Let’s hit the trails! We will be learning how to ID and record fungi while walking the trails at Historic Hanna’s Town. We will take our pocket journals and see how many mushrooms we can eye spy!

Please dress accordingly for walking in wooded areas.

Historic Hanna’s Town is a beautiful and quiet Westmoreland County park. While we do work to preserve our historic built environment on site, we are also dedicated to preserving our natural environment through demonstration gardens, native plant restoration, and developing walking trails.

Pre-registration encouraged. Walk-ins also welcome. Please check in at the front desk of the Museum Shop upon arrival.

$10 for non-members | $8 for members.

Register here: https://westmorelandhistory.org/event-directory/flannel-roots-farm-workshops-registration/

Flannel Roots is an LGBTQIA+ owned regenerative agricultural business that was founded in 2021, rooted in a deep commitment to sustainability and community education. The founders, Brittany and Jill, bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table, each contributing unique skills that enhance their mission. Both Brittany and Jill are certified by Mushroom Mountain and hold qualifications in Edible Mushroom Safety Identification, allowing them to safely forage and sell mushrooms. Their main passion lies in exploring the permaculture uses of fungi within ecosystems, and they actively engage in educational pop-ups and workshops.

Join us for a special evening at the scenic Winnie Palmer Nature Preserve as we raise a glass to the start of this year’s Historic House Tour. This festive kickoff celebration will set the stage for a memorable tour experience on Saturday, September 19, featuring the historic places and stories of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe.

Save the date. More details coming soon.

Learn to sew your very own bonnet with Jessica Young of Penny River Costumes!

You will learn about historical hand sewing practices and create your very won bonnet! Jessica will help guide you through each stitch and provide you with all the materials you’ll need.

This workshop includes:

• Fabric and sewing materials
• Access to “Cut from the Same Cloth” Exhibit Gallery
• Creation of a unique accessory made by you!

$55 for Members | $65 for Non-Members

Spots are limited. Register here: https://westmorelandhistory.org/event-directory/historical-hand-sewing-workshop-with-penny-river-costumes-registration/

Jessica Young is the owner/operator of Penny River LLC, a company that specializes in making and teaching about 18th century clothing and accessories.  A graduate of the University of Richmond with degrees in theatre/costuming and history, Jessica has worked for Colonial Williamsburg as a costumer, and Carnegie Mellon University’s drama department.  Through Penny River, she has made garments for a number of museums, theaters, films, and television series, including Outlander and Bridgerton.

Join us for WHS’s We Want More History Day Series with Lena McDonald. Participants are invited to attend either the full day of workshops, or one of their choosing.

Location: Westmoreland History Education Center

What places tell your community’s story?

Why do we save some places, objects, and stories while others disappear?

Historic buildings and landmarks may seem like obvious pieces of our past, but deciding what is “historic” and what is “worthy of preservation” has never been as objective as it might appear. For generations, historians, collectors, preservationists, and institutions have shaped our understanding of the past by deciding which places, objects, people, and stories deserve attention.

In Plain Sight is a thought-provoking workshop that invites us to look more closely at the history around us and ask who has been included, who has been overlooked, and what we might still have to learn.

Led by Lena S. McDonald, the workshop will explore the history of historic preservation in the United States, from antiquarianism and the early collecting of “old things” to the development of the National Register of Historic Places and modern approaches to preservation. Along the way, we’ll consider how ideas about historical significance have changed, and why the stories we preserve are never entirely separate from the people doing the preserving.
We’ll explore questions such as:

• Who gets to decide what is historically significant?
• Why have some people, places, and communities received more attention than others?
• What makes a building, landscape, object, or community “worthy of preservation”?
• Can preservation ever be completely objective?
• What can we learn when we look beyond famous buildings and well-known historical figures?
• How can lived experiences and communal histories change our understanding of a place?
• What happens when communities themselves have a say in identifying the places that matter to them?

The workshop will also look at the gaps that remain in our historical landscape, including the underrepresentation of women and other communities whose contributions have often received less recognition. McDonald will encourage participants to think beyond individual “great” people and famous landmarks and consider communal histories, lived experiences, and cultural landscapes as important parts of the historical record.

Participants will leave with a broader understanding of what historic preservation can mean and new ways to think about the places they encounter every day. Rather than asking only, “Is this old?”, we’ll ask more interesting questions: Who used this place? What did it mean to them? Whose stories does it tell? And whose stories might still be missing?

Because cultural significance is about people and use, not just buildings. And the history of a place is richer when the people who live there have a voice in deciding what matters.

What You’ll Learn

• The history of American antiquarianism and historic preservation
• How ideas about historical significance have changed over time
• How the National Register of Historic Places determines eligibility
• Why decisions about preservation inevitably involve interpretation and subjectivity
• The importance of women’s history and other underrepresented histories
• How communal histories and lived experiences can reshape our understanding of place
• How to look at buildings, objects, and landscapes as evidence of people’s lives
• Why public engagement matters in deciding what places and stories are worth preserving

Noon-1PM Lunch

1PM – 3PM Workshop 2 – History is Everywhere

Whose stories are missing from the history books?

