Picnic at Taber Museum

The Thomas T. Taber Museum of the Lycoming County Historical Society invites the public to its back lawn for music by the ‘Enduring Chords’, a barbershop quartet on Sunday, June 16 at 2pm. Guests are invited to bring a picnic lunch to the event. The Barbershop Quartet will be strolling and singing among the picnickers. Guests should also bring a lawn chair or a blanket and will be responsible for the removal of their ‘leftovers’. In the event of rain, the activity will take place in the Community Room of the Taber.

The event is fifth in a series of activities to be held throughout 2013 which will focus on eating and drinking. Future activities will include a lecture on the artwork of Severin Roesen, a talk on the bootlegger Prince Farrington, and several interactive programs. The lecture series combines the LCHS Coffee Hours (second Thursday of March-June, Sept.-Dec.) at 10am and its Society Programs (third Sunday of May-October) at 2pm. The programs are free and open to the public. The lecture series is supported in part by a generous grant from the Woodcock Foundation for the Appreciation of the Arts.

The Thomas T. Taber Museum is located at 858 West Fourth Street, Williamsport. Ample parking is available behind the museum and on the street. For further information regarding the programming at the Taber Museum, please call at 570.326.3326 or visit the website at www.tabermuseum.org

William Lang is the proprietor of Lang’s Chocolates located at 350 Pine Street, The shop was opened in 2006, having grown out of a hobby. The store produces dessert cups and other specialty items for events including graduations and weddings.

The lecture is part of a series of lectures to be held throughout 2013 which will focus on eating and drinking. Future activities will include a lecture on the artwork of Severin Roesen, a picnic on the back lawn with a strolling barbershop quartet on Sunday, June 16, and several interactive programs. The lecture series combines the LCHS Coffee Hours (second Thursday of March-June, Sept.-Dec.) at 10am and its Society Programs (third Sunday of May-October) at 2pm. The programs are free and open to the public. The lecture series is supported in part by a generous grant from the Woodcock Foundation for the Appreciation of the Arts.

The museum is located at 858 West Fourth Street. Ample parking may be found to the rear of the building and on the street. For further information regarding the programming at the Taber Museum, please call at 570.326.3326 or visit the website at www.tabermuseum.org

Joyce Graff, author

A book-signing by Joyce Graff will take place at the Thomas T. Taber Museum of the Lycoming County Historical Society on Friday, June 21 from 6:00 until 8:00pm. Ms. Graff has recently co-authored a genealogical biography of her grandfather Harry Wilcox, who worked as a commercial artist and illustrated stories for the popular and nationally-distributed Grit, published in Williamsport. Ms. Graff will talk about her work and read selections from this current work at 6:30pm. Reservations for the event are requested but not required.

The book is profusely illustrated with family photographs and ephemeral items and with examples of Mr. Wilcox’s broad range of artistic endeavours. As the twentieth century progressed, Mr. Wilcox had to adapt to the changing technology slowly absorbing the world of commercial art. He was a pioneer in the utilization of air brushing techniques for retouching artwork and photography. During World War II, he was instrumental in perfecting camouflage techniques for General Motors, which was doing contract work for the War Department.

Harry Wilcox book

The book is further enhanced, much to the delight of genealogists, with the appended family charts and stories of the Wilcox clan and its allied families, many lines of which converge and flourish in Williamsport, Lycoming County. Surnames represented in the appendices are: Wilcox, Kramm, Billmeyer, Himmelreich, Withington, Boehm, Martin, Richner, Misho, and Steinbacher. The genealogical work was researched by Joyce’s coauthor James Hammond Wilcox. Ms. Graff will also have on hand copies of A Freed Family History: Ancestors and Descendants of Walter and Dorothy Youngman Freed, which she co-authored with her mother June Freed Wilcox. Light refreshments will be served and the museum will be open for touring. As well, the LCHS Research Library will be open that evening for genealogical research and will be staffed by members of the Lycoming County Genealogical Society.

The museum is located at 858 West Fourth Street, Williamsport. Ample parking may be found to the rear of the building as well as on the street.

For further information about the Taber Museum and its many activities, please visit our website at www.tabermuseum.org.

