William Penn Memorial Museum Archives - Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine

Representing Pennsylvania’s “Precious Heritage”: Art of the State 50

Posted by Amy Hammond on Jun 13, 2017 in | Comments Off Art of the State is an annual juried exhibition that has been showcasing the work of Pennsylvania’s artists at The State Museum of Pennsylvania since 1968. The body of art that has been exhibited reflects half a century of creative endeavor in the Keystone State. Through the years, exhibitors have shared their ideas and engaged viewers in the categories of painting, photography, craft,...
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Reimagining William Penn: Janet de Coux and the Creation of the Pennsylvania Icon

Posted by Andrea Lowery on Jun 19, 2015 in | Comments Off In 1944 Pennsylvania was celebrating the 300th anniversary of William Penn’s birthday. More than 2,580 celebrations were held across the commonwealth and the nation, and approximately 1,550 Pennsylvania schools each honored Penn with the planting and dedication of a hemlock, the state tree. These activities coincided with a movement on the part of several state officials and Pennsylvania...
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Curating a New Home for History: A Conversation with W. Fred Kinsey and Irwin Richman

Posted by Curtis Miner on Jun 19, 2015 in | Comments Off Established institutions rarely get the opportunity to hit the reset button. But that’s what happened with The State Museum of Pennsylvania in the early 1960s, after the long-anticipated William Penn Memorial Museum and Archives Building cleared its last bureaucratic hurdle. Ground was broken north of the State Capitol in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, in January 1962, and by summer Pennsylvania’s...
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Piper J-3 Cub

Posted by Kyle Weaver on May 11, 2015 in | Comments Off Even before the William Penn Memorial Museum was under construction in the early 1960s, PHMC Executive Director S.K. Stevens had initiated an ambitious plan to acquire objects for a massive Pennsylvania “transportation exhibit.” The gallery was to be arranged chronologically, starting with a pair of Indian moccasins, on to wagons and carriages, then to locomotives and automobiles, and ending...
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Editor’s Letter

Posted by Kyle Weaver on May 11, 2015 in | Comments Off Names and dates. To some they’re the dreaded stuff of high school history exams. To those of us who study and preserve history, however, they’re essential keys for understanding the past. As we continue our commemoration of the 50th anniversary of The State Museum and Archives Complex at PHMC, a clarification of certain names and dates may be in order for understanding exactly what...
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William Penn Memorial Museum Events

Posted by PA Heritage Staff on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off William Penn Honored Approximately 1,200 pupils from across the Commonwealth came to William Penn Memorial Museum to help celebrate the 331st birthday of William Penn on October 24 [1975]. The young students participated or shared in musical interludes, simulations of expeditions, self-made films, games and skits – all signifying America’s cultural heritage. The spirit of the...
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Ruggieri Exhibit: A Commemorative Portrait

Posted by John Baer on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off It’s as though Nick Ruggieri has compiled a family album for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, then passed it around for the state’s citizens to see and admire. Ruggieri, a widely acclaimed veteran artist, has executed the most comprehensive art collection ever assembled on Pennsylvania. It took four years of travel, work and research. He has painted – in oil, acrylic and watercolor...
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William Penn Memorial Museum Events

Posted by PA Heritage Staff on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off William Penn’s Birthday For the eighth successive year an historical festival is planned to commemorate the birthday of William Penn. The event will be held October 24, 1975 – the 331st annual celebration of William Penn’s Birthday. This year’s festival will include student groups from various schools as well as representatives of the Pennsylvania Federation of Junior...
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Mourning Becomes America

Posted by Anita Schorsch on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission will sponsor a Bicentennial exhibit of mourning art beginning with the art of the fashionable people in the late eighteenth century and concluding with the naive expressions in watercolor, paper, and silhouette in the mid-nineteenth century. The exhibit opens March 28 [1976] at the William Penn Memorial Museum and will continue through May 27...
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William Penn Memorial Museum Events

Posted by PA Heritage Staff on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off Black Heritage Month The Black Pennsylvania Artists Exhibit of painting and sculpture was held Feb. 8-29 [1976] at the William Penn Memorial Museum as a major state event in the observance of February as Black Heritage Month. Nearly 100 works of art were shown by approximately thirty artists from throughout the Commonwealth. The exhibit was one of a number of events held by the Urban Black...
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