Things to Do, Read, and Watch

Living historians portray U.S. Army soldiers during Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum's Civil War event in 2019 (photo via Landis Valley's Facebook page)

Summer continues on its way to fall, with lots of activities on the Trails of History. Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum's Civil War Weekend has a little something to interest the whole family and gives you a sense of what a small village was like during that era. If outdoor theater is more your thing, Conrad Weiser Homestead is hosting three performances of The Tempest by Reading Community Players. You can also learn about butterflies and moths at The State Museum of Pennsylvania. That's just the weekend, please see below for the week ahead and for summer camp listings (many are still taking enrollments).

Cornwall Iron Furnace, which just marked the 50th anniversary of the closing of the Cornwall Ore Mines, has released a new book, Always More Production, by museum volunteer, frequent speaker, and retired geologist Mike Weber. Mike drew heavily on research collections at the museum, including monthly reports sent from the mines in Cornwall to the main office of Bethlehem Steel. The book presents a detailed history of iron mining activities in Cornwall from 1737 to 1973. You can check Cornwall's Facebook post for details on how to get your copy.

The Friends of Conrad Weiser Homestead have produced a new history video focused on Conrad Weiser and his home. Copies on DVD are available in the Museum Store. This video project was in addition to Conrad Weiser Homestead's participation in the PA History to Go series. Those videos are available to stream on PHMC's PA History to Go website.

Up Next

Today, July 14

• Family Gallery Tour: Mammal Hall (in-person); 11:30 am-12:30 pm; The State Museum of PA
• Touch furs, hold antlers, view skulls and ask questions during a tour of Mammal Hall. Included in regular admission (Mammal Hall tour info).

• Chill and Build (in-person); 1-3 pm; The State Museum of PA
• Unwind with the family on a Friday afternoon. Choose the colors and shapes to make your own creation or follow the pattern on the design cards to make a tree, rocket and more using building blocks. Included in regular admission (Chill and Build program info).

• The Tempest (in-person); Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 6-9 pm; Conrad Weiser Homestead
• Reading Community Players will present William Shakespeare's The Tempest on the grounds of the Homestead for three nights, starting tonight at 6 pm. The event is rain or shine (under a tent, with chairs provided). Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for students and seniors, and may be purchased ahead or at the door (The Tempest at CWH info).

Saturday, July 15

• Butterflies and Moths (in-person); 10 am-Noon and 1-3 pm; The State Museum of PA
• Learn more about butterflies and moths in Pennsylvania and make a butterfly craft to take home. Included in regular admission (Butterflies and Moths program info).

• Civil War Weekend (in-person); Saturday, 10 am-4 pm, and Sunday, Noon-4 pm; Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum
• A wide array of military and civilian activities will be offered, including drills and firing demos, vintage baseball, and displays about Civil War-era medicine on and off the battlefield. Regular admission charged; please start at the Visitor Center to purchase tickets (Civil War Weekend info).

• Acting Workshop (in-person); 2-4 pm; Joseph Priestley House
• Laurie McCants, co-founder of the Bloomsburg Theater Ensemble, will lead a two-part workshop for students age 8 to 12. Actors will choose a historical figure, research their life, write a script, and reenact them. Second session takes place July 22 (Acting Workshop info and registration).

• Stargazing: Tonight's Sky (in-person); 3-4 pm; The State Museum of PA
• Join the Planetarium Director for a live chat exploring what you can see in the sky tonight. Learn about the basic motions of the sky, visible constellations and planets, and any special celestial events that are coming up in the next month. Admission and planetarium tickets must be purchased at least 5 minutes before showtime.

Sunday, July 16

• Open-Hearth Cooking (in-person); 1-4 pm; Pennsbury Manor
• Stoneware crocks, bladders, vinegar, gally pots, and sugar will abound as the cooks start preserving the harvest for the winter to come. Included in regular admission (Open-Hearth Cooking program info).

Wednesday, July 19

• Family Gallery Tour: Geology Hall (in-person); 11:30 am-12:30 pm; The State Museum of PA
• Get hands-on with the rocks and minerals of Pennsylvania. Learn about Pennsylvania’s landforms and resources. Meet on the 3rd Floor Balcony for this presentation. Included in regular admission (July 19 Geology Hall tour info).

Thursday, July 20

• Storytime in the Garden (in-person); 10-11 am; Pennsbury Manor
• Enjoy a story in the garden and then explore the grounds of Pennsbury Manor. Cost is a $3 grounds pass (additional fee to tour the Manor House). Suggested ages 4 to 8, but all are welcome (Pennsbury Storytime info).

• State Symbol: Brook Trout (in-person); 11:30 am-12:30 pm; The State Museum of PA
• In 1970, the brook trout was chosen as the official state fish of Pennsylvania. Learn more about its selection, biology and create brook trout fish art, Gyotaku, the traditional Japanese method of printing fish. Included in regular admission (Brook Trout program info).

