Last Month to See Lost Erie!

Lost Erie
Through April 26th
At the Erie County History Center, 419 State Street, Erie
814-454-1813 Ext. 0

Fires, abandonment, parking lots; these are just a few reasons why historical buildings, such as the Hugh Cunningham House and the Erie Academy, have faded away from the Erie community, lost forever…but not forgotten.

The Society cordially invites the community to explore Lost Erie at the Erie County History Center. The exhibit presents the story of Erie’s rich architectural heritage. Inspired by Lost Erie: The Vanished Heritage of City and County written by John Claridge, Lost Erie, the exhibit, addresses Erie’s ever changing landscape and the influences of progress.

Lost Erie features artifacts, such as tools and memorabilia from defunct companies, photographs of buildings that once stood as landmarks of a community, and an eight foot scale model of Erie’s old City Hall.

ECHS needs your help in preserving the community’s past and present. You are invited to share your family stories and personal photograph collections February 2nd at the History Center. Society staff and interns are prepared to scan photographs and record oral histories on-site – share your stories and enjoy light refreshments while you wait. Information and images collected will become a permanent part of the archives and be used in the sixth installment of the Ethnic Erie Project…The African American Experience, which opens early fall 2008.

Live a Little — Learn A Lot
Friday, April 4th & Saturday, April 5th
Watson-Curtze Mansion, 356 West Sixth Street

Want to learn more about Pennsylvania's Civil War history? Looking for an interesting and unusual way to spend a weekend getting to know your Commonwealth? Need a place to take your out-of-state visitors that's more unique than the latest blockbuster? Try one of four Quest for Freedom Live & Learn Weekends hitting Pennsylvania in 2008.

Taking place simultaneously in the regions of Erie, Lancaster, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, a learning weekend is no more than a two-hour drive away—no matter where you live in Pennsylvania. At a Live & Learn Weekend, you'll have the chance to tour local Underground Railroad and Civil War-related sites with a living historian, talk to a local scholar about how the sites tie into the larger national story and receive a book to take home to deepen your experience.

Margaret Creighton's The Colors of Courage, is a look at who else 'fought' at Gettysburg the role of women, recent German immigrants and African Americans before, during and after.

Our activities will start on Friday at 6:30 when the Watson-Curtze mansion will open for a tour of the Erie Historical Society's exhibit on women and we'll provide music and brief Heritage MusicDramas to set the tone.

At 7:30 we'll have a presentation by Dr. David Dixon, history professor at Slippery Rock University. He'll give us the context for our book, The Colors of Courage, a look at who else 'fought' at Gettysburg the role of women, recent German immigrants and African Americans before, during and after.
After his presentation Mag Palm (Adrianne Rush), will facilitate a discussion of the book.

The program continues Saturday at 10 a.m. with a brunch, discussion and musical entertainment.

April 19th

April 19th, 2008 at the Battles Museums of Rural Life

Day includes draft horse plowing demonstrations, blacksmith demonstrations, and more! Detailed schedule to come. Call 814-454-1813 Ext. 0.

$4.00/Adult $2.00/Child

Lost Erie: Fifteen Years Later” Presented by Author & Historian John Claridge
Saturday, April 19th 2 p.m.
History Center Library & Archives, 419 State Street

Fires, abandonment, parking lots; these are just a few reasons why historical buildings, such as the Hugh Cunningham House and the Erie Academy, have faded away from the Erie community, lost forever…but not forgotten.

The Society cordially invites the community to explore Lost Erie at the Erie County History Center. John Claridge, author of Lost Erie: The Vanished Heritage of City and County, offers a continuation of his text, and addresses Erie’s ever changing landscape and the influences of progress.