The Littles of Cogswell’s Grant

Bertram K. and Nina Fletcher Little were collectors, preservationists and experts in the fields of folk art and decorative arts, active from the 1930s to the 1980s. Join Cogswell's Grant site manager, Kristen Weiss of Historic New England as she explores the history of these two renowned collectors.

Cost is $10 for Museum members / $15 nonmembers (includes Museum admission). Registration required; please call (978)283-0455 x10 or register online at Eventbrite.

For more information email info@capeannmuseum.org. 

The Littles hosted gatherings of collectors' clubs, such as the Rushlight Club (for collectors of early American lighting fixtures), the China Students Club and the Walpole Society at their family summer home in Essex, MA, known as Cogswell’s Grant. Bertram Little was the corresponding secretary of Historic New England (then th

e Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities) from 1947-1970, and as early as 1962 the Littles declared their intention to give Cogswell's Grant to Historic New England.

Kristen Weiss is the site manager of Cogswell's Grant, a Historic New England museum in Essex, MA and previously worked in the American Decorative Arts department at the Peabody Essex Museum. She has developed multiple tours and lectures on Bert and Nina Fletcher Little's home and folk art collections, including portraits, boxes, ceramics and paint decoration. With an undergraduate degree in History and graduate work in Museum Studies and in Preservation Studies, Kristen has been working with museum collections and historic houses for over twenty years.

Offered in conjunction with the special exhibition, Rock Bound: Painting the American Scene on Cape Ann and Along the Shore.

The Museum is deeply grateful to the lenders to the exhibition and
to the following individuals and businesses:

Mary Craven   |   Margaret Pearson   |   John Rando   |   Arthur Ryan