Waiting for March

Please check the PHMC Events Calendar if you're looking for virtual programs; I've highlighted some below. The Trailheads Rec Room to the right of your screen has all kinds of online offerings--great for when you need a break.

Photo of Hope Lodge via Facebook

This is your (and my) reminder that it's still winter, no matter how much we want it to be spring already. We had some lovely snow this week, and as always, Trails of History sites posted wintry beauty. Don't be fooled (I say to myself) by the warmer temps of midweek. It's a trap.

Although Black History Month is coming to a close, Black History as American History doesn't end. Pennsbury Manor posted about their garden planning this week and efforts to reflect the foodways brought to Pennsylvania by enslaved Africans and their descendants. See the post below about adding scotch bonnet peppers. Pennsbury has also shared what their research shows about some of the people enslaved at Pennsbury, including Peter, a gardener, and Chevalier, who lived at Pennsbury for many years, some of them as a free man.

Our gardener, Jessye, has been poring over seed catalogs planning the garden for this coming season and she has picked...

Posted by Pennsbury Manor on Monday, February 22, 2021

Earlier this week, the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum hosted a presentation by DCNR's Paul T. Fagley on African-American enrollees in the Civilian Conservation Corps. The presentation included film footage from Camp S-146 in Austin, PA, also known as Bark Shanty (CCC camps generally had names in addition to their numerical designations).

Here is a link to the historic CCC film footage from Co. 2336-C, Camp S-146, Austin PA, that was shown during last night...

Posted by Pennsylvania Lumber Museum on Thursday, February 25, 2021

For National Love Your Pet Day, Drake Well Museum and Park posted images from their collections that featured people and their pets.



Erie Maritime Museum and U.S. Brig Niagara educator Chuck Johnson posted an inaugural live tour of the museum's exhibit of the recreated hull of the U.S. Brig Lawrence. Staff on the Trails of History continue to try new things as they expand our virtual offerings.



SNEAK PREVIEW: PHMC will be celebrating Pennsylvania's birthday, Charter Day, online this year, from March 7-12. Next week's post will have more details. Trails of History sites will present the next edition of the PHMC Virtual Collections Showcase on Tuesday, March 9 at 7 pm, with the theme "birthdays and other celebrations." Registration for the Zoom event is open now (link to register).

Upcoming Virtual Events

Today, Feb. 26

• Workin' On the Railroad, program for children K-6th grades, Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, 10-11 am (tickets by donation, RMP info and registration)
• Learn at Lunchtime, learn about virtual school program options, The State Museum of Pennsylvania, 12:15-12:45 pm (SMP info and registration)

Sunday, Feb. 28

• America at War, discussion with Dr. Marc Blackburn about his military history podcast, Pennsylvania Military Museum, 2-3 pm (PMM info and registration)

Thursday, March 4

• Winter History Class, Week 5, Ephrata Cloister, 9 am-noon (fee charged, EC info and registration)
• Sea Shanty Session, Online Sail Training Program, Erie Maritime Museum and U.S. Brig Niagara, 7 pm (link to U.S. Brig Niagara Facebook page)

What Day Is It?

Please check the PHMC Events Calendar if you're looking for virtual programs; I've highlighted some below. The Trailheads Rec Room to the right of your screen has all kinds of online offerings--great for when you need a break.

This past week has offered a variety of opportunities for Trails of History sites to highlight items in their collections.

Black History Month

Erie Maritime Museum and U.S. Brig Niagara posted an image of Cyrus Tiffany's fife, which is part of the museum's collection. As museum educator Charles Johnson notes in a linked blog post, Cyrus Tiffany was one of a number of Black sailors who served in Oliver Hazard Perry's fleet during the Battle of Lake Erie.

In celebrating #BlackHistoryMonth, the Erie Maritime Museum is home to a unique artifact pertaining to the...

