The Story of William Wright

I started my new internship at Wright's Ferry Mansion two weeks ago and am absolutely loving it!

Three of the Wright brothers, descendants of Susanna Wright of the mansion, were in the Civil War. I have been transcribing William Wright's letters home. Most of them so far have been to his brother Samuel or to his mother Ann E. Wright, and they describe daily life in camp. I don't know how many letters there are in total, but so far they just keep coming! The next step will be placing them in the broader context of the Civil War. It's been fascinating so far to make some small connections. I began transcribing from September 1862 and right now I'm up to May of 1863. He never mentioned Chancellorsville by name, but it was neat to discover that he was mentioning it in his latest letter. I'm excited to really do the background research for these letters and make more of these connections. The best part, though, is to see camp life through the eyes of one person and to see his life unfolding before me. Sometimes it feels like I'm the one receiving the letters as I sit in Columbia, PA and read them. Oh, I forgot to mention that no one has read these letters before!

Meg, the curator, has been very welcoming, too. I feel quite at home and have certainly enjoyed my fill of hot tea each time!

I look forward to reading more of Will's letters!

How the Story Ended

From lancasterhistory.org

Well. It's been a long time. A ridiculously long time. I didn't even finish telling the story of my fall internship. Suddenly graduate school applications took up my free time and then it was busy Christmastime. But now I'm hoping to pick up my poor, neglected blog once again for the spring. I begin a new internship with the curator at Wright's Ferry Mansion on Tuesday, so I will be glad to share that story! I'm not really sure what I'll be doing yet, but I think it involves a project concerning the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in this area. Related to Wright's Ferry or Columbia, of course.

However, before I begin with that next week, I definitely need to sum up the end of last semester's internship. First, Barry gave me the extremely difficult task of designing the small children's exhibit that will make its appearance in the new gallery. It had to appeal to children, yet still look classy and fit the overall theme of "County, Commonwealth, Country." Talk about awfully challenging. I don't think my small ideas would have been so bad, but it was almost impossible to come to a consensus among everyone involved.

I never got to finish that job because the time came for the historical society to move back to its newly expanded home on President Avenue. The new building looks great! I spent my last few weeks packing up assorted odd objects, and then unpacking in the new (or should I say old?) location. The collections are now in open storage so that visitors can walk through and see them. It's really quite neat, especially since most of the objects are in storage at any given time and only a small portion are on display in the gallery. During most of my semester, the objects were stored off-site because the downtown location didn't have enough space. So I rather enjoyed this entire process since it was the first time I had seen anything besides paintings. My favorite part was unwrapping all of the glass and silver glasses, teapots, and trinkets. It was like Christmas! So that is pretty much how my internship ended. The rest of the month of January they will be unpacking, setting up, and completing an extensive inventory. The historical society will re-open in February for researchers, but will continue to prepare the gallery for the grand opening in April. I definitely want to be there for that!

So now I will look forward to telling all about Wright's Ferry Mansion! Stay tuned!

A Tea Party at the Mennonite Home

I presented my senior honors thesis to a group of elderly people at the Mennonite Home during work yesterday. Sort of. I cut it down to about ten minutes and watered down the content so much that I cringed a little bit inside. But it was fun! They all sat in the dining room and drank mint tea and ate brownies. I played a few songs on the piano, and then presented about how hard it was for colonial patriots to stop drinking tea, even though many of them believed boycotting was the only way to preserve their freedom. They loved the story about Miss Hornbloom, who knocks her husband over the head with a broomstick and yells, "Go dirty Clod-pole, get me some Shushong*!" They also loved the story about John Adams trying to ask a lady for some tea, "provided it has paid no duties or has been honestly smuggled." When she replied no, that they had renounced tea, he wrote to his wife and stated, "I must be weaned, and the sooner the better."

So even though many of them slept or were in another world, about a third of them were truly interested. In fact, they answered my questions excitedly and often interjected with small tidbits about what they remembered from their history classes. Even though my project was simplified and slightly modified, I still tried to get them to think historically. I began with "let's travel back in time and imagine that we're American colonists in 1760." I tried to get them to understand that colonists looked very much like the British, and that it was a struggle to give up something that was such a deep-seated every day tradition. I also told them that they would make good patriots because they were drinking mint tea rather than black tea!

It was a great time and I think some of them really enjoyed it. My supervisor was interested and asked me to leave my notes on her desk so she could read them for fun. I also think it would be fun to present a fuller version of the paper to a more alert group of elderly people. Anyway, I can't say I haven't gotten a lot of mileage out of this honors thesis!

*a type of Chinese tea

Clocks, Children's Exhibits, and Committee Meetings Oh My!

