Sydney Ware, Eastern State Penitentiary Artist

Posted by on Dec 17, 2019 in | Comments Off on Sydney Ware, Eastern State Penitentiary Artist Built in the 1820s as part of a new type of prison system, Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia was founded on the belief that prisoners could be rehabilitated during incarceration through separate confinement and industrious labor. During the penitentiary’s span of operation, 1829–1971, numerous records were compiled about the inmates and maintained at the prison, including statistics on...
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George Rapp’s Coat and Cap

Posted by on Apr 19, 2016 in | Comments Off on George Rapp’s Coat and Cap Silk was all the rage in America during the 1820s and 1830s. Initially imported from Europe, silk fabric was used in men’s suits, women’s dresses and miscellaneous household articles. The Harmony Society, always at the forefront of industry at the time, added silk manufacturing to its long list of enterprises shortly after the religious communal group settled in 1825 at their last home in...
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Back in Plain Sight: Restoring the Midcentury Modern Furnishings at The State Museum and Archives Complex

Posted by on Apr 12, 2016 in | Comments Off on Back in Plain Sight: Restoring the Midcentury Modern Furnishings at The State Museum and Archives Complex October 14, 1964 With the construction of the new William Penn Memorial Museum and Archives Building (now The State Museum and Archives Complex) in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, PHMC Executive Director S.K. Stevens penned an urgent memo to the commonwealth’s secretary of property and supplies requesting nearly $25,000 worth of “chairs, sofas, and upholstered benches,” as well as numerous...
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Executive Director’s Message

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Message Caring for museum collections is one of the less visible, but among the most critical, functions of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. The recent acquisition of a rare Conestoga wagon by our Landis Valley Museum in Lancaster County reminds us of our responsibility to allocate resources carefully and preserve the objects and artifacts that reflect our rich heritage. The wagon was...
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Library of the Founding Fathers

Posted by on Nov 24, 2013 in | Comments Off on Library of the Founding Fathers Three centuries after the birth of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), the world continues to be amazed by his overwhelming contributions, from the proprietary period in the early years of Pennsylvania through the birth of the United States of America. Of his many accomplishments, Franklin’s love of the printed word seems most obvious. In 1731, he and several friends founded the first...
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The Pennsylvania Civil War Muster Rolls Project

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Pennsylvania Civil War Muster Rolls Project Imagine, nearly a century and a half ago, an entire company of soldiers mustering out at the end of their service. A hundred or more war-wearied men line up and, one-by-one, give a personal accounting to field clerks as they leave the army to return home. Company officers sitting at a makeshift table huddle over a huge sheet of heavy ruled paper and list each soldier and record what happened to...
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