Friday, July 21

• It's ALIVE! (or maybe not): Living and Non-Living Things (in-person); 11:30 am-12:30 pm; The State Museum of PA
• Younger visitors are invited to explore living and non-living things and the properties that something needs to exhibit to be alive. Included in regular admission (Living & Non-Living Things program info).

• Family Gallery Tour: Geology Hall (in-person); 1:30-2:30 pm; The State Museum of PA
• Get hands-on with the rocks and minerals of Pennsylvania. Learn about Pennsylvania’s landforms and resources. Meet on the 3rd Floor Balcony for this presentation. Included in regular admission (July 21 Geology Hall tour info).

Advance Tickets or Registrations

• Garden Workshop Series (in-person); Tuesday, July 25, 10-11 am; Pennsbury Manor
• Today's workshop is about preserving produce. Geared for ages 12 and up. Registration required - $35 for non-members, $30 for members. Call 215/946-0400 (July Garden Workshop info).

• Returning the Wild to the Wilderness (virtual); Friday, July 28, 12:15-12:45 pm; The State Museum of PA
• Thomas Keller, Furbearer Biologist with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, will share the history of wildlife loss within the Commonwealth, the legacy of rewilding, and the possibility of returning the American marten to the forests of the state. The program is free, but you must register to receive the link (Returning the Wild program info and registration).

• Sensory Hours (in-person); Tuesday, Aug. 8, 3-5 pm, and Tuesday, Aug. 22, 9-11 am; Railroad Museum of PA
• Light, sound, and crowd levels will be lower, and there will be some quiet spots in the galleries to take a break. Several historic trains will be open with staff on hand to answer questions. Advance tickets required (tickets for Aug. 8 Sensory Hours and tickets for Aug. 22 Sensory Hours).

• The Colemans and Martic Forge (hybrid); Tuesday, Aug. 8, 7-8 pm; Cornwall Iron Furnace
• Jim Polczynski will present a program centered on the ownership of Martic Forge by three generations of the Coleman family (who also owned Cornwall Iron Furnace). You can attend the program in person at Freeman Hall, Cornwall Manor Retirement Community, or virtually via Zoom (Martic Forge lecture info and registration).

• The "Dead" of Summer (in-person); Saturday, Aug. 19, 7-9 pm; Graeme Park
• Experience a reenactment of an early 20th-century seance focused on the period when many had lost loved ones to the 1918 flu pandemic or World War I and were susceptible to this form of entertainment. Tickets are limited and will be available online (Dead of Summer info and tickets).

• Exploring the Armor (in-person); Saturday, Aug. 26, 2-4 pm; PA Military Museum
• Take a private history tour of the outside tracked vehicles and discuss the history of armored vehicles with a preeminent local historian. Limited space, reservations are required. $15.00 or $5.00 with annual Museum membership. Please note that we will not be accessing the inside of the tracked vehicles, but we will walk outside on the grounds, so please dress for the weather with appropriate footwear (Exploring the Armor registration).

Summer Camp Programs (camps are in-person unless marked otherwise)

• Brandywine Battlefield Park (Brandywine camp info)
• Live the Battle Week (grades 5-6), July 18-21, 9 am-2 pm
• Step Into the Past Week (grades 5-6), July 25-28, 9 am-2 pm

• Drake Well Museum & Park (Drake Well camp info)
• Discovery Days Camp (ages 8-12), July 20 & 27, 9 am-4 pm

• Joseph Priestley House (Priestley House camp info)
• Summer History Camp (grades 1-6), July 26-28, 9 am-Noon

• Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum (LVVFM camp info)
• A Child's Life in the Civil War (ages 5-11), July 18-21, 9 am-12:30 pm

• Old Economy Village (OEV camp info)
• July 17-21, Summer History Camp (ages 6-12), 9 am-Noon, and Summer Art Camp (ages 6-12), 12:30-3:30 pm
• July 24-28, Summer Art Camp (ages 6-12), 9 am-Noon, and Summer History Camp (ages 6-12), 12:30-3:30 pm

• Pennsbury Manor (Pennsbury camp info)
• Colonial Camp Week (ages 6-8), July 17-21, 9 am-4 pm

• PA Lumber Museum (Lumber Museum camp info)
• History Camp (ages 10-18), August 4-5, 9 am-2 pm

C'mon, Spring!

Feast Hall (left), Frederick Rapp House (center) and George Rapp House (right) as seen from the Rapp House Garden (photo via Old Economy Village Facebook page)

I know it's foolish to wish for spring just because it's March, but I can't help myself when I see photos like the one above. I'll keep dreaming. Some Trails of History sites began shifting from their winter schedules to their spring schedules this week, so that must mean something (although I should note that Old Economy Village, pictured above, will reopen April 1).

Visit Lebanon Valley, in partnership with the Lebanon County Branch of the NAACP, Lebanon County Historical Society, and Cornwall Iron Furnace, rounded out Black History Month by launching the Lebanon County African American Heritage Trail with a celebration attended by the participating organizations. Cornwall Iron Furnace is one of the stops on the trail.