It's been over a week since I wrote anything. Sorry everyone! I still want to tell all about last week at the historical society. Let's start with Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Barry gave me a mini research project for an outdoor sign that will be at the newly re-designed campus. There will be several of these stone signs outside describing many different events and places. He gave me the task of writing a small blurb about Clockmaking and Watchmaking in Lancaster County. WOW, that was hard! It's very difficult to keep anything to less than 200 words. Not only that, but I was having difficulty wading through the mounds of technical information about clock and watch-making. I'll just be honest. I don't understand how case clocks work. Or even battery-operated clocks. I just don't. All I can tell you is that the Hoff family made a lot of tall case clocks (the clocks, not the cases) and that everyone in the family was named some variation of John. I also waded through a lot of information about the Hamilton Watch Company. Before they ever became Hamilton Watch, they passed through so many hands and bankruptcies that I was quickly becoming confused. And I know that they invented the first LED digital watch, but it was apparently not a huge success. The watch required so much power that batteries died altogether way too fast. Today we have the LCD watch which requires much less battery power. Anyway, I'm not so sure that I produced anything very useful, but overall I learned that Lancaster County was once pretty successful when it came to clock and watch-making.

On Thursday, I was given another difficult task: brainstorming ideas for a children's exhibit. The new gallery will have a small carpeted space to pique children's interests. I gladly accepted the task thinking it would be a lot of fun. Little did I know just how hard it would be! I have a new appreciation for museum education directors and exhibit designers. Sometime soon I will be meeting with the Director of Education to discuss ideas and hopefully put something creative together. I also witnessed something very interesting Thursday afternoon. A committee meeting took place to discuss plans for the new gallery and Barry invited myself and another intern to observe. I even bravely offered a suggestion (yikes!). I saw sparks flying and ideas discussed and shot down (especially regarding the children's exhibit). I witnessed discussion about technology and a program called Joomla! that went straight over my head. It was intense. Yet I just kept thinking, "This is what I want to do!!" Hopefully someday...

So there you have it! The most difficult week yet, I think. I'm grateful that I can try out all of these different projects, even though I don't always know what I'm doing. Barry is very patient and I'm so glad he takes the time to allow me to try things out.

Lancaster: From Central Market to Civil Rights

I don't have much of anything new to say about this week at the historical society. I continued working on the same "County, Commonwealth, Country" project as last Thursday, which I explained in this post. While the work I completed was mostly the same, I did learn some fascinating tidbits about Lancaster. First, I learned all about history of  Central Market off of Lancaster City's Penn Square. The market been in the plans ever since Andrew and James Hamilton designed Lancaster City in 1730. Wow! The current iconic market house was only built in 1889, but Lancastrians have been going to market ever since the very beginning. Today, shoppers can purchase locally-grown produce and meats, as well as enjoy pastries, coffees, and sandwiches. I personally have my eye on the wide array of choices listed under ethnic food. Since LancasterHistory.org is currently located on Penn Square (although we're soon preparing to move back!), Central Market is just a few strides across the street. I regret immensely that I haven't taken advantage of this opportunity on my Tuesday internship days. Now it's almost too cold to brave going outside across the street during my lunch break!

Taken from www.centralmarketlancaster.com

I also learned quite a bit about the Fulton Opera House and it's history. It was built in 1852 on the very foundation of the jail that held the Conestoga Indians in an attempt to protect them from the Paxton Boys rebellion. Unfortunately and very sadly, the Paxton Boys still managed to massacre the remaining Conestogas. Since construction in 1852, the Fulton has gone through many changes. It became the theater we know today in 1963 with the formation of the Fulton Opera House Foundation and renovations. In 1969 it became a National Historic Landmark and is also home to the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra. While looking over the website, I couldn't help but notice that the next show on schedule is Singin' in the Rain. Since that is one of my favorite musicals, I was immediately desperate to think of ideas for purchasing tickets. I don't know if I'll get to go (the Fulton can be a little bit expensive), but I sure wish I could!

Taken from www.thefulton.org; This is a view circa 1900

I also learned a little about the origins of the famous Watt and Shand department store that was located on Penn Square in the city. It opened in 1879 through Peter Watt, Gilbert Thompson, and James Shand. It was first called The New York Store. Any native Lancastrian who is older than I am could probably tell you a story or two that includes Watt and Shand. Although not a native, my own mother purchased her wedding dress there. Unfortunately it closed in 1995. I had never been inside. Today it is the Lancaster County Convention Center and Marriott Hotel with the original facade, but with many more stories added on so that it surpasses the Griest building, once the tallest in Lancaster City.

