With the support of its generous members and sponsors, the Pennsylvania Heritage Society continued its vital role of helping to underwrite and enhance PHMC programs throughout the 2008-2009 fiscal year.
sustaining innovation
Energy Theme – Sponsorship & Reception: More than 100 Heritage Society members, Pennsylvania legislators and guests attended a special reception hosted by Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania at The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, on March 31 to celebrate the PHMC’s 2009 theme, "Energy: Innovation and Impact." With this sponsorship by Columbia Gas, The State Museum added a new self-guided energy tour to its Industry and Technology gallery. Additionally, several classrooms from York and Adams counties will travel to the museum in November 2009 for a special tour highlighting Pennsylvania’s rich energy history as guests of Columbia Gas.
Civil War Sesquicentennial: The Heritage Society received additional grant funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation for CWPA 150. The grants enable CWPA 150 to continue planning of statewide programming to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, 2011-2015. Major components include:
http://www.pacivilwar150.com/ : Launched in October 2009, the Web site is a comprehensive resource containing a statewide events calendar, interactive features, a Civil War timeline, and the stories of real Pennsylvanians and their roles in the Civil War.
The Pennsylvania Civil War Road Show: A traveling mobile exhibition experience set in a specially designed and outfitted, 53-foot tractor trailer will be a central feature of CWPA 150. In its 2011-2015 tour to all of the state’s 67 counties, the Road Show will include interactive exhibits, activities and performances. It will introduce the compelling stories of Pennsylvanians and their communities as they experienced the Civil War, both on the battlefront and at home. Noted public historians and consultants Rosalind Remer, Ph.D. and Page Talbott, Ph.D. were engaged by CWPA 150 in 2008 to produce the Road Show.
Environmental Heritage Summit & Internship: Gannett Fleming, McCormick Taylor, CHRS, Inc. and the Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Professionals continued their valuable support of PHMC’s Environmental Heritage Initiative through donations to the Heritage Society in 2008-2009. This combined funding supported an Environmental Heritage Summit, hosted by The State Museum and the Heritage Society in October 2008, and an Environmental Heritage Internship at the State Archives, summer 2009.
leveraging impact
A Common Canvas: Pennsylvania’s New Deal Post Office Murals at The State Museum
Program Support: Gifts were received by the Heritage Society in support of the Common Canvas exhibition from the Foundation for Enhancing Communities on behalf of donors Mr. and Mrs. S. Sloan Auchincloss of the Auchincloss Family Fund (shown at right in the photo accepting a framed exhibition poster from State Museum Director John Leighow), and R. Scott and Kathy T. Shearer of the Shearer Family Fund (shown in the lower right photo). The funds were key to delivering associated programming and a gallery guide for the exhibition.
New Deal Post Office Bus Tour
Sheetz Days: Sheetz, Inc. sponsored two school tour days at the museum in conjunction with the exhibition on May 7-8, 2009, enabling a museum educator to work with students in the gallery and providing "Activity Sheetz," special handouts introducing students to various aspects of The State Museum of Pennsylvania experience.
Post Office Bus Tour: Twenty-six Heritage Society members and guests visited New Deal era artworks installed in post office buildings throughout the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre areas on October 7, 2008. New Deal mural historian David Lembeck and State Museum curator Curtis Miner provided fascinating background stories about these artworks and their communities.
The Teaching American History project went “on the road” in July on a group tour of the American Bandstand television studio in Philadelphia. Shown next to the show’s historical marker are Lew Klein, Bandstand broadcast pioneer and executive producer, his wife Janet Klein, PHMC commissioner; and Eddie Kelly, a dancer on the show.
Teaching American History program: In partnership with the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit, the Heritage Society coordinated the final year of American History in Pennsylvania: Great Documents, Great Events, Great Places, a Teaching American History funded by the U.S. Department of Education. This professional development program immersed teachers from central Pennsylvania in special programs focusing on the 1950s and 60s. The teachers worked with historians, curators and archivists to study a wide variety of American history topics in-depth, such as the Civil Rights Movement, the Cold War, the rise of suburbia and popular entertainment.
Lectures
Dr. G. Terry Madonna, Franklin & Marshall College: "Pennsylvanians and Presidential Politics," October 27, 2008, funded by the Pennsylvania Coalition for Representative Democracy (PennCORD) and presented in cooperation with The State Bookstore.
Dr. Allan Winkler,* Miami University: "The Atom and American Life," March 12, 2009.
Dr. Matthew J. Countryman, University of Michigan: "Civil Rights and Black Power in Philadelphia," June 25, 2009.
*The Winkler and Countryman lectures were funded by the Teaching American History Program of the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Winkler’s lecture was arranged through the Organization of American Historians’ Distinguished Lectureship Program.
Holiday Marketplace: Seven museum shops from the Pennsylvania Trails of History™, the State Bookstore, Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and Department of Conservation and Natural Resources joined the Heritage Society for two days of festive holiday shopping in the Commonwealth Keystone Building in the Capitol Complex, Harrisburg, November 20-21, 2008. The event was sponsored again by PSECU, Pennsylvania State Employee Credit Union, with refreshments provided by Harrisburg Dairies.