The latest episode of the WQLN (Erie's PBS affiliate) series, Chronicles, features the story of Drake Well and Pithole City. Drake Well Museum & Park's curator, Sue Beates, provides commentary on the history of the oil boomtown and the context of oil industry history (watch Pithole City: The Ghost of America's Black Gold, Part I).

This past week, PA Museums (our statewide museum professional organization) hosted a webinar on the effort to return nearly 200 Lenape ancestors and their associated funerary objects to their Lenape homeland for burial. The 4-day event last April was the culmination of a process involving five Delaware nations and PHMC staff from The State Museum of Pennsylvania and Pennsbury Manor. The PA Museums webinar included commentary from Jeremy Johnson, cultural education officer for the Delaware Tribe of Indians, Janet Johnson, acting senior curator of archaeology at The State Museum, and Douglas Miller, site administrator at Pennsbury Manor, site of the homecoming and reburial (you can read a short article about the event in the Fall 2022 issue of Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine). The webinar was recorded and is available on the PA Museums YouTube channel. Doug Miller and Jeremy Johnson also recently appeared on an episode of the Keystone Edge podcast, which is produced in conjunction with PA Humanities. I recommend watching the webinar and listening to the podcast to learn more.

Next week's post will have more info on PA's birthday celebration coming up on March 12, but if you want to get a jump on celebrating, take advantage of a 10% discount on all PHMC titles sold through ShopPAHeritage.com now through March 31.

Up Next

Today, March 3

• StoryTime (in-person); 10:30-11:30 am; The State Museum of PA
• Read Give Me Some Space by Philip Bunting and create your own map of the solar system. For ages 2 to Pre-K and included in regular admission. Sign up at the Ground Floor Info Desk (StoryTime info).

Saturday, March 4

• PA Geography with the Giant Map (in-person); 10 am-Noon; The State Museum of PA
• Discover the giant map of Pennsylvania as we walk across the state. Test your geography skills playing a game. Included in regular admission (Giant Map program info).

• Kids Day: STEM Discovery (in-person); 10 am-2 pm; PA Military Museum
• Come experiment and learn how math and science are used by the military. Make your own rocket, conduct experiments, and more. Included in regular admission (Kids Day info).

Wednesday, March 8

• Curiosity Kids (in-person); 11:30 am-12:30 pm; The State Museum of PA
• Learn about what the Sun is, its basic motions in the sky, and why it is important to us. Then make a suncatcher to take home. For grades K to 2 and included in regular admission. Space is limited, so sign up at the Ground Floor Info Desk when you arrive (Curiosity Kids info).

Thursday, March 9

• Winter History Class (virtual); 9 am-noon; Ephrata Cloister
• This course runs every Thursday through March 30. Today's presentations are "Henry Stiegel's Vision for Manheim" with Dan Snyder and "Iron and Glass by Stiegel: One Man's Collection" with Jeff Dreisbach. If you have not already signed up for the full series, you can attend single sessions via Zoom only (Winter History Class registration options).

• Wisdom & Wine (in-person); 5:30-8 pm; Drake Well Museum & Park
• Jim Samuels will present "My Dream Job Come True...Finding, Assessing & Plugging Abandoned Oil & Gas Wells." Admission charged. Lecture starts at 6:30. Doors open at 5:30 for socializing and wine tasting from Brokenstraw Valley Winery (Wisdom & Wine info).

Friday, March 10

• Original Pennsylvania Charter on Display (in-person); today through March 17; The State Museum of PA
• PA's 342-year-old Charter is written on parchment using iron gall ink. 51 weeks a year, the State Archives preserves the document in a high-security vault, shielding it from strong light and environmental fluctuations. In honor of PA's birthday, the Charter will be on display at The State Museum (included in regular admission) March 10-11 (10 am-4:30 pm), March 12 (Noon-4:30 pm), March 15-16 (10 am-4:30 pm), and March 17 (10 am-1 pm) (Charter display info).

Advance Tickets or Registrations

• Remembering Gnadenhutten: Missionaries, Massacre, and the Resilience of a First Nation Community (in-person); Saturday, Mar. 11, 1-5 pm; Fort Pitt Museum
• During this one-day conference, attendees will examine the experience of Moravian Delaware converts in 18th-century Ohio Country and explore the fascinating history of the Delaware Nation at Moraviantown, where descendants of this resilient First Nation community live today (Gnadenhutten conference info and registration).

• All About Slag (hybrid); Tuesday, Mar. 14, 7-8 pm; Cornwall Iron Furnace
• Mike Weber will provide a comprehensive overview of slag, including what it is, how it's produced as part of the iron-making process, its characteristics, and why it is so important. Attend in person (Freeman Hall at Cornwall Manor) or online (register for Zoom). Program is free, but donations are appreciated.

• Homeschool Program (in-person); Wednesday, Mar. 15, 10-11:30 am; The State Museum of PA
• Archivist Brett Reigh will discuss the history of the original 1681 Penn Charter and the research resources available at the Pennsylvania State Archives. Explore the process used to create the document, such as iron gall ink, quill pens, parchment paper and block printing, and then create your own document using similar techniques. Registration is required (Homeschool registration link).

