The Pennsylvania Heritage Society is a non-profit membership organization supporting PHMC's mission to tell Pennsylvania's story and preserve our rich history and culture. The Heritage Society's 4,500 members, hailing from every corner of the commonwealth and numerous other states, fund the co-production of Pennsylvania Heritage magazine, and support a variety of educational and preservation programs at PHMC, such as the Civil War Muster Rolls Conservation Project and the King's Quarry Archaeological Project.
Leadership
In 2006, Heritage Society leadership voted to reorganize its articles of incorporation and bylaws to focus and expand its role as an advocacy and fund-raising association for PHMC. The following new officers and board members were elected and installed in June 2007:
Rhonda Cohen, Philadelphia, President
Tom Hagen, Erie, Vice-President
Barbara Franco, PHMC Executive Director, Harrisburg, Secretary
Anne Yellott, Harrisburg, Treasurer
William Alexander, Hummelstown
Renee Amoore, King of Prussia
Laura Fisher, Pittsburgh
Representative Scott Petri, Richboro
Wayne Spilove, PHMC Chairman, Philadelphia
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| Pennsylvania Humanities Council Executive Director Joe Kelly and PHMC Executive Director Barbara Franco with historian James O. Horton. |
Scholarship
NEH Civil War in Pennsylvania Project
In 2006-07 the Heritage Society coordinated "Telling Pennsylvania's Civil War Stories: New Narratives from Old Collections," a consultation project concentrating on statewide programming for the Civil War Sesquicentennial (2011-2015), funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Focusing on interpreting Civil War-related collections in new ways, this project brought eminent Civil War historians to PHMC for two seminars to plan a strategy for delivering high-quality programs throughout the state. Working with project partners the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Heinz Center/Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, the consultation initiated dialogue about the Civil War among Pennsylvania's public history and museum organizations, as well as libraries, public media, heritage parks and the heritage tourism industry. Civil War scholars who consulted on the project were Edward Ayers, University of Virginia; William Blair, Penn State University; James O. Horton, George Washington University, and Elizabeth Leonard, Colby College.
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| American History in Pennsylvania grant project |
History and the Environment
The Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Professionals (PAEP) provided a grant to the Heritage Society to co-sponsor an intern in environmental history with the PHMC. Kathleen Quinlan, a junior majoring in history at SUNY-Geneseo, began a summer internship in May 2007 to research and develop background material for interpretive displays about Pennsylvania's historic conservation leaders at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg. Dr. William Sisson, chief curator of the State Museum, was the supervisor for the internship. PAEP has been partnering with PHMC and the Heritage Society to preserve and promote Pennsylvania's significant conservation heritage by sponsoring a number of projects over the past few years. Other contributors to this conservation heritage initiative include the Karl Mason Family, Gannett Fleming, Cultural Heritage Research Services, Inc. and McCormick Taylor Inc.
Classroom Professional Development
Led by Heritage Society Program Coordinator Rhonda Newton, the three-year $1.2 million Teaching American History grant project "American History in Pennsylvania" was initiated in 2006. Following a week-long residency at the State Museum of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania State Archives focusing on 18th century history, the project took Central Pennsylvania secondary schoolteachers on engaging behind-the-scenes field trips to the National Constitution Center and Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and to the National Archives and Smithsonian museums in Washington D.C. The project is a collaborative teacher professional-development project between PHMC and the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit of Lewisburg, PA, and is funded by the U.S. Department of Education.
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| Capitol Centennial Tour |
Signature Series
The Heritage Society continued its successful new Signature Series, which provides special opportunities for Heritage Society members and guests to meet popular historians, curators and authors, as well as to experience in-depth tours of Pennsylvania’s historic sites and museums.
Special Excursions
Capitol Centennial Tour: One hundred members and guests joined the Heritage Society and the Capitol Preservation Committee (CPC) for a special dome-access tour and reception on September 19, 2006. Celebrating the Capitol building's centennial, attendees enjoyed gorgeous late summer vistas of Harrisburg and the Susquehanna Valley from atop the Capitol, as well as behind-the-scenes commentary on the Capitol's restoration by the CPC. PHMC Chairman Wayne Spilove and Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll presided at a dessert reception following the tour.
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| Oley Valley bus tour |
Bus Tours: On May 7, 2007, the Heritage Society hosted a very popular and memorable tour of the historic Oley Valley conducted by PHMC's Daniel Boone Homestead Site Administrator Jim Lewars. Accompanied by commentary by historians Robert Ensminger and Philip Pendleton, 50 members and guests explored a stunning landscape reflecting the diverse colonial heritage of the English, German, Swiss, French Huguenot and Welsh Quakers who settled this area in the early eighteenth century. And, on October 10, 2006, the Heritage Society reprised its sold-out "Covered Bridges of Lancaster County" tour in cooperation with the Landis Valley Museum.
Lectures
David Hackett Fischer: The Pennsylvania Humanities Council provided a grant to the Pennsylvania Heritage Society to support a lecture by the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Hackett Fischer at Washington Crossing Historic Park, December 2, 2006. More than 350 guests packed the park's auditorium and were captivated by Dr. Fischer’s perspectives on researching his bestselling book, Washington's Crossing.
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| David Hackett Fischer |
Randall Miller and Carol Reardon: The Teaching American History grant for "American History in Pennsylvania" supported engaging Signature Series lectures by Randall Miller, St. Joseph's University (March 8, 2007), and Carol Reardon, Penn State University (June 26, 2007). Both Dr. Miller and Dr. Reardon offered their interpretations on the impact of the Civil War on American memory.
PHMC Sites and Museums Showcase
Holiday Marketplace: The first annual Heritage Society Holiday Marketplace introduced hundreds of commonwealth employees working in Harrisburg's Capitol Complex to several of PHMC's wonderful museum stores from across the state on November 16 and 17, 2006, in Harrisburg. Held in the dramatic nine-story atrium of the Commonwealth Keystone building adjacent to the State Museum and the State Archives tower, the event featured a variety of beautifully displayed gift items and holiday wares, as well as a Heritage Society membership booth with a noon-time backdrop of live music. Participating PHMC stores included: Old Economy Village, Landis Valley Museum, Ephrata Cloister, Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Somerset Historical Center, Radius/State Museum store and the State Bookstore/PHMC Publications. Guest participants included the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and the Capitol Preservation Committee. The Heritage Society was pleased to welcome PSECU as the sponsor of this special event.
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| Holiday Marketplace |
