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2002 November
2002 Halloween
2002 May
2002 March
2002 January

Because I have been involved, almost on a daily basis, with the development of the museum and its collections and exhibits since 1995, I, by times, need the eyes and input of others to tell me how Allison-Antrim Museum is doing. I sometimes feel I'm too close to see its growth and progress or stagnation. I truly appreciate all comments, whether received by phone, email, letter, or personally. It's one of the ways of helping AAMI to become better and help me look at some things in a different way.

Is our small museum following its mission statement and serving the needs of the community? Is AAMI following the growth patterns, on a daily and annual basis, of other small museums? Does AAMI meet the expectations of visitors from outside of Greencastle-Antrim? Is AAMI operating similarly to other small museums? Are the challenges I encounter in operating the museum, common to other small museum directors?

The answer to all of the above questions is 'yes'. Museum News, the bimonthly magazine of the American Association of Museums, and History News, the magazine for the American Association for State and Local History, both have relevant articles in their current publications pertaining to small museums. For me, the magazines arrived just at a time of procrastination (getting this newsletter started) and a feeling of being bogged down (so much to do, most of it fun, and not enough time).

Within the articles there was validation that Allison-Antrim Museum is doing quite well for a small museum and the daily managerial and operational challenges are normal. I broke into laughter when Ron Chew author of the article "In Praise of the Small Museum", Museum News, wrote, "In addition to the usual managerial responsibilities of all museum directors, I also had the duties of the "small museum" director: I climbed a rickety ladder to change light bulbs, ran to the bathroom to unplug the overflowing toilets, wrote label text minutes before the exhibition opening, led school tours, and sometimes staffed the front admission desk. Yes, I had the opportunity to taste, firsthand, the adrenaline-filled joys and agonies of working inside a small museum." Until now, I kept thinking I needed to change my job description. George Hoffman, AAMI member in California, can attest to the, "… wrote label text minutes before opening the exhibit," witnessed upon his visit just before the February Thursday open house.

Carol Kammen in the column, "On Doing Local History", History News, writes, "It is, and has long been my contention, that the delight, the joy, and the fun of local history is in the doing. We do it because we believe in it and we love it." AAMI is attempting to begin sharing the fun of local history by getting its members and the public involved in the 'process of history' - their history, by inviting them to be volunteers in areas of daily operation in which they have an interest. If you do not have an interest in what you do, you will not enjoy the job and have fun in the process. AMMI members, Louise Mowen and Isabelle Barnes, have, both in the past and recently, helped in the 'process of history' at AAMI by doing what they enjoy. Louise did extensive research on the genealogy of John Allison (more on that at a later time) and Isabelle donated a WWII scrapbook of local servicemen and women that she compiled during the war years. The scrapbook tells the story of how the war impacted our Greencastle-Antrim community. She is currently adding more articles to the scrapbook. Both ladies, although their interests are different, enjoyed what they did and their contributions to AAMI are greatly valued.

'Thank you' to each one of you who responded by returning the volunteer postcard that was enclosed with the January newsletter. There was a wide range of operational duties from which to choose. The postcards have been collated and names and phone numbers have been given to the appropriate committee chairpersons. It is still not too late to fill out and return your postcard, if you have not yet done so. If you feel you can contribute in some area not listed on the postcard, please give us a call at 597.9010 or leave a message.

Preserving history does not just mean collecting artifacts and information from events from many years ago. Museums must also be aware that what happens today will be history tomorrow. A building is torn down and a new building or parking lot replaces it and our town changes forever. The farm in Antrim Township, once a productive part of Pennsylvania's green space, that is now a housing development becomes part of the quickly growing urban sprawl that encroaches on and changes what was the rural lifestyle of our area. These changes need to be recorded in pictures. WWII was a global happening but it still impacted Greencastle-Antrim. Isabelle's scrapbook is a record of that history. I have started collecting articles and pictures on how the events of September 11 impacted our community. If anyone has photographs that were taken in the first week or two after September 11 that show how Greencastle-Antrim responded to the events, AAMI would appreciate copies. If anyone kept a journal of their thoughts and feelings and would also like to share their written account, the museum would be grateful for a copy.

It is my belief that if the members of the Greencastle-Antrim community share in taking an active part in Allison-Antrim Museum's 'process of history', they will feel and claim more ownership for what it is - their museum.

New Board Member

We welcome Alann Schmidt to the Board of Directors. He is completing the unexpired term of David Rajtik who resigned his seat due to business commitments. Alann is from the Welsh Run area and works for the National Park Service at Antietam.