• Revolutionary Speaker Series (in-person); Saturday, Mar. 18, Noon-2 pm; Brandywine Battlefield Park
• Bradley Smith, archivist and assistant director of the Berks History Center, will present "Dr. Bodo Otto: The Patriot Surgeon of Pennsylvania," who at the age of 65 volunteered his services as a surgeon to the Continental Army. Tickets available starting Feb. 25 (3/18 tickets via Eventbrite).

• Learn at Lunchtime (virtual); Friday, Mar. 24, 12:15-12:45 pm; The State Museum of PA
• Mark Hand, director, and Matt Reis, deputy director, will provide an overview of Pennsylvania's GreenGov Program and its climate goals for state agencies. The program is free, but you must register to receive the link (Learn at Lunchtime registration).

• Rails & Ales 2023 (in-person); Saturday, April 1, 5:30-9 pm; Railroad Museum of PA
• Taste craft beers among the museum's world-class collection of historic trains in Rolling Stock Hall. Must be age 21 or older to attend; photo ID required at the door. Advance tickets only; VIP tickets are sold out (ticket options, including designated driver tickets).

Summer Camp Programs (camps are in-person unless marked otherwise)

• Brandywine Battlefield Park (Brandywine camp info)
• Live the Battle Week (grades 3-4), June 27-30, 9 am-2 pm
• Step Into the Past Week (grades 3-4), July 11-14, 9 am-2 pm
• Live the Battle Week (grades 5-6), July 18-21, 9 am-2 pm
• Step Into the Past Week (grades 5-6), July 25-28, 9 am-2 pm

• Drake Well Museum & Park (Drake Well camp info)
• Discovery Days Camp (ages 8-12), July 6, 13, 20 & 27, 9 am-4 pm

• Pennsbury Manor (Pennsbury camp info)
• Colonial Camp Week (ages 6-8), July 17-21, 9 am-4 pm

A Summer Well Spent

From left: the Yellow Barn, Erisman House, and Tavern (photo from Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum Facebook page)

[Editor's note: This is the second installment of a guest post by Keystone Intern Claire DeVinney. A junior at Millersville University majoring in Atlantic World Studies and minoring in Spanish, Claire spent her summer at Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum assisting curator Jennifer Royer with collections care and interpretation. In last week's post, Claire wrote about some research materials related to World War II. Today's post focuses on two exhibits she developed for the museum's Collections Gallery display windows. There is a separate page with additional photos from Claire's work this summer. Stay tuned at the bottom of this post for more info on Trails of History interns and a link to the list of events coming up in the week ahead.]

As an intern for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, I have had the privilege of learning about the behind-the-scenes museum work at Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum. Like most museums, only a small percentage of Landis Valley's collection is on display. The rest of the artifacts are in one of Landis Valley's four storage buildings. With over 150,000 objects in the collection, some items are very rarely or never included in one of Landis Valley's rotating exhibits. [You can find many of PHMC's collections online via our website.]

View into the Collections Gallery before the shelves are filled (photo Claire DeVinney)

To make the collection more accessible to the public, Landis Valley's main collections gallery has a glass wall so that visitors can see objects that are in open storage. The collections gallery also has four banks of shelves to serve as mini exhibits. While Landis Valley's main Visitor Center exhibit is replaced every 2-3 years, the collections gallery shelf exhibits are changed every year. This allows for a constant rotation of artifacts and increases the amount of the museum's collection that is accessible for visitors to see and learn from.

Traditionally, it is the job of Landis Valley's interns to set up the collections gallery exhibit windows. I chose a theme for each of my two sets of shelves.

Three wooden cowboy carvings by artist Larkin Scull (photo Claire DeVinney)

In the first exhibit window, I focused on the works of folk artist Larkin Scull (1892-1966). Scull grew up on a southeastern Pennsylvania farm, and much of the wood carvings he created reflect his familiarity with hunting and agriculture. Many of his works depict livestock or people completing agricultural chores. His works also reflect the popular culture of the 1940s and 1950s. Scull created carvings of cowboys, horse racing, boxing, two statuesque depictions of George Washington, and a stunning five-and-half-foot long Anheuser-Busch Budweiser wagon complete with eight Clydesdales.

Because Scull carved figures from his own world of southeastern Pennsylvania, his body of work is like a time capsule of the period when Landis Valley's founders, Henry and George Landis, were collecting artifacts to preserve the Pennsylvania German agricultural way of life.

Horse and cattle powder containers from the Newcomer veterinary collection (photo Claire DeVinney)

The second exhibit window features items from the veterinary office of Dr. Ezra Newcomer, from nearby Mount Joy, Pennsylvania. Before Dr. Newcomer passed away in 1960, he was Lancaster County's oldest veterinarian. He earned his degree in veterinary medicine from the University of Pennsylvania in 1899. While sorting through the tools and items from his office, I came across his diploma and his Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association membership plaque. Identifying some of Dr. Newcomer's medical tools was a lesson in veterinary technology. Some of his implements, like a scale or tattoo pliers, were instantly recognizable, and look virtually identical to a tool a veterinarian might use today.

