Chop, Chop, Bobblehead

Ok, so it isn’t really a about public art, but as there is a lack of controversial stories this week relating to public art, I thought I would add this. Evidently two employees have quit their job over the New Hampshire Historical Society’s decision to sell Hannah Duston Bobbleheads.

So who is Hannah Duston ? Well in 1697, Hannah Duston was ripped from her home in Haverhill, Massachusetts by Abenaki Indians to an island in the Merrimack River in Concord. After being supposedly abused by the Indians she is said to have escaped by scalping members of the tribe. Bobblehead/scalping, I can see the conflict ! Especially as Hannah Dunston bobblehead is holding a hatchet (ouch!). Hmm tad insensitive I agree and not really appropriate for a historical society. Maybe the society should have done a Bobblehead of her sister, Elizabeth, who was convicted and hung for killing her illegitimate twin babies. As a point of interest Hannah is believed to be the first woman honored in the United States with a statue and now, the first woman scalper to be honored with a Bobblehead.