The Centre County Library & Historical Museum, corner of Allegheny and
Howard Sts., invites everyone to stop by and see new displays of some of the
museum's old things, starting the weekend of the Bellefonte Arts & Crafts
Fair.
The museum is open for tours during its regular hours, Monday-Friday,
10-5, and Saturday, 10-4.
Two of the four display rooms, on the second floor of the historic Miles-Humes
house, have been redone. One of them is now the Textile Room,
displaying woven and quilted and other fabric items from Centre County,
including an array of wool coverlets made by Emmanuel and William Ettinger
and Frederick Weaver of Aaronsburg in the early to mid-1800's.
The textile display includes two recent acquisitions: a gift of two
Ettinger coverlets in pristine condition from Ellen Burd of Kansas City. Ms.
Burd received the coverlets through her family, the Marshalls of Buffalo
Run, and wanted to return them to the county from which they came for
safekeeping and the enjoyment of museum visitors.
The second renovated display room holds an exhibit of Civil War
artifacts from the museum's permanent collections, including a variety of
items from soldier Simon Harper of Penn's Valley. Harper was a musician in
the Union Army and his drum and various other items are displayed, including
two intricately fashioned wooden picture frames that Harper made while he
was in a soldiers' rest camp. The frames contain photographs of Harper and
his wife.
Tours of the Centre County Library & Historical Museum are free at any
time, and visitors may also want to look at the Pennsylvania Room on the
first floor of Miles-Humes house, where local and state history materials
are kept. The Pa. Room's Centre County family history research collection
attracts genealogists from all over the county.
