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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (July 31, 2019)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL | WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2019 | 9A Coat from A1 Upon arriving in New York, she quickly married her fiancé – while still wearing the coat. Considered her “lucky coat,” Woolcott later cut strips of fabric from it to make Bible covers for her three sons as they served overseas in the military during World War II. As a testament to the coat’s lucky charm, all three sons returned home safely. Woolcott lived the rest of her life in the Cottage Grove area. After her pass- ing on July 4, 1965, at age 80, her coat and blanket were donated to the Cot- tage Grove Museum by her oldest son. Another Journey Though an item of local note, the coat has remained in Cottage Grove for about four decades in the all-vol- unteer museum’s care with- out much attention from larger historical entities. In 2017, word of the coat’s existence made its way down to California when museum improve- ments made press in the Register-Guard. Venice re- called someone from the Ronald Reagan Presiden- tial Library asking to in- clude the coat in their own exhibition. It was the first time the little museum had consid- ered loaning out the coat. “We hemmed and hawed about it,” Venice said, “whether we should let it go and whether it was going to be safe and wheth- er they were going to take proper care of it.” The museum board fi- nally decided to give the coat some well-deserved publicity. Boxed in an ac- id-free container and spe- cial wrapping tissue, Ven- ice and museum volunteer Cathy Bellavita took it upon themselves to drive the coat down to the Cali- fornia library. Venice admitted to some nervousness on the trip down. “I was thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t want anything to happen to this thing — especially under our care,’” she said. As per its “lucky” mon- iker, the coat made it safe- ly to the library where the exhibition, “Titanic,” made use of a 10,000-square-foot area to display hundreds of original artifacts along- side movie set pieces from the James Cameron film. The library estimated more than 300,000 visitors came through the exhibit during its six-month display. The library returned the coat by courier early in 2018, including an archi- vally-appropriate glass dis- play case, which Venice es- covery by Robert Ballard. Amid displayed stories of heroism and tragedy, Woolcott’s coat stood in the middle. “Our coat was the cen- ter of that whole area,” said Venice. The exhibit ran from June 2018 through the end of the year, though Venice could not guess how many visitors the coat received compared to its library ex- hibition. “I would think more,” she said. “It’s a very popular museum.” When the coat came back in February this year, it came with another man- nequin as well as a payment of $1,200. “In retrospect we were thinking we should have asked for more,” laughed Venice. With the items the coat has picked up in its trav- els, the current display at the Cottage Grove Muse- DAMIEN SHERWOOD/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL um provides a first-rate Marion Wright Woolcott’s coat is now displayed with a museum-quality display improvement from its old case and information board as a result of its exhibitions. glass case and bulletin board. “It wasn’t museum quali- timated to be worth $2,000, low, had heard about the laughed Venice. and a mannequin. coat and expressed interest The museum board re- ty,” said Venice of the previ- Before there was time to in borrowing it for another linquished the coat again ous display. “Now it’s a real put the coat back on dis- exhibition, going as far as and Hiebert flew back with upgrade.” The exhibit also includes play, however, another in- to gift the museum with a the coat in its acid-free box quiry came in — this time framed photo taken of the to Washington, D.C for dis- a display case with a con- from National Geographic. Titanic’s bow when it was play in the exhibit “Titanic: temporary Boston Globe newspaper headline of the While in Eugene for a found in the 1980s. The Untold Story.” conference, Dr. Fredrik “He was really trying The exhibit revealed the Titanic’s sinking and infor- Hiebert, archaeologist and to score points with us to long-classified story be- mation on the coat’s tour National Geographic Fel- get us to loan it to him,” hind the Titanic’s 1985 dis- through California and Washington, D.C. A new case and infor- mation board for Wool- cott’s blanket have also been built to match the coat’s upgraded display, telling the story of Wool- cott’s rescue by the Car- pathia. “We decided it needed a case of its own. And a sto- ry of its own,” said Venice. “It wasn’t up to standards to keep it preserved cor- rectly. The story has not really been told in an adequate way, we didn’t feel. We thought it really deserved an exhibit of its own.” Funds for the blanket display came from the State Historic Preserva- tion Office and the Faye and Lucille Stewart Foun- dation. The exhibit was also made possible by support from an Oregon Heritage Grant from the Oregon We have 2x12 Rough Cut Cedar for Heritage Commission. Raised Beds in stock! Museum exhibit con- sultants Chanin Santi- ago and Alice Parman along with Cottage Grove graphic designer and his- Open 7 days a week! torian Alice Christianson partnered with museum 79149 N. River Road staff and volunteers to create the exhibit. Because the Cottage Grove Museum’s name was included with the coat’s display during its travels, Venice is optimis- tic the item’s popularity will increase. “People have come here specifically to see it,” said Venice. “Hopefully word will get around that it is here in our museum.” Admission to the Aug. 10 opening, which is from 1 to 4 p.m., will be free FOREST & GARDEN EQUIPMENT and include light refresh- 79132 Hwy. 99 North ments. Cottage Grove Post a picture of your garden (vegetable, fruit or fl ower garden) on our Facebook page and earn the chance to WIN A $200 GIFT CERTIFICATE CONTEST RULES: Visit the Cottage Grove Sentinel Facebook page at https:// www. LANDSCAPE AND BUILDING MATERIALS facebook.com/pages/Cottage- Grove-Sentinel/ and upload a picture of 541-942-4664 your vegetable, fruit or fl ower garden to the photo album section of the page. In the comment space, describe what makes you so proud of your garden. The person who receives the most “likes” by August 7, 2019 will win the $200 in gift certifi cates valid at the participating businesses. The name of the winner will be posted on our Facebook page on August 14, 2019. Participants must be 18 years old or more. Previous winners, employees of this newspaper and participating businesses and their immediate family members are not eligible to participate in this contest. HORNERS INC. 942-5781 Public Notices The Lowest Rates in Lane County PUBLIC MEETINGS, TRUSTEE NOTICES, PROBATE, AUCTION & FORECLOSURE NOTICES, AND MORE. Published weekly in the Cottage Grove Sentinel and online at cgsentinel.com S entinel C ottage G rove Contact: Meg Fringer 541-942-3325 x1200 mfringer@cgsentinel.com
