Oil portrait by Mrs. Matilda Cristadoro. Donated by Mrs. Janet F. Baker. Circa 1840. Pair portrait with Mr. Joseph Cristadoro of W. 22nd Street, Manhattan. Oil on canvas mid 1800s. He was a well known hair cutter from Palermo, Italy, and connoisseur of the fine arts. Donated by Mrs. Janet F. Baker in memory of her sister Beatrice Cristadoro.
Keira Regan
Meet Keira Regan, the 2024-25 Garden City Historical Society’s (TGCHS) Robert David Lion Gardiner Young Scholar Grant recipient. Over the past year, Keira worked with the Historical Society to assist with the researching and cataloguing of our collection – garments, furnishings/décor, and archives. Remember: the TGCHS building is not only used for meetings and events but is also a working Museum.
Specifically, Keira’s project was to:
undertake a physical inventory of our collection on the first floor,
research each item, specifically checking for provenance (i.e., developing a record of the ownership of a work of art or antique, used as a guide for authenticity),
photograph all items, and,
develop a book for the Front Parlor of the Museum.
Keira first started by helping in the final stages of our garment work and then in the initial stages of our collection. At this point, Keira has completed the Front Parlor Book, which will provide a useful blueprint and a standard for the cataloguing of the remaining public areas. This book will be available to visitors, allowing them to more fully appreciate our collection and its place in Garden City history. Eventually, our complete collection will be digitized.
As part of this project, Keira was also involved in the research into and cataloguing of our art collection. She was a natural fit, due to her interest in photography. Keira graduated from Garden City High School and is headed to Binghamton University. For three consecutive years, Keira has won TGCHS Children’s Art Show awards for her outstanding photographic entries. In addition, she had been a volunteer within the Exchange, the consignment shop in the lower level of the TGCHS Museum, for almost two years.
The Gardiner Foundation has been an exceptional partner in TGCHS endeavors. With thanks to the Gardiner Foundation, TGCHS Director Kate Schmidt, our archive collection and garment volunteers, and especially Keira, we have made great progress in securing Garden City history and making it available to the public. We are pleased that Keira is the third such Young Scholar we have had at The Garden City Historical Society. In fact, we have received an additional grant for 2025-2026 to continue this important project.
Thank you, Keira! And thank you to the Gardiner Foundation!
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