Albany Institute of History and Art

With this last blog I am going a little different route.  Instead of a blog on a point or place in history I am going to discuss one of my favorite museums, The Albany Institute of History and Art.  The Albany Institute of History and Art, or AIHA, is one of Albany, New York’s hidden gems.  This blog will take a quick look at both AIHA’s own interesting history and what is has to offer the public.

AIHA is one of the country’s oldest cultural museums, opening its doors in 1791.  Its original mission was to educate the public on agricultural advances, as most people at the time made their living from the land.  By 1820 the museum became more of a general collecting institution.  In the 20^th century the museum’s mission became more focused to what it is today, the collecting and preserving of art and history of the Upper Hudson River Valley.

AIHA currently has over 20,000 items in its collection, a collection that includes paintings, sculptures, furniture, clothing, two Egyptian mummies and other historical pieces.  The institute offers permanent, rotating and temporary exhibits.  Its permanent collection includes an extensive Hudson River School collection that they are particularly proud of and an Egyptian gallery that has been a favorite for generations.  Currently on display is an exhibit on the history and use of graphic art which is open until June 21st.  Presently, there is also an exhibit of three hundred years of shoes titled “Old Soles” being shown and is open until June 5^th.

 AIHA has a highly active education department that offers school field trips, home school programs, video conference lessons and family art programs.  The school programs are created to meet a number of New York State educational requirements and trained docents (of which I was one) act as guides.  There are also a number of art camps available over school and summer vacations.  All the programs are designed to get even the youngest museum visitor involved.

AIHA has felt the effects of the economic downturn over the last few years  AIHA is  a nonprofit organization and relies heavily on donations and the donations are not coming in as the used to.  Both employees and programs have been cut.  This is why, more than, ever people need to be aware of AIHA and what is has to offer.  Its collection is so extensive it is truly a window into American’s culture and history.

Click here to go directly to AIHA’s website:

http://www.albanyinstitute.org/

Works Cited:

Albany Institute of History & Art: 200 Years of Collecting. United States of America: Hudson Hills Press, Inc., 1998.

Miles, Christine. Personal Interview, November 24, 2009.

"Welcome to the Albany Institute of History & Art".  Albany Insitute of History and Art. 25 April 2011. <http://www.albanyinstitute.org/index.htm>.

Betzwood Motion Picture Studio

Before there was Hollywood there was Betzwood, a motion picture studio located 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia.  This studio was the largest film production facility in the world during the early years of film making.  What is left of this once great studio is just a few buildings, now turned into offices, and a historical maker.  It is the marker that I discovered last summer that led me to discover Betzwood Motion Picture Studio’s once great past.

At the birth of the movie industry there were many small movie studios located in the northeast part of the country and Philadelphia optician Siegmund Lubin became fascinated with movie production. “Pop” Lubin opened his own studio, the Lubin Film Co., in the late 19^th century.  Lubin’s first studio was located in downtown Philadelphia but Lubin soon found he needed to expand from his downtown studio as his success grew.  In 1912 Mr. Lubin purchased a sprawling 350 acre estate at the edge of Valley Forge National Park and the Schuylkill River and named it Betzwood Motion Picture Studio.  On this estate Lubin would build offices, scenery storage buildings, a processing plant, a film vault and a power plant that would produce electricity for the studio.    The studio also included three indoor studios for filming.  Two were dark studios which would use electricity from the power plant.  The third studio was a daylight studio, which was all glass and used to create day shots. The remaining acreage was the perfect setting to create western gun fights and civil war battles.  Lubin would even have entire western towns built and then have it destroyed if the script called for it, and then build them again for the next film. Lubin biographer, Joseph Eckhardt, called Betzwood Motion Picture Studio the “biggest film empire” of the day. 

Unfortunately, a fire in the film fault, the breakout of World War I, and a federal law suit would financially destroy Lubin’s budding film empire.  In 1916 the studio would be turned over to Wolf Brothers, Inc.  who would continue creating movies at the studio until 1923.  In the end over 110 ten movies would be made at Betzwood.

The studio remained abandoned and building’s left vacant for decades.  Fortunately, in 2001 O’Neill Properties Group purchased the Betzwood land and restored five of the original buildings and now uses them for their offices along with some other small businesses.  O’Neill Properties also developed upscale apartments on a portion of the Betzwood property with plans to develop more commercial property on the site. 

