Blog

It’s almost open!  The new exhibit building will be open in July 2020! 

Completion of the building has been a multi-year process.  After securing an exhibit of national significance for Erie in 2017, a building was planned in 2018 and built in 2019.  Now the first floor of the building and the major exhibit will be unveiled in 2020.  

The first floor of the new exhibit building will feature two galleries, including the exhibit of national significance and Erie and the American Dream.   Both will open in July. 

Today’s stunning AND delicious #SundayRecipe comes from the Cast Iron Casseroles magazine, published in 2018 by Hoffman Media and was baked in a well-loved family heirloom.

Every Saturday, we will  feature a blog post From the Archives.   This Saturday we feature diary excerpts from Clara Petrat, daughter to German immigrants who moved to Erie.  In her diary, Clara talks about her mom falling ill and having to miss commencement.  Something so many people are experiencing now. 

Join Hagen History Center Museum Educator, Jeff Sherry, as he discusses the standard field uniform of an Union Corporal. 

The writing style of the 1800s is a bit more “flowery” that we tend to use today.  Some of the words used then paint a picture and feel for the community that are still applicable today. On the first page of the 1888 book, words describing Erie are: “Gem City of the Lakes”, Beautifully Located, Its Great Wealth and Prosperity, Fine Natural Advantages, Pure Drinking Water, Efficient Departments of the Municipal Government, Magnitude of its Many Manufacturing Institutions, Many Millions Invested, Thousands of People Daily Employed and Health and Wealth”.  Do we still refer to our city by any of those words today?  Why not? 

Join us for the Making History Gala as the Hagen History Center celebrates the opening of the first floor of its new exhibit building on Thursday, July 9, 2020.  (Note the date has been changed to July 9.)  The gala will unveil this new jewel on West 6^th Street and its place in Erie’s rich history.  

COVID-19 has us all inside the house and looking for new things to do. To help us get through these strange times, every Sunday we will post a recipe from the Carrie T. Watson Garden Club Cookbook.  

To start off this series of recipes, we will start with a classic: banana bread.  

Walter Logan Long lived at 745 Rosedale Avenue in Erie when he joined the US Navy for the first time in 1937.  He would enlist again in May 1942 after the United States had entered World War II.

Serving on PT 111, under the command of Lt. John H. Clagett, Seaman First Class Long and his PT squadron were shipped out to the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific.  Here the PT boats would see some of the heaviest action of their wartime service.

I’ve never really “blogged” before, but as the Curator for the Erie County Historical Society and, due to the current pandemic, unable to work with the physical objects in our collection, I have decided to give this a try. 

As the global health community and the world come together to face the COVID-19 pandemic, I wanted our supporters to know how the Hagen History Center/Erie County Historical Society is responding to these challenging times. Every decision we make is being guided by our long-standing commitment to Erie County, to our donors, to our volunteers, and to our staff.