Frankford Civil War Museum looking for a new home

Frankford Civil War Museum looking for a new home

The Grand Army of the Republic Museum & Library, which has been in Frankford for 60 years, is searching for a new location.

By Jack Tomczuk - Northeast Times

September 20, 2019

For more than 60 years, an 18th-century building on Griscom Street in Frankford has housed a treasure trove of Civil War artifacts and documents.

The Grand Army of the Republic Museum & Library’s collection includes the head of Union Gen. George Meade’s horse “Old Baldy,” a strip of a pillowcase with Abraham Lincoln’s blood on it and handcuffs belonging to his assassin, John Wilkes Booth. 

In a matter of months, all of that — including a 7,000-volume Civil War library — could be moving somewhere else.

The GAR museum’s board of directors recently decided to find a new home, and the John Ruan House, one of the neighborhood’s most historic buildings, is up for sale.

News of the GAR museum’s intention to move was first reported by the Frankford Gazette.

Joe Perry, the museum’s president, said the board is definitely looking at staying in the city and would like to remain in Northeast Philly. They’re looking for a place with more visibility and traffic, he said.

“What we’re attempting to find is a place that has visibility. It has a lower cost of maintaining over the years,” Perry said. “It doesn’t have to be historical or old. It could be in a shopping mall. As long it’s visible and we get volunteers from the people who come there.”

Perry hopes to complete the move within six months, if possible.

The reasons for leaving the Ruan House, 4278 Griscom St., are manifold, people involved… Click here to read complete article

Underground Railroad Marker Unveiled in Quakertown

History's Headlines: Saying no to slavery

Written By: Frank Whelan (Civil War Round Table Board Member)

Posted on WFMZ: Sep 21, 2019 06:00 AM EDT

On Saturday, September 14th the Quakertown Historical Society gathered to celebrate the fulfillment of a long-held dream. At the corner of 401 South Main Street in Quakertown in front of a large, stone 19th century house, they witnessed the unveiling of a Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission marker. The marker hails the home’s former owner, Richard Moore, for performing what in his lifetime was an illegal act, aiding and abetting in the smuggling of enslaved African Americans in their flight to freedom on the Underground Railroad.

In the 19th century everybody in Quakertown knew Richard Moore.  He and his family were of English Quaker stock. Their ancestor, Mordecai Moore, came to America in the 18th century. He was a doctor. Richard had come to Quakertown in 1813. In 1819 he married Sarah Foulke, a member of the original Quaker family in Richland Township. An educated man, Moore taught school from 1813 to 1825. Shortly thereafter, with a growing family he purchased a pottery that had been founded by Abel Penrose along the Bethlehem Pike. It was in 1834 that his house was built next to the pottery and kiln. Moore, a devout temperance man, did not provide, as the saying then was, “spirituous liquors” to the men who built it. At a time when working men regarded receiving their “dram” of alcoholic refreshment as the norm, this was very much the exception.

By 1850 Richard Moore had a great deal to be happy about. He had two children, John Jackson and Hannah. The pottery was doing well, employing up to ten men, making it one of the largest employers in Richland Township. But Moore’s personal prosperity that year was overcome by the political events taking place around him. All eyes in America were on Washington D.C. as political leaders from the North and South once more confronted the seemingly intractable issue of slavery. The Compromise of 1820 was no longer working. Back then Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, a slave holder himself, had declared the issue like holding “a wolf by the ears, we can neither hold it nor let it go.” But finally, Senator Henry Clay, the “Great Compromiser” from Kentucky, had appeased a restive South by adding to his Compromise of 1850 a harsh Fugitive Slave Act. Although one had been created in 1793 it had largely been ignored by the free states.

But this law compelled citizens to assist in the capture of runaway slaves. It denied slaves the right to a jury trial. Those who interfered with the law were to be fined $1,000 and fined six months in jail. A series of federal commissioners was established. They were to be paid more for returning a slave to his master than letting him go free. This, some argued, made the agents round up free blacks and kidnap them and take them South. Denied the right of trial it was said that obviously a slave would lie and claim to have been free and kidnapped.

When this law became public on September 18, 1850 it brought a firestorm of protest across the North. For some people, it was less about what was happening to the slaves than the fact that other states had the right to come into free states, hunting for slaves. In 1898 Edward S. Magill, the son of a prominent Quaker abolitionist and from 1871 to 1890 president of Swarthmore College, wrote an article about Bucks County’s role in the Underground Railroad. This excerpt gets as close as we can get to Moore and his feelings at that time:

“The home of our friend Richard Moore in Quakertown was the last important station on the Underground Railroad in our (Bucks) county, and the point where the northern Chester county line and most of the Buck’s county lines converged. From his grandson, Alfred Moore, of Philadelphia, learned that Richard Moore, while not ready to unite with the early abolitionists in their revolutionary motto ”No Union with Slaveholders” still felt prompted by sympathy many years ago to aid on their way the escaping fugitives. His home soon became known to friends further South as a place where all fugitives forwarded would….

