“Our Sixty-First Year”
Sunday, September 21, 2008, 4:00 to 6 p.m. at Finley House
RHS Members BYOPicnic on the beautiful wooded grounds of Finley House, 113 West Beech Tree Lane, Wayne. RHS will supply iced tea and lemonade. Members are asked to bring their own chair(s) or blanket. Guides will be available to present the photos and treasures of our Finley House collection that are normally unavailable to the public. You will have a chance to talk with our historians, and also for a guided tour of the wagon house, which includes many venerable objects from bygone years of farming and transportation. If it rains, call 610-688-2668 for cancellation information.
Sunday, October 5, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., starting from the home of Sandy and Bruce Gilbert, 142 W. Wayne Avenue in South Wayne
Our fourth Mystery History Tour is co-sponsored with the Radnor Conservancy. This year we will take a walking tour of South Wayne, stopping at seven designated historic sites, each with its own interpreter. At each site you will be asked to discover the answer to a related “mystery” question. Following the tour, refreshments will be served at the Gilbert’s, and there will be prizes for those who answer the mystery questions correctly. Off street parking will be available at Lumbermen’s Merchandise Corporation,137 West Wayne Avenue. If it rains, call 610-688-2668 for cancellation information.
Tuesday, October 14, 7:00 p.m., at the Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library
RHS and the Library are co-sponsoring a talk by Melinda Higgins Crawford, Executive Director of Preservation Pennsylvania. She will speak on The Lincoln Highway in Pennsylvania, which was America’s first coast-to-coast highway opened in 1913, and connected Times Square in New York City with San Francisco. The Lincoln Highway in Pennsylvania is still in use today and roughly follows Route 30 from East to West. Refreshments will be served after the talk.
Sunday, November 16, 2:00 p.m., at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 35 Old Eagle School Road, Strafford
This event is jointly sponsored by RHS, the Tredyffrin-Easttown Historical Society, and the Church. Our Lady of the Assumption was founded as a parish for Italian immigrants to the Main Line. Its history is the subject of the recently completed book, From Humble Beginnings, A Journey of Grace: A Centennial History of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish 1908—2008, to be published by December, 2008. The book’s authors and parish historians, Celia Paolantonio and Christine Gaeto, spent more than two years researching the parish history. With the help of visuals such as maps, historical documents, and photographs, they will share the results of their research, touching on the reasons for immigration to the Main Line area, early Strafford history, and the building of the Church.
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Thursday, December 11, 7:00 p.m., at the Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library
RHS and the Library are co-sponsoring a book signing and Power Point presentation by Roger Moss and Tom Crane, who are the authors of a new book, Historical Landmarks of Pennsylvania, published by the University of Pennsylvania Press. The book features prominent, memorable structures that reflect stages in Philadelphia’s growth. Mr. Moss is Emeritus Executive Director of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, and Mr. Crane is a widely-published freelance photographer. Refreshments will be served following the presentation.
Sunday, December 28, 4:00 p.m. at the Finley House
Cardy Crawford, retired Radnor teacher, author, and RHS Board member, will read Truman Capote’s, A Christmas Memory, the classic memoir of Capote’s childhood in rural Alabama during the Depression when he lived with distant relatives. This autobiographical story captures in poignant detail his fond memories of his eccentric elderly cousin, Miss Sook Faulk, during the Christmas when he was ten. Refreshments will be served.
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Wednesday, January 14, 2009, 7pm, at the Winsor Room at Radnor Memorial Library
The Radnor Memorial Library and the Radnor Historical Society are hosting a book talk and book signing with Laura Beardsley, author of “Historic Photos of the Main Line”. The author will discuss her new book and present the black and white images collected in this handsome coffee-table book that details growth of the Main Line from its early days up to recent times. Beardsley is the former Director of Graphics and Research Services for the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She is also the author of “Historic Photos of Philadelphia” published in 2006. All guests at the event are eligible to enter a drawing to win a signed copy of the book. Also, books will be available for purchase at a discounted price. Refreshments will be served.
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Wednesday, February 11, 7:30 p.m., at the Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library. (If attendance is large, this event may be moved to the Middle School Auditorium.)
Richard Newman, author of Freedom’s Prophet, will speak about Reverend Richard Allen, founder and first Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. He was the founder of the Mother Bethel Church in Philadelphia, and was a noted “bleeder” who provided medical assistance during the black plague in 1793. For more than thirty years, Allen, who was born a slave, operated a station on the Underground Railway for escaping slaves. This event is sponsored by the RHS, the Library, and two other local organizations, and is part of the celebration of the Library’s Bicentennial. Refreshments will be served.
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Tuesday, March 3, 7:30 p.m., at the Radnor Fire House, 121 S. Wayne Avenue, Wayne
Larry Ziglar, the retired Kea Professor of American History at Eastern University, will discuss the history of the Radnor Fire Company. Mr. Ziglar has studied and has come to admire the people who provide such a valuable community service, and believes the Company is an important asset to Radnor. There will also be an opportunity to tour the Fire House and visit its Archival Museum. Refreshments will be served.
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Wednesday, March 25, 6:00 p.m., Beaumont at Bryn Mawr Retirement Community
The Society’s Annual Dinner will be held at Liseter Hall, the mansion of Beaumont Retirement Community. Liseter Hall was built in 1912 by William Austin, President of Baldwin Locomotive Works. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served at 6:00 p.m. in the library, which includes a wonderful pipe organ; and a three-course dinner will be served at 6:45 p.m., followed by a lecture and a tour of the house. More details will follow closer to the dinner.
Sunday, April 19, 2:00 – 4:30 p.m., meeting at the Radnor United Methodist Church, 930 Conestoga Road, Garrett Hill (Rosemont)
A guided walking tour of the historic Garrett Hill area will start from the Church. Sites visited will include the Church cemetery, “mansions” on Wentworth Avenue, the coach house of the old Chetwynd Estate, and tenant houses along Garrett Avenue. Refreshments will be served at the Church following the tour.
Sunday, May 3, 4:00 p.m., at Historic Waynesborough in Paoli
The Annual Meeting of the Society will be held at Historic Waynesborough, a magnificent Georgian-style country manor house and the home of Revolutionary War hero, Major General Anthony Wayne. Bennett Hill, a retired teacher, member of the RHS Board, and a guide at Waynesborough for many years, will deliver a talk on Anthony Wayne, Hero of Two Wars. Following his talk, Bennett and other guides will lead tours of the house. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served.
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