Other tools required a lot of research to identify--luckily, the collection included some of Dr. Newcomer's notes that I could consult for research assistance. I included a mixture of familiar and unfamiliar tools in the exhibit window to give visitors a sense of how veterinary medicine is different now than it was in the early 20th century and how it is the same.

Learning more about artifacts like these has made me more interested in history and more grateful for my experiences as an intern at Landis Valley. The opportunities I have had this summer have been rewarding and educational and have strengthened my appreciation for the institutions that preserve the past.

[I want to thank Claire and all of our PHMC summer interns for their hard work and wish them well in whatever lies ahead. Read about other intern projects and activities:

• Lydia Peifer, also at Landis Valley, organized a case exhibit on games
• Victoria Abramczuk worked with site administrator Mike Emery to record a presentation on her research into enslaved workers at Cornwall Iron Furnace
• PA State Historic Preservation Office intern Jacob Hockenberry blogged about his work with the PA Agricultural History Project and Sarah Hoffeditz wrote about the Mapping, Assistance, Resources, and Survey (MARS) project that took her to five Trails of History sites
• Abigail Sholes, Keystone intern at the Railroad Museum of PA, was featured in a post about the Public Heritage Studies program at Elizabethtown College
• Numerous Facebook posts welcomed or bid farewell to site interns and celebrated National Intern Day at Anthracite Heritage Museum and Eckley Miners' Village, Bushy Run Battlefield, Drake Well Museum & Park, Ephrata Cloister, The State Museum of PA

The list of Trails of History events in the coming week is on a separate page today.]

Halloween and More

Please be sure to check the PHMC Events Calendar for information on upcoming programs (in-person and virtual). I've included highlights for the coming week below. The Trailheads Rec Room pages to the right of your screen offer an array of online content generated by Trails of History sites. Also, if you're looking for a Covid vaccine provider, check out Vaccines.gov and enter your zip code.

Please note that staff and volunteers at Commonwealth of PA worksites, including the PA Trails of History, are wearing masks while indoors. Visitors are encouraged, though not required, to do so as well.

Bonfires and storytelling were part of the fun at the PA Lumber Museum last weekend (photo via PLM Facebook)

The Pennsylvania Lumber Museum was one of the Trails of History sites hosting Halloween events in the past couple of weeks (see more photos from their event). Curator Josh Fox also wrote a blog post this year entitled "What Chainsaw Did that Movie Use?" to provide some history for horror movie lovers. There are still opportunities for Halloween fun on the Trails of History, so be sure to check the listings below.

As we move from October into November, it's important to know that some Trails of History sites are adjusting their hours or outdoor offerings for the winter season. I always say it's a good idea to check ahead before visiting, but this time I really mean it. [Scary Halloween voice] You've been warned [end Scary Halloween voice].

Halloween isn't the only thing happening on the Trails, of course. Earlier this month, U.S. Brig Niagara sailed from Erie to Cleveland for some long-awaited maintenance and inspection at the Great Lakes Shipyard. If you aren't following Erie Maritime Museum on Facebook you may have missed the updates on the work. But here's a cool time lapse video of the ship being raised out of the water.



On October 16, the Anthracite Heritage Museum hosted an iron pour at the Scranton Iron Furnaces. Artist Brian Glaze melted iron using a cupola furnace and with the help of volunteers poured the molten iron into sand molds for visitors.


Speaking of molten iron, Cornwall Iron Furnace presented (also on October 16) a Civil War living history event with the Detachment, US Engineers, who interpreted the work of 19th-century military engineers.

This Week's Events (virtual and in-person)

Today, Oct. 29

• Learn at Lunchtime (virtual): curator Robert Hill will chat with historian Leroy Hopkins, Jr. about his father's WWII service, The State Museum of PA, 12:15-12:45 pm (Learn at Lunchtime info and Zoom registration)
• Haunted Lantern Tours (in-person): your guide will take you through the shadowy rooms and halls of the Keith House, Graeme Park, tickets still available (as of 10/26) for 7:45, 8, and 8:45 tours, tickets must be purchased in advance prior to 6 pm (Lantern Tours info and ticket link)

Saturday, Oct. 30

• Workshops in Archaeology (virtual): this year's focus is "Hidden Stories: Uncovering African American History Through Archaeology and Community Engagement," The State Museum of PA, 9 am - 4:30 pm (Workshop info and registration)
• Jack-o-Lantern Contest (in-person): drop off your entry this afternoon between 2 and 5 pm and the grounds will be open 5-9, Joseph Priestley House (contest details)
• Old Economy Village After Dark (in-person): several historic buildings will be open and attendees may bring hand-held ghost hunting equipment and cameras (nor large equipment), 6:30-9:30 pm, as of 10/26 there are about 30 tickets remaining, tickets must be purchased in advance (OEV After Dark info and tickets)
• Historic Cemetery Tour (in-person): historical figures from the past will greet you at Northumberland's Riverview Cemetery, Joseph Priestley House, tours begin every 15 minutes from 7 to 8 pm, tickets available at JPH today noon-4 pm or by calling 570/473-9474 (Cemetery Tour info)

