Executive Director’s Message

Posted by on Nov 27, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Message For the past six years, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has provided grants to historical organizations and cultural institutions throughout the Commonwealth for original research, exhibition develop­ment and design, collections management, feasibility stud­ies and publications. A special matching grants program also provides county historical societies with operating sup­port....
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Executive Director’s Message

Posted by on Nov 27, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Message The annual observance of Historic Preservation Week will be conducted the week of May 13-19 throughout the nation. In Pennsylvania, we have made impressive gains in recent decades in preserving properties of historical and architectural significance. The earliest successes in this field have been, of course, the ac­quisition and development of such nationally important historic sites as Old...
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Executive Director’s Message

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Message Twenty-five years ago, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission moved to its present quarters at the corner of Third and North streets, across from the State Capitol. The new facility, known formally then as the William Penn Memorial Mu­seum and Archives Building, instantly attracted national recognition as a showcase for the collection, preservation, study, interpretation and...
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Executive Director’s Message

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Message Travel Journal Friday, August 31, 1990, Titusville, Venango County As I board the Oil Creek and Titus­ville Railroad to make the short trip to the Drake Well Museum, I cannot help but think about the unique chal­lenge we face in preserving the legacy of America’s Industrial Revolution. Industrial artifacts are of a scale and complexity far different and greater than those we use to...
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Executive Director’s Message

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Message May 16, 1991, Philadelphia. A small crowd assembles on this beautiful spring morning to dedicate our state historical marker at the New Freedom Theatre on North Broad Street, a landmark in this great city’s rich cultural history. Once the home of prominent nineteenth century thespian Edwin For­rest, and later the location of the Philadelphia School of Design for Women (now the Moore...
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Executive Director’s Message

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Message Everyone recognizes Penn­sylvania’s opulent State Capi­tol as an architectural landmark, one of the truly outstanding public buildings in the world. Yet few realize that until very recently there existed no legal authority ensuring the preservation of this landmark structure. The creation in 1982 of the Pennsyl­vania Capitol Preservation Committee by the state legisla­ture was a major step...
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Executive Director’s Message

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Message This issue of Pennsylvania Heritage contains a new feature that calls attention to the Commonwealth’s rich collection of historic sites and museums known to residents and visitors alike as the well traveled Pennsylvania Trail of History. On the back cover of each forthcoming edition we will highlight one of the twenty-eight fascinating attractions administered by the Pennsylvania...
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Executive Director’s Message

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Message Since 1987 the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Com­mission (PHMC) has assumed the lead role for the commem­oration of this year’s five hun­dredth anniversary of the Columbus voyages. With the assistance of a task force ap­pointed by Gov. Robert P. Casey, which represents the General Assembly of Pennsyl­vania and major historical organizations and cultural institutions throughout the...
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“The Public Is Entitled to Know”: Fighting for the Public Memory of Henry Clay Frick

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on “The Public Is Entitled to Know”: Fighting for the Public Memory of Henry Clay Frick On Saturday, July 23, 1892, Russian immi­grant and New York anarchist Alexander Berkman burst into the office of Henry Clay Frick in down­town Pittsburgh, stabbed him three times, and shot him in the ear and neck. Frick fought back and, with his secretary’s assistance, eventually subdued his assailant. Although he had sustained several serious wounds to his legs and chest, Frick insisted...
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Executive Director’s Message

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Message Travel Journal, July 1992. The importance of imagination in public history occurs to me several times this month as I participate in various com­memorations and celebrations. July 4, New York As the Brig Niagara maneuvers into position at the South Street Seaport, thousands of spectators line the docks, cheering and taking pictures. The festival of tall ships is inspiring and exhilarating, but a...
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