LONGYEAR MUSEUM
New Exhibit on Life and Work of Mary Baker Eddy
Longyear
Museum is a historical museum, open
to the public since the late 1930s. Its mission is to advance the understanding
of the life and work of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer, Founder and Leader of
Christian Science.
The founder of the Museum was Mary Beecher Longyear. Her
collection on the life history of Mary Baker Eddy and people associated with
her in the Christian Science movement forms the major part of the Museum’s
collections.
The Museum was originally housed in the Brookline,
Massachusetts, home of John M. and Mary
Beecher Longyear. It moved into its present building in Chestnut
Hill, Massachusetts, in 1999.
Many visitors begin their tour of Longyear in the
orientation theater, where they can watch a short introductory film about Mary
Baker Eddy. An audio guide is available for the major exhibit, Mary Baker Eddy: A Spiritual Journey.
This exhibit traces the major events of Mrs. Eddy’s life,
from her girlhood in rural New Hampshire
to her founding of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Her remarkable life history
– a story of courage and triumph against tremendous odds – engages interest and
respect, regardless of one’s religious background.
The Baker Family exhibit invites visitors to experience the
humor and genuine affection that characterized young Mary Baker’s family and
her early childhood spent in rural New Hampshire.
Through original letters, recorded by actors, Museum visitors can listen to
Mary’s parents and siblings share their feelings and concerns for each other
and their hopes for the future.
The Museum has in its collection some 150 portraits of
students and followers of Christian Science from its early history. Many of
these portraits were commissioned in the 1920s by the founder of the Museum,
Mary Beecher Longyear. A selection of these portraits hangs in the Longyear
Portrait Gallery.
A new temporary exhibit in the Portrait Gallery opened in
June 2006. Titled Imparting a fresh
impulse: Mary Baker Eddy teaches the class of 1898, this exhibit draws on
the Museum’s collections of art, artifacts, photographs, and reminiscences.
Cheryl Moneyhun, Assistant Director/Manager of Historical
Collections, provides background on the new exhibit:
Mary Baker Eddy began teaching individual students starting
in late 1866, soon after her discovery of Christian Science. She taught her
first class in 1870, and established her Massachusetts Metaphysical College in
1881. However, in 1889 she moved to Concord, New Hampshire, and closed the
college in order to meet the pressing needs of revising her textbook, Science and Health with Key to the
Scriptures, and putting the foundations of her church on a more sure
footing, not knowing when or if she would ever teach again.
Christian Science was still a very young religious movement,
just a little over twenty years since the discovery, but rapidly gaining
momentum. In March 1897, its founder, Mrs. Eddy, who had become increasingly
concerned over the quality and accuracy of Christian Science teaching in the Field,
suspended all teaching for one year. She had published Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896 only a month earlier, and felt the
new book could take the place of teaching that year. Its contents provided a
sort of impersonal teacher, providing practical instruction, counsel, and
genuine spiritual impetus, helping the reader to better understand the
Christian Science textbook. Meanwhile, she turned to divine direction for the
necessary next steps.
In 1898, Mrs. Eddy took significant actions for her church,
setting up higher levels of function and organization. And in November, she
decided to teach again. It would be the class of 1898, her last class, and an
event with far-reaching effects. Irving Tomlinson, a student in the class later
wrote in his book, Twelve Years with Mary
Baker Eddy, “The purpose of the gathering was not to teach the letter of
Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy said, for the members were supposed to possess
that knowledge. It was rather to spiritualize the Field, and she remarked to me
afterward that her work with that class changed the character of the entire Field.”
Longyear presents a full schedule
of programs and events at the Museum and, at other venues in the United
States. Longyear programs have been
presented in England
and Germany in
recent years. For a current list of activities, please visit www.longyear.org.
In addition to the Brookline
site, Longyear welcomes the public to six historic houses in which Mary Baker
Eddy once lived. In Massachusetts,
these houses are in Amesbury, Stoughton,
and Swampscott, and in New Hampshire,
they are in Concord, North
Groton, and Rumney.
Longyear Museum Press publishes
books relating to the Museum’s mission of advancing the understanding of Mrs.
Eddy and her life and work. And in the past several years, Longyear has
produced several films relating to the Museum’s mission and collections. The
most recent production is Remember the
Days of Old: Preserving the History of Christian Science.
Filmed at Longyear
Museum and at Longyear’s six
historic houses, this film includes rarely seen historic photos, artifacts from
the Museum’s collection, and dramatic vignettes. It tells the story of Mary
Beecher Longyear’s work in the early 1900s to found a museum dedicated to
collecting and preserving the history of Mrs. Eddy.
The film’s title is taken from Deuteronomy, where Moses’
words to his people are recorded: “Remember the days of old, consider the years
of many generations …
Mrs. Longyear echoed Moses’
sentiment when she wrote in her journal in 1918: “The most important thing in
the world at this time, it seems to me, is the preserving of the incidents and
authenticity of the history of the life of Mary Baker Eddy.”
All are welcome to learn more about the life and work of the
Discoverer, Founder and Leader of Christian Science at Longyear Museum.
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7/25/06
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