The Civil War Exhibit - On Display in Our Hallway from February 16th through the 27th
This exhibit will fill our entry hall, complete with information panels and a quiz!

Tuesday, February 17th, 6 p.m. - Faces of the Civil War
Historian Paul Newman's presentation will focus on Pennsylvania's role in the fighting and lasting memory of the Civil War. The presentation will contrast the popular memory of the wawr with its messy and gruesome realities, as revealed by photographs. Dr. Paul Douglas Newman is Professor of Early American History at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, where he has taught since 1995, being awarded the Phi Eta Sigman Teacher of the Year Award in 2002, and the Pi Llambda Theta Educator of the Year Award in 2003. Dr. Newman earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in history at the University of Kentucky and his B.A. in history from York College of Pennsylvania. Dr. Newman is the Editor of Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies, and has served as a consultant for a number of public history projects including clients such as Fort Necessity National Battlefield, Fort Ligonier, the Johnstown Flood National Memorial, the Johnstown Area Heritage Association, among others.
This presentation is a program of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, supported in part by a grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commisiion. The Pennsylvania Humanities Council, a nonprofit organization, inspires individuals to enjoy and share a lifetime of learning. In addition to the Commonwealth Speakers program, PHC offers grants which support humanities programs centered in the arts, history, literature, and other humanities fields. PHC's packaged book discussion program for public libraries, Read About It!, also serves as a resource for residents of Pennsylvania. For more information, visit www.pahumanities.org.

Wednesday, February 18th, 6 p.m. - On the Way To Gettysburg...with Storyteller Steve Anderson
Join storyteller Steve Anderson as he tells the tales of what people were doing and contributing to the Civil War in our area. Stories of the Christiana riot, the Underground Railroad, the surrender of York, the firing of the Wrightsville-Columbia bridge are some of the topics of this problem. Steve led tours in Gettysburg for six years and spend two years doing living history presentations with the Pennsylvania Past Players.

 

Thursday, February 19th, 6 p.m. - Screening of the Documentary "Traces of the Trade
In Traces of the Trade, Producer/Director Katrina Browne tells the story of her forefathers, the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. Given the myth that the South is solely responsible for slavery, viewers will be surprised to learn that Browne's ancestors were Northerners. The film follows Browne and nine fellow family members on a remarkable journey which brings them face-to-face with the history and legacy of New England's hidden enterprise.

From 1769 to 1820, DeWolf fathers, sons and grandsons trafficked in human beings. They sailed their ships from Bristol, Rhode Island to West Africa with rum to trade for African men, women and children. Captives were taken to plantations that the DeWolfs owned in Cuba or were sold at auction in such ports as Havana and Charleston. Sugar and molasses were then brought from Cuba to the family-owned rum distilleries in Bristol. Over the generations, the family owned 47 ships that transported thousands of Africans across the Middle Passage into slavery. They amassed an enormous fortune. By the end of his life, James DeWolf had been a U.S. Senator and was reportedly the second richest man in the United States.

The enslavement of Africans was business for more than just the DeWolf family. It was a cornerstone of Northern commercial life. The Triangle Trade drove the economy of many port cities (Rhode Island had the largest share in the trade of any state), and slavery itself existed in the North for over 200 years. Northern textile mills used slave-picked cotton from the South to fuel the Industrial Revolution, while banks and insurance companies played a key role throughout the period. While the DeWolfs were one of only a few "slaving" dynasties, the network of commercial activities that they were tied to involved an enormous portion of the Northern population. Many citizens, for example, would buy shares in slave ships in order to make a profit.

The film follows ten DeWolf descendants (ages 32-71, ranging from sisters to seventh cousins) as they retrace the steps of the Triangle Trade, visiting the DeWolf hometown of Bristol, Rhode Island, slave forts on the coast of Ghana, and the ruins of a family plantation in Cuba. Browne pushes the family forward as they struggle through the minefield of race politics. Back home, the family confronts the thorny topic of what to do now. In the context of growing calls for reparations for slavery, family members struggle with the question of how to think about and contribute to "repair." Meanwhile, Browne and her family come closer to the core: their love/hate relationship with their own Yankee culture and privileges; the healing and transformation needed not only "out there," but inside themselves.

The issues the DeWolf descendants are confronted with dramatize questions that apply to the nation as a whole: What, concretely, is the legacy of slavery-for diverse whites, for diverse blacks, for diverse others? Who owes who what for the sins of the fathers of this country? What history do we inherit as individuals and as citizens? How does Northern complicity change the equation? What would repair-spiritual and material-really look like and what would it take?

Monday, February 23rd, 6 p.m. - Civil War Era Music with Tom Jolin
The trauma of the Civil War era produced a tremendous amount of music, as the nation mourned and sought relief from the deaths of over 600,000 Americans. Some of the songs and tunes were handed down from immigrant cultures, and others were newly composed. Themes often included the life of soldiers, domestic scenes, death and abolition. Instrument maker and musician Thomas Jolin will perform a selection of these works and discuss their origins, as well as the origins of the instruments of the period.
This presentation is a program of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, supported in part by a grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commisiion. The Pennsylvania Humanities Council, a nonprofit organization, inspires individuals to enjoy and share a lifetime of learning. In addition to the Commonwealth Speakers program, PHC offers grants which support humanities programs centered in the arts, history, literature, and other humanities fields. PHC's packaged book discussion program for public libraries, Read About It!, also serves as a resource for residents of Pennsylvania. For more information, visit www.pahumanities.org.

 

Tuesday, February 24th, 6 p.m. - Screening of the Feature Film "Glory"
One of the finest films ever made about the American Civil War, Glory also has the honor of being the first major Hollywood film to acknowledge the vital contribution of African American soldiers to the country's historic struggle. Based on the books "Lay This Laurel" by Lincoln Kirstein, and "One Gallant Rush" by Peter Burchard, and the wartime letters of Robert Gould Shaw, the film tells the story of the 54th Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, an all-black unit comprising Northern freemen and escaped slaves.

Wednesday, February 25th, 6:30 p.m. - The Pennsylvania 69th Re-Enactment Group
(Presented in Partnership with the
Historical Society of the Cocalico Valley)
Join members of the Pennsylvania 69th as they present a history of the regiment, equipment soldiers used, the role of the Pennsylvania 69th in the Battle of Gettysburg and information about the group and its re-enactments. The Pennsylvania 69th is a group made up of men, women and families who educate the pulic on the Civil War with an emphasis on the Irish soldiers who fought for their new home in America. The 69th strives to honor the memory of the brave men who fought and died in the Civil War by participating in battle re-enactments, living history programs, parades and grave site ceremonies.