Click Here to Read the Entire Article

Emancipation & Commemoration: Lincoln and Tubman in History and Memory ~ Oct 3

Emancipation & Commemoration:
Abraham Lincoln and Harriet Tubman in History and Memory
by Dr. Catherine Clinton:
University of Texas San Antonio
Denman Endowed Professor in American History

Thursday, Oct. 3rd at 7:30 pm.
Sinclair Auditorium Lehigh University (map)

You will see there is green (street parking)
on Morton and Webster.

Sponsored by Lehigh Departments of History, Africana Studies, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and The Friends of the Libraries

Click here for poster

Deer Management at Gettysburg NMP

Park Deer Management Program Will Run October 2019 through March 2020

From October 2019 through March 2020, the National Park Service (NPS) will continue managing white-tailed deer at Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site. Gettysburg and Eisenhower national parks are reducing the number of deer in the parks directly by shooting. All venison will once again be donated to Gettysburg area food banks. 

 Hunting is not permitted inside the two parks--only qualified federal employees will take part in the effort to manage the deer populations affecting the parks. U.S.D.A. Wildlife Services will be doing the work under an inter-agency agreement with the National Park Service. 

 The deer management program is based on ten years of studies that determined that the parks had more deer than the natural and historic landscapes could support. An important purpose of managing the deer population is supporting forest regeneration in historic woodlots that played a role in the fighting of the Battle of Gettysburg. The management program also provides for the long-term protection, conservation and restoration of native species and cultural landscapes.

 “We continue to manage the deer population at Gettysburg’s two national parks in order to sustain a healthy habitat and to bring the deer density numbers to a level where we can preserve and protect historic woodlots and farm fields,” said Tom Forsyth, acting superintendent, Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site.

 In 1995 an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) described and considered a variety of options for meeting park objectives for deer management, including public hunting, relocation, and the use of sterilization and contraception. Hundreds of people participated in the public review of the EIS and many commented on it in writing. The NPS decided to reduce the number of deer in the parks through shooting. 

 The deer management program will continue through the end of March, and continue each year as necessary. In addition to monitoring the deer population each spring, the park does long term forest monitoring to help assess the program and set deer management goals.

Revolutionary War Round Table Presentation

Our September 18, 2019 event topic will be: “America’s Premier Surveyor: The Life and Times of Andrew Ellicott” And our guest speaker will be our own Lorna Hainesworth. 

Lorna is Ambassador and National Traveler, Lifetime Member of the Surveyors Historical Society, the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation and founding member of the Lewis and Clark Trust, Inc.

During his lifetime 1759-1820, Andrew Ellicott was the premier land surveyor in the United States. He was called upon to perform many significant surveys such at the completion of the Mason/Dixon Line and the original survey of area designated to become our nation’s capital. He also carried forth the design for the city of Washington D. C.

He surveyed the borders of no less than eleven of our current or future states and he surveyed both the northern and southern boundaries of the United States. He served as a mentor for Meriwether Lewis and became a professor of mathematics at West Point Military Academy. These are but a few of the accomplishments from a very eventful life.

Learn more about this extraordinary man who made his home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania from 1801 to 1813 in a house that miraculously still stands.

Looking forward to seeing you all on the 18th at Lafayette College, 53 College Drive, the OESCHLE Building.  Parking is free across the street from the building.

Civil War Series at Library in Telford during Sept, Oct, & Nov.

A Step Back in Time: Civil War Series
 Presented by historical reenactor and lecturer 
Michael Jesberger

1) Abraham Lincoln Visits Philadelphia
Thursday, September 12, 7:00pm - 8:00pm

 Abraham Lincoln first saw Independence Hall during his 1848 visit to Philadelphia. He visited Philadelphia four times and was moved spiritually and emotionally by each visit. Come join military historian, lecturer and tour guide Michael Jesberger for a presentation on the president's time spent in Philadelphia.

2) Stealing the Body of Abraham Lincoln Monday, October 28, 7:00pm - 8:00pm

 In the 1870's, years after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, a band of criminals failed in an attempt to steal Lincoln's body from his tomb in Springfield, IL. Military historian, lecturer and tour guide Michael Jesberger will present a program on this strange and often overlooked story of our 16th President.

