The McFaddin-Ward House

A Historic Home in Beaumont, Texas

Sister, don't give up the land. They are not making land anymore.
W.P.H. McFaddin

Sign Up for Etiquette Class Today!

Manners Matter Etiquette Class

If you don’t think minding your manners is important these days, think again! The McFaddins were well known for their hospitality, graciousness, and the way they conducted themselves in public. The good news is, you don’t have to be a McFaddin to know good etiquette. In this class, we’ll teach you proper table conversation and manners, introductions, and how to dress to impress. Having these skills will help you go far!

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Visitor Center at 1906 Calder in Beaumont

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Ages: 10 – 14

Cost $25 per person (cash or check only)

Registration deadline is Thursday, July 6

Download and print the registration form below. Return with payment by mail or in person to

McFaddin-Ward House Offices

725 N. Third St.

Beaumont, TX 77701

For more information, call 832-1906 of email: srostrom@mcfaddin-ward.org

Etiquette Registration Form

 

2017 Summer Camp Registration Begins TODAY

Thoroughly Modern McFaddins

Our summer camp for kids is back this year July 25th-27th. This year’s theme centers around the “latest” technology available to the McFaddins after they moved into their home in 1905.

Join us as we learn about the “modern” conveniences of cooking on a wood stove, riding a horse and buggy, keeping cool without air-conditioning, and more!

The details:
–Campers must be between the ages of 8 and 12.
–Camp is Tuesday, July 25th, Wednesday, July 26th, and Thursday, July 27th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day.
–Campers must bring their own lunch each day.
–Registration fees are $20 per camper (cash or check only).
–Registration is limited to 24 campers.

This camp is popular and fills up fast!

BOTH of these forms must be completed and returned by mail or in person to our business office at 725 N. Third Street, Beaumont, TX 77701. We are open 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.  Online registration is not available. Cash or check only please.

Download BOTH forms here:

2017 Registration Form

Permission Form

For questions or more information, please call (409) 832-1906 or email srostrom@mcfaddin-ward.org.

2017 Summer Camp Registration Begins May 1st

Our summer camp for kids is back for another year! Scheduled for July 25th-27th, this year’s theme, “Thoroughly Modern McFaddins” centers around the latest technology, methods, and devices available to the McFaddins when they started building their home in 1905.

Join us as we learn about the “modern” conveniences of cooking on a wood stove, riding a horse and buggy, keeping cool without air-conditioning, and more!

The details:
–Campers must be between the ages of 8 and 12.
–Camp is Tuesday, July 25th, Wednesday, July 26th, and Thursday, July 27th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day.
–Campers must bring their own lunch each day.
–Registration fees are $20 per camper (cash or check only).
–Registration is limited to 24 campers. This camp is popular and fills up fast!

The forms for registration will be available to download on our website on May 1st, or you can pick them up at our offices starting the first day of registration (located at 725 N. Third Street in Beaumont). Registration forms can be sent by mail or dropped off in person. Online registration is not available. Cash or check only please.

Please note: Registration DOES NOT BEGIN until Monday, May 1st.
Any registrations received before May 1st will not be accepted. 

For questions or more information, please call (409) 832-1906 or email srostrom@mcfaddin-ward.org.

 

 

 

Wanted: Summer Intern for 2017

2017 Summer Internship Opportunity

The McFaddin-Ward House, an AAM accredited historic house museum in Beaumont, Texas, is offering a paid summer internship in its collections and education department. Built 1905-1906, the Beaux-Arts Colonial mansion was the home of Mamie McFaddin Ward, who left the house as a historic house museum in 1982. The museum, which opened in 1986, ranges over three city blocks and includes the main house, a carriage house, a visitor center, an administrative office, and a collections office building.

 

Position Summary:  The intern will gain experience in all areas of a historic house museum and will spend hands-on time in collections, archives, education, and public relations.

 

Duties May Include:

Collections management:  Organizing, cataloging and digitizing archives and photographs, research, data management, storage upgrades for museum collection, object photography, environmental monitoring, taking inventory.

 

Interpretation/ Education:  Assist with Summer Camp and junior interpreter training.  Investigate and develop onsite and outreach programming for other groups. Inventory and organize teaching collection.

 

Public Relations:  Assist with marketing and promotion of museum activities, including press releases, social media, blogging, and media appearances.

 

Qualifications:  Applicant must have a strong interest in pursuing a career in any or all aspects of museum work, including archives, museum collections, interpretation, and education. Ability to do precise and detail-oriented work, as well as knowledge of proper museum artifact handling and computer literacy, are required. A bachelor’s degree, or coursework, training, or equivalent experience in museums studies, museum education, history, art history or art education is preferred. Interns must provide their own housing and their own transportation.

 

Employment Period:  Ten (10) weeks at 40 hours per week, with a $2,900 stipend (taxes will be withheld). Flexible work dates between May and September. Office staff is willing to assist with necessary paperwork for interns to obtain course credit.

