OLIVER EVANS CHAPTER

Author: Muriel K, Veep

  • Walking Tour of Schuylkill Navigation History

    October 7 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm Fairmount Water Works tour guide Sandy Sorlien leads a walk interpreting remnants of the 108-mile Schuylkill Navigation system along the Roxborough and Manayunk stretches of the river. We’ll meet at the old Shawmont Train Station on Shawmont Avenue, then walk downriver to Flat Rock Dam and the…

  • 1697 Pennypack Creek Bridge Rehabilitation

    Northeast Philadelphia History Network, Monthly Meeting Topic:  1697 Pennypack Creek Bridge Rehabilitation Speaker:  Mike Cuddy, Project Designer Rehabilitating the 321-year-old bridge was no easy task. Yet the rehabilitation of the bridge carrying Frankford Avenue over Pennypack Creek in the Holmesburg section of Philadelphia will forever be a part of its storied history.  Mike Cuddy, vice-president…

  • Chapter Program, Annual Meeting & Picnic

    Monday, October 8, 2018 Inland: the Abandoned Canals of the Schuylkill Navigation Photographer Sandy Sorlien of the Fairmount Water Works will present highlights of her recently completed documentary project. With the assistance of local canal historians and an urban archaeologist, Sandy has researched and photographed the entirety of the 108-mile Schuylkill Navigation slackwater-canal system, from…

  • The Roebling Legacy

    Saturday, September 29, 1918 1:00-3:00 Clifford Zink -Discussion and Book Signing – The Roebling Legacy The story of the Roeblings and their family business is a classic American saga spanning two centuries and encompassing immigration, innovation, entrepreneurship, monumental accomplishments, the rise of national capitalism and labor unions, the impact of wars and their aftermath, and…

  • The Great Dorset Steam Fair

    The Great Dorset Steam Fair held in the village of Tarrant Hinton, Dorset, England is in its 50th year and took place from 23th – 27th August 2018. Five hundred steam engines from across the globe made their way to Dorset to be part of the assembly, including some from New Zealand, Canada, The Netherlands,…

  • MEET THE EXPERT: SLATE SPLITTING

      Saturday, September 15th at 11am For many years, Lehigh and Northampton Counties dominated slate production in the United States. Among many products, slate for roofing was shipped around the world. Join us on Saturday, September 15, 2018 for a hands on demonstration of the slater’s craft. Visitors will learn how slate is split and…

  • Capturing “Jove’s Autograph”: Late Nineteenth-Century Lightning Photography and Electrical Agency

    Laura Turner Igoe  Harvard Art Museums http://journalpanorama.org/capturing-joves-autograph-late-nineteenth-century-lightning-photography-and-electrical-agency/ Click to access LTI_Capturing-Jove.pdf A thorough, engaging review of photographic techniques in documenting lightning and its developments focusing on William N. Jennings, a Philadelphia photographer and active member of the Franklin Institute. This leads to a discussion of early electrification in the city. Long-time former member Harry Silcox provides a…

  • Hot Off the Press: Printing and Papermaking

    Open now through October 31 The National Museum of Industrial History’s (NMIH) latest exhibit, Hot Off the Press: Printing and Papermaking, a hands-on look at how the printed word revolutionized the spread of knowledge throughout the world, debuts this week. From the Gutenberg press to linotype machines, like those seen in the hit movie The…

  • New Source of Railroad photos

    Member Adam Levine shares this information on a project of his involving about a year of scanning, editing, and cataloging glass plates ranging from 4×5 to 8×10 in size that have never before been available.  Adam is chairman of the Media (Pa.) Archives Commission. The group recently put online the Stephen H. Appleton Collection which…

  • 10 Modern Marvels That Changed America

      Tuesday, July 24, 08:00 pm on WHYY Duration: 0:56:46 Description: Take a whirlwind tour of engineering feats that made our civilization possible, from the Erie Canal and Eads Bridge, to the Holland Tunnel and Hoover Dam. See how engineers connected our nation with bridges, rail networks and a continent-wide freeway system, and delivered water…