From the City of Havre de Grace:
The Heritage Museums of Havre de Grace is hosting a FREE Community History Day on Saturday, October 29, 2011 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Havre de Grace Activity Center 351 Lewis Lane. This event serves as the community kick-off for the bicentennial commemoration “War of 1812: Havre de Grace Under Fire.”
Community History Day is a free event that allows the community to explore early nineteenth century history via music, dance, artisans, museums, historical research, archeology, genealogy, and more.
Attendees are encouraged to clean out their attics and basements, and bring any unique or historic finds with them to Community History Day. Appraisers and experts will be on hand to tell you about the history of your items and how to preserve and care for them. Items of interest include old documents, letters, photographs, clocks, paintings, furniture, and other collectibles and memorabilia.
Particularly unique or historic items may be chosen to be filmed for MPT’s Chesapeake Collectibles. An MPT crew from the regional version of PBS’s Antiques Roadshow will be on site filming footage for the second season of the show. People interested in having their historic objects appear on the show should email Event Manager Heidi Glatfelter at heidi.hdg1812@gmail.com to be considered for the day’s filming.
A variety of entertainment is scheduled for Community History Day. Dancers in period costume from Goucher College’s Choregraphie Antique will perform dances from the early nineteenth century time period, accompanied by musicians from the Splendid Shilling Consort. These performances are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. David Hildebrand of The Colonial Music Institute will present two performances of music from the 1812 time period at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Lauren Muney of Silhouettes By Hand will be cutting silhouettes of visitors freehand from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Each silhouette takes about 2 minutes to cut.
A variety of history-related individuals and organizations will be exhibiting during the day and providing information to the public about their craft. The exhibitors include the Harford County Historical Society, the Archeological Society of the Upper Chesapeake, the Harford County Genealogical Society, the Maryland Archeology Conservation Laboratory, the Maryland Historical Trust Underwater Archeologist, the Head of Conservation at the Maryland State Archives, the Maryland War of 1812 Commission, and Preservation Maryland.
Additionally, the six museums who form the Heritage Museums of Havre de Grace will be exhibiting: the Concord Point Lighthouse and Keeper’s House, the Havre de Grace Maritime Museum, the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum, the Steppingstone Museum, the Susquehanna Museum at the Lock House, and the Skipjack Martha Lewis, owned by the Chesapeake Heritage Conservancy. These six museums are currently involved in a collaborative grant project that is preparing a wealth of information as part of “The War of 1812: Havre de Grace Under Fire,” which includes the May 3, 1813 burning of the city of Havre de Grace by British Rear Admiral George Cockburn. The grant project includes the building of a scale model of 1813 Havre de Grace, a local history research project to document the citizens of 1813 Havre de Grace, exhibit panels for each of the participating museums, and educational materials to circulate to the local schools. This project is being funded by the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network and the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority.
Community History Day is being funded by a grant from the Maryland Humanities Council, through support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The entire day will be free to the public, thanks to the support of the Humanities Council.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.