September 2005, Volume 8, Issue 5
From the President’s Desk
As you have read in the local newspapers over the past two months, the barn project is underway at the construction site, located behind the museum house. Bill Hudson of Greencastle, the general contractor for phase one of the project, was the catalyst to get the project moving in July. Considering the many variables involved in construction work, no specific timetable for any part of the reconstruction project can be given. To date, the excavation, including blasting to loosen the underground limestone, the pouring of footers, floor, and walls (below grade) has been completed. Robert Grout of Fairfield, the mason for the project, has begun relaying the original limestone foundation in all areas above grade. When the foundation is completed, the timber framers will be able to begin reconstruction of the post and beam barn. Although the barn that was disassembled was constructed in the 1830s to 1860s, some of the main beams used in its construction were hand hewn and date back to a 1700s structure.
To follow the progress of the barn project, one does not need to live in the Greencastle-Antrim area, nor does one need to visit the site in person. Unique to this project is daily video progress of the project, which can be accessed by visiting the museum’s website at www.greencastlemuseum.org. Anyone from around the globe can now watch as the barn is reconstructed. Ken Shockey, webmaster of the museum’s website, attached a video camera to the west side of the museum house. Currently, the camera takes a snapshot of barn site every four minutes, 24 hours a day, which is then posted to the website. This media novelty is a “virtual” enticement, which helps connect Allison-Antrim Museum to members of our community, including students and their parents and teachers, as well as those “surfing the net” from around the world. Once on the website, most visitors will then explore all the other local history information available. One hundred years ago in 1905 who could ever have imagined the wonders of daily life in 2005?
2005-2006 Annual Membership Campaign
The board of directors of Allison-Antrim Museum welcomes its new members and thanks all of its members for your support through your annual dues. Your membership dues play a vital part in the daily operation of the museum by helping to pay for utilities, upkeep, and office expenses of the museum house throughout the year.
The essence of what Allison-Antrim Museum is today was created in 1994 by a small group of Greencastle-Antrim residents, who first met under the auspices of the Greencastle-Antrim Chamber of Commerce. Their dream came true through the efforts of many individuals over the past 11 years.
You, as a member of Allison-Antrim Museum, have helped make the museum a reality. Allison-Antrim Museum exists for the benefit of the Greencastle-Antrim community and its future generations, but in turn relies on the support of the community to continue well into the 21st century and to fulfill its mission, which is to collect, preserve, exhibit, interpret and demonstrate items, educate and provide a research center for the citizens of the Greencastle-Antrim area and all others who enter the museum. The mission statement also says that Allison-Antrim Museum will serve as an educational resource and develop partnerships for and with the Greencastle-Antrim School District and other educational institutions enhancing the study of Greencastle-Antrim and regional history.
If you haven’t yet renewed, please consider the value of Allison-Antrim Museum to you, your family and the community. A membership application has been included with this newsletter for your convenience.
Cora Grove Gift
The late Cora Grove’s gift of $50,000 to Allison-Antrim Museum exemplifies the philanthropic legacy of Mrs. Grove and her late husband, John L. Grove. The wide range of organizations which were included in her will shows the breadth of their interest and involvement in the community-at-large.
In 1999, when the board of directors wrote the long-range plan for the museum, they established six goals and 17 objectives with a completion date by the end of 2001. Needless to say, the visions for the future of Allison-Antrim Museum as laid out in the long-range plan were very ambitious ones, upon which successive boards are still working to achieve. Although a trust fund was set up in 1998, one of the six goals was to establish an endowment fund. At the August board meeting, AAMI’s directors decided, when the Grove gift is received, a portion of it will be used to set up an endowment fund for Allison-Antrim Museum, to which future donors may contribute, further insuring the future of Allison-Antrim Museum.
Docent Training Workshop
A docent training workshop, which will also serve as a refresher course for current docents, will be scheduled for sometime in March or April of 2006. If you are interested in becoming a docent for Allison-Antrim Museum and did not return the volunteer postcard sent out earlier this year, please contact the museum at 597.9010. The date will be announced in a later newsletter.