Sunday, Oct. 31

• STEM Halloween activities (in-person): kids in grades K-5 can explore STEM from 3 to 5 pm and the grounds will be open from 1 to 8 pm, Joseph Priestley House (JPH info)

Wednesday, Nov. 3

• Explore! (in-person): learn about the history of deer in PA and their changing population, The State Museum of PA, 11:30 am-12:30 pm, for kids in grades 3-5 and included in regular admission (Explore! info)

Thursday, Nov. 4

• Curiosity Kids (in-person): learn how artists use line to create art and explore the 2021 Art of the State Exhibition, The State Museum of PA, 11:30 am-12:30 pm, for kids in grades K-2 and included in regular admission, space is limited to sign up at the Ground Floor Information Desk when you arrive (Curiosity Kids info)

On Sale Now

• Wreaths & Greens Workshops: Pennsbury Manor will offer this workshop twice on Saturday, Nov. 27, 10 am-noon and 1-3 pm. Make a festive wreath to take home and learn some tips for caring for evergreens in your yard. Cost is $35 ($31.50 for members) and pre-registration is required (Wreath workshop details).
• Gingerbread Cookie Kits: Railroad Museum of PA is accepting orders for train-shaped gingerbread cookies. Choose 12 cookies per box (plain) or 6 cookies per box with vanilla icing bag and sprinkles for $20. Orders must be picked up at the museum on either Dec. 4 (10 am-3 pm) or Dec. 11 (10 am-3 pm). Deadline for orders is Nov. 29 (RMP cookie flyer for details).
• Christmas with the Conductor: kids ages 3 and older will get to board one of the Railroad Museum of PA's historic railroad cars to hear a classic holiday story. Other activities are also part of the program. The program is offered Dec. 4 and Dec. 11 with three storytimes each day. The $10 program fee is in addition to museum admission. Deadline for registrations is Nov. 29, but space is limited and this program usually sells out quickly (Christmas with Conductor info and tickets).

A Little of This, A Little of That

Please be sure to check the PHMC Events Calendar for information on upcoming programs (in-person and virtual). I've included highlights below. The Trailheads Rec Room pages to the right of your screen offer an array of online content generated by Trails of History sites.

Join us July 20 at 7 pm EDT for the next Virtual Collections Showcase (registration link)

What are summer Fridays for if not for some random fun? I'm here to share some items than showed up in my timeline over the past week. You never know what you'll find on the Trails of History.

The folks at Ephrata Cloister took part in last Friday's #CuratorBattle that featured museum objects that look like celebrities. Who wore it better?


The Erie Maritime Museum has quite a few ship models, but here's one that allows a view below decks to the crew quarters and galley.



Cornwall Iron Furnace was recently visited by a group of Studebaker enthusiasts. The site is a popular destination for car clubs since it's close to Hershey and the Antique Automobile Museum.



I've really been loving Pennsbury Manor's garden posts this summer. It's not quite like being there, but it's not bad.



The Lumber Heritage Region of PA shared the PA Lumber Museum's photo scavenger hunt this week. All of the items on the hunt can be found even when the buildings and exhibits are closed or by remembering a visit or even checking out their Facebook timeline (download the scavenger hunt). Of course, you can also visit when they're open!

Upcoming Events (in-person and virtual)

Today, July 16

• Learn at Lunchtime (virtual), program director Bradley Smith will share new research on several prominent artifact legends in the collection, The State Museum of PA, 12:15-12:45 pm (link for Zoom registration)

Saturday, July 17

• StoryTime (in-person), read "Big Bad Bubble" by Adam Rubin with illustrations by Daniel Solirieri and blow some bubbles, The State Museum of PA, 10:30-11:30 am, included in regular admission (sign up at ground floor info desk)
• Agent Orange & Napalm (virtual), Ronald Lenox will present a program on Vietnam War chemical warfare, PA Military Museum, 2-3 pm (PMM link for registration)

Tuesday, July 20

• What's in a theme? PHMC Virtual Collections Showcase (virtual), this month's theme is Travel & Destinations, 7-8 pm (Facebook link for registration)

Wednesday, July 21

• Explore! (in-person), visit Nature Lab to learn about butterflies and moths of PA, The State Museum of PA, 11:30 am-12:30 pm, included in regular admission (Explore! info)

Thursday, July 22

• Curiosity Kids (in-person), learn about living and non-living things, The State Museum of PA, 11:30 am-12:30 pm, included in regular admission (Curiosity Kids info)

Ready for Summer

Please be sure to check the PHMC Events Calendar for information on upcoming programs (still mostly virtual). The Trailheads Rec Room pages to the right of your screen have other online offerings that you may find interesting.