Sheridan’s Ride

The Taber Museum of the Lycoming County Historical Society will hold its annual Day Camp Monday, 22 July through Friday, 26 July, from 9 a.m. until noon. Cost is $60 per child (for children of LCHS members) and $70 per child (for non-members).

This year the Day Camp will focus on the Civil War and the nineteenth century, coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter and the beginning of the Civil War. Each day will have a theme including: Monday, 22 July- ‘Travel Through Time”, canals and the railroad; Tuesday, 23 July, past-time and leisure activities of the 19th century (music, crafts, literature), Wednesday, 24 July, the life of a Civil War soldier (encampment, military drills and skirmishes, and dance!), Thursday, 25 July, logging and lumbering, the log boom and a ride on the Hiawatha; and Friday, 26 July, a tour of the Rowley House, a restored Victorian mansion, a session with ‘Miss Manners’, and graduation!

For further information, please call the museum at 570-326.3326.

Download the Taber Museum Day Camp Application for Summer 2013

Lycoming Historical Society

The Thomas T. Taber Museum of the Lycoming County Historical Society chronicles the history of our region from American Indian occupation through 20th century industry and life.
Exhibits include an American Indian gallery, a Fine and Decorative Arts gallery, 19th century period rooms, and the Shempp Model Train exhibit, featuring over 300 toy trains.

An Introduction to the Taber Museum’s Fine and Decorative Arts Gallery

The Art Gallery exhibition integrates three art collections, the Taber Museum’s general collection, the John Sloan Art Collection, donated to the Taber Museum by Helen Farr Sloan in 1976, and the Park Retirement Home collection, currently on extended loan to the museum. The exhibit showcases artworks dating from the late 18th century into the 20th century, including portraiture, landscapes, still lifes, prints, and folk art. Artists featured include John Sloan and his contemporaries, 19th century still life painter Severin Roesen, Lycoming County natives John Wesley Little and Frances Tipton Hunter, 19th century fraktur painter Henry Young, and early American limner Jacob Maentel.

Lycoming County History, 1769 – 20th c.

Take a walk through time at the Taber Museum to learn about Lycoming County and its people. Here are just a few of the exhibits and period rooms that you will enjoy.

Learn the history of the Lumbering Industry, the region’s major economic enterprise in the 19th century. Come on in and take a walk through time.

The James Bressler American Indian Gallery

Uncover the history of the county’s first inhabitants, the American Indians, in our state-of-the-art American Indian Gallery. Illustrations, graphics, dioramas, and locally discovered artifacts, bring the story to life.

Welcome to the LaRue Shempp Model Train Exhibit.

Row after row of vintage toy trains, one man’s collection, fill the room, the earliest dating from the 1870s. The exhibition includes models by Ives, Lionel, American Flyer and European companies. Of the 300 models, twelve are one of a kind. For your enjoyment, the exhibit includes two working layouts, one in standard gauge and one in HO gauge, as well as a computer train simulator and a Thomas the Tank Engine wooden railway play table. Visitors of all ages find this exhibit fascinating and fun.

Spring plowing at Sones Farm

The Thomas T. Taber Museum of the Lycoming County Historical Society will be hosting a field trip to the Sones Farm & Home Museum on Saturday, June 1. The tour, given by proprietors Oliver and Mary Sones, will commence at 10 a.m. and last approximately one and one half hours.

Cost is $3.00 per adult, children 10-17 are $2.00, and children under 10 are free. We must have twenty pre-registrations to qualify for the reduced adult price. As the barn can be chilly, visitors are advised that a sweater may be appropriate attire. We will meet at the Sones Museum at approximately 9:45am. It is located at the junction of John Brady Drive and 92 Industrial Park Road in Muncy. Look for the windmill!

The displays are housed in an 1868 overshot, hand-hewn timber and wooden-pinned, bank barn. Among the many exhibits are: Doc Lundy’s veterinary clinic, a cobbler’s shoemaking area, a 1903 Millville Mail Sleigh and a Claster Lumber Company delivery wagon. Also a number of tools relating to butchering, fence-making, logging, railroads, milk and butter production are featured along with a pea huller, a corn sheller, and a Sprout Waldron corn cob crusher.

Please send a check or money order to: LCHS, 858 West Fourth Street, Williamsport, PA. 17701 by Wednesday, May 29. Please include your name, address, telephone number or email address.