Website Ready to Go Online

Our new website will be going online very soon. I spent a month adding content to the site and additional content is being prepared on a daily basis by our new summer tour guide, Heather Godshall. You will find a tremendous amount of information when you first see the site, but we plan to have much more available by the end of the summer. One interesting feature that is currently being developed is a section that will give newspaper accounts of life at the jail (now our museum and research library) over the years. If you are planning a visit to our facility, you will want to read that section first, especially the collection of stories about jail escapes. We are waiting for a few technical details to be worked out with the site and then it will go live. A notice will be sent out at that time.

We recently hosted the last school tour for the 2008-09 school year. Over 400 students of all ages from various schools have toured the museum in the last few months.

Remember our Friday Night at the Museum program next Friday, June 19th, entitled "Spinning and Weaving in Bradford County and the Endless Mountains." The Home Textile Tool Museum of Rome will be here to present an interesting program and we will have historic coverlets on display. Register by calling 570-265-2240 (leave a message if there is no answer) or by email at bchsociety@epix.net.

BCHS to Host Spinning and Weaving Program, June 19

The Bradford County Historical Society will host a free program entitled "Spinning and Weaving in Bradford County and the Endless Mountains: A Historical Presentation by the Home Textile Tool Museum" scheduled for June 19, 2009 at 6 p.m. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Although the event is free, participants are asked to register by calling 570-265-2240 or by email at bchsociety@epix.net.

The program will be presented by Victor Hilts, an HTTM volunteer. Other volunteers will demonstrate equipment used by our ancestors, including the spinning wheel.

The Bradford County Historical Society will also display examples of coverlets produced in the county. This display will supplement the coverlets and other textiles in the museum's permanent exhibits.

The Home Textile Tool Museum of Orwell is celebrating it's 10th anniversary this year. More information about HTTM can be viewed at their website, www.hometextiletoolmuseum.org.

This program is part of the 2009 "Friday Night at the Museum" programming series that is held the third Friday of each month from May until October. Each event is held in the Great Room at the Bradford County Historical Society, located at 109 Pine Street, Towanda, PA. Free refreshments are provided at each program.

The Bradford County Historical Society is a recipient agency of the Bradford County United Way. For more information about the society visit www.bradfordhistory.com or the Curator's Blog at
www.bradfordcurator.blogspot.com.

Website Progress; Friday Programs Begin this Week

First, let's talk about the website. The design of the Bradford County Historical Society's new website was finished last week and now I am doing the remainder of the work. The basic layout of the pages has been finished and now I am filling in information and adding new features.

In a previous post I mentioned one of these new features. Another one will be the addition of several new downloadable forms for nearly everything. Whether you are becoming a member, renewing your membership, applying to volunteer, requesting research, ordering photo reprints, renting our facility, applying for Century Farm/Home/Building status, or any number of other things, there will now be a form available to help improve your ability to communicate with us.

Also a reminder that our "Friday Night at the Museum" programming begins this week. See my previous post on this blog for the press release. We hope to see you at this program. Don't forget to register by calling 570-265-2240.