'Thank You' to…

March: Loom-woven coverlets will be on display for the open houses in March. Six pieces have ties to Greencastle. Some of them have "Greencastle" woven into the comforter along with the name of the lady for whom it was made and the weaver's name. The other pieces are local family heirlooms. One coverlet is part of AAMI's collection and one is on loan from the Miller House in Hagerstown, Maryland. Of the Greencastle private pieces, coverlets are being loaned by Dr. James H. Craig, Jr., Robert Zimmerman, and Al Bonnell, all of Greencastle. The sixth Greencastle coverlet belongs to Joseph Henson, Chambersburg, formerly of Greencastle. Coverlets from the collections of the late Jack Burns, Doug Bitner of Bitner Antiques, both of Greencastle, and David Thomas of the Historic Fairfield Inn, will also be on display. Those belonging to Thomas have the names of nearby towns woven into them.

There are four main types of loom-woven coverlets - Overshot, Double Weave, the Summer and Winter Coverlet, and Jacquard. The Overshot is distinguished by the weft threads (weavers that run horizontally) that skip over the warp threads. The overshots of different lengths in each row produce the design that is usually geometric.

The Double Weave coverlets were also geometric in design but were constructed of two "webs" or warps (threads that run vertically). The two webs were joined in a particular way so that the front and back were mirror images - either dark on light or light on dark background. The space between where the designs are joined can be pulled apart like a pocket.

The Summer and Winter Coverlet is a single weave, double-faced coverlet on which the back is the reverse of the front in color. As the name implies, these coverlets were used year round. This type of coverlet probably originated in America in the state of Pennsylvania. The patterns were still geometric but more elaborate because some of the looms could accommodate up to eight harnesses.

The invention by Joseph Jacquard of an attachment (punch cards) for looms permitted very elaborate, intricate designs to be produced. The Jacquard loom was also much wider, producing a beautiful, unseamed coverlet. Jacquard coverlets were also known for their elaborate borders.

In addition to the exhibit, Helen Goulette, State Line, will be demonstrating spinning and AAMI member and weaver, Pat Beard, Greencastle, will be working at her loom. Both ladies will gladly answer questions.

April: Thoughts of spring bring to mind the rejuvenation of life in the realm of plants. Lorraine Hamilton, herb specialist from Neelyton, Pa., will present a slide show at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 14 about herbs, including the kitchen herb garden. Her booklets, Herbal Vinegar and Herbal Cosmetics will be available for sale along with selected potted herbs - chives, garlic chives, lemon balm, salad burnet, love in a mist, beebalm, and globe thistle. Lorraine will also provide lavender cookies and an herbal tea for tasting.

Lorraine is a school teacher, so she will not be able to be present during Thursday's open house, but we hope to have her herbal booklets and herb plants available for sale. We'll also provide herbal tea for tasting.

Thursday, March 7, noon - 3 p.m. and Sunday, March 10, 1 - 4 p.m.: Loom-woven coverlets from the Greencastle area and from private collections. Helen Goulette will be spinning and Pat Beard will be weaving.

Thursday, March 14, 7 p.m., Monthly Meeting, Evangelical Lutheran Church: John Schildt will present the topic "The German Brethren - the Dunkards and Other Brethren"

Thursday, April 11, 6:30 p.m., Quarterly Dinner Meeting, Antrim House Restaurant: Ben Thomas speaking on The History of Antrim Township. Reservations for dinner are required by Tuesday, April 9 by calling 597.9325.

Sunday, April 14, 1 - 4 p.m. Lorraine Hamilton, herb specialist, presenting a slideshow at 2 p.m.; herb plants and herb recipe booklets for sale; lavender cookies and an herbal tea for tasting

Thursday, April 18, noon - 3 p.m.: Herb recipe booklets and herbs for sale and herbal tea for tasting

Thursday, May 9, 7 p.m., Monthly Meeting, Evangelical Lutheran Church: The Lincoln Highway

Sunday, May 12 (Mother's Day), 1 - 4 p.m. and Thursday, May 16, noon - 3 p.m.: "Something Olde, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, and a Sixpence in Her Shoe" - An exhibit of antique wedding dresses from this area and from the collection of Rebecca Manifold. Also included will be wedding dresses recently worn by brides of today.

the most recently pieced together artifact from the summer digs?

The answers to January's "Have You Seen…" can be found on the pages of the 1865 hotel register of the original Franklin Hotel and in the 1899/1900 guest register of the original Antrim House Hotel. Visitors to Greencastle came from many states away or as close as Waynesboro, State Line, Mercersburg, or Chambersburg. On open house days, the guest registers are open to the page with the corresponding month and day in 1865 or 1899/1900.

There are only two copies left for sale of the book From Terror to Freedom written by William P. Conrad. They are $40 each and will be sold on a first come-first served basis. Michael Conrad, son of William and Pearl Conrad, donated seven copies of the book. We, again, thank him for the generous gift. Call the museum at 597-9010 and leave a message to reserve your copy.

