Elfreth’s Alley Museum Reopening!

After a long and harsh winter season, the Museum of Elfreth’s Alley is reopening next weekend!  Starting on April 4th, the Museum will resume giving guided tours on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 12 to 5pm.

Come join in the revelry as the Museum hosts several events to celebrate the reopening next weekend.  On Friday April 4th there will be free tours from 5-8pm.  Then on Saturday April 5th the
Alley will be alive from 12-5pm with a yard sale, a bake sale, music, dance, and a few presentations.  I will be at the Alley on Saturday to give a brief talk around 2:30pm about the archaeology conducted on the Alley and showcase a few of the artifacts recovered. Come by and enjoy the festivities!  Note that if Saturday is rainy, Sunday April 6th is the rain date. 

The Museum’s Facebook page and Twitter account have more details about the reopening.

AAUW Discover the Future Event in Lansdale

Archaeologist's tools & jar with sample stratigraphy

Last weekend I had the opportunity to host a workshop about archaeology for middle schoolers at Pennbrook Middle School.  The activity was part of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Lansdale Branch’s annual ‘Discover the Future’ event.  The event is a way to introduce young girls (and boys) to the wide range of careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).  Throughout the day, women with careers throughout STEM held workshops about topics ranging from aeronautics to veterinary medicine. It was a great event with more than 100 students in attendance.

Workshop Classroom setup with clipboards for artifact analysis

During the day I held a workshop explaining what archaeology is and what archaeologists do.  I gave a brief cash course in soil science, stratigraphy, and the basics of excavation; then the students got the opportunity to practice artifact analysis as well as clean real artifacts.  It was a lot of fun working with budding archaeologists!



Here is a link to the local newspaper that tells a little more about the event.

Historical Marker at Elfreth's Alley

Elfreth's Alley will receive a Historical Marker during 2014!  The Alley will gets it vert own navy and gold sign like so many across the city.  The Pennsylvania Historical Marker Program is run through the PA State Historic Preservation office and aims to publicize the locations of important people, places, events, and innovations in Pennsylvania history.  As the PA Historical Marker website states, Elfreth's Alley is an "impeccably preserved vernacular neighborhood in the heart of Philadelphia - one of the nation's oldest and a National Historic Landmark. There have been extensive studies of these homes, their owners, and the area's transformation over its nearly 300 years of existence, shedding light on a very diverse working class community."  This is exciting new for the Alley!  Check out the Blog of the Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Office for more details about other approved markers for 2014!