince (1988). Deetz (1996) offers a synopsis. Below is an outline of the idea. A transparency is made of an historic photo and then placed against the focusing screen of an appropriate single-lens reflex camera-namely, one that has a removable focusing screen and a zoom lens. The photographer, looking through the camera, sees the existing scene through the historic image. Then, moving around the location, the photographer would look for the precise location from which the historic image was shot by identifying and bringing "into alignment as many landmarks as possible that are in both the present scene and the historic photo. When the shutter is triggered, the current scene is registered on the film in exact relation to the earlier scene. Now current and historic photos can be used for comparative purposes. Implied in Gene Prince's system is the thought that images may later be combined for a composite of the current scene with what could be called 'the ghost of landscape past.' Prince's (1988) primary objective is to provide accurate placements for the benefit of history and archaeology: he specifies that while the camera is set up, the site can be surveyed and measuring devices, including people, can move in and out of the scene to locate features. He also suggests leaving the overlay-equipped camera in place so that visitors can view the scene with the historic elements included. This is an appealing idea, but considering the impracticality of having a camera station fixed on a site, the use of combined pictures on an interpretive display or in printed materials seems more practical. Certainly, the camera station is of great value in locating elements on a potential archaeological site, but when the site is already generally known, as is the case at Mills Mansion, the real object is interpretation. Picturing the Past 77

4 An Alternative Technique Not everyone has the appropriate single-lens reflex camera and the lenses required for the technique Prince describes. I did not. However, my objective was interpretation: to give visitors an idea of what the site would look like if the greenhouses were still in place, I improvised on Prince's idea; instead of superimposing images in order to inform archaeology as Prince proposes, I used archaeology to inform my project of superimposing photographs. To accomplish this, I walked around the property southeast of the Greenhouse Complex until I could situate myself as near as possible to the shooting position of the 1920s photographer. After noting my location, I proceeded to the place where the former greenhouses had been and flagged the southeast and southwest comers of the Ro e House. (The comers of the greenhouses are known because of archaeological probing during the first season of fieldwork.) The comers were used as reference points in aligning a new photograph with the same points in the historic image. Resuming my shooting position and armed with a panoramic camera, I took several pictures of the landscape; Figure 2 shows the best shot. Using a computer and scanner, I transferred the historic and the contemporary photos to a disk and, with Adobe Photos hop 5.0, I superimposed one on the other. I had hoped there would be landmarks in the current scene that were also visible in the historic photograph and that the landmarks could be aligned. Unfortunately, the historic image is of rather poor quality and, except for the terraces, few matches can be made. Moreover, the present-day terraces are somewhat eroded and are no longer as well defined as in the 1920s photo. The same trees and shrubs are not growing today. There is a set of steps in the current photo that I believe may be in the historic photo. Furthermore, in the historic photo, there appear to be other steps that may be represented as a remnant in the current scene. Once I had the computerized photos aligned as much as possible, I removed the background from the older, black-and-white photo, leaving the greenhouses positioned in the current landscape (Figure 4). I also left some small plants from the older picture as a point of reference in the foreground. The result does not offer the precision of Prince's (1988) through-the-lens technique, but suffices for current interpretation. 78 The Hudson Valley Regional Review

5 Figure 4. Composite photograph shows former Mills Mansion Greenhouse Complex superimposed on present-day landscape. (Photograph by Mary Bums.) Conclusion We are fortunate that so many wonderful private estates in the Hudson Valley have passed into public ownership and accessibility; as stewards of that inheritance we have an obligation to give visitors the fullest possible understanding of how life was lived here. We made considerable progress in the archaeological investigation of the Greenhouse Complex. A challenge now before us is to use materials such as the superimposition of photographs to extend the interpretation of the site. References Cited Deetz, ] In Small Things Forgotten: An Archaeology of Early American Life. Revised and Expanded. Doubleday: New York. Prince, G "Photography for discovery and scale by superimposing old photographs on the present-day scene." Antiquity, 62: Picturing the Past 79