BCHS MUSEUM FAVORITES - by Heather Palmer

Click the title to visit the Curator's Blog if the photo does not appear above.

Although Heather has left for Germany, she wrote enough of her weekly "favorites" posts to last until the end of the season. Here is the next one.

#13 - PITCHFORK

This may seem to be just an ordinary pitchfork that we have here down at the museum, but its history is more exciting than you would think. This pitchfork is believed to be part of an important American historic event. Revolutionary soldier John Kneeland is said to have used this pitchfork to break open chests at the Boston Tea Party in 1773. The metal part would be part of the original pitchfork, but due to time the wooden handle has been replaced because of age and weathering.

Visit the Bradford County Historical Society Wednesday through Friday, 10 am to 4 pm to see this and hundreds of other local history pieces.

Visions of Teaoga: Insights Into the Region’s Indian-Settler History, this Friday at BCHS

The Bradford County Historical Society will host a program titled Visions of Teaoga: Insights Into the Region’s Indian-Settler History scheduled for Friday, August 21, 2015 at 6 p.m. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. There is no admission charge for this event but donations are appreciated. To reserve a seat, participants are asked to register by calling 570-265-2240 or by email at info@bradfordhistory.com.

Visions of Teaoga was written by retired journalist, Jim Remsen. He will discuss his book and the history behind it. The book explores the upheaval of Eastern Indian tribes in the 1700s by focusing on events at Teaoga, in present Bradford County. It weaves together the adventures of Queen Esther with a fictional student who is visiting Athens, named Maddy.

Remsen describes his book that was written with young readers in mind. “The characters of old speak in the upright, formal manner of the 1700s. At various times, readers sit with Esther at her fire circle or are eyewitnesses to the 1790 peace council at the Teaoga treaty ground, and then accompany Maddy and her modern-day friends as they swap accounts of Indian culture, try native crafts and games, and commune quietly with the lost world. Young readers learn about some amazing old traditions, skills and tests of endurance, but also about the vanishing of peoples, divided loyalties, sacrifice, and diplomatic chicanery on a grand scale. They will see how under stress, even the peaceful can become violent, and will see the ways history, legend and propaganda can intermingle.”

This program is part of the 2015 Friday Night at the Museum programming series that is held the third Friday of each month from May through October. Each event is held in the Great Room at the Bradford County Historical Society, located at 109 Pine Street, Towanda, PA. Refreshments are provided at each program and the museum is open a half-hour prior to the event.

Upcoming programs are: September 18 – Preserving Bradford County: Local Historians and the Books and Museums they Developed; and October 16 – Marcel Singer: The Gentle Butcher of Hong Kew.

The Bradford County Historical Society is a recipient agency of the Bradford County United Way and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. For more information about the society and its programming schedule, museum or research center, visit www.bradfordhistory.com or check out the society Facebook page at facebook.com/BradfordCountyHistoricalSociety.

BCHS MUSEUM FAVORITES - by Heather Palmer

Click the title to visit the Curator's Blog if the photo does not appear above.

#12 - SPECTACLES

The museum has a large collection of sunglasses and regular spectacles. There are a variety of spectacles worn by Bradford County residents during the 19th and 20th century on display. James Ayscough began experimenting with tinted lenses in spectacles around 1752. Ayscough was steadfast in the belief that blue- or green- tented glass could potentially correct specific vision impairments. Protection from the sun’s rays was not a concern at that time. Glasses tinted with yellow- amber or brown were also commonly-prescribed item for people with syphilis in the 19th and 20th century because one of the symptoms of the disease was sensitivity to light. In the early 1900s, the use of sunglasses became more wide-spread, especially among Hollywood movie stars.

Visit the Bradford County Historical Society Wednesday through Friday, 10 am to 4 pm to see this and hundreds of other local history pieces.

Friday Night at the Museum to host Indian History Author, Jim Remsen, August 21

The Bradford County Historical Society host a program titled Visions of Teaoga: Insights Into the Region’s Indian-Settler History scheduled for Friday, August 21, 2015 at 6 p.m. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. There is no admission charge for this event but donations are appreciated. To reserve a seat, participants are asked to register by calling 570-265-2240 or by email at info@bradfordhistory.com.

Visions of Teaoga was written by retired journalist, Jim Remsen. He will discuss his book and the history behind it. The book explores the upheaval of Eastern Indian tribes in the 1700s by focusing on events at Teaoga, in present Bradford County. It weaves together the adventures of Queen Esther with a fictional student who is visiting Athens, named Maddy.

Remsen describes his book that was written with young readers in mind. “The characters of old speak in the upright, formal manner of the 1700s. At various times, readers sit with Esther at her fire circle or are eyewitnesses to the 1790 peace council at the Teaoga treaty ground, and then accompany Maddy and her modern-day friends as they swap accounts of Indian culture, try native crafts and games, and commune quietly with the lost world. Young readers learn about some amazing old traditions, skills and tests of endurance, but also about the vanishing of peoples, divided loyalties, sacrifice, and diplomatic chicanery on a grand scale. They will see how under stress, even the peaceful can become violent, and will see the ways history, legend and propaganda can intermingle.”

This program is part of the 2015 Friday Night at the Museum programming series that is held the third Friday of each month from May through October. Each event is held in the Great Room at the Bradford County Historical Society, located at 109 Pine Street, Towanda, PA. Refreshments are provided at each program and the museum is open a half-hour prior to the event.

Upcoming programs are: September 18 – Preserving Bradford County: Local Historians and the Books and Museums they Developed; and October 16 – Marcel Singer: The Gentle Butcher of Hong Kew.

The Bradford County Historical Society is a recipient agency of the Bradford County United Way and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. For more information about the society and its programming schedule, museum or research center, visit www.bradfordhistory.com or check out the society Facebook page at facebook.com/BradfordCountyHistoricalSociety.

BCHS MUSEUM FAVORITES - by Heather Palmer

Click the title to visit the Curator's Blog if the photo does not appear above.

#10 - TOWANDA CUT GLASS

This beautiful and elegant collection of cut glass was made in Towanda at the Wayne Cut Glass Company. The company had formed in Honesdale, Pennsylvania in 1905, and opened their Towanda factory in 1910 on the corner of Main and Elizabeth Streets (the former Humphrey Brothers shoe factory). The factory closed in 1918 due to the difficulty in obtaining resources during World War I.

Visit the Bradford County Historical Society Wednesday through Friday, 10 am to 4 pm to see this and hundreds of other local history pieces.