Roundup April 2013

If you read Trailheads with any regularity, you know what a “roundup” is. If you don’t, well, it won’t take you long to figure it out. Where would I be without Facebook?

Offering visitors a behind-the-scenes peek at museum work (via Facebook)

Making a virtue of necessity, folks at the Pennsylvania Military Museum recently turned an object cleaning task into an informal gallery talk and instructional video. Using an example being prepped at the museum, educator Joe Horvath instructs collections technician John McFarland and viewers on proper cleaning and maintenance procedures (which were developed by professional conservators). You can watch it here on PMM’s Facebook page. “Like” their page if you want to catch additional installments of these behind-the-scenes videos, keep current on museum events and programs, or meet some of the people (past and present) who work at the museum.

You can make a virtual visit to Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum on a "Sunday Morning in March" (click here). A real visit is even better. We had a post back in July about Landis Valley’s exhibit on the Lancaster Long Rifle. On April 8, the exhibit will be honored with an Institutional Award of Merit by PA Museums, the statewide association for museums and historical organizations. There is still time to see the exhibit, as its run has been extended through June 10. (If you’ve already visited “The Golden Age of an American Art Form: The Lancaster Long Rifle,” please click here to take our survey.)

The winter cover is off and US Brig Niagara is getting ready for another sailing season. (Check out photos of Cover Day here.) This summer, the ship and her crew will visit all five Great Lakes and participate in a bicentennial reenactment of the Battle of Lake Erie (coverage from CNN here in which they refer to Niagara as "the big daddy of this battle"). Find her sailing schedule here, or check the Erie Maritime Museum website for news about Tall Ships Erie 2013, a festival of sailing ships scheduled for September 5-8.

Joseph Priestley House has reopened for the season with several new exhibits highlighting Dr. Priestley’s scientific work (his microscope and reproduction glassware for his laboratory) and archaeological excavations at the site. You can read more about it and see photos on their website here.

Susan Yanick Zoshak, Eckley resident who worked as an extra in The Molly Maguires,
shared by her great-granddaughter on Eckley’s Facebook page

 

The Facebook page for Eckley Miners’ Village is a great place to see photos from the site’s past. They’ve been sharing photos from the Greater Hazleton Historical Society (for example, scenes from the movie set of The Molly Maguires), and people with family history to the town have been sharing their own photos (Suzanne Smith shared the photo above, along with a couple of others). You can explore it here.

That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend.