Ask A Curator Day

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on Ask A Curator Day Sarah Buffington was quick with her response. The longtime curator at Old Economy Village in Ambridge, Beaver County, had expected the question and she was ready. “Probably a static electricity machine,” she said. “The communal Harmony Society had a science museum, which we’ve recreated. They tried to make electricity in the 1820s and ’30s. It didn’t work...
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Art of the State 2014 / Pennsbury Manor Naturalization Ceremony

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on Art of the State 2014 / Pennsbury Manor Naturalization Ceremony Art of the State 2014 Before Philadelphia artist Michael Pavol could start painting his award-winning Josie, the work needed a subject – and a small, plastic skull. Pavol’s inspiration came in the form of a young girl who had little interest in the artist, his camera or his vision for the canvas. Pavol struggled to occupy the girl’s attention long enough to allow his camera to capture the...
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PHMC Highlights

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on PHMC Highlights The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Strasburg, will host “Railway Heritage in the Heart of Penn­sylvania Dutch Country,” the forty-fifth annual conference of the Association of Railway Museums from Wednesday through Sunday, October 5-9. Conference topics include steel car preservation, oral history programs, historical writing, and linking railroading and the public school...
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PHMC Highlights

Posted by on Nov 24, 2013 in | Comments Off on PHMC Highlights The orientation video at the Pennsylvania Military Museum, Boalsburg, Centre County, recently garnered two prestigious national awards. Answering the Call: Pennsylvanians in Service to the Nation won a Telly Award in the twenty-seventh annual competition conducted in 2006, and first place in the National Association of Government Communicators Blue Pencil/Gold Screen Award for exceptional...
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PHMC Highlights

Posted by on Nov 24, 2013 in | Comments Off on PHMC Highlights The PHMC recently announced the Volunteers of the Year for 2005,awards which recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the more than two dozen historic sites and museums along the Pennsylvania Trail of History. This year’s recipients are: Anthracite Heritage Museum and Scranton Iron Furnaces Associates, Jim Justin; Brandywine Battlefield Park Associates, Harvey...
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PHMC Highlights

Posted by on Nov 24, 2013 in | Comments Off on PHMC Highlights A popular exhibit at the ninetieth annual Pennsylvania Farm Show, “An Agricultural Tradition for Generations,” held in Harrisburg in January, was the PHMC’s display featuring a dugout canoe – most likely the earliest form of constructed watercraft in the world. While children are encouraged to explore the dugout – essentially a hollowed-out log – ­historic...
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PHMC Highlights

Posted by on Nov 24, 2013 in | Comments Off on PHMC Highlights Beatrice Hulsberg, curator for The State Museum of Pennsylvania, is overseeing the conservation of a rare, circa 1790 creamware bowl bearing the portraits of Benjamin Franklin and George Washing­ton that will be featured in the landmark traveling exhibit, “Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World.” Attributed to England’s legendary maker Josiah Wedg­wood, the bowl, which...
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PHMC Highlights

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on PHMC Highlights PHMC leadership has recently been in the news. Executive Director Barbara Franco has been elected chair of the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) for a two-year term. AASLH, based in Nashville, Tennessee, traces its roots to 1904. It provides leadership and support for members who preserve and interpret state and local history to make the past more meaningful for all...
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PHMC Highlights

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on PHMC Highlights If disaster strikes, what happens to the Commonwealth’s irreplaceable public records and historic documents is of critical importance. Last fall, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) staged a “mini-disaster” at the State Records Center in Harrisburg. Several staff members of the PHMC’s Bureau of Archives and History staff attended a two-day NARA disaster preparedness and...
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PHMC Highlights

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on PHMC Highlights Aweekend historical sewing workshop at the Somerset Historical Center in February taught participants how to create hand-sewn, eighteenth-century pockets for period clothing. Gail Smith, assistant curator, and volunteer Robin Cordek, helped plan the event and assisted participants. Curator Carrie Blough and her mother, local seamstress Giselle Blough, served as workshop instructors.   Louis...
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