September Monthly Exhibit
Although they will be different, ‘time’ will be the theme for both the exhibit in September and October. The focus of the September exhibit is “Moments in Time.” Since the beginning of time, humankind and its cultures have been on an evolutional journey to their current point in time, which will change yet again. Every painting, portrait, or photograph is a visual snippet of time and history. Even the photographs that are taken today become history tomorrow. Visitors will discover what can be learned about history from the paintings, portraits, and old photographs that are part of the museum’s collections. There’s much more than meets the eye when you look at a painting or photograph.
Clues in each painting or photograph can tell the viewer about the culture, society, and economics of the time period. For what clues does one look? Along with other questions, visitors will use the analysis worksheet, developed and designed by the Education Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration, to discover what the painting or photograph has to tell the viewer. The worksheet is one of the teaching tools that is part of the pre-written lesson plans that AAMI made available to teachers, at all levels, of the Greencastle-Antrim School District last year. Copies of Allison-Antrim Museum’s photograph archives are the core of the lesson plans, which help teach the students and teachers about our local history.
Visitors, young and old, will be given a sheet of paper with a photocopied picture frame. They will be encouraged to think about and/or research their family’s history and then draw a picture within the frame, which depicts a scene or portrait that would tell others about their family heritage. Did they live in town or in the township? Were they from this area or did they move here? Were they farmers or were they merchants? If they were merchants what did they sell?
In recognition of the fourth anniversary of September 11, 2001, photographs from the terrorists’ attacks and G-A High School students’ art work, which was created in response to September 11, will also be available along with photographs of how residents of this area responded in their own ways.
Come; take a second look at the Walter Washington Smith paintings, Lechler portraits and photographs from Greencastle-Antrim’s past. Discover what historical facts were captured by the artists and photographers, and think about your own family photographs.
October Monthly Exhibit
The world and everything in it
revolves around time, the center of existence since the beginning of time. Our
own body’s circadian clock is set on a 24-hour cycle, curiously, a time equal to
the revolution of Earth around the Sun. For about 3,467 years, time was
determined by astronomical bodies from the time the sundial, the first clock
used to measure time, was invented by the Egyptians in 1500 – 1300 BC until 1967
when a second was first defined as a finite number of atomic vibrations. The
October exhibit, “The Sounds of Time,” will be a display of clocks from the
collections of AAMI members, Sean Guy, Harry Myers, and Ken Shockey and other
area collectors. Clock designs are as numerous as the grains of sand in an hour
glass. Included in the exhibit will be a circa 1900 handmade figural clock,
supposedly displayed in a clock show somewhere in Europe; a black, 1940s ship’s
clock; a Seth Thomas mantel clock with Adamatine finish; brass clocks; and a
tall case clock that was made in Philadelphia about 1740.
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This ad appeared in the Saturday, September 12, 1857 weekly issue of the Franklin Ledger, Green Castle, Pa. It was placed by William M’Crory whose store not only sold jewelry but also time pieces of many kinds, including French clocks in porcelain and marble cases. On the same page is an ad placed by George W. Ziegler, which notified his customers that, “They have determined to wind up their Clock business, and hand over the en ire trade to William McCrory…” |
The word clock comes from the French word cloque, which means bell. The Latin word for bell is clocca, the Saxon is clugga, and the German word for bell is glocke. Horology is the science of measuring time. The Egyptians were the first to use the sundial from 1500-1300 BC. A water clock, which measured the outflow of water from a container, was used by the Greeks in 400 BC. Using a version of their water clock, the Greeks invented an alarm clock about 250 BC. Rising water hit a mechanical bird which set off a loud whistle. Burning candles were used by Alfred the Great about 980 AD and the Chinese also used burning candles to tell time about 1000 AD. During the 1400s, mechanical clocks, which used mainsprings and balance wheels, were made in Europe. Jost Burgi invented the minute hand, which was used on a clock for astronomer Tycho Brahe, in 1577. The minute hand increased the accuracy of the clock, which was needed for stargazing. It did not work at sea; but on land, the first pendulum clock, invented by Christian Huygens in 1656 or 1657, provided the most accurate timekeeping, to date. Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician, attached his pocket watch to his wrist with a piece of string and became the first reported person to wear a wristwatch. Even though it could only ring at 4 a.m., it was still the first mechanical alarm clock, invented by Levi Hutchins, Concord, New Hampshire, in 1787. The first regional time zone was created in the 1850s in New England in order to coordinate train schedules. Until then, arrival and departure times were very confusing because each station went by sun time at its own location. In 1876, Seth E. Thomas patented a mechanical wind-up alarm clock that could be set for any time. Greenwich, England, being located on 0 degrees longitude, was accepted by 25 countries in 1884 as the prime meridian. Liberia was the last country to adopt it in 1972! The first self-winding watch was invented in 1923 by Swiss John Harwood. Accurate to within 1 – 2 thousandths of a second per day, the first quartz clock was invented by W. A. Marrison of Bell Laboratories. The first atomic clock, using ammonia, was built in 1949 by the organization now known as the National Institute of Standards and Technology. It was not until 1967 that a second was not defined by the movement of astronomical bodies. In 1967, a second was formally defined as 9,192,631,770 vibrations of the cesium atom. The most recent atomic clock, built in 1993, came on line, with an accuracy of five parts in 1015. About a half million watches were sold in 1998, more than ever before!
