Focus on Collections - Mining PPE

So we are on Week 4 of Trails of History sites closed to the public. All onsite public activities and all onsite events are canceled through April 30. Staff are either on site performing maintenance and security duties--thank you to these essential workers--or teleworking on projects to keep services and communications going and plan for our eventual reopening. To see what your favorite sites are sharing on social media, check the April program page for links to Facebook. To see some recent highlights, check out last week's post. And if you're looking for videos to watch, PHMC's YouTube channel has all kinds of options.

For up-to-date information on Pennsylvania's response to COVID-19, please visit the Pennsylvania Dept. of Health website. Also, you may want to read info about increasing concerns about scams related to economic stimulus payments.

This week's post comes to us from Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums curator Rachel Yerger (see her March 27 post on Hope Lodge collections), with a focus on mining personal protective equipment (PPE) in the collection at Cornwall Iron Furnace. Cornwall site administrator Mike Emery provided additional images for the post. To see other mining-related collections, visit PHMC's new Museum Collections online portal and select Anthracite Heritage Museum, Cornwall Iron Furnace, or Eckley Miners' Village on the PHMC Museums tab.

UPDATE 4/20/2020: Rich Hall, a docent at Erie Maritime Museum and a retired design engineer for General Electric, shared some info on Personal Protective Equipment [sorry, we're having trouble with that link] and a Mine Monument in western PA that he presented at a meeting of the Western Mining Electrical Association. Rich also made a presentation on the Erie Maritime Museum, which is housed in a former Penelec electrical generating plant (some of Rich's EMM projects have been reported on in Trailheads posts in 2014 and 2015).

What is PPE? I’m sure by now many have heard the acronym and know that it stands for Personal Protective Equipment. But PPE means something different for a miner than it does for a medical professional. Against the harsh underground conditions faced by miners, thin nitrile or latex gloves just won’t cut it. This week I thought I would highlight some PPE used in the Cornwall Iron Mines during the mid-late 20th Century.

Cornwall is home to one of the most important iron-ore mines in Pennsylvania history. Ore mining was the backbone of the Cornwall Iron Furnace, which produced iron from 1742 until 1883. Even when the furnace ceased production, the mines continued to operate under the helm of Bethlehem Steel until 1973 when the mines were closed due to extensive flooding from Hurricane Agnes.

November 1963 National Safety Council Poster, posted by Cornwall Mine #4, Cornwall, PA. (Photo from the Charlie Neal research collection, Cornwall Iron Furnace. )

Mine safety became an industry priority in the United States around the turn of the 20th Century. As with many other industry safety regulations, it took a wave of mining disasters to reform industry safety standards. The U.S. Bureau of Mines was formed in 1910 and while their mission has evolved over the years, their main goal has been safety. Around the same time Mine Safety Appliances Inc. (MSA Inc.), a Pittsburgh-based company, was founded by John T. Ryan Sr. and George H. Deike.

CF2018.2.2 Miner’s Safety Helmet. This miner’s helmet, made by Mine Safety Appliances Inc., was used by Francis Boughter while working at Cornwall Ore Mine, Lebanon, PA. Mr. Boughter worked in Cornwall mines until it was shut down in 1973. (Learn more about this object in PHMC's Museum Collections portal.)

One of the first products MSA Inc. made was an electric cap lamp. Prior to electric cap lamps, miners used flame-based light sources, like carbides or oil lamps, which created considerable safety hazards in mines. Not only were electric cap lamps a massive safety enhancement, but they also improved visibility, which increased productivity. 

CF2018.1.10 Edison Model S Electric Cap Lamp.  This cap lamp was used by William J. Fritz while working as a Concreter and Timberman in the #3 and #4 underground mines at Cornwall, Lebanon, PA.  (View in Collections portal)

Men working in Cornwall Mine, 1946.  (Photo from the Charlie Neal research collection, Cornwall Iron Furnace.) 

Over the years MSA Inc.’s product offerings grew to include all types of personal safety items, such as pocket-sized first aid kits.

CF2108.1.6A-G MSA First Aid Packet. In addition to PPE MSA also produced this first aid kit which includes Merthiolate tincture, mercury-containing antiseptic, now banned in over-the-counter products by the FDA. (View in Collections portal)

Effective check-in and check-out systems are also cornerstones of mine safety. At Cornwall Mine, as with other mines, each miner was assigned two brass tags with an individual identification number. The miner would leave their tag on the tagboard before entering the mine, and then remove it once they returned to the surface. This was an important way to ensure that every worker was accounted for.

CF2018.1.21A-B Brass Check Tag 3942, William Fritz. These tags were used by William Fritz. According to another Cornwall Mineworker, the brass tags could also be used to sign out equipment and collect paychecks.

Personal safety and the use of personal protective equipment while on the job is a priority, regardless of the industry. Current shortages in PPE for medical professionals are a real problem in many states. Sadly, none of the PPE in the Cornwall Iron Furnace collection qualify as PPE for medical professionals under CDC guidelines, but we are pulling together some of our curatorial PPE, which does qualify, to donate to state agencies that are currently in need.

