Posts by Amanda Fontenova
From the Wilkes-Barre Record – A Ghastly Find!
As the afternoons get darker and the wind howls and moans, we thought we would share this spooky newspaper clipping from 130 years ago… From an article in the Wilkes-Barre Record, June 4, 1889: “Yesterday forenoon a policeman crossed Public Square going towards the police office carrying a parcel wrapped in newspaper and followed by…
Read MoreThe Badge of a Freemason – A Wilkes-Barre Masonic Apron
One of the most well-known Masonic symbols is the apron. Freemasonry is a fraternal organization for men that teaches a system of ethics using symbols, rituals and ideas drawn from stonemasons’ regulations, Enlightenment philosophy and Judeo-Christian teachings. The exact origins of Freemasonry are unknown. At some point during the 1500s or 1600s in Scotland and…
Read MoreThreads of History – Swetland Family Samplers
In 1842, The Hand-Book of Needlework by Miss Lambert explained that “no feminine art affords greater scope for the display of taste and ingenuity than that of needlework. The endless variety of form which it assumes…each in their turn serving as graceful occupations for the young, and an inexhaustible source of amusement for those in…
Read MoreDid You Know that Wilkes-Barre Had a Palm House?
Shortly after I started as Executive Director of LCHS, I came across an image of Wilkes-Barre’s “palm house.” I was fascinated. “How cool!,” I thought, “What were the circumstances for that, and what happened to it?” However, as I started to look around in order to learn more, it was a bit more challenging than…
Read MoreHobo Hat – “Bound for a trip around the world. When shall we meet again?”
In 1922, an imaginative shipping clerk at the Delaware & Hudson freight station in Wilkes-Barre decided to take an old straw hat and send it on a trip of its very own to see how far it could go. It was not a completely original idea; word of a traveling hat was found in a…
Read MoreWill You “Capitulate” to Reading Our Blog?
Welcome! This is the first post in our LCHS blog! We plan to post regularly and to focus on our amazing collection of objects, documents and published materials that relate to the people, places and events in Luzerne County’s fascinating history. We hope that you will read our posts, ask questions, make comments and come…
Read MoreRevolutionary-Era Militia Encampment at Denison House on August 17 & 18, 2019
On Saturday and Sunday, August 17 and 18, 2019, the Luzerne County Historical Society will host a Revolutionary War-era militia encampment by the 24th Connecticut Militia Regiment at the Nathan Denison House, 35 Denison Street, Forty Fort, PA. The Encampment will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and from 11 a.m. to…
Read MoreUpcoming Gallery Talk – “Frances Dorrance – First Lady of Archeology in NEPA”
The Luzerne County Historical Society will present a lecture entitled “Frances Dorrance – First Lady of Archeology in NEPA” on Thursday, June 6, 2019, at 6:30 p.m. at the Society’s Museum, 69 Rear South Franklin Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA. Museum Manager Allyson Earl will give a gallery talk about former LCHS Exeuctive Director and PHMC commissioner…
Read MoreLuzerne County Historical Society Announces “Dining with Friends” Program March 20, 2019, at The Beaumont Inn
The Luzerne County Historical Society announces the next date in their “Dining with Friends” program. Join Society members and supporters on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at the Beaumont Inn, 4437 PA-309, Dallas. The restaurant will generously donate 10% of its proceeds that night to the Historical Society. LCHS members and the general public are encouraged…
Read MoreLuzerne County Historical Society Director of Operations and Programs Receives Scholarship to the Small Museums Association Annual Conference
The Luzerne County Historical Society is proud to announce that its Director of Operations and Programs, Mark J. Riccetti, Jr., has received a scholarship to attend the 2019 Small Museums Association Conference, which will take place on February 17-19, 2019, in College Park, Maryland. Riccetti is the recipient of the Museum Council of Greater Philadelphia…
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