Irving Female College, Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County

My bff Andrea and I are spending part of today attending the marker dedication for the Haines Shoe House in York County. So next week I'll be telling you about our adventures, and then the following week I'll be telling you about the marker and the house. That'll bring us into August, and those of you who subscribe to the monthly newsletter will be getting a big one because I may have sort of forgotten to send the one for July. (If you're not subscribed, there's plenty of time to sign up before the new one comes out - just use the handy little form on the right side of the blog. It's 100% free.)

Meanwhile, for today, I thought I'd head back to Cumberland County and take a look at a very interesting institute of higher learning. It's not a school anymore, but for a few decades it was one of the best places for a young woman to be educated, and at a time when only about 2% of women were attending college at all, that was an especially noteworthy feat.

Moravian Gemeinhaus and Linden Hall, Lititz, Lancaster County

As I mentioned a while back, my little adventuring party spent a day this past February in scenic and historic Lititz. We had quite a pleasant experience, even though the borough was very quiet and many of its attractions were closed for the winter season, and I'm hoping to go back before the summer ends.

Lititz is a Moravian settlement at its roots, and while I will go into the history of the community itself when I talk about the actual Lititz marker, today we'll take a look at one of its most enduring institutions - a place where young women have been educated and given the keys to their future for almost 300 years.