Much like the studio itself time has been destructive to the films that were created at Betzwood.  Only a few movies remain.  Only 29 of the original 110 are known to still exist and are located in archives here in the United States and in Europe. 

Works Cited:

"The Betzwood Film Archive and Film Festival".  Montomgery County Community College. 11 Apr. 2011. <http://faculty.mc3.edu/jeckhard/betzwood.htm>.

Eckhardt, Joseph. "The King of the Movies: Film Pioneer Siegmund Lubin".  Montomgery County Community College. 21 Arp. 2011. <http://faculty.mc3.edu/jeckhard/lubin.htm>.

Feighner, Jan. "Early Movie Studio on Pbs".  2009.  The Reporter Online. 20 Apr. 2011. <http://rememberwhenvirtualmuseum.blogspot.com/2009/07/early-movie-studio-on-pbs.html>.

Miller, Kate.  2004.  O'Neill Properties Group. 22 Apr. 2011. <http://oneillproperties.com/company/pr_newsroom.php?prid=25&status=Newsroom&year=2004&PHPSESSID=881d77d.>.

"Season 7, Episode 4".  2009. TV program. History Detectives.  (July 2009):  PBS. <http://video.pbs.org/video/1176774004/>.

The Liberty Bell

This past summer I moved to the suburbs of Philadelphia.  When people now come to visit my family and I the Liberty Bell is always on their “to do” list.  I have now seen the Liberty Bell six times and I am sure that number will only increase the longer I live in this area.  On my most recent visit to the bell, my brother-in-law turned to me for a quick history lesson on it since I am known as the family historian.  To my horror I realized even after five previous visits I really knew very little about this popular U.S. symbol, so this blog will serve to educate both my blog readers and myself.

                First and foremost the Liberty Bell was not always called the “Liberty Bell”, but more about that later.  The bell was originally made in London and was ordered by the Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly, in 1751, to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of Pennsylvania’s original constitution drafted by William Penn in 1701.  The bell’s inscription states “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all Inhabitants thereof”, which is a bible verse from the book of Leviticus.  This verse was included to honor William Penn’s vision of freedom of religion.  A vision he had over 70 years before the American Revolution and a vision Pennsylvania was proud of.  Upon the bell’s arrival it was hung in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia (now referred to as Independence Hall) and became known as the State House Bell.  The bell cracked the very first time it was rung.  Philadelphia craftsmen, John Pass and John Stow, were entrusted to repair the crack in 1753 by completely recasting the bell using the same metal.

                The bell was rehung in the State House and rang many times over a 90 year period alerting the City of Philadelphia to public announcements.  Arguably the most important announcement occurred on July 8, 1776, the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.   Over the 90 years, and many tolls, a small crack once again appeared and by 1846 it was greatly affecting the bell’s tone.  The bell was once again repaired and it would ring one more time in honor of George Washington’s Birthday in February of the same year.  The repair failed and the bell has not rung since.

                The bell did not take on its symbolism of Liberty, and its name, until a group of abolitionists adopted the bell as a symbol for their cause.  The bell’s symbolism for freedom and independence would continue up to the Civil War and take on an even greater meaning after the war’s end.  In the last decades of the 19^th century the “Liberty Bell” traveled the country to help the nation.  It became the symbol of the liberty the United States had fought for and won in its battle for independence during the American Revolutionary War.  The bell would later be used as a symbol in the fight for women’s rights and the Civil Rights movement.

                So, the bell that couldn’t be fixed has become an international symbol of liberty and independence.  Visitors from all over the world visit the bell now located in a building dedicated entirely to the bell and its history.  The Liberty Bell Center is located in the bell’s home city of Philadelphia right across the street from where it originally hung in Independence Hall.  And even though I have now visited the Liberty Bell six times I don’t think I will ever get tired of it.  Looking at the Liberty Bell is like looking and at what all American’s holds dear and are proud of.

A Few Bell Facts:

Ø  The bell also reads “By order of the assembly of the Province of Pensylvania for the State House of Philad.”  Note: Pennsylvania is misspelled.  At the time the bell was made the spelling for Pennsylvania was not yet universally adopted.

Ø  The Liberty Bell weight 2000 lbs.

