Bucks County

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bucks County As one of the three original counties of Pennsylvania created shortly after William Penn arrived in his nascent colony in 1682, Bucks County has a heritage that reaches back to the very beginnings of the Commonwealth. Long before Penn’s arrival, the intrepid settlers of the Dutch and Swedish colonies farther down the Delaware River had ex­plored the wooded banks of the river as far as the...
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You Can Go Home Again: An Interview with James A. Michener

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on You Can Go Home Again: An Interview with James A. Michener James A Michener is a man of diverse talents, boundless energy, and seemingly countless interests. He is naturally inquisitive, passionately curious. He is fascinated by the world around him and the people who inhabit it. He collects stories about far-away places as effortlessly as one gathers seashells on the shoreline in summer. He is the Ultimate Con­noisseur. Of people. Of places. Of things....
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Shorts

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Shorts Opening Saturday, October 30 [1993], at the Philadelphia Museum of Art is an exhibi­tion of one hundred and twenty-five old master drawings selected from both public and private collections in the United States and Europe, many of which have never before been exhibited in this country. Entitled “Visions of Antiquity: Neoclassical Figure Drawings,” the exhibition features works by a...
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Pennsbury Manor, The Philosopher’s Garden

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Pennsbury Manor, The Philosopher’s Garden Pennsbury Manor, William Penn’s reconstructed country estate north of Philadelphia, is a profoundly peaceful place. The Delaware River glides by the manor house’s front door, stately trees shade the site, and sheep dot the pastures. Rescued from an encroaching gravel quarry in the 1930s, the forty-three acre farm is a pastoral remnant of the founder’s original...
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Shorts

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Shorts In recognition of the recent seventy-fifth anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States, the Chester County Historical Society is examining the roles of local women in the social reform movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries through an exhibition entitled “‘Do Everything’: Women and Reform in Chester County.” Abolition, temperance,...
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Currents

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Currents Moore Is More As early as 1915, acclaimed American poet Marianne Moore (1887-1972) had discovered the artists and writers who were shaping what was coming to be known as the “new art.” Comments contained in her notebooks indicate her early grasp of the significance of the New York Armory Show of 1913, a benchmark in the American Modernist movement. In several lengthy letters to her...
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Currents

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Currents Let’s Motor! Although Detroit has earned the title of “Motor City,” Pittsburgh was home to twenty automobile makers at the turn of the century, manufacturing such notable vehicles as the Penn 30 Touring Car, the Standard Model E Touring Car, the Keystone Six-Sixty, the Brush Model D Runabout, and the Artzberger Steam Surrey. Several of these automobiles attracted widespread...
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Currents

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Currents Doctor! Doctor! During the eighteenth century, and throughout much of the nineteenth cen­tury, most Americans attempted to heal themselves, as their ancestors had for centuries. Professional medical assis­tance was either too far away, too expensive, or both, and even affluent and urban families usually engaged in some sort of home health care before the doctor was summoned. Such care was...
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Holland Sabbath School Banner

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Holland Sabbath School Banner Currently the subject of much interest – no doubt piqued by several popular exhibitions mounted by museums in southeastern Pennsylvania – Bucks County’s Edward Hicks (1780-1849) is known throughout the country (if not the world) for his paintings depicting The Peaceable Kingdom and Penn’s Treaty with the Indians (see “Currents” in the fall 1999 issue) Art...
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The Boat Ride that Changed America: Washington Crossing Historic Park

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Boat Ride that Changed America: Washington Crossing Historic Park The characters a seem straight out of a big screen military blockbuster: the protagonist, a distinguished squire turned military commander, appearing outwardly controlled, yet besieged by internal doubts; his antagonist, a general whose redeeming qualities are negated by his arrogance and complacency; a comely widow; heroes, cads, and a supporting cast of thousands. The plot is also...
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