The Weaver's House (left) and God's Acre (cemetery at right) at Ephrata Cloister (photo via EC Facebook page)

The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) recently announced the recipients of this year's Leadership in History Awards. Ephrata Cloister was one of 38 history organizations from across the U.S. honored for their work in 2020. Last fall, in the face of the continuing Covid-19 pandemic, Ephrata reimagined their long-standing holiday programs--some of them offered for more than 40 years--and recreated them for online audiences. The result was three virtual programs: "Candlelight Chat," a Facebook Live first person conversation with Ephrata Householder Michael Miller (you can watch it on YouTube); a 40-minute version of "Christmas at the Cloister" with photo collage of the Cloister and previously recorded music by the Ephrata Cloister Chorus, presented via Zoom and YouTube; and "Witness to History," a 40-minute film featuring Ephrata's Student Historians telling the story of Ephrata Cloister's role as a hospital in 1777-78, also shown via Zoom and YouTube. I'll also note that Ephrata has also offered numerous lectures as part of the Ephrata Virtual Academy series and adapted their popular Winter History Class to the Zoom platform. Congratulations to all involved on this well-deserved award.

Juneteenth

Tomorrow, June 19, is Juneteenth, marking the day in 1865 that enslaved people in Galveston, TX, learned that they were, in fact, free (information that had been kept from them by slaveholders). First celebrated the following year in Texas, Juneteenth has become a much more widespread holiday. It was declared a state holiday in Pennsylvania in 2019, and as I write this, President Biden is signing legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. Many communities around the state will be celebrating Juneteenth tomorrow and organizations will be offering educational programs that help to put Juneteenth, slavery, and the ongoing struggle for racial equity into historical context. Here are some online resources you may find useful:

• The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC)
• A Juneteenth Reading List from KHOU in Houston, TX
• Juneteenth: A Time of Celebration & Reflection, a blog post from the PA Dept. of Education
• A National Collaboration Unites Black Museums in Celebration of Juneteenth, a blog post from the American Alliance of Museums

Weekly Wildlife Report

The lawn mower barely distracted this duo enjoying the grass at Brandywine Battlefield Park (photo by Ken Levin)

A Slow Walk on the Wild Side

Please be sure to check the PHMC Events Calendar for information on upcoming programs (still mostly virtual). The Trailheads Rec Room pages to the right of your screen have other online offerings that you may find interesting.

Box turtle on the grounds of Cornwall Iron Furnace (photo via CIF Facebook)

Close-up of different (I think) box turtle at Pennsbury Manor (photo via PM Facebook)

 





































Today's post is inspired by the box turtle posts I saw from two different Trails of History sites and by the continuing string of lovely photos that other sites have shared. I haven't visited any of our sites in person in more than a year, so the virtual beauty is very important. I hope you'll enjoy it too. Of course, you can also visit in person this weekend (and I'm planning to do so soon). Please be sure to check site schedules on websites or social media to be sure that they'll be open when you plan to visit (always my advice, even pre-Covid).

Old Economy Village's gardens are bursting with color, with flowers and herbs spread throughout the site.


Drake Well Museum and Park's #WildlifeWednesday post this week featured a Swallowtail butterfly that stopped by for a visit. (Learn more about butterflies today with The State Museum of PA - see listing below.)


For #ThrowbackThursday, Cornwall Iron Furnace shared a lovely ca. 1900 view of agricultural workers harvesting grain on one of the surrounding farms.

Upcoming Events

Today, June 11

• Learn at Lunchtime (online), Betsy Leppo will talk about native PA butterflies and moths, The State Museum of PA, 12:15-12:45 pm (SMP Zoom link to register)

Wednesday, June 16

• What's in a Theme? PHMC Virtual Collections Showcase (online), this month's theme is Infamous People and Events, 7-8 pm (Facebook link to register)
• History Speaks series (online), "The Paxton Boys and Conestoga Massacre," Bushy Run Battlefield, tickets are $7.50, 7-8 pm (Eventbrite link to register)

Friday, June 18

• Learn at Lunchtime, learn about Harrisburg's November 1865 Grand Review honoring African American Civil War veterans, The State Museum of PA, 12:15-12:45 (registration link)
• Father's Day Weekend (onsite), free admission for dads 6/18-20, Bushy Run Battlefield (see BRB Facebook for details)

History: It's What We Do

Please be sure to check the PHMC Events Calendar for information on upcoming programs (still mostly virtual). The Trailheads Rec Room pages to the right of your screen have other online offerings that you may find interesting.

Monday, May 31, is Memorial Day. With current operating schedules, most Trails of History sites will be closed on Monday - but most are open this weekend, so please check the schedule of your favorite site.

The Pennsylvania Military Museum will be open from 10 am to 3 pm Friday through Monday - you can learn more about Pennsylvanians' military service while honoring those who did not return home from war. The monuments and memorials on the grounds are always a stark reminder of what it means to send troops into the fight.

Pennsbury Manor will be open for grounds-only visits on Memorial Day.

History Behind the Scenes

Yesterday, May 27, marked the 60th anniversary of Ephrata Cloister as a state property. As curator Kerry Mohn explains in the Facebook post below, "[I]n a brief ceremony in the Governor’s private office in the State Capitol, the deed for the grounds and buildings of the Ephrata Cloister was handed to Governor Arthur H. James, who in turn handed to the “heirs” of the Ephrata German Seventh Day Baptist Church a check for $15,000.00. The purchase also included artifacts."


