Photo: Steve Desroches
Provincetown’s History Told Through Artifacts
by Steve Desroches
Provincetown loves a character. Butchie. Popeye. Freddie. Phat Francis. Jan Kelly on her poinsettia-covered bicycle. The Hurdy Gurdy Man. The Lemonade Girl. Lady Di on WOMR. The eccentric poet Harry Kemp who dressed in a long flowing black cape and got a street named after him. About 20 years ago there was a guy who dressed as a giant lobster, for unknown reasons, who was arrested on Commercial Street for marijuana possession back when such a thing was illegal. When he appeared in Orleans District Court—dressed in his crustacean outfit—he asked if he could get his “lobster pot” back, as it was for medicinal purposes. The judge tried to hide a giggle and then under his breath said “Only in Provincetown.” He then denied his request.
You can become a local celebrity just by being yourself, as long as it’s authentic and unlike anyone else. There is a very long list of characters over the 300-plus years of Provincetown history, but one really left a mark on the heart of the town: Ellie.
At age 72, Ellie moved to Provincetown in 2003 to come out as transgender after a life as a conservative evangelical minister and undergoing an exorcism to remove the “demons” causing her gender dysphoria. She’d always dreamed of being a performer, and as such, she hit Commercial Street pulling a wagon with a speaker singing all over town often landing in front of Town Hall. Her positive spirit, gentle ways, and show business pizazz won over townies and tourists alike. She was so revered that when Provincetown Town Hall reopened in 2010 after extensive renovations Ellie was asked to open the rededication ceremony with a rendition of the classic tune “It’s Impossible,” a nod to the Herculean size of the project just completed. Ellie died in 2011 at the age of 79, just weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The town was devastated. But her memory lives on in many ways, including this shell sculpture, which had been sold at the Shell Shop and is now part of the permanent collection at the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum.