• The Archaeology Society meets during the winter months on the second Tuesday of each month from 7 - 9 p.m. in AAMI's basement washing, sorting, and piecing together artifacts that were found during the summer digs. It's as addictive as putting a jigsaw puzzle together - except that you're working on more than a dozen puzzles at a time. Everyone (museum members as well as the public) is welcome.
• The creaks are gone! Applying shellac (part of the floor rejuvenation process started before Old Home Week) to the downstairs floors and the upstairs hallway caused the creaking of the floorboards to be magnified much more loudly throughout the museum. The shellac, a hard surface, does not absorb sound as well as "bare" wood. Through investigating the cause of the loud creaking, it was discovered that the wood, around some of the nails in certain floorboards, has whittled away over 142 years. This allowed the boards to move up and down as much as a half inch in some areas. David Gibney, historic restorationist, and his men silenced most of the creaks by hammering finishing nails, at an angle just outside of the original nails, into the floor joists below. In 1860, floorboards were laid directly on the joists; there was no sub-flooring.

Applying carnuba wax with steel wool and then buffing (the final part of the rejuvenation process) was completed.

The painted floor borders in the four rooms upstairs were returned to the original colors. A rug or piece of linoleum would have been placed in the center of the rooms where the pine boards were never finished. AAMI will, at some point, be adding some such floor covering to the large and small "bedrooms" and the room that we use as a library. The room being used for the office will not have a rug or linoleum as the family painted the center of the floor in that room, as they also did in the room currently being used for storage.

 

• A document dated October 12, 1782 with the signatures of Thomas McKean and George Bryan both of whom served as Governor of Pennsylvania. McKean's term was 1799 - 1808 and is rare and valuable because he was also one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Bryan, born in County Dublin, Ireland, was Governor for seven months in 1778, becoming acting president upon the death, in office, of Thomas Wharton, Jr. who preceded him as Governor.

The document is a warrant to David Rittenhouse, Esquire Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania signed by McKean and Bryan. It requests Rittenhouse to pay four pounds and ten shillings to William Augustus Atlee, Esquire Second Justice of the Supreme Court for the traveling expenses of his servant from Lancaster to Philadelphia and back to attend a session of the Supreme Court that began on September 24, 1782. With this gift from Thomas Brumbaugh, the number of signatures in the Pennsylvania Governors' Signatures Collection, which he donated upon the opening of the museum on August 1, 1998, now totals 46 out of the 99 men who have, so far, served as Governor of Pennsylvania.

Thanks, again, Tom.

• A Myers Implement Company cardboard folding fan given to customers as an advertising piece from the early 1940's. A gift from Robert "Red" and Nancy Myers Pensinger.
• A ticket book, containing one remaining ticket, for the Chambersburg, Greencastle, and Waynesboro Street Railway Company (the trolley). The tickets were void if detached from the book upon presentation. A gift from William A. Diehl, Greencastle.
• A photo of the Hagerstown trolley at the intersection of the Greencastle-Waynesboro and Hagerstown trolley track intersection in Shady Grove. A gift from Frances Diehl.
• Correction: From January's newsletter, under acquisitions, please note the following correction, "…photos of Ed Pensinger's Hardware Store (early 1930's) on the inside southwest corner of the square…"

• On permanent loan - a photograph of Francis and Urilla Hoffman; a map of the line of advance to the James River by the Union Army; an account of Francis Hoffman's service in the Civil War. These pieces will enhance the exhibited muster out paper of Francis Hoffman that is displayed in the dining room. Gifts from George Hoffman, AAMI member in California and great-grandson of Francis and Urilla Hoffman.

• Someone from Virginia wanted to know when the yard sales started and how long into the summer they continue. They make occasional visits to Wolf's Bakery and wanted to take advantage of stopping at the various yard sales.
• A Greencastle-Antrim student was checking out the museum's Web site and emailed to say, "… thank you for having my class and it was very nice and very kind of you to put this museum together." She and her class visited the museum in 2001.
• A lady who lives in a town on the north shore of Lake Erie was surfing the Web for information on milk glass Easter eggs. AAMI's Web site popped up during the search because of our Easter 2001 exhibit of milk glass Easter eggs. I emailed additional information on the eggs to her.
• Request for information on a Christian L. Myers (b. October 1, 1840) who married Annie Morter (b. about 1856). Both people were born in Upton, Franklin County.

• A request from a lady in Anchorage, Alaska asking for information on Rev. John Ruthroth, minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church between 1775-1780. The church secretary was able to answer her questions.
• Information is being sought on "Rose Hill Manor", supposedly built shortly after the Civil War by a commissioned Union officer. The property is on Rabbit Road South.

If you have any information concerning any of the above information requests, please call 597.9010 or leave a message.