 

Deadline for Submission:  Thursday, March 30, 2017

 

How to apply:  Submit a cover letter and current resume, including the contact information of three references, by mail, email, or FAX to:

 

McFaddin-Ward House

725 Third Street

Beaumont, Texas 77701

P: (409) 832-1906

F: (409) 832-3483

Email: jlinsley@mcfaddin-ward.org

 

McFaddin-Ward House Rolls Out New Season

The McFaddin-Ward House doesn’t mess around when it comes to funky ideas for its Lecture Series. The 2017 Season includes programs with subjects ranging from bad art to antique guns.

“We like to keep our programs fresh and exciting for the public,” says museum director, Allen Lea. “Once we conceive the idea of what might be interesting, we go for the best person in that field; at least, the best we can afford.”

Outreach to those who might never visit a museum is part of the McFaddin-Ward House education strategy. “Many people only think museums are boring. We want them to leave here having a nice dose of art, history, culture, or liturature and not even realize it!” says Lea.

This will be the second year the McFaddin-Ward House has offered its extensive lecture program, one almost every month of the year. The lectures are always free with an occasional reception that follows.

If this year’s Lecture Series has a theme, it is probably “how weird can one museum be?” No doubt, you will see some doozies at the McFaddin-Ward House. The Museum of Bad Art Art, for example, boasts a provocative collection called “art so bad it shouldn’t be ignored”. Or how about The Purse Museum? Some will collect anything that appeals to a few who represent almost nobody.

At least one lecture is sure to grab your attention this year, so check our website and facebook page often and sign up for our mailings.

The McFaddin-Ward House 2017 Lecture Series (to date)

January 12 – Coastal Cowboys and Cattle Trails: They Pointed Them East First

February 9 – The Museum of Bad Art: Art Too Bad to Be Ignored

March 9 – From Page to Stage: An Evening with Jamie Brickhouse, novelist

April 13 – The Purse Museum: Women. History. Purses. Art.

May 11 – The Bryan Museum : The West as it Will  Never be Seen Again

June 8 – The Mutter Museum: Modifying the Body

September 14 – Photographer Jack Knox: Ghost Towns, Gas Stations, and a 20 foot Cowboy 

*October 18 – Life in a Jar: the Irena Sendler Project

November 9 – NRA Gun Museum

*tentative date

 

 

 

 

 

 

McFaddin-Ward House Features Film Documentary

The Pastel Poet Rides of the Texas Plains Rides Again

The McFaddin-Ward House takes its 2016 Lecture Series on the road this month with a film documentary about forgotten artist Frank Reaugh. Experts consider Reaugh (prounounced Ray) to be one of Western art’s most prolific; his works number more than 7,000, yet when he died, most people had never heard of him. The Texas art scene has recently renewed its interest in Reaugh, largely due to a recent film documentary about his life and works. “Frank Reaugh: Pastel Poet of the Texas Plains” pays tribute to a great artist and teacher. Its producer, Marla Fields, will be on hand August 18th to discuss her film at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas. The McFaddin-Ward House is proud to be sharing the event at the larger venue.

“We anticipate a large crowd for this particular lecture,” McFaddin-Ward House Museum Director, Allen Lea said. “The Art Museum is lovely and will create the perfect atmosphere for this wonderful screening.”

An Artist Unknown

Frank Reaugh produced thousands of vivid pastels of the Texas Plains. Unlike other painters, though, he focused on animals rather than cowboys. Each summer he would bring a group of students on “Sketch Trips” to far west Texas and teach them his methods. Many call him the “Dean of Texas Painters”.

“What’s remarkable about Frank Reaugh is that very few of us knew what’s remarkable about him,” critic and novelist Michael Ennis remarks in Fields’ documentary. Now, we’re beginning to, again.

He was still working into his late 70s, but by then the art world had passed him by.

“People forgot him before he was ever done painting,” art collector Bill Cheek said.

How could artists forget someone so talented, creative and giving? That’s what filmmaker Fields wanted to know after reading an article about him. “In his final days he became a ward of the city, and that just struck me,” she said. “I just couldn’t believe he wasn’t more well-known.”

A former radio DJ in Temple and Paris (Texas) and now a freelance video producer living in Frisco, she set out to learn all she could about him. Her superb documentary, five years in the making, reintroduces Reaugh to art lovers and to his fellow Texans.

Learn more at http://marlfields.com/frandreaugh

Glitter and Gleam: Selections from our Reserve Collection

Current Visitor Center Exhibit

Bar PinsPearls.1IMG_8652

Ida Caldwell McFaddin and her daughter Mamie McFaddin-Ward inherited certain fashion accessories, but they also followed the trends of their respective times. Clothing and accessories from 1880 to 1919 are shown in the exhibit as well as those from 1920 to 1959. Though made of various precious materials, all are shining examples of jewelry from the turn of the 20th Century.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Odom Academy Visits Museum

Kids on PorchLense focusColor my worldHat thangFritz n kidsLemonsHats off to youShow and tellButlers Pantry

More than 250 Odom Academy students descended
by the busloads on the McFaddin-Ward House this month. The middle schoolers were here for an annual visit and a Texas History lesson on the early 1900’s. The morning included a stage play about a day in the life of the McFaddins, tours of the house, an art lesson, and several docent-led demonstrations of the family kitchen, house chores, Mamie’s school room, and childhood games. Close to 30 docents and staff were on hand to host the event which covered a three-day period.