Posted by Erie Maritime Museum on Friday, February 12, 2021

The State Museum of Pennsylvania has been sharing posts about Black Pennsylvanians featured in their Trailblazers exhibit. Among them is Daisy Lampkin (1883-1965), a native of Reading who was active in women's suffrage and anti-lynching movements.

Born in Reading, Daisy Lampkin held a lifelong commitment to advancing the rights of women and African Americans. She...

Posted by The State Museum of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Valentine's Day

The PHMC Virtual Collections Showcase on Feb. 16 revolved around the theme of Love and Relationships. We hope to have the recording available in the next week or so. Keep an eye on the Showcase playlist on PHMC's YouTube channel. Spoiler alert: Old Economy Village won the night with a collection of coded love letters between two non-Harmonist members of the community. Our next Showcase will be March 9 at 7 pm with a theme of Birthdays and Other Celebrations, in honor of Pennsylvania's birthday, Charter Day.

Daniel Boone Homestead highlighted the heart-shaped holes in the barn gables on site, which served a practical purpose (ventilation) but may also reflect Pennsylvania German use of hearts as symbols of love, protection, and luck.

The Homestead "hearts" you! The heart shaped holes in the barn gables at Boone probably served as a ventilation for the...

Posted by Daniel Boone Homestead on Sunday, February 14, 2021

Presidents Day

Or more specifically, Lincoln's Birthday - PA Lumber Museum curator Josh Fox offered the latest installment of the hit series, "What chainsaw did that movie use?" Noting that Abraham Lincoln died about 80 years before chainsaws were widely available, Josh identifies the weapon wielded by the 16th President in the movie "Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter" (2012) as a Baltimore-Kentucky pattern axe. I'll take his word for it.

Happy Birthday to Abraham Lincoln!

Posted by Pennsylvania Lumber Museum on Friday, February 12, 2021

Upcoming Virtual Events

Today, Feb. 19

• "A Spirited Republic: Whiskey Distilling in PA," State Museum of PA, 12:15-12:45 pm (program info and registration)

Monday, Feb. 22

• "Power of Steam: Demo and Live Tour," Railroad Museum of PA, 10-11 am (RMP info and registration)

Tuesday, Feb. 23

• "The Country Store," Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum, 7-8 pm (LVM info and registration)

Wednesday, Feb. 24

• "African American CCC Camps in PA's State Forests and Parks," PA Lumber Museum, 7-8 pm (PLM info and registration)
• "Pioneer Steam Heritage Virtual Tour," Railroad Museum of PA, 7-8 pm (tour info and registration)

Thursday, Feb. 25

• "Winter History Class, Week 4," Ephrata Cloister, 9 am-noon (EC info and registration)
• "The Harmonist Articles of Agreement," Old Economy Village, 7-8 pm (OEV info and registration)

Marking Time

Please check the PHMC Events Calendar if you're looking for virtual programs for the long weekend and beyond. The Trailheads Rec Room to the right of your screen has all kinds of online offerings--great for when you're trying to stay warm.

Please join us on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 7 pm for the next edition of "What's in a theme? PHMC Virtual Collections Showcase." Staff from the Erie Maritime Museum, Hope Lodge, Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum, Old Economy Village, Pennsbury Manor, and the PA Lumber Museum will have five minutes to present and discuss objects from their collections that all relate to this month's theme, "Love and Relationships." Once all presentations are made and the Q&A is complete, the audience will get to vote on their favorite object (or the one they think best fits the theme). This will be the third installment of our new series (previous episodes live on PHMC's YouTube channel). You won't want to miss it.

In honor of Black History Month, the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum shared a post about artist C. Edgar Patience, whose work is in the museum's collection and has a prominent place in the main exhibit hall.

African American artist C. Edgar Patience sculpted the two pieces highlighted today, each from a single piece of...

Posted by Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum on Sunday, February 7, 2021

Pennsylvania's First Lady, Frances Wolf, has launched "One Lens: Sharing Our Common Views," a project to document Pennsylvanians' COVID-19 experiences through a statewide virtual photography exhibit. PHMC is a partner in the project. Submissions will be accepted through March 8 (more info on submitting an entry).

