For reasons that probably don't need to be explained, I haven't been able to travel to today's subject and take pictures. But last fall, my parents were in the city of Harrisburg, as I mentioned in my post about the Underground Railroad, and they got a few pictures of markers for me while they were in the vicinity. Today my stepdad joins the ranks of the blog's guest photographers, and hopefully, he and I will both get to make a proper visit to the subject in the relatively near future. Whenever I'm finally able to go, I'll come back and edit this post to add more pictures - I promise I'll let you know when that happens.
"Pennsylvania," says one of my sources for today's post, "is a history-minded state." That, of course, is why I'm here and why you're here with me.
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| The marker sits on the museum lawn, near the intersection of North and Third Streets. Image courtesy of Ravi Shankar. |
The museum was first established in 1905 and was dedicated to the idea of collecting, researching, interpreting, and preserving Pennsylvania's cultural and natural history. In the early 19th century, "learned societies" were established to make studying history easier and more accessible to interested parties, such as the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Like many people who are obsessively interested in a subject, members of groups like these would collect objects related to their passion. (I wouldn't know anything about that, no matter what my husband might tell you.) In this case, they gathered artifacts of the natural and social history of Pennsylvania, and frequently donated them to the Commonwealth itself.
At first, these gifts were stored in the Capitol Building in Harrisburg. Gradually, of course, the size of this pool of donations became substantial, and some people began lobbying for the creation of a separate building in which to keep them. Some of these people genuinely wanted them to have a place of their own, while others just felt they were in the way. Regardless, it was decided that this would happen. This turned out to be a good thing, since otherwise the terrible fire of 1897 would very possibly have reduced the collection to ashes, but that's a story for my future blog post about the Capitol Building. By the time that happened, the majority of the collection was safely stored in the Executive, Library, and Museum Building, which was constructed in 1894. That building still stands today, and is the oldest one in the entire Capitol Complex. It has been renamed the Speaker Matthew J. Ryan Legislative Office Building; it provides office space for members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
In 1905, then-Governor Samuel W. Pennypacker signed legislation which formally created The State Museum of Pennsylvania. Yes, the "The" is capitalized. It helped that Pennypacker, as well as a few other high-ranking officials, belonged to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, so he was very involved with the whole project and understood its importance. Over the next several years, the Museum expanded its work to preserve and understand native flora and fauna of the Commonwealth, with a growing zoology division, and the beginning and rapid growth of archaeology and geology divisions as well. Lantern slides, "the first form of projected group entertainment," soon became part of the collection and were frequently loaned by The State Museum to schools. The state's artwork collection also continued to grow, with many "precious artworks" continuing to be added, though the museum didn't actually gain a Fine Arts section with a designated curator until 1965.
In 1916, The State Museum entered a period of various difficulties. First, World War One had an impact - electricity rationing meant that the newly installed lighting system had to be used as little as possible. Many staff members left to fight in the war, leaving the institution with not much more than a skeleton crew until after it was over. In 1923, an organizational shift put The State Museum under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Instruction, which didn't give it much of a priority; this caused financial problems and led to a lot of staff turnover. And then the Great Depression hit.
The State Museum did have a couple of things going for it during this uncertain time, however. One was the successful application for funding for two Works Progress Administration projects, to repair and clean artifacts and exhibits and to create more lantern slides and dioramas. The other was that in 1913, a little group called the Pennsylvania Historical Commission was formed; today we call them the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. That's right, the group who gave me permission to write this blog got the marker program up and running. But while the PHC was establishing all these markers that form the basis of my work, they also ran (and still run) archaeological projects. Since they had no particular use for any of the specimens gathered during such projects, all of the findings went to The State Museum. In 1945, when the PHC became the PHMC, The State Museum became part of the new agency. This brought about a series of renovations and improvements, thanks in part to World War Two creating a renewed interest in the history of the Commonwealth.
Throughout the 1940s and into the 1950s, The State Museum expanded its offerings. Lantern slides were retired in favor of more modern technology; hours were increased; traveling exhibits were provided to classrooms; and school field trips became a regular feature, with more guides showing students and teachers through the building. Under the auspices of the PHMC, unrelated entities which occupied space in the museum building were removed, enabling them to take more of the collection out of storage and put it back where it belonged. Another big change came in the late 1940s, when the rules were changed regarding The State Museum's ability to loan out parts of their collection; while this had previously been forbidden, the PHMC was able to successfully lobby for the right to do so.
In 1944, Pennsylvania marked the 300th birthday of William Penn, and this sparked what ultimately turned into a twenty-year project to memorialize him while also giving The State Museum adequate space for its growing collection and needs. I won't go into all the details, as they're rather extensive and this post is already quite long. Instead, I'll skip ahead and tell you that The State Museum and Archives Building has been part of the Capitol Complex since the 1960s. The cornerstone was sealed in 1964 and includes a time capsule containing a state flag, several relevant documents about the museum, a local newspaper bearing the day's date, and a bronze medal depicting William Penn.
The State Museum has four levels.
- The ground floor is home to the State Library, as well as meeting rooms, an auditorium, and the museum store. It's also the location of "Curiosity Connection," which is a hands-on gallery aimed at museum visitors between one and five years old.
- William Penn Memorial Hall is the primary feature of the first floor. There, visitors can see a bronze statue of our founding father, 18 feet tall, along with display copies of important documents like the original charter from Charles II granting the land which became Pennsylvania. (The original documents are, of course, kept in a special archives room to protect them.).
- Also on the first floor, visitors can enter the "Pennsylvania Icons" room to see things like a militia coat preserved from the 1790s. Another room contains artifacts from the USS Pennsylvania, a battleship commissioned for the United States Navy in 1916, and relics from the Women's Suffrage movement in the Commonwealth.
- The second floor is dedicated to anthropology, archaeology, industry, and transportation. There are special exhibits of, among other things, the Pennsylvania Turnpike and objects of valor from the Civil War. They even have a Conestoga wagon.
- Finally, on the third floor, you'll find much to do with native flora and fauna, including the Hall of Geology, Mammal Hall, Ecology Hall, and the planetarium.
Today, like the rest of the PHMC properties, The State Museum remains closed - but only for a few more weeks. Starting on April 30th, the slow process of returning to normal hours will begin. Keep tabs on their Facebook and Twitter accounts (linked below) to find out when you'll once again be able to see the exhibits which interest you most.
Sources and Further Reading:
Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.
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