Shorts

The Internet Unplugged: The World-Wide Moravian Network, 1732-1858, an exhibit chronicling Moravian Church communi­cation in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, has been recently unveiled by the Moravian Historical Society in Nazareth. The exhibit, which runs through Sunday, October 21 [2001], surveys the ways in which Moravians kept abreast of developments, as well as exchanged ideas and information. Additional details are available by writing: Moravian Historical Society, 214 East Center St., Nazareth, PA 18064-2209; or by telephoning (610) 759-5070. Admission.

Portraits of prominent leaders in Erie are being shown at the Erie Art Museum in an exhibit entitled Faces of Erie: Portraits by Professor Zoltan Heya. A Hungarian immigrant, Zoltan Heya (1895-1979) settled in northwestern Pennsylvania in 1949 and proceeded to create portraits of Erie’s community leaders and their families. Nearly three dozen paintings by Heya, who taught at Gannon University, are fea­tured in this exhibit. To obtain more information, write: Erie Art Museum, 411 State St., Erie, PA 16501-1106; telephone (814) 459-5477; or visit the Erie Art Museum website. Admission.

Many historians believe no other medium reveals the presence of the subject with more immediacy and enchanting clarity than the daguerreotype, an early photographic image on a silver-covered copper plate, usually fitted in an elegant leather or gutta-percha case. The finest examples of daguerreotype portraits drawn from the collections of the Chester County Historical Society are being shown in an exhibition entitled The Daguerreotype: Portraiture at the Dawn of Photography. On view through Saturday, November 24 [2001], the exhibit features portraits of a number of county notables. For more details, write: Chester County Historical Society, 225 North High St., West Chester, PA 19380-2691; telephone (610) 692-4800; or visit the Chester County Historical Society website. Admission.

Through Saturday, September 29 [2001], the Historical Society of Berks County is showing a selection of important examples drawn from its permanent collection of five hundred pieces of fraktur, augmented by loans from private collections. The exhibit examines the types of fraktur created by Pennsylvania Germans, discussing both the artists, the scriveners, and the printers. For more information, write: Historical Society of Berks County, 940 Centre Ave., Reading, PA 19601-2198; telephone (610) 375-4375. Admission.

The Hook and The Book: The Emergence of Crochet and Knitting in American Popular Culture, 1840-1876, currently on exhibit at the Library Company of Philadelphia, features a wide spectrum of periodicals, broadsides, trade cards, photographs, and authentic period knitted and crocheted items lent of Philadelphia area institutions. The exhibition examines the emergence of crochet and knitting in American culture through the third quarter of the nineteenth century, by which time these crafts had become established as icons of Victorian era female industry. For more information, write: Library Company of Philadelphia, 1314 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19107- 5698; telephone (215) 546- 3181; or visit the Library Company of Philadelphia website. Free.

Continuing through Saturday, Sep­tember 8 [2001], at the Erie Historical Museum is an exhibition of cast iron cookware manufactured by the Griswold Manufacturing Company of Erie. For nearly a century, from 1865 to 1957, the company manufactured items used throughout the world. For more information, write: Erie Historical Museum, 356 West Sixth St., Erie, PA 16507; or telephone (814) 454-1813. Admission.

An extensive display of antique horse­drawn carriages, wagons, carts, and sleighs will be shown during the weekend of September 15-16 [2001] at the Bradford County Heritage Farm Museum in Troy. Sponsored by the Bradford County Heritage Association, the event features demonstrations of traditional crafts and skills, period entertainment, a Civil War reenactment, and tours of its circa 1822 inn located in the community’s Alpron Park. For more details, write: Bradford County Heritage Association, P.O. Box 265, Troy, PA 16947-0265; telephone (570) 297-9018. Admission.

History comes to life on Saturday and Sunday, August 18-19, when the Ligonier Valley Historical Society hosts its popular Compass Inn Museum Living History Weekend in Laughlintown. A number of crafts demonstrations complement guided tours of the Compass Inn, a restored 1799 stagecoach stop, during which costumed docents tell the story of transportation and life in the region in the early nineteenth century. Additional details are avail­able by writing: Ligonier Valley Historical Society, Box 167, Laugh­lintown, PA 15655; by telephoning (724) 238-4983. Admission.

Assembled with loans from private and pub­lic collections, Faith and Family in Fraktur, an exhibit mounted by the York County Heritage Trust, focuses heavily on tauf­schein, Pennsylvania German birth and baptismal certificates, distinctive as both masterful works of art and brightly colored genealogical records. Often compared to illuminated manuscripts, each certificate possesses unique details in content and design. York County’s fraktur artists include Daniel Peter­man, Adam Wuertz, and Johannes Bard. Faith and Family in Fraktur, which is accompanied by a publication entitled Faith and Family: Pennsylvania German Her­itage in York County Area Fraktur, continues through Wednesday, October 31. For more information, write: York County Heritage Trust, 250 East Market St., York, PA 17403; telephone (717) 848-1587; or visit the York County Heritage Trust website. Admission.

Pittsburgh’s Rodef Shalom Biblical Botanical Garden is exhibiting, through Saturday, September 15, a selection of plants that play a major role as symbols of saints, martyrs, deities, and festivals. The exhibition addresses plant symbolism in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. A guidebook accompanies the exhibit which is entitled Botanical Symbols in World Religions. For more information, write: Rodef Shalom Biblical Botanic Garden, 4905 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213; tele­phone ( 412) 621-6566; or visit the Rodef Shalom Biblical Botanic Garden website. Free.

Grey Towers, the former home of eminent conservationist and two-term governor Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946) and his wife Cornelia Bryce Pinchot (1881-1960), who vigorously advocated women’s suffrage, birth control, and educational reform, in Milford, Pike County, will reopen to the public on Saturday, August 11 [2001]. Closed since 1998 for extensive restoration, the National Historic Landmark has been restored to the era when the Pinchots occupied the handsome chateau-style mansion overlooking the Delaware Water Gap. For more infor­mation, write: Grey Towers National Historic Landmark, 151 Grey Towers Dr., P.O. Box 188, Milford, PA 18337; or telephone (570) 296-9630. Free.