For the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Drake Well Museum and Park shared videos by geologist Kristin Carter, who serves as an advisor to Drake Well, and biologist Wendy Kedzierski, who volunteers at the site.

On this International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2021, we are observing the 6th year of this event. This day was...

Posted by Drake Well Museum and Park on Thursday, February 11, 2021

And the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum shared a DCNR post about botanist Chris F., who works for the Bureau of Forestry and is a friend to the Lumber Museum.

In addition to being a WomanInScience, she's also a friend of the museum... Thanks for helping to care for Pennsylvania's forests, Chris!

Posted by Pennsylvania Lumber Museum on Wednesday, February 10, 2021

For Inventors Day, The State Museum of Pennsylvania highlighted (among others) our own Dr. Joseph Priestley and his work with identifying and isolating gases such as oxygen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide.

#DYK February 11 is #InventorsDay? Did you know that #Pennsylvania has some famous #inventors? What does Pennsylvania...

Posted by The State Museum of Pennsylvania on Monday, February 8, 2021

Six More Weeks of Winter

Please check the PHMC Events Calendar if you're planning ahead. I've included some highlights below. The Trailheads Rec Room to the right of your screen has all kinds of online offerings--great for when you're trying to stay warm.

A stark, but beautiful, landscape at Pennsbury Manor (photo via Facebook)

So, before we could even start digging out from the latest snowstorm in southeastern PA (and elsewhere, of course), Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, predicting six more weeks of this...stuff. Great. Well, at least it looks pretty, as evidenced by these posts from the Trails of History.

The folks at Cornwall Iron Furnace have a lot of snow to clear. Even though our sites are closed to the public, there are staff members reporting for work on site to keep everything maintained and safe.

We are still clearing snow here at Cornwall Iron Furnace. Show us your snow photos!

Posted by Cornwall Iron Furnace on Thursday, February 4, 2021

Ephrata Cloister always looks beautiful in the snow!

The site looks beautiful covered in snow!

Posted by Historic Ephrata Cloister on Thursday, February 4, 2021

In addition to clearing snow for people, site staff also are on site when there are animals to take care of, such as here at Pennsbury Manor.

Our barnyard residents are enjoying our beautiful site in the snow! ❄

Posted by Pennsbury Manor on Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Bushy Run Battlefield is the closest Trails of History site to Punxsutawney (I think).

It’s official, six more weeks of winter ❄️ it was prognosticated this morning by our neighbor to the northeast Punxsutawney Phil. #groundhogday #punxsutawneyphil #bushyrunbattlefield

Posted by Bushy Run Battlefield on Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Upcoming virtual events

Friday, Feb. 5 and 12

• Learn at Lunchtime, The State Museum of Pennsylvania, 12:15-12:45 pm: today's (2/5) program is an artist conversation between fine arts curator Amy Hammond and photographer Ron Tarver (info and registration); next Friday (2/12), join Dr. Walter Meshaka, senior curator of zoology and botany, and nature educator Beth Erikson as they talk about how Pennsylvania's reptiles and amphibians survive winter (info and registration)

Thursday, Feb. 11

• Winter History Class (Week 2), Ephrata Cloister, 9 am-noon: we're in week 2 of the 9-week class, and today's topics are compulsory military service during the American Revolution and illuminations in Ephrata and Snow Hill manuscripts and prints (info, registration, and complete class schedule)
• ADDED: Ephrata Virtual Academy, 7-7:30 pm: enjoy a short presentation on artifacts in Ephrata's collection created by the PA Museum Extension Project in the 1930s as part of the Works Progess Administration (info and registration)

Tuesday, Feb. 16

• What's in a theme? PHMC Virtual Collections Showcase, 7-8 pm: this month's theme is Love and Relationships, in honor of Valentine's Day. Staff from six Trails of History sites will share objects related to the theme, and the audience will vote on their favorite (info and registration)