October Quarterly Meeting
As of writing the newsletter, the speaker for October is still in the process of being confirmed. Postcards will be sent as usual and more detailed information will be found in the local newspapers.
What’s Been Happening
- On August 17, Bonnie attended a meeting at the Chambersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, to which chamber directors and representatives of historical organizations, restaurants, and bed and breakfasts were invited. The state of Pennsylvania, in an effort to increase tourism in counties adjacent to Adams County and Gettysburg, is creating special trails of history packages, which will be marketed to tourists. In Franklin County, the first eight historical sites will be chosen from all the towns – Chambersburg, Greencastle, Waynesboro, Mercersburg, and Shippensburg. Ted Alexander, AAMI historian and board member, and Tim Rockwell, Mercersburg, have been hired to write the historical text for the tourist packages. More on the project will be announced later.
- Marty Zimmerman IV and Bonnie attended open house night on August 24 at the high school. They represented the museum as a choice where G-A students can meet the requirements of 30 hours of community service as part of their graduation requirements.
Recent Acquisitions
- From AAMI member Sandy Pelletier, linen tablecloths and napkins from her mother’s family, which will be utilized in future events.
- From AAMI member Alice Brumbaugh, two books – Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis and Perilous Times by Geoffrey Stone.
On Loan
- Two Lechler portraits – one of a young George W. Ziegler and one of Marīa Fatzinger Ziegler, George’s wife. On loan from Martha Ziegler and her son, G. Fred Ziegler IV. More on their gifts and loans at a later date, once an inventory is taken.
Website Inquiries
- Having found the museum’s website while doing a search for antique hats, an author of a forthcoming book about the history of hairstyles and hats, requested a photograph of the Quaker bonnet, which was part of the Vintage Hat exhibit in 2003. Her request was granted.
- A Cump descendant was in search of any living relatives in this area. This person was referred to AAMI member Glen Cump, who I am sure was able to answer any and all questions.
- “G’day from Australia,” began an email from a “mate” who brought to our attention a typographical error in the year when the Union Jack flag was created. This information is included in the flag exhibit of 2002 on the website. The correct date is “about 1706.”
- Someone from Chambersburg was given one of the Allison-Antrim Annals to read. Responding to one of the website inquiries that had been received from Ohio, he called the museum with information about the McBrayer/McBrier family.
Calendar of Events
Thursday, September 8, 7 p.m., Evangelical Lutheran Church: General Meeting – Lt. Col. (Ret.) Wayne Wachsmuth will present a slide-accompanied presentation on the B-52 bomber operations in South East Asia during the Vietnam War.
Sunday, September 11, 1 – 4 p.m. and Thursday, September 15, noon – 3 p.m.: Open House – Moments in Time
Thursday, October 6, noon – 3 p.m. and Sunday, October 9, 1 – 4 p.m.: Open House – The Sounds of Time
October Quarterly Meeting and Election of Board Members – Date and Speaker TBA
Tuesday, November 15, 6:30 p.m., Antrim House Restaurant: Holiday Dinner Meeting – Ed Bearss will speak on Washington’s Crossing at Valley Forge