There was a volunteer information meeting when LancasterHistory.org opened its new exhibit galleries and I was intrigued with the beautiful display, so I later met with Barry Rauhauser, the Stauffer Curator & Director of History on the Web, to get more information on the volunteer guide program. I think I was probably expecting a dry, chronological, date-filled tour. Instead, Barry circled the gallery and told stories. Intriguing stories, sad stories, funny stories. I was hooked and signed on! Working through the objects in the days that followed, I also had the good fortune also to ask Wendell Zercher, Curator, many questions and hear more stories.
Stories spark the imagination and bring objects to life, and make us want to know more. While doing tours at the recent auction of the historically-significant Stiegel-Coleman House at the Elizabeth Furnace Plantation, I quickly realized what drew people's attention more than anything that week was the dramatic and tragic story of the Coleman sisters! The visitors would gasp, and raise their hands to their mouths in astonishment, and connect emotionally with the two heroines of the story.
This is just my long way to tell you that if you love a good story, and want to learn more about how the people, places, and events of Lancaster County have informed the history of Pennsylvania and the United States, head on over to the Historical Society. History just got a lot more fun!
Some of the stories you'll hear:
What did this Philadelphia woman do, after her husband left her widowed with four children to raise?
What is this object? And what happened when its maker accidentally arrived in Lancaster, PA, instead of his intended destination of Lancaster, NY?
This cabinetmaker did WHAT when the Groff clock pendulum was hitting the sides of this rare corner-cabinet-tall clock?
How does a Portuguese coin connect an upstanding Lancastrian with Benedict Arnold?
Find out the answers and spend an entertaining moment touring the new galleries at the Historical Society, at 230 N President Avenue, right next to Wheatland.
Oh, and if you feel like I left you hanging about the dramatic story of the Coleman sisters, here's a clue: ask a tour guide or one of the curators when you're looking at the Stiegel Stove Plate from Elizabeth Furnace!
