Exhibits exhibits exhibits

Exhibits have been a recurring topic on Trailheads this summer, but that’s because there’s so much news to report.

On Tuesday, Sept. 18, as part of their annual meeting and dinner, the Friends of Joseph Priestley House will premiere “The Joseph Priestley Timeline” exhibit in the Pond Building. The new panel exhibit (shown in tiny size above) complements the Priestley laboratory exhibit that opened last year. It provides a detailed look at Priestley’s life, including his contributions to science, education, theology, and political theory. The kicker? One of those contributions is the development of the modern timeline as a visual representation of history. How “meta” is that?

(If you’d like to learn more, the Priestley House website features an article, “Joseph Priestley: the Man Who Drew Time,” by Stephen Boyd Davis, head of the Art and Design Research Institute at Middlesex Univ., UK. The article, which originally appeared in the Friends of JPH Spring 2011 newsletter, includes photos of Priestley’s published timelines. An online search will also turn up lots of fascinating, geeky stuff about timelines and graphic representations of information.)

PHMC/Scranton Iron Furnaces

Now through Nov. 16, you can check out “The Lackawanna Iron Furnaces of Scranton, Pennsylvania: History, Art, Heritage.” Organized and hosted by the Hope Horn Gallery at the Univ. of Scranton, the exhibit is in honor of the 21st anniversary of the Scranton Iron Furnaces’ listing on the National Register of Historic Places and is part of the gallery’s 2012-13 “Landmarks and Milestones” series. The exhibit uses paintings, photographs, maps, and drawings to explore different aspects of the furnaces’ history and significance to the region. Gallery hours are Sunday through Friday, noon-4 p.m. (also Wednesday evenings, 6-8 p.m.). For information on upcoming programs at the Furnaces or the Anthracite Heritage Museum, click here.

Univ. of Pittsburgh at Titusville students (in yellow and red shirts)
help clean exhibit components at Drake Well Museum
photo by Brenda Reigle

As part of their new student orientation in August, members of the University of Pittsburgh at Titusville freshman class perform several hours of community service at sites throughout the area. Those who chose Drake Well this year assisted the curator and other museum staff with cleaning the newly installed exhibit components in preparation for the grand opening on Aug. 26. (We featured the opening of the new exhibit here and have shared photos of the installation in progress on PHMC’s Flickr photostream over the summer.)

As it wraps up its days on the road, the PA Civil War Road Show will cross the Mason-Dixon line this weekend to join Virginia’s Civil War 150 HistoryMobile in commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam (Sept. 17, 1862, outside of Sharpsburg, Maryland). The two travelling exhibits will be open to the public Friday, Sept. 14, through Monday, Sept. 17. For more information, click here. When the PA Road Show completes its 2012 season at the end of the month (remaining schedule is here), some of the components will be installed at the State Museum so that they will continue to help visitors learn about Pennsylvania’s role in the Civil War.