The Marion Natural History Museum has been educating and exciting the imaginations of youngster and oldsters since 1867. Mrs. Elizabeth Taber’s generosity is still evident today especially in her beloved Marion, where she gifted the town with a glorious library that also houses a museum on the second floor. (The building is fully handicapped accessible with an elevator located on the first floor.)
Taber purchased 10 acres from Captain Allen along Spring Street and had a library erected with the second floor dedicated to the display of materials from the natural world. Taber’s own collections of insects, shells and corals was latter added to with collections donated by the New Bedford Young Men’s Natural History Society in 1874. Another collection containing birds’ nests and eggs was purchased for the royal sum of $100 in 1891. Today many rare and interesting objects are still on display in cases donated by Taber.
Elizabeth Leidhold, MNHM’s director, has been at the helm guiding the museum’s programming for many years. As the headline notes on its website, the museum is, “creating interest, knowledge and awareness of natural history.” As for Leidhold, she takes her job seriously and with joy.
But in today’s world it’s no small task keeping a distracted public engaged. Museum directors must remain vigilant keeping an eye focused on the needs of the community. And like many small communities in the Commonwealth, Marion is an aging community.
With a more-senior population in mind, the museum has launched a series of Wednesday morning presentations geared to a more-mature audience. On February 26, Leidhold hosted the “Butterfly Man”, Joe Dwelly.
Dwelly’s hour-long presentation was filled with all things macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera – aka, butterflies.
Dwelly discussed butterfly characteristics for such beauties as the Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Monarch, Spice Bush Swallowtail, Black Swallowtail, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, American Copper, and American Lady. Beyond merely displaying vivid images of one of the most breathtaking species of insects on the plant, Dwelly talked about gardening.
Empathizing the importance of planting native flowering bushes and flowers to attract the butterflies to suburban landscapes, Dwelly also shared that some butterflies “over-winter.” In the northeast, they spin a cocoon around their bodies and hide in leaf piles, or slip under tree bark or house shingles protected from winter weather. To protect the hibernating butterflies, Dwelly suggested not raking up leaves or cleaning garden beds until late spring to give the butterflies an opportunity to awaken. He advised which types of plants to introduce into home gardens, such plants as narrow-leaved mountain mint, Queen Anne’s Lace, milkweed, and a variety of herbs.
Dwelly’s photographs, many of which he has taken, showed a thrilling array of wing designs and colored patterns that puts stained glass to shame. Only in nature would we find wings that appear like soft fur coats, edged with ivory lace, and dotted with ruby gemstones. It’s interesting to note here that most butterflies have wings that are different from top and bottom. This allows the insects to maintain their glorious coloring from above, while possibly not attracting as much detection from below.
In tandem with this presentation, the museum scheduled a March 4, 10:30 am presentation on wildflowers, just in time to start planting a pollinating garden for butterflies. To learn more about native plants, visit www.nativeplanttrust.org, www.grownativemass.org or www.nanaps.org.
To learn more about butterflies, like Joe Dwelly on Facebook. For more information regarding the Marion Natural History Museum, visit www.marionmuseum.org.
Marion Natural History Museum
By Marilou Newell