Name/Title
SetteeEntry/Object ID
95-9-361Description
Settee, leather. Oak Frame with black leather upholstery, tuffed on the back. 3' 8" x 2'3" x 2'2". Used in Old Coupeville City HallContext
"JJ collected the settee for ICHS from the old Coupeville City Hall and Library. The building was located on the water side of Front Street near the tavern. I think the stairs in that area are built on the foundation piers.
After the businesses and post office moved from Front Street in the late 1950s, Front Street went quiet, the City moved a building into town from Fort Casey and placed it across from the old courthouse and moved the city hall there, no library. JJ and others worked with Sno-Isle later to add a library in half of the building.
The mayor, a contractor, Ralph Ward, I think, and maybe the Council, decided to tear down the building on Front Street. I do not recall the details, but JJ was the default collections manager, curator, secretary and sometime president and archivist among other roles for ICHS. Her house was the default storage area for larger and some small artifacts and records for a couple of decades. She learned of the plan to tear down the building and knew about the settee and decided to retrieve it for the collection. She did not drive and had no car, so, as usual she recruited me to walk down the hill from our house to get the settee, which we did. I was essentially glued to her hip much of the first couple of decades of my life, so it did not seem unusual, but was a little memorable - I am carrying furniture 5 or 6 blocks.
I do not recall the year, but I was young, maybe 8?? Which means 1960? Anyway, we walked back up the hill with the artifact, one of us on each end. Typical JJ in action. She quickly replaced the seat with some non-leather material, I think, and it sat in her dining room for the next 15 years or so and was part of the furniture, but was acknowledged to belong to ICHS. We did sit on it often."
Information from Ken House, Jimmie Jean Cook's nephew.Lexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
SetteeNomenclature Primary Object Term
SofaNomenclature Sub-Class
Seating FurnitureNomenclature Class
FurnitureNomenclature Category
Category 02: Furnishings