Name/Title
Rocking chair, America, ca. 1900Entry/Object ID
2017.23Description
Made at an as-yet-unidentified furniture factory, this chair was sold by Margeson Brothers of Portsmouth and bears their stenciled label. More significantly, it was used at Rock Rest, a house at 167 Brave Boat Harbor Road in Kittery Point, Maine, now a landmark in the history of African American experience in the Seacoast area. Hazel and Clayton Sinclair of New York acquired this house in 1938 and began taking in guests during World War II. After expanding the house and renovating the garage, they operated Rock Rest from 1946 to 1977 as a summer retreat for an African American clientele, hosting as many as sixteen lodgers at a time. Rock Rest, like similar venues throughout the country, provided safe and congenial lodgings for Black Americans before legal and de facto segregation ended in the United States. Through the efforts of historian Valerie Cunningham and the Portsmouth /Black Heritage Trail, the Rock Rest archives are now permanently housed at the University of New Hampshire's Dimond Library. The site is featured in the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
Large Mission-style rocker, with removable slip seat, flat arms, each supported by two slats and a curved bracket, back with five slats, straight posts, and wide leather-covered crest rail; brass plaque attached to rear of crest rail " "ROCK REST" CHAIR / (KITTERY MAINE)- DONATED/BY/BOB SHOUSE/IN ORDER TO PRESERVE HISTORY/2014).
Illustrated in Four Centuries of Portsmouth Furniture, cat. 47Collection
Portsmouth Historical Society Curatorial CollectionAcquisition
Accession
2017.23Source or Donor
Shouse, RobertAcquisition Method
GiftCredit Line
Gift of Bob Shouse, 2014Dimensions
Height
42-1/4 inWidth
27-1/4 inDepth
33 inMaterials
Material
Oak, LeatherMaterial Notes
Oak; leather upholstery; replaced leather seat
