Currents

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Currents Hello, History! The former Chautauqua Lake Ice Company warehouse in Pittsburgh’s historic Strip District will come to life on Sunday, April 28 [1996], when it officially opens to the public as the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center. Renovated by the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, which has been protecting, preserving, and interpreting the history of the...
read more

Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf The Lincoln Highway by Brian A. Butko Stackpole Books, 1996 (321 pages, paper, $16.95) Established in 1913, the Lincoln Highway became the first automobile roadway to cross the United States. It stretched east from New York’s Tunes Square to San Francisco at a time when rural roads were little more than rutty wagon paths. The Lincoln Highway Association was organized “to procure the...
read more

Presence from the Past: A Gift to the Future Through Historic Preservation

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Presence from the Past: A Gift to the Future Through Historic Preservation The United States is a nation and a people on the move. It is in an era of mobility and change … The result is a feeling of rootlessness combined with a longing for those land­marks of the past which give us a sense of stability and belonging … If the preservation movement is to be successful, it must go beyond saving bricks and mortar. It must go beyond saving occasional historic...
read more

Executive Director’s Message

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Message I do not have e-mail. Although the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) has made enormous progress in many ways in recent years, we have lagged behind in investing in technologies normally associated with government agencies and cultural institutions. However, a tremendous transformation is underway and within two years we will dramatically change the way we conduct business....
read more

History and Community: Pennsylvania’s First Lady Makes The Connection, An Interview with Michele M. Ridge

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on History and Community: Pennsylvania’s First Lady Makes The Connection, An Interview with Michele M. Ridge When flood waters threatened the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg in January 1996, Michele M. Ridge quickly transformed herself from First Lady to First Curator of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Within hours, she assembled a team of National Guardsmen, weekend staff at the resi­dence, and specialists of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to move endangered works of art,...
read more

Erie Maritime Museum

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Erie Maritime Museum Discover Pennsylvania’s newest museum – and rediscover the Commonwealth’s exciting maritime history! With the U.S. Brig Niagara as its centerpiece, the Erie Maritime Museum examines the events leading to the War of 1812 and, specifically, the Battle of Lake Erie, during which Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry defeated the British while in command of the Niagara under the famous...
read more

Executive Director’s Message

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Message For the first time in two decades, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) will open a new museum when the Erie Maritime Museum makes its grand debut in May. Planning for the museum began in 1986, but a suitable site was not secured until 1991. We needed not only a museum location but also a new berthing facility for the U.S. Brig Niagara. It was at this time that the Erie...
read more

Currents

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Currents Setting Sail One of Pennsylvania’s most exciting museums-and certainly its newest-will open its doors during the Memorial Day weekend (see “Executive Director’s Message” in the spring 1998 edition). The Erie Maritime Museum, with the U.S. Brig Niagara as its centerpiece, will join more than two dozen historic sites and museums along the well-traveled Pennsylvania Trail of...
read more

Erie Maritime Museum: A New Museum Opens a Window to History

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Erie Maritime Museum: A New Museum Opens a Window to History Nearly two centuries ago, a newly built squadron of United States Navy warships set sail from the shores of Lake Erie to battle a contingent of the British Navy, the most formidable naval force in the world. The ensuing battle of the War of 1812 shocked the British admiralty and boosted the morale of the U.S. Navy and the entire nation. The legacy of this battle is graphically chronicled by the...
read more

Executive Director’s Message

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Message Travel Journal – July 2000 Rarely do I spend a week at public events that illustrate so poignantly the incredible scope of Pennsylvania’s past and the creative ways in which we are saving our heritage for the future. July 3 – Gettysburg The restoration of the battlefield officially begins with the demolition of the Gettysburg National Tower, built in the early 1970s over the...
read more