Ø  The bell was displayed in Independence Hall (on the first floor) until 1976 when it was moved to its own building.

Ø  The Liberty Bell is owned by the City of Philadelphia

Ø  No one knows why the bell originally cracked or continued to crack after two repair attempts.
 

Works Cited:

"The Liberty Bell".  Independence Hall Association. 17 Apr. 2011. <http://www.ushistory.org/libertybell/index.html>.

"Liberty Bell Center".  National Park Service. 17 Apr. 2011. <http://www.nps.gov/inde/liberty-bell-center.htm>.

Next Blog....Liberty Bell!

History In My Neighborhood

History’s stories are all around us.  One does not have to look far find one.   Even in my small suburban neighborhood, located outside of Philadelphia, small snippets of America’s story can be found.  Here are just three I have discovered:

The Peter Wentz House at the Wentz Farmstead - located 5.5 miles from my home:

This Georgian style house, built by Peter Wentz in 1758, can honestly claim “Washington slept here”.  George Washing used the Wentz farm and two rooms in the farmhouse as his headquarters two separate times in the fall of 1777.  Once in September and again in October following his defeat at the Battle of Germantown, which occurred on October 4, 1777.  The Wentz family was able to stay in the home during Washington’s stay.  It was while Washington was at the Wentz home that he learned of the victory at Saratoga and General Burgoyne’s surrender.  This mighty victory would persuade France to support American’s fight for freedom and become a major turning point in the war.  Valley Forge, located just 9 miles south of the Wentz farm (and subject of my last blog) is where Washington and his troops would make their famous winter encampment just two months later.

Evangelical Congregational Church (nicknamed “Old Dutchie Church) - located 2 miles from my home:

Old Dutchie Church was built in 1845 by German immigrants.  Not only a quaint church that is one of the few remaining examples of architecture from that time period but also rumored to have been a stop on the Underground Railroad.  Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, where Old Dutchie is located, was home to many abolitionists so it not a stretch to believe that runaway slaves fled by way of this small church on their race to freedom.  But the church’s unexplained trap door is evidence that this small church perhaps was a stop on the railroad.  The trap door, located near the pulpit, contains a loft like area below the church floor that is still visible to this day.  This cramped space is large enough to hold a small number of people.  There is no documented proof that the Old Dutchie was indeed a stop on the Underground Railroad, but confirming such places of refuge is not easy because, it was all done in secret.  But I believe the trap door maybe proof enough.

Methacton Mennonite Churchyard - located 1.7 miles from my home:

This Mennonite Church has two points of historical interest:  the churchyard itself and the large white oak tree located on the church grounds.  The original church (no longer standing) was built prior to 1771 and was used as a hospital after the Revolutionary War battle at Germantown in October, 1777.  According to local lore soldiers camped in the churchyard and according to legend there are even a few soldiers buried on the church grounds.  The soldiers that camped on the church grounds most likely did so under the branches of what has become known as the “Methacton Oak”.  This oak tree is estimated to be over 320 years old, making it already 86 years old in 1777.  This magnificent tree is believed to be the oldest living thing east of the Mississippi.

                An odd feature at the church:

When visiting the church it is interesting to take the time to examine one side of the church’s cemetery wall.  A portion of the stone wall, located next to the “Methacton Oak”, has needed repair over the last 250 years.  This fact alone is not surprising.  But what is remarkable is that at some point the wall was repaired using headstones from the cemetery itself.  You can’t help but wonder who thought this was a good idea!

So what history is around you?

Please be sure to check out a slideshow posted on the right of this post about the three stops detailed in this blog.

Works Cited:

"Farmstead History".  Peter Wentz Farmstead Society. 30 March 2011. http://www.peterwentzfarmsteadsociety.org/history.html.

A History of Worcester Township. Boyertown, PA: Boyertown Publishing Co., 1976.

"Our History".  Methacton Mennonite Church. 30 March 2011. <http://www.methactonmennonite.org/aboutus1.html>.

"Peter Wentz Farmstead".  Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. 29 March 2011. <http://historicsites.montcopa.org/historicsites/cwp/view,A,3,Q,24480,historicsitesNav,%7C.asp>.

"Worcester Historical Society".  Worcester Historical Society. 11 March 2011. <http://www.worcesterhistorical.org/index.htm>Works Cited: