Kerr museum, in a 115-year-old house, celebrates first decade
Volunteers at a 115-year-old house in Oakmont plan to celebrate its 10th anniversary as a museum on June 23.
The Kerr Memorial Museum plans to mark its first decade with a family social, music, games and other events.
Dr. Thomas Kerr, a physician in Oakmont, commissioned the house at 402 Delaware Ave. in 1897 and lived there with his wife, Jessie, and daughter, Virginia, according Joan Stewart, a museum volunteer and Oakmont resident.
He operated a doctor's office out of the home until his wife gave birth. When their daughter was born, the family added a small building on the property, which now is used as the museum's administrative office, said Janet Shoop, an Oakmont resident and a member of the museum's board of directors.
The doctor died in 1931, which left his wife and daughter living together in the house.
Jessie Kerr died in 1952, and Virginia Kerr was the sole occupant of the home.
Virginia Kerr became an English teacher in Oakmont, where she taught for 42 years. She lived in the house her entire life.
When she died in 1994, she willed the house to the Borough of Oakmont.
"There was no endowment. We just had a lovely old home and all of its contents," Stewart said. "The house is a good example of the Queen Anne Victorian style of architecture, but it took a while to determine what we'd do with it."
Borough officials discussed using the house as the home of the Oakmont Historical Society but eventually decided to restore it nearly to its original state.
During her tenure in the house, Virginia Kerr did not remodel it or make significant changes to it, Stewart said.
The borough completed some restorations to the house over the course of two or three years using grant money. The work stayed true to the era of 1890 to 1910, Stewart said.
The restoration included installing wallpaper and refinishing and reinforcing the floors. Virginia Kerr's lack of remodeling made the task easier, Stewart said.
Stewart said the borough didn't attempt to recreate the Kerr's home; instead officials worked to make the home true to the period and the middle-class lifestyle in which Kerr family lived.
"They didn't do a whole lot to renovate it, so it was easy to take it back to its original glory," Stewart said. "We wanted to make it similar to what it would have been like at the turn of the century.
"This is not a house to show people how the Kerr family lived, but it's a good representation of the 1890 to 1910 period."
The Kerr Memorial Museum opened in 2002 and offers tours led by docents in historically accurate garb, Stewart said.
The house has 14 rooms, including five in the basement.
Stewart said the basement stands as a point of pride for the Kerr Memorial Museum because that area is not open to the public in most historical house museums. Instead, it often is used for storage, she said.
The Kerr Memorial Museum's basement features root and coal cellars, along with a laundry area and bathroom for the Kerr family's maid, Daisy.
"The basement gives you an idea of how they really lived, and it's where a lot of the work of the house was done," Stewart said.
The tour also features a formal dining room, sitting rooms, bedrooms, a nursery and Dr. Kerr's office.
Museum organizers turned one of the bedrooms into an exhibit room, which has displays that change about six times a year, Shoop said.
Last month, it featured 19th-century christening gowns, children's clothing and photographs.
Last summer, the museum featured Victorian wedding gowns and other items.
"We want things that are interesting and representative of the time period," Shoop said. "We want to add items that make the story more interesting."
Most historical homes and landmarks showcase how the upper and lower classes lived, but, Shoop said, the Kerrs' middle-class lifestyle might be what draws visitors to the museum.
"We know about the coal miners and steelworkers, and those who worked in the hard areas and had difficult times, and about the millionaires," she said. "There was a middle class, and this is representative of that."
The Borough of Oakmont owns the Kerr Memorial Museum, and dedicates a portion of its annual municipal budget to fund its utilities, and volunteers run the day-to-day operations, Shoop said.
The volunteers organize a few fundraisers throughout the year, including an annual antiques show at the Oakmont Country Club, Shoop said.
The museum allows its docents to tell the story of how people lived in a simpler time, Shoop said, which draws people in from throughout the tri-state region.
"Our reach goes way beyond Oakmont, and that's what is exciting," Shoop said. "If the museum brings people to Oakmont, that's a good thing for the entire community."