 
3) Lincoln at Gettysburg and the Gettysburg Address Thursday, November 14, 7:00pm - 8:00pm

 In commemoration of the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's visit to Gettysburg in November of 1863, historical re-enactor Michael Jesberger will present a program on the Gettysburg Address and the President's visit to the Battlefield.

Location:   Indian Valley Library 100 E. Church Avenue, Telford, PA 18969  215-723-9109

To register, email refdesk@ivpl.org, call 215-723-9109, ext. 3 or visit the reference desk.

Directions from Lehigh Valley: Take RT309 South to Exit PA– 152 toward Telford.  Turn right onto State Road/PA– 152.  Continue to follow PA- 152. Your destination is on the right just ½ block after you past North Washington Street. You gone too far if you come up to the traffic light on North Main Street.

Lee's Surrender - A Presentation at the Quakertown Library on Sept 18

In early April of 1865, the Union army broke through the lines at Petersburg Virginia, forcing Robert E Lee’s confederate army to attempt a retreat west and south in order to link up with other rebel forces, in order to prolong their defeat and make one last effort to win the war.

The two days before Lee agreed to meet with Grant started the final act in the fighting in Virginia that would come to a head in the town of Appomattox Court House, in the home of Wilmer McClean, where the two leading generals would meet to discuss terms of surrender of that portion of the Confederate States Army, known as The Army Of Northern Virginia.  An exchange of letters led to a face to face meeting between General Lee and General Grant, which influenced further surrenders and the outbreak of peace by the end of May that year.

Discuss with General Grant some of the finer details of the meeting which led Robert E Lee to surrender his army, ending the fighting in Virginia during the civil war.  The letters exchanged are merely the very public face of how the meeting comes about, and US Grant will be sharing some of inner workings that lead to this momentous day, along with notable anecdotes from the meeting itself and right after.

Sponsored by The Woman's Club of Quakertown.

The programs are free to the community, and no preregistration is required.

Date: Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Time: 7:00pm - 8:00pm

Location: Large Meeting Room of the Quakertown Library 401 W Mill Street Quakertown, PA

2019 WWII Weekend Scheduled for Eisenhower NHS on Sept 21-22 in Gettysburg

 2019 WWII Weekend Schedule

Contact: Jacob Dinkelaker, 717-338-4412

GETTYSBURG, PA: On September 21 and 22, the National Park Service will sponsor its annual World War II living history weekend at Eisenhower National Historic Site. The public is invited to tour World War II encampments of over 500 living historians portraying Allied and Axis troops.

Living history volunteers will present programs throughout the weekend on WWII weapons and equipment, communications, medical services, military vehicles, and the life of the common soldier. Several operational WWII vehicles will be on display.

The weekend also features talks by historians on a variety of WWII topics, a special “Hall of Heroes” in the site’s reception center where visitors can meet and interact with WWII veterans, a family activity tent and booklet, guided tours of World War II burials in the Gettysburg National Cemetery, a World War II era park ranger staff ride, and a World War II style USO dance. Both days, visitors may purchase lunch at the site courtesy of the Heidlersburg Volunteer Fire Company. The full schedule is listed below.

Eisenhower National Historic Site will be open to the public from 9 am to 5 pm both days. Shuttle buses for the event depart every half hour from the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center located at 1195 Baltimore Pike. Weather permitting, free on-site parking for passenger vehicles only will be available in a farm field accessible off of Emmitsburg Road, Business Route 15. Bus groups and visitors using wheelchairs should plan to use the shuttle system. For reservations, call 1-877-874-2478 or visit the Gettysburg Foundation’s ticketing website. 

Saturday, September 21, 2019

·       8:30 am – Eternal Light Peace Memorial - 1940s era park ranger staff ride (vehicle convoy) by Jared Frederick. Meet at auto tour stop #2, Peace Memorial, Gettysburg NMP. One and a half hours long, ends in the Gettysburg National Cemetery parking lot.

·       9 am – Eisenhower NHS open to public including living history camps and family tent.

·       9:30 am – Self-guided house walk-throughs of the Eisenhower home begin. Meet at front door of home (every 15 minutes, 25 people max).

·       9:30 am – Hall of Heroes opens in the Reception Center at Eisenhower NHS.

·       10:30 am – Speaker’s Tent - John Heckman - “Caring for the Fallen: US QM Graves Registration During WWII”

·       12 noon – Speaker’s Tent - John Heiser - “The GI Experience on D-Day”

·       1:30 pm – Speaker’s Tent - David Hogan - “In Search of Omar Bradley”

·       3 pm – Gettysburg National Cemetery - “Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Great Crusade” – National Cemetery walking tour. Join an Eisenhower park ranger in the Gettysburg National Cemetery to explore some of the stories of the soldiers, sailors, and airmen General Eisenhower commanded during World War II who gave the last full measure of devotion. Meet at Taneytown Road entrance to the National Cemetery, auto tour stop #16, Gettysburg NMP.