Antiques Road Show Expert to Speak Here

If you love antiques at the McFaddin-Ward House, chances are you’ve heard of Antiques Road Show. Items in our collection would be dream-finds on the popular PBS Series where Average Joes and Janes rustle up antiques and collectibles for a televised appraisal. From garage sales to grandpa’s attic, it’s an array of everything from the beautiful to unusual. Sometimes, they hit it big.

One popular appraiser on the show is David Lackey, a Houston antique and art dealer, collector, and expert. In addition to creating his own art, Mr. Lackey owns an antique store in Houston. The McFaddin-Ward House has invited Lackey to speak at a free lecture in May.

David Lackey “grew up” in the antique business so-to-speak. On his sixth birthday, someone gave little David an antique penny bank in the shape of a house. This simple gift ignited David’s passion for collecting old objects, and he began to shop with his parents at flea-markets and garage sales. By the age of 12, he was selling at weekend antiques fairs and to other dealers who appreciated his keen eye for quality items.

After graduating from Baylor University, David worked as a buyer for Foley’s Department Store, although he continued to sell collectibles on weekends. He sold china and crystal he’d bought at estate sales, and pretty soon, David became known as a local expert in ceramics and glass.

By 1983 David Lackey was dealing antiques on a full-time basis, but he longed to further his knowledge. Two years later, he liquidated his business and enrolled in an intensive year-long course at Christie’s Fine Arts in London. David returned to Houston in 1986 and re-opened his business which flourished.

Ten years later, along came Antiques Roadshow. In the first season, David was asked to appraise pottery and porcelain for a filming in San Antonio, Texas. His appraisal aired on the show and David was invited to other venues. Since 1998, David has appraised at every Antiques Roadshow filming and traveled to over 100 cities.

David Lackey’s lecture on Antiques, Porcelain, Pottery, and Glass will be held Thursday May 12th at the McFaddin-Ward Visitor Center, located at 1906 Calder in Beaumont. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. The lecture starts at 6:30. The lecture is free, but seating is limited to the first 90 people who arrive.

 

 

April 16 Secret Tour is No Longer Secret

We had no sooner announced the April 16th Secret Tour than it filled to capacity! This specialty tour is growing by leaps and bounds in interest and popularity. It seems everybody wants a peek behind Mamie’s curtains! The best way to be a part of it is to sign up for the email announcements. You will be notified several weeks in advance of the tour, and we will take the first six people who respond and pay. Limit 3 people per party. Please send your request to be placed on the list to Karen Chapman in our Public Relations Department: kchapman@mcfaddin-ward.org

Good luck and good secrets!

Who Rode the Orphan Train?

Between 1854 and 1929 over 250,000 orphans and unwanted children were taken out of New York City and given away at train stations across America. This nearly eighty year experiment in child migration is filled with horror stories and happy endings. The trains Orphan Train websitestopped in pre-selected towns where people interested in taking a child would assemble. Children not chosen were put back on the train and many were shuttled from family to family and town to town. Until the release of a 1993 documentary on PBS’s The American Experience, these children’s stories were largely untold.

The 2016 McFaddin-Ward House Lecture Series proudly presents Phil Lancaster, musician/presenter of “Riders of the Orphan Train”, the official outreach program for the National Orphan Train Complex. Please join us at 6:30 p.m. March 3 as Mr. Lancaster brings this subject Orphan Lecturer Phototo public awareness through artistic performance and extends what has become a personal passion to touch people concerned about this profound human experience.

As always, there is no cost for our reception and presentation which will be held at the McFaddin-Ward House Visitor Center, 1906 Calder, Beaumont. The public is invited to attend.

 

 

 

Popular Historic Home Director Comes to McFaddin-Ward House

DanHartman(headshot)Dan Hartman says he is defined by three main passions: he loves Duluth, he loves public policy, and he loves history.

Hartman also knows how to transform a museum.

The historian/city councilman is best known for bringing the state’s most popular museum into the 21st century. At the Glensheen House, the red velvet ropes are gone, 80-year-olds stand next to 20-year-olds enjoying drinks and music at museum events. And they are allowed to take pictures inside the house for the first time in 35 years.

Director Dan Hartman understands the debate of preserving history while engaging the public, but he says the old ways weren’t working. “We have to find new, creative ways to start bringing people back,” he said.

The Glensheen Museum’s attendance has risen dramatically since Hartman came on board.

“There are many folks who have lived in the city for a long period of time who have never been here. And frankly we haven’t given them a lot of excuses to do that.” Hartman said. Glensheen has also launched several personalized tours including an evening flashlight tour of the mansion, and a behind-the-scenes “nooks and crannies.

Dan Hartman will be guest speaker at the McFaddin-Ward House’s upcoming Free Lecture on February 18, 2016. The event is free and open to the public and includes a reception following the event.

For more information, go to our Events Page on this website or call 409-832-1906.