Some of the most important pieces of our local history can be found in places we pass every day, family photographs tucked away in albums, old buildings and landscapes, community memories, newspaper clippings, event programs, and objects that may never have made their way into a museum collection.

Workshop 2: History Is Everywhere is a hands-on workshop designed to help you uncover those stories and begin researching the places and communities that have been overlooked, under documented, or left out of traditional histories.

Led by Lena S. McDonald, the workshop will introduce practical approaches to local historical research, including archival and online research, oral history, fieldwork, artifact research, mapping and digital tools, and evaluating online sources.

We’ll explore questions such as:

• What can a building or landscape tell us about the people who used it?
• Where can you find historical evidence when it isn’t in a traditional archive?
• How can family photographs, newspapers, ephemera, and oral histories help reconstruct a community’s past?
• How do you evaluate information you find online?
• How can you turn your research into something meaningful for your community?

Participants will also learn how to shape a research project, identify potential sources, document their work, and think carefully about the ethical responsibilities that come with researching other people’s histories.

You don’t need to be a professional historian to participate.

Whether you’re interested in researching a neighborhood, gathering place, organization, historic building, community institution, or a story that has never received the attention it deserves, this workshop will give you tools to get started.

Because history isn’t just what has already been written down.

History is everyone’s story.

What You’ll Learn

• Designing a local history research project
• Finding and evaluating primary and secondary sources
• Using libraries, archives, museums, courthouses, and online collections
• Conducting oral history research
• Documenting historic buildings and landscapes
• Using photographs, maps, artifacts, and ephemera as evidence
• Exploring digital tools such as GIS, StoryMaps, and historic aerial imagery
• Approaching historical research ethically and respectfully

Come ready to ask questions, follow a lead, and look at your community with fresh eyes.

Register Here(opens in new tab)

Learn to sew your very own petticoat with Jessica Young of Penny River Costumes!

You will learn about historical hand sewing practices and create your very own petticoat! Petticoats were a type of skirt or undergarment often worn by women in the 18th century. Whether you’re a reenactor or living historian looking to add a new garment to your collection, a historical fashion enthusiast, or just interested in learning how to a sew an item, Jessica will help guide you through each step of the process at this workshop!

This workshop includes:

• Fabric and sewing materials
• Access to “Cut from the Same Cloth” Exhibit Gallery
• Creation of a unique accessory made by you!

$55 for Members | $65 for Non-Members

Spots are limited. Register here: https://westmorelandhistory.org/event-directory/historical-hand-sewing-workshop-with-penny-river-costumes-registration/

Jessica Young is the owner/operator of Penny River LLC, a company that specializes in making and teaching about 18th century clothing and accessories.  A graduate of the University of Richmond with degrees in theatre/costuming and history, Jessica has worked for Colonial Williamsburg as a costumer, and Carnegie Mellon University’s drama department.  Through Penny River, she has made garments for a number of museums, theaters, films, and television series, including Outlander and Bridgerton.

Join archivist, historian and author Thomas White as he explores the history and cultural meaning behind some of our region’s early legends and supernatural tales. Hear the stories of Old Tom Fossit, Braddock’s Gold, and the legend of Oppaymolleah’s Curse. Encounter the ghosts who haunt the Old Quaker Church, the spirits of escaped slaves and a confederate soldier on Duquesne’s campus, and the spirits of the Depreciation Lands Museum. Learn the truth about the Witch of the Monongahela, Judge Reddick’s contest with the Devil, the area known as “The Dark Place”, and many other spooky tales.

A variety of books by Tom White will be available to purchase in our Museum Gift Shop.

Click to Register!

Members: $10

Non-Members: $12

Students & Seniors: $8

About the Speaker:

Thomas White is the University Archivist and Curator of Special Collections at Duquesne University. He is also an Adjunct Professor in Duquesne’s History Department and an Adjunct Professor of History at La Roche University. White specializes in public history, folklore and the history of supernatural beliefs. He is the author of 11 books including The Witch of the Monongahela: Folk Magic in Early Western Pennsylvania, Legends and Lore of Western Pennsylvania, Haunted Roads of Western Pennsylvania, Supernatural Lore of Pennsylvania: Ghosts, Monsters and Miracles,  Forgotten Tales of Pittsburgh, Ghosts of Southwestern Pennsylvania, and Witches of Pennsylvania: Occult History and Lore.

Come play with us at Historic Hanna’s Town! We’ll have a variety of early American toys and games for visitors to try out! Learn about 18th century era pastimes by getting some hands on experience.

Our Exhibit Gallery and Museum Gift shop will also be open throughout the day!

This event is free and open to the public. Donations are always appreciated!

Food provided by: The Coffin Bean, Funky Funnels, Kill Devil Meals LLC, Zeus BBQ, and Underdogz.

Celebrate the season with us at Living History Day: Fall Family Day — Harvest at Hanna’s Town, featuring autumn activities, family fun, and Children’s Trick or Treat in a historic setting.

Food provided by The Coffin Bean and Funky Funnels.