Welcoming New Citizens at Pennsbury Manor

Looking for something to do this weekend? Check out the July program listings and enjoy.

As you may have heard, this year we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of Pennsbury Manor as a historic site. The reconstruction of the Manor House began in the 1930s and the site opened to the public in 1939. Today (July 18) at 10:30 am some 50 people from many different nations will become United States citizens in a ceremony held in front of the Manor House. Congratulations to our new fellow Americans and to the folks at Pennsbury for hosting this meaningful event, as well as the many other events scheduled during this anniversary year to celebrate William Penn's legacy and the Penn family's American home. @PHMC will be live-tweeting the citizenship ceremony (even if you don't catch it live, you can get the details afterward).

The Manor House at Pennsbury Manor

In other news (thanks to sites for sharing on Facebook)...

The Pennsylvania Military Museum, in the lead-up to their "Vietnam Revisited" program this weekend, has been featuring Medal of Honor awardees from Pennsylvania on their Facebook page. A nice tribute, I think. And I'll add a reminder here that all Trails of History sites are participating in the Blue Star Museums program this summer; in fact, we offer free admission to active duty military and their families year-round.

Cornwall Iron Furnace was recently voted Best Historic Attraction in the Lebanon Daily News 2014 Best of the Lebanon Valley list. If I'm not mistaken, they were similarly honored in last year's voting as well. Congratulations to all. You might want to mark your calendars for the August 8 Blast! event in order to see this wonderful site for yourself (or visit it again if you've been there before).

In preparation for their 1940s Weekend (July 26-27), some volunteers at Eckley Miners' Village received some well-timed dance instruction to be "in the mood" (sorry, that one's mine) for Saturday night's Swing Dance. A & M Ballroom Dance guided them through some steps and will be on hand for the dance. Eckley posted a few photos on Facebook. For details on the weekend activities or a bit of info on the 1940s in the anthracite region, visit Eckley's website.

The collections and buildings at Ephrata Cloister have received some good news coverage this past week or so, with the acquisition of a business ledger associated with the community and some interesting graffiti and possibly original paint color found on the Academy building. On top of that, the site has gotten some attention for its summer tour options, with Student Historians, staff, and volunteers providing visitors with more opportunities to explore the history of the site.

Classic cars at Old Economy Village for "An American Celebration"

And I'll wrap this up with a couple of items related to Old Economy Village. Last weekend's program, "An American Celebration," featured a day of activities, live music performances, and classic cars. (OEV's Facebook page has photos to give you a flavor of the event.) Yesterday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had an article spotlighting OEV's curator, Sarah Buffington, her interest in clothing and reenacting, and her work at the site (there's still time to catch the Harmonist clothing exhibit, "A Style of Their Own," before it closes on August 10).

I hope you have a great weekend!