What can you do to help?

Week 3 (I Think)

For information on PHMC's response to COVID-19, please see the April program page, which also has links to Trails of History sites' Facebook pages. The March program page has link to Trails of History websites.

So this is week 3 of PHMC's Trails of History sites being closed to the public to help slow the spread of COVID-19. I hope this finds all our Trailheads readers doing well, safely at home if at all possible. I know I speak for all of us when I say "thank you" to those who are not able to stay home.
Our March 27 post. "A Glimpse Into Our Collections," featured early 20th-century badminton and croquet equipment in the collection at Hope Lodge. Earlier this week, we added an embedded Facebook post from Hope Lodge with photos of the site during the same time period. Worth checking out and/or revisiting.

On March 20, "The New Normal (for Now)," provided a preliminary look at how Trails of History sites were responding on social media (not to mention images of my home "office" location, which has migrated now). Below are a few examples of what's developed in the past week or so (check the April program page for a list of Trails of History sites with links to their Facebook pages.)

Ephrata Cloister posted about its well-known fraktur alphabet, included a downloadable frame, and invited readers to do their own sketch and submit it for an online exhibit.


Erie Maritime Museum and U.S. Brig Niagara and the Flagship Niagara League, following up on their Maritime Art Challenge, launched (ahem) a Lego boat building challenge.




The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania posted a 5-minute video that includes photos documenting the history of the museum as well as glimpses of the newest exhibits and additions.


Old Economy Village posted a link to their cellphone tour so that visitors can enjoy a virtual ramble around the site (they have also posted a call for volunteers to help with a data entry project and footage of early-to-mid 20th-century reunions of descendants of workers and members of the community - great for students of Harmonist history or 20th-century fashions).


Joseph Priestley House posted about JoAnne Stubbe, winner of the 2020 Priestley Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the American Chemical Society (the photo shows Stubbe receiving the 2008 National Medal of Science from President Barack Obama).


And Drake Well Museum and Park has morphed their 2020 Lecture Series onto Facebook, so viewers can enjoy their favorite beverages and snacks while they learn about a variety of interesting topics.

A Glimpse Into Our Collections

We received word yesterday, March 26, on March 30 that all PHMC offices and facilities will remain closed to the public through Friday, April 3 Thursday, April 30. All programs and events are canceled through the end of April, but schedule changes will likely continue for programs in May and beyond. We will update schedule info as we are able. For ongoing updates, visit PHMC's homepage or the official Commonwealth of PA COVID-19 info page.

During this time, staff are taking care of buildings, grounds, and animals or teleworking on site projects and providing digital access to our history and collections. PHMC's Facebook page, Pennsylvania Trails of History, is a good place to start looking for resources to #LearnInPlace or #MuseumFromHome. If you're not already following your favorite site on Facebook, drop me a note in the comments and I'll send you a link.

So while we're here, how about a little of that historical content? In this week's post, curator Rachel Yerger, one of my colleagues in the Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums, highlights some of our "outdoor recreational collections that also promote responsible social distancing."

Historic Hope Lodge, located in Montgomery County, PA (photo via Facebook)

First up is a 1940s badminton set catalogued to the Degn Collection at Historic Hope Lodge. Hope Lodge, built between 1743 and 1748, is located in Montgomery County and is a prime example of Georgian architecture. The house was saved from demolition in 1922 by William and Alice Degn, who restored and lived at Hope Lodge until 1957, when the property was turned over to the state. (You can read more about Hope Lodge's two time periods on the website. Update 3/30: you can read about Susanna Heath Morris, mother of original owner Samuel Morris, on the Hope Lodge Facebook page. UPDATE 3/31: Be sure to see the embedded post from Hope Lodge at the bottom of this post with photos from the Degn period of residency.)

Top photo: remnants of two badminton shuttlecocks (HL76.1.1409 G-H)
Bottom photo: badminton rackets are measured and photographed as part of the cataloguing process (HL76.1.1409 A-F)

The game of badminton likely evolved from games played in ancient Europe and Asia. What we know today as badminton was modernized in British-occupied India during the mid-1800s. By the late 1930s, the game had become popularized in the United States. It became an Olympic event in 1992 and with the right equipment, it can also be played in the backyard! To comply with the current protocol on social distancing, I suggest a singles game. [Editor's note: it looks like two racquets' length apart should do it.]

Top photo: croquet mallets lined up for measuring (HL76.1.1360.2-9)
Bottom photo: close-up of croquet balls - you can still see a little of their original paint (HL76.1.1360.10-17)

Next is a croquet set from the first half of the 20th century. This set is also attributed to the Degn collection at Hope Lodge. The modern game of croquet originated in the 1850s in England and by the 1870s it had reached the U.S. It waned in popularity during the turn of the century but had a resurgence in the 1920s and 30s and then again in the 1960s and 70s. This set is likely from that first resurgence period.

What kind of activities are you doing to beat cabin fever?