Hidden for years, stone tools are finally aired out at library

NAHANT – Some may have been in Nahant for 15,000 years.But only now can a collection of local stone tools be properly seen in a new permanent exhibit at the Nahant Public Library.”It was dark, overcrowded, artifacts were unlabeled or wrongly labeled ?” said Library Director and exhibit Curator Dan deStefano. “What used to stand and fill an entire floor of a house was crushed into four cabinets and displayed on wooden shelves. It was very difficult to see what the pieces were.”The exhibit displays part of what is known as the Otis Collection. Herbert “Bertie” Foster Otis established a museum in 1904 at his Willow Road home to display minerals and stone tools that he had collected in his extensive traveling, deStefano said.After his death in 1921, Otis’ widow donated the mineral collection to the library. In 1925, the “Indian Collection” was donated to the library and stored in four wooden cabinets placed in the side entrance hall.DeStefano said he remembers being intrigued by the collection when he first visited the library in the 1970s.”I probably spent 15 minutes pestering the old librarian,” he said. “I always said I really like to see somebody do a proper exhibit.”Last year, he persauded the library trustees to let him do just that.”I had always been curious as to what all those rocks were in the dark cabinet,” said Trustee John Welsh. “I thought it was a great idea to simplify the collection and explain everything. And it was also a way to open and lighten up the entrance way.”So deStefano sorted the collection to focus specifically on those pieces found either on Nahant or in the immediate area.He also redesigned the display, contributing his artistic skills to illustrate the exhibit with watercolor paintings and drawings.But he said the research was the most difficult and time-consuming task.First of all, the stone artifacts themselves offered only “an itty-bitty glimpse” into their purpose. All of the other materials – wood, bone, rawhide, cloth or other fibers, etc. – that comprised the other parts of the tools had disintegrated over the years.”It’s like you found an electric drill bit and have to reconstruct the rest of the drill,” deStefano said.But the research taught him a lot about the difference between perceptions of Native Americans at the turn of the 20th century compared with today.”Originally, people thought they hunted, took scalps and occasionally fished,” he said, explaining that this image was due to conflict with the western Native American tribes in the 19th century.But the tools in the Otis Collection revealed a much more diverse and adaptable Native American culture.Some of the tools were very specifically and carefully crafted and highly valued, deStefano said.One piece that dates back approximately 9,000 years, for instance, traveled to Nahant from a quarry in Arkansas, he said.On the other hand, some pieces were “one rock beat against the other really quickly,” he said.