Dirt Road Life

Soft and mellow, the images of our foreparents in this exhibit present life through a genteel amber glow. Others are stark, almost haunting.  The frank stares of our predecessors who pose with stolid dignity by weathered clapboard buildings and local landmarks—a few recognizable and still standing and virtually unchanged—portray a hard life, the challenges of which, by today’s standards, are hard to imagine.  But while dour faces and frayed edges suggest a life devoid of pleasure, numerous photos reveal happy times on bicycles, pony carts and sleds, and suggest a simplicity of lifestyle and excitement for the development of a new nation.

In this exhibit an extensive collection of vintage photographs provided by CCHS and Red Rock Historical Society that document what life was like along these dirt roads a century ago are complemented and contrasted with local high school students’ photos of contemporary winter scenes along Chatham’s unpaved network of roads.   The students’ photographs, curated by nationally celebrated photographer Paul Lange, are drawn from a body of work that is the brainchild of Ichabod Crane art teacher Sandy Dwileski.  Dwileski saw an artistic opportunity—winter road scapes rich in subtle hues, shadow contrasts and complex compositions—and set about organizing an outing with her advanced photography class to follow the system of roads mapped by the Chatham Dirt Road Coalition and photograph the journey.  

Join us for this celebration of the history of our community and the heritage of our dirt roads!