Shorts

“Forging Freedom: The Influence of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society on Civil Rights Movements” is on view at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania through Friday, August 31 [2001]. The Pennsylvania Abolition Society was founded in Philadelphia in the late eighteenth century to combat prejudice, eliminate slavery, and create opportunities for blacks. For more information, write: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19107-5699; telephone (215) 732-6200; or visit the Historical Soci­ety of Pennsylvania website. Admission.

The Carlisle Indian Industrial School is the subject of an illustrated presentation that will be given by Barbara Landis at the Cumberland County Historical Society on Monday, June 11 [2001]. The program traces the history and discusses the individuals involved in the first off-reservation boarding school for Native Americans. The brainchild of Richard Henry Pratt, the institution was in operation in the Cumberland County seat for nearly forty years, from 1879 until 1918. For more information, write: Cumber­land County Historical Society, 21 North Pitt St., Carlisle, PA 17013; telephone (717) 249-7610; or visit the Cumber­land County Historical Society website. Free.

“Remember Me – Women and Their Friendship Quilts” will be on exhibit at the Lycoming County Historical Society in Williamsport from Friday, June 1, through Sunday, June 24 [2001]. To obtain additional information, write: Lycoming County Historical Society, 858 West Fourth St., Williamsport, PA 17701; or telephone (570) 326-3326. Admission.

“Artists of the Commonwealth: The Realist Tradition in Pennsylvania Painting, 1950-2000,” will open at the Erie Art Museum on Saturday, June 23 [2001]. Developed by a consortium of several Pennsylvania museums, the exhibition is a multifaceted educational experience designed to explore the tradition of realism as a direction and foundation for painting by artists living and working in the Commonwealth during the last half of the twentieth century. “Artists of the Commonwealth” will continue through Sunday, September 16. Additional information is available by writing: Erie Art Museum, 411 State St., Erie, PA 16501-1106; by telephoning (814) 459-5477; or by visiting the Erie Art Museum. Admission.

Continuing through Sunday, Decem­ber 30 [2001], at the Heritage Center Museum of Lancaster County is an exhibition highlighting the diversity of immigrants from the eighteenth to the nineteenth centuries, who settled in southcentral Pennsylvania after leaving what is now Germany. Aptly entitled “The Pennsylvania Germans,” the exhibit features more than one hundred objects and artifacts – many never before publicly shown or recently acquired by the museum – to tell the story of this group. For more information, write: Heritage Center Museum of Lancaster County, 13 West King St., Lancaster, PA 17603-3813; telephone (717) 299-6440. Free.

During the weekend of June 9-10 [2001], Pennypacker Mills, the country home of Governor Samuel W. Pennypacker, will host a Civil War Reunion, replete with battle reenactments, military encampments, period entertainment, and popular civilian activities of the day. For details, write: Pennypacker Mills, 5 Haldeman Rd., Schwenksville, PA 19473; or telephone (610) 287-9349. Free.

Organized to commemorate the centennial of the birth of artist Ben Solowey (1900-1978), “Solowey Unseen: Works by Ben Solowey from the Collection” remains on view at the James A. Mich­ener Art Museum through Sunday, July 8 [2001]. The installation features paintings and drawings representing nearly every stage of the artist’s career, with special emphasis on the works he created in Bucks County from 1942 until his death (see “Ben Solowey: The Thing Speaks for Itself” by Peter Frengel and David Leopold, Summer 1990). David Leopold, director of the Studio of Ben Solowey, will give a gallery talk on Saturday, May 22. For more information, write: James A. Michener Art Museum, 138 South Pine St., Doylestown, PA 18901; telephone (215) 340-9800; or visit the James A. Michener Art Museum website. Admission.

Showcasing works of art by western Pennsylvania artists George Hetzel, Joseph R. Woodwell, William Coventry Wall, Alfred S. Wall, A. Bryan Wall, Albert F. King, Jasper Lawman, Aaron Henry Gorson, Emil Foerster, among those active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, “Nature’s Bounty: Still Life Painting in Southwest­ern Pennsylvania at the Turn of the Twentieth Century” will open at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg on Sunday, July 1 [2001]. The exhibition continues the museum’s tradi­tion of highlighting the Scalp Level tradi­tion, a group of artists led by Hetzel, who painted in the French Barbizon style at the confluence of the Paint and Little Paint Creeks near Johnstown. “Nature’s Bounty,” which will continue through January 2002, is the museum’s first exhibition dedicated to the still Life paintings by this important regional group. For additional details, write: Westmoreland Museum of American Art, 221 North Main St., Greensburg, PA 15601-1898; telephone (724) 837-1500; or visit the Westmoreland Museum of American Art website. Admission.

Since the founding of Philadelphia by William Penn in 1682, the city has grown to the fifth largest metropolis in the United States, and the Atwater Kent Museum will chronicle this development through a display of historic maps, lithographs, photographs, historic and contemporary paintings, and videography. Opening Saturday, June 30 [2001], “Views of the City” will illustrate the growth of Philadelphia, including changes to the physical appearance of neighborhoods, as well as to the residents who lived there. The exhibit will also show the impact of trains and automobiles, and address the ways in which industrial growth impacted the rise and decline of the urban center. “Views of the City” will be on view through January 6, 2002. For more information, write: Atwater Kent Museum, 15 South Sev­enth St., Philadelphia, PA 19106; or visit the Atwater Kent Museum website. Admission.

Pearl S. Buck International Day will be celebrated at the humanitarian’s Bucks County residence, “Green Hills Farm,” on Saturday, June 2 [2001]. The event features cultural entertainment and exhibits, as well as tours of the Pearl S. Buck House, designated a National Historic Landmark, which is located on sixty picturesque acres. Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) lived at Green Hills Farm from the mid-1930s until her death. Her second novel The Good Earth (1931) won a Pulitzer Prize in 1938; three years later she received a Nobel Peace Prize. Her writing considerably affected Western perspectives about the Far East. For more details, write: Pearl S. Buck House, 520 Dublin Rd., Perkasie, PA 18944; tele­phone (215) 249-0110; or visit the Pearl S. Buck House website. Admission.