HAMILTON WOOD TYPE MUSEUM - Key Persons
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- Vice President / Principal and Founder, ATSPIN Consulting
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- Member / Two Rivers City Council President
Dan's comprehensive knowledge and experience have already proven instrumental to the museum. With a strong background in facility management, Dan emerged from early retirement to oversee the museum's building and grounds, establish safety requirements and manage repairs and renovations. Dan served the local YMCA as Property Director for more than 7 years.
Darius Wells of New York invented the means for mass producing letters in 1827, and published the first known wood type catalog in 1828. In the preface to his first wood type catalog, Wells outlined the advantages of wood type. Wood type was half the cost of metal type, and when prepared by machine it had smooth, even surfaces, where the possibility of unequal cooling caused large lead type to distort.
Up until that time, the usual procedure was to draw the letter on wood, or paper which was pasted to the wood, and then cut around the letter with a knife or graver, gouging out the parts to be left blank. Wells, however, introduced a basic invention, the lateral router, that allowed for greater control when cutting type and decreased the time it took to cut each letter.
In 1834, William Leavenworth made his contribution to the wood type industry with the introduction of the pantograph to the manufacturing process. He adapted the pantograph to the Wells router, and the combination formed the basic machinery required for making wood type on a production basis.
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- Member / President, Two Rivers Historical Society
Ebenezer Webb, who had purchased Leavenworth's operation in early 1839, entered into a partnership with Darius Wells later that year, and became the successor to Wells' operation in 1854. Webb died in 1864 and his entire inventory of wood type was bought by Hebert Wells, youngest son of Darius. This company was eventually sold to Hamilton Mfg Co in late 1899.
Edwin Allen, son of a cabinetmaker, set up shop in South Windham, Connecticut in 1836. Interested in developing the equipment and machinery of production, Allen developed a pantograph-router method of cutting type independently of Leavenworth when he came upon some crudely cut type in a local print shop. By the early 1840s Allen was producing type in such quantities that he began looking for new markets, and expanding his production to include Allen's Education Tables, and later to the manufacturing of wooden spools.
Jeffrey is an AmeriCorps member serving at Hamilton. He helps recruit volunteers, catalog donated magazines and books, organize the library on the second floor, and give museum tours as a docent. His work and presenting on volunteering has helped the museum grow and expand.
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- Artist
- FRONT DESK ASSISTANT
Jen is a multimedia artist with a 20-year background in marketing and writing. At the museum she greets visitors, works in the store, helps with marketing and exhibits, and does typecutting and Collections cataloging as needed. Jen received her MFA in welding and glassblowing from the UW-Madison.
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- MASTER PRINTER & COLLECTIONS OFFICER
Jim runs letterpress workshops, archives the collection and maintains the museum on a daily basis. Previously he had volunteered at Hamilton and donated presses and equipment from his Green Bay, Wisconsin, printing firm, Moran's Quality Print Shop, where he worked as apprentice, pressman, partner and owner with his father and grandfather for over 35 years.
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- DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
- FINANCE
Joe is a graduate of UW Oshkosh with a BFA degree in art education. He is passionate about the arts as he is the co-founder of the Spirit of the Rivers Monument project, was the Education Director at the Rahr West Art Museum and was a K-12 art teacher. A husband, father of four and new grandfather, Joe enjoys spending time with his family, especially if it involves outdoor activities such as fishing and camping.
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- Member / Director, Book Arts Program, the University of Utah
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- Member Emeritus / Associate Professor, Indiana University Bloomington - Retired
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- ADMINISTRATIVE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Peter directs operations, policymaking, planning, development, and staffing for the museum. Before arriving in Two Rivers, he had been the Executive Director at the Channel Islands Maritime Museum in Oxnard CA.
Peter has over 30 years of museum experience in administration, leadership, and exhibits for museums with art-based missions and holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Organizational Change.
Stephanie is a graphic designer, letterpress printer, and book artist. At the museum she teaches letterpress and bookmaking workshops, serves as in-house printer, directs social media and the website, coordinates interns, and arranges event and conference organization. She is a graduate of the graphic design masters program at Indiana University.
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- President / Director, Silver Buckle Press, UW Madison - Retired
William Page, after working with John Cooley, started out with the equipment he bought from the Bill brothers in 1856, and founded Page & Bassett. During the Civil War, Page perfected his equipment, eventually developed a method of stamping or die-cutting type in the late 1880's, and became the leading manufacturer of wood type. Page sold his business to Hamilton in 1891 to focus his energies on his steam heating business.