Cornwall Iron Furnace recently shared an image of a map that has been a great tool for learning about the furnace complex and its environs. Reading this map and comparing to what's left to us today helps to document change over time. The community of iron furnace sites is a big one - this past weekend Cornwall staff participated in the 2021 Virtual Maryland Iron Festival, organized by Catoctin Furnace Historical Society (you can check it out on YouTube).


As you can see in this post from Old Economy Village, collections care involves many tasks, such as cleaning and inventory. Staff always try to be efficient by taking care of as many tasks as possible each time they touch an artifact. The work never ends.

What's Up, December?

Please check the PHMC Events Calendar for upcoming events (I've highlighted some below). The Trailheads Rec Room pages to the right of your screen will lead you to online offerings available 24/7. There's a new page this week highlighting virtual exhibits on the Trails of History.

Photo via Pennsbury Manor's Facebok page

Today, December 4

• Pennsbury Manor's "Holly Nights at Home" continues on Facebook, with video greetings and activities. The videos will remain available, so you can experience this year's virtual event on your schedule.

Recent snow in western PA, as captured at Old Economy Village (photo via Facebook)

Saturday, December 5

• Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Virtual Visit with Santa and Telegram to the North Pole, 10 am-3 pm (reserve a time slot for kids to visit with Santa)
• Old Economy Village curator Sarah Buffington will introduce author Alicia Stankay before she reads from her new book, Sarah's Journey: Adventure in Old Economy Village, at the Laughlin Memorial Library and livestreamed on Facebook, 11:30 am-12:30 pm (Facebook event has details)
• Pennsylvania Military Museum, virtual lecture, Submarine Warfare - the Nuclear Age, 2 pm (register to get the Zoom link)
• Erie Maritime Museum & U.S. Brig Niagara, Christmas Tree Ship Lighting (virtual), 5-8 pm (check the Facebook event for details)

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Tribute at PA Military Museum, Dec. 7, 2019 (photo via Facebook)

Monday, December 7

• Pennsylvania Military Museum, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Tribute, takes place under the guns of the USS Pennsylvania, which was present at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. The event will be open to the public via Facebook this year (visit the museum's Facebook page to watch). 12:45 pm.

It snowed a bit in southcentral PA too, as seen at Cornwall Iron Furnace (photo via Facebook)

Tuesday, December 8

• Cornwall Iron Furnace, virtual lecture, Cornwall Oral History Project, 1980-1982, presented by Brett Reigh of the Pennsylvania State Archives, 7-8 pm (check Facebook event to register for Zoom link)

The Week Ahead

This week's post highlights upcoming virtual events on the Trails of History. If you're planning further ahead, please visit the PHMC Events Calendar. The Trailheads Rec Room to the right of your screen has examples of online offerings available whenever you need a break from your routine.

I've loved Cornwall Iron Furnace's fall foliage posts - this one shows the Roasting Oven bathed in golden light (roasting oven was used to remove sulfur from iron ore) - photo via Facebook

 

In the week ahead, Trails of History sites will be hosting a variety of virtual programs on a wide range of topics. I bet you can find at least one to help you weather the pre-Thanksgiving lull.

On Nov. 17 at 7 pm (EST), Old Economy Village will join with two other Harmonist-related sites for a new quarterly program exploring the history of the Harmony Society. The Harmony Museum (Harmony, PA) celebrates the Harmony Society's first communal settlement and New Harmony, Indiana, preserves the history of their second. Economy was the third and final community settled by George Rapp and his followers. Learn more about the program and register to receive the Zoom link by visiting the Facebook event for "The Harmonist Connection."

Wednesday, November 18, brings two programs for those looking for a midweek break. At noon, the Pennsylvania State Archives will present "Caring for Artifacts and Objects," the latest in their Community History Dialog series. The 90-minute workshop, led by Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums curator Rachel Yerger and Railroad Museum of PA collections manager Dodie Robbins, will discuss ways to handle, clean, and store your important family and/or community artifacts. Visit the PA State Archives webpage to learn more about the series and to register for the Zoom link.

That evening from 7 to 8:30 pm, the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania will transform their popular "Trains & Troops" event into a virtual program exploring how World War II changed the railroad industry, how railroads aided the war effort, and the effect that railroads had on civilian life on the homefront. Tickets are by donation; you can register by visiting the Eventbrite page.

Replica oil derrick at Drake Well Museum & Park (photo via Facebook)

 
On Thursday, November 19 from 7 to 8 pm, join staff from Drake Well Museum & Park, Erie Maritime Museum, and the Pennsylvania Military Museum for "Revolution! How Black Gold Transformed the Military." The program will explore the oil industry's intersection with the U.S. Civil War up through the 20th century and beyond. The program is free (donations are welcome), but you must register to receive the Zoom link. Visit the Facebook event for more info and ticket link.