Taken from www.cityoflancasterpa.com

Finally, I found two more really intriguing stories. The first takes place during Prohibition in 1930. Riekers Brewery, located on West King Street, had to turn to stealthy tactics to keep their business alive. They pumped their beer through hoses that ran through the sewer system. These hoses then came out in a warehouse on Water Street and were emptied into kegs. This process worked until the hoses were discovered by a city worker in 1932. I was completely amazed! For some reason, I never made the connection that the broad topic of Prohibition that all students learn about in their American history classes actually applied to my own romping grounds. So of course this certainly brought a good connection for the "County, Commonwealth, Country" theme.

I was also amazed by the second story (which probably just shows how naive I am). During my middle and high school years, I remember asking my parents and grandparents to tell me what they remember about the Civil Rights movement here in Lancaster or in New York where my mom grew up. They never really had much to tell me. However, this week I learned that there was a Civil Rights incident concerning Rocky Springs pool right here in Lancaster County. Apparently Rocky Springs and two other pools in the county were sued for discrimination. The park still did not allow African Americans to beat the heat in the pool, so a Civil Rights protest ensued in 1963. Eventually the park closed in 1966. I have seen in some places that the protest resulted in the opening of the public pool in Lancaster County Central Park. Yet another example to link the small town world to the big USA themes.

Oh, the things I didn't know about good old Lancaster! It was certainly an adventure that I enjoyed immensely this week. I can't wait to find out what is in store for next week!

The Fifteenth President's Home

To conclude my fantastic week filled with history, I'll write about my rather spontaneous trip to Wheatland.

Friday afternoon, I asked my grandparents to take a tour of President Buchanan's Lancaster home with me. Soon Yuletide tours will begin at Wheatland, so I wanted to learn about Buchanan himself before the normal tour season ended. The Lancaster County Historical Society is located next door to Wheatland, creating the "Lancaster Campus of History" called LancasterHistory.org. As I've mentioned before, the historical society is currently under construction in order to add a lot more space and climate-control. It's looking really good from the outside and we are expecting to begin moving back in just a few weeks! 

Before taking the tour, we entered the small visitor center where the folks at LancasterHistory.org have created an excellent and very interesting exhibit on the life of Buchanan. It prepared us well for understanding him before walking through his home. I appreciated the use of very engaging, short, simple stories and objects in order to bring the stories to life. One section even dealt with his failed relationship with the woman he loved! Normally when I go to a museum, I don't read everything that is written on the plaques, but I certainly came close this time! We also watched a 10 minute video that highlighted James Buchanan and the coming of the Civil War. It was well done (in my opinion) and deftly addressed the situation, providing some grace for Buchanan's lack of action, but also not condoning it either. In fact, it was a great example of thinking historically!

Wheatland itself was decorated in the style of the Victorian era, including beautiful china dishes, furniture, and carpeting. Three of the rooms were styled to match sketches that were drawn to showcase life at Wheatland. The rest were decorated in the general style. Our tour guide (who looked like President Buchanan!) knew my grandparents, so it seemed as though he gave us some extra attention and more information than would normally fit into a regular tour. Apparently he also volunteers at Rockford Plantation and Boehm's chapel. He's retired, but he's a busy fellow quite involved with local history! That's exactly what I want to do when I retire some day. Anyway, I learned a lot about the bachelor president Buchanan and his niece Harriet Lane, who served as his First Lady. One of my favorite aspects of history is understanding what it was like to live in a particular era or place, so this was perfect. I think that I got a good glimpse of the quiet life at Wheatland. Buchanan seemed like a kind, gentle man who really enjoyed his retreat into his Lancaster home among the wheat fields. 

Brainstorming at the Historical Society

I did not go to my internship on Tuesday since there was a hurricane outside. No big surprise there! I did go on Thursday, though, and had a wonderful day. Since the cataloguing objects project was not exactly my cup of tea, Barry gave me a new project to work on. When the historical society moves back into the updated building, it will have a small hallway with a magnetic wall titled "County, Commonwealth, Country." I don't want to reveal too much, but it was my job this week to contribute to filling in ideas and events that bridge the gap between Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and the United States. The first obvious example that comes to mind is James Buchanan. His home, Wheatland, is located in Lancaster County. He was (and still is) the first person from Pennsylvania to become President of the United States. Another example involves the Civil War and Lancaster County. I didn't know this, but because the people of Columbia prevented the Confederates from entering Lancaster County by burning the Columbia-Wrightsville bridge, the Confederates turned around and headed toward Gettysburg. I had no idea that Lancaster was so important in the chain of events that led to the Battle of Gettysburg! So basically, I spent my day brainstorming ideas and trying to think outside of the box for these three categories of the magnetic timeline wall. I had so much fun doing it, too!