Holland Sabbath School Banner

Posted by PA Heritage Staff 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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A-Frame Compressor at the Industrial Museum

Posted by PA Heritage Staff on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on A-Frame Compressor at the Industrial Museum Certainly one of the largest acquisitions for a Pennsylvania museum is the enormous A­-Frame Compressor recently accepted by the Industrial Museum of the York County Heritage Trust. At a first glance, the machine’s sheer size is overwhelming – it towers thirty feet and weighs more than fifty tons. A closer look reveals the enormous amounts of engineering, labor, and materials...
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Franklinia Alatamaha by John and William Bartram

Posted by PA Heritage Staff on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Franklinia Alatamaha by John and William Bartram To commemorate the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of John Bartram (1699-1777), Historic Bartram’s Garden in Philadelphia launched a national survey of the Franklinia alatamaha, the most famous discovery made by the famous naturalist and his son, William Bartram (1739-1823). The census drew the participation of both botanical gardens and home gardeners while it recorded the...
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Tall Case Clock by John Greer

Posted by PA Heritage Staff on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Tall Case Clock by John Greer A recent addition to the fine collection of case furniture assembled by the Cumberland County Historical Society, Carlisle, is the earliest known signed and dated tall case clock made in the county seat. The clock was made by John Greer (?-1773), one of the community’s earliest clockmakers, one year before his death. Little is known about John Greer-except that he was a talented craftsman...
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Fallingwater

Posted by PA Heritage Staff on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Fallingwater Its fame has even doomed its description, “an icon of American architecture,” to status as a cliche, but Frank Lloyd Wright’s woodland retreat in south­eastern Fayette County, between Mill Run and Ohiopyle, for Pittsburgh department store owner Edgar Kaufmann and his wife Liliane has earned such hyperbole with its dramatic design and siting. Few may realize it, but Fallingwater...
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Lewis Carroll Collection at Rosenbach Museum and Library

Posted by PA Heritage Staff on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Lewis Carroll Collection at Rosenbach Museum and Library Philadelphia rare book dealer A.S.W. Rosenbach shocked the British in 1928 when he purchased at auction the original manuscript of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1832-1898). By buying the work, then known as Alice’s Adventures Underground, he earned widespread recognition – not all of it favorable – as “the man who bought Alice.” Rosenbach...
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Capitol Building for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Posted by PA Heritage Staff on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Capitol Building for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania The Athenaeum of Philadelphia acquires thousands of architectural drawings and hundreds of rare books and trade catalogues each year. Recent acquisitions include drawings from Charles Barry’s Italianate Travellers’ Club in London, reputedly a source for architect John Notman’s design of the Athenaeum; high-style Victorian period designs by Philadelphia architects Edward Collins...
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Electric Candelabrum by Gorham and Company

Posted by PA Heritage Staff on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Electric Candelabrum by Gorham and Company For the first time in ninety years, silver table items belonging to the family of industrialist Asa Packer (1805-1879) have been shown to the public. Stored since 1912 in vaults in the family’s mansion in the Carbon County seat of Jim Thorpe, the silver collection, totaling three hundred and thirty-six pieces made or retailed by leading firms of the late nineteenth and early twentieth...
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Locomotives by Baldwin Locomotive Works

Posted by PA Heritage Staff on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Locomotives by Baldwin Locomotive Works For many years, railroads – especially the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) – literally moved the nation. Affectionately called the Pennsy, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company was not the first railroad in the United States, but it grew to become the largest and most powerful in the world. In its heyday, the company employed more than one hundred and sixty thousand workers in the Keystone...
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Ewell Sale Stewart Library Books

Posted by PA Heritage Staff on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Ewell Sale Stewart Library Books Established in 1812 “for the encour­agement and cultivation of the sciences, and the advancement of useful learning,” the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia is the oldest natural sci­ences institution in the Western Hemi­sphere. The Academy’s Ewell Sale Stew­art Library, with its extensive collections of books, manuscripts, maps, paintings, and photographs, has been...
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