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Sunday, May 28, 2006

BY SYDNEY SCHWARTZ

Copyright © 2006 Republican-American

WASHINGTON, Conn. — During the revolutionary years, colonists followed hand-painted wooden signs to small roadside taverns — where they would eat, relax and chat about war, politics and other news of the day.

General George Washington himself dined at "Squire Cogswell's" tavern on what is now Christian Street in May 1781.

On Saturday, residents gathered at a more-modern town center, Bryan Memorial Town Hall — to see re-creations of colonial tavern signs and learn more about revolutionary history from local artist Wendell Minor.

Minor's new book "Yankee Doodle America" chronicles colonial history from A to Z through colorful hand-painted signs, akin to what colonists would find along late-18th and early 19th century roads.

Minor painted hand-carved replicas of these signs to introduce readers to the common and less-well-known people, places and events that gave birth to the nation.

The book begins with A for "ACTS," such as the Stamp Act imposed on the American colonies by Great Britain, and ends with Z for "ELIZABETH ZANE," the 16-year-old sister of Patriot Col. Ebenezer Zane who risked her life to fetch more gun powder during battle.

"It's an alphabet genre book. It's a book on American Revolutionary War history. It's also exploring an early American art form," said Minor, who is originally from Illinois and has lived in town for 26 years.

Minor has illustrated just about every book cover for historian David McCullough and many other authors, including several children's history books. He decided to do this project after reading McCullough's "John Adams" and "1776" and chatting with the author about American history.

"A lot of Americans really don't know the true origins of our country," he said. "Especially children today."

He decided to use tavern signs as a teaching tool after viewing a collection at the Connecticut Historical Society. The ideas developed over morning coffees with former Shepaug Valley High School history teacher Dick Ayer at another local tavern, the Crossroads Cafe on the Green.

Minor said he discovered that Revolutionary taverns were just like a primitive CNN.

"A lot of people couldn't afford to buy newspaper, so if you wanted to know what was going on in your town, you went to your pub or you went to the inn and everybody would share the news of the day," he said.

Between 1750 and 1850, there were thousands of pubs and inns in Connecticut and tens of thousands throughout the colonies. The innkeeper was second only in importance to the local pastor.

But most inns were in private homes, so the only way to identify them was through the signs, he said.

The tavern signs were also the first form of art that allowed artists to make a living, Minor said. They were a precursor to modern-day advertising.

Minor created the signs as if they were painted in the 18th century. He used oil on wood and photographed them in three dimensions.

He finished the project last summer and dedicated it to Shepaug graduate Major Stephen C. Reich, who was killed last June while commanding a rescue operation in Afghanistan, and to "all Americans who serve their country to preserve our freedom."

"We have a very close community here," Minor said. "We all try to do what we can to help the community and people who have sacrificed their lives to preserve our country's freedom."

Minor said he realized while doing the project how many close calls there were in assuring American independence and freedom and what an amazing phenomenon the country is. He hopes the book will inspire children and adults to learn more, as well.

This weekend, he took his signs out of storage to show them to the public, along with copies of the book. Residents meandered through the Town Hall throughout the day Saturday to chat with Minor, who sat at a small table in front of his 27 colorful tavern signs. He'll be at the Cogswell Tavern today and back at Town Hall Monday.

Proceeds from sales until July 4 will go to the Stephen Reich Memorial Fund for the rebuilding of the bridge in Hidden Valley Preserve. July 4 was Reich's favorite holiday, Minor said.

"Artistically they're just beautiful," Stephen's mother Sue Reich said Saturday. "It's one thing to read history, but when you actually give it that visual, it makes it more pertinent."