Blog

From January through April, the students in Penn State Behrend’s Marketing 444 classes learned about the Hagen History Center. Their task was to prepare marketing plans to encourage those under the age of 30 to visit the museum and foster an interest in history.

Every Saturday, we feature a blog post From the Archives.   Clara Petrat, daughter to German immigrants who moved to Erie, wrote on a brown bag diary.  This week we feature excerpts from her diary about Clara's summer including club meetings, hearing a band at Waldameer, fireworks and watermelon. 

Visit Lock #10 in Sharpsville, Pennsylvania, with Museum Educator, Jeff Sherry.

"During 2018 and 2019, I spent a considerable portion of my time with the ECHS learning about the role of local residents in World War I. From their pre- and post-conflict personal histories to their active roles as both military members and non-military support personnel during World War I, I delved into all aspects of the lives of these individuals."

Read more about Bob's volunteering experience below!

The topic of roads and streets has been on my mind lately regarding “Happiness for All its Residents”. I like the street that I live on very much and I love West 6^th Street where the Historical Society is located, which I walk to almost every day for exercise.  The 1888 book has a nice section on Erie Streets, but I am finding that there is so much more to learn and appreciate about what so many of us take for granted.  Until we hit a pothole that is!  A little historical background is necessary before we hit the Erie Streets.

Take a tour of the beautifully restored Wood-Morrison Home.

Clara Petrat’s diary is shown here exactly as she wrote it in her 1900 brown bag diary.

Visit John Brown Tannery with Museum Educator, Jeff Sherry.

There is no doubt the closing of the world’s markets during 2020 will have a devastating impact on the world’s economies. Looking back to the Great Depression and reading the analyses of what went wrong does not provide a clear, unequivocal answer to what caused the economic crisis that began with the fall of the stock market on Oct. 24, 1929.

Erie County has had its share of famous personalities over the years.  Bob Hope had his first marriage here and President Taft visited his friend Charles Strong here (in what is Gannon’s Old Main), just to name a few.  So, I do believe our fair corner of the Commonwealth has provided happiness for many a visitor.  One of the earliest visitors here was General Lafayette, American Revolutionary War hero.   In this blog, I want to write about not only his visit as explained in the 1888 book, but a little of what the curatorial department at the Historical Society does, and some of the objects we have in the collection related to this exciting time.