Honoring Hannah Penn and Other News

In the April program preview we listed a temporary exhibit at the State Museum of Pennsylvania (open through April 28) featuring Hannah Penn and highlighting her role as the first woman to govern Pennsylvania. At the opening ceremony, Governor Tom Corbett launched a year-long effort to study and honor Hannah, second wife of Pennsylvania founder William Penn, and shed light on her legacy for all Pennsylvanians. First Lady Susan Corbett will lead a team comprised of the PHMC (including the State Museum and Pennsbury Manor), the Capitol Preservation Committee, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the Pennsylvania Commission for Women. One component of this will be the Hannah Penn Leadership Award Program, administered by the Pennsylvania Commission for Women (nominations will be accepted through the end of 2013, with the first awards presented in March, 2014).

You can also learn about Hannah Penn’s life and family by visiting Pennsbury Manor, where she is featured in the visitor center exhibit and tours of the manor house and outbuildings.

Hannah Penn as depicted in visitor center exhibit at Pennsbury Manor (photo by AKF)

A groundbreaking ceremony for the expanded visitor center and museum building at the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum has been scheduled for Monday, April 22, at 10:00 a.m. Representatives of PHMC and the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum Associates (PALMA) will be joined by elected officials and community leaders to celebrate the start of this project. The expansion will not quite double the square footage of the building, providing new exhibition space, a community room, and a fully accessible front entrance (you can read a bit more about it here in local news coverage). The spring antiques and collectibles show will be held off-site tomorrow (go here for more info), but the annual Bark Peelers Convention will still take place on the museum grounds, July 6-7.

Niagara crew members work on up-rigging the ship (via Facebook)

Archivists from all over the east coast will be visiting Erie later this month for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, and folks from the Trails of History will be helping to welcome them. The Erie Maritime Museum and Flagship Niagara will host a reception for attendees one evening. Linda Bolla, Erie Maritime Museum, and Susan Beates, Drake Well Museum, will participate in a panel discussion on “Erie’s Oil, Maritime, and Art Heritage,” and Senior Captain Walter Rybka will present a luncheon talk, “What Do Ships Have to Teach?” I’d say we’re well represented.

More news and highlights next week!