·       3 pm – Speaker’s Tent - Jared Frederick – “Dispatches of D-Day”

·       4:15 pm – Last Eisenhower home house walk-through.

·       4:30 – living history camps and Hall of Heroes close.

·       5 pm – Eisenhower NHS closes.

·       7:30 – 10:30 pm - World War II style USO dance featuring 1940s music by the Gettysburg Big Band - Gettysburg Area Middle School - Open to the public.

More Information

·       Living history camps – throughout the weekend, reenactors portraying soldiers from the WWII will be encamped at the Eisenhower farm, and will provide demonstrations throughout the weekend. Schedule of demonstrations is still to be determined.

·       Family Tent – Families can pick up their family activity booklet here and use it to explore the site and weekend’s events.

·       Hall of Heroes – Meet WWII veterans and hear their stories. Happening throughout the weekend, visitors on site can meet, interact, and take pictures with WWII veterans.

·       Speaker’s Tent – throughout the weekend, historians will speak on a selected WWII topic.

Sunday, September 22, 2019

·       8:30 am – Eternal Light Peace Memorial - 1940s era park ranger staff ride (vehicle convoy) by Jared Frederick. Meet at auto tour stop #2, Peace Memorial, Gettysburg NMP. One and a half hours long, ends in the Gettysburg National Cemetery parking lot.

·       9 am – Eisenhower NHS open to public including living history camps and family tent.

·       9:30 am – Self-guided house walk-throughs of the Eisenhower home begin. Meet at front door of home (every 15 minutes, 25 people max).

·       9:30 am – Hall of Heroes opens in the Reception Center at Eisenhower NHS.

·       12 noon – Speaker’s Tent – Ken Weiler - “The Russian Front: WWII in the East, 1941-1945”

·       1:30 pm – Speaker’s Tent – Beverley Eddy - “Training the ‘Psycho Boys’ at Gettysburg’s Camp Sharpe”

·       3 pm – Gettysburg National Cemetery - “Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Great Crusade” – National Cemetery walking tour. Join an Eisenhower park ranger in the Gettysburg National Cemetery to explore some of the stories of the soldiers, sailors, and airmen General Eisenhower commanded during World War II who gave the last full measure of devotion. Meet at Taneytown Road Entrance to the National Cemetery, auto tour stop #16, Gettysburg NMP.

·       4 pm – Living history camps and Hall of Heroes close.

·       4:15 pm – Last Eisenhower home house walk-through.

·       5 pm – Eisenhower NHS closes.

Civil War To Come To Life At Fredericksburg And Spotsylvania Military Park - Labor Day Weekend

Civil War To Come To Life At Fredericksburg And Spotsylvania Military Park
By National Park Traveler Staff

The smell of campfires and the sound of marching feet will once again fill the air at the Sunken Road and Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park in Virginia on Labor Day weekend.

Civil War reenactors will be on hand to show the weapons, uniforms, and equipment carried by soldiers 157 years ago. You'll be able to watch as troops march in formation, and hear about the fighting techniques used by the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War. There also will be camps set up so you can learn how the troops lived "in the field."

The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. August 31 and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. September 1.

Musket firing demonstrations will occur at 11 a.m., 2 p.m., and 4 p.m. on Saturday, and 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Sunday (may not be suitable for people or animals sensitive to loud noises).

On Saturday evening, an interactive campfire program will begin at 7:30 p.m. to examine the sights, sounds, smells, and feel of battle.

Parking is available at the Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center at 1013 Lafayette Boulevard.

Saturday, September 21, 2019 Camp William Penn and Historic La Mott Day

Join us in Honoring our Heritage

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Camp William Penn* and Historic La Mott Day

10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

        Opening ceremony: 10:00 at Camp William Penn Gate 7322 Sycamore Ave., La Mott, 19027

          *Visit encampments: USCT and PA. 53rd Infantry Re-enactors

         *Visit Camp William Penn Museum

         *Living History Demonstrations including ammunition making

         *Civil War Medical and Surgical instrument ‘show and tell’ 

         *Book signings, Lectures, Period Music, Films

         *La Mott History display

         *Civil War baseball as demonstrated by the E.P. 6th graders

         *Local history organizations with tabletop displays and information

  Closing ceremony: 3:45 at Flagpole (corner Sycamore and Willow)

*Camp William Penn, located in what is now modern day La Mott, was the first and largest Federal training site for colored soldiers during the Civil War.

 Citizens for the Restoration of Historical La Mott
Email: pt@usct.org