Friends of Fort Necessity lecture series showcases ‘Historic Fashion’
Submitted photo
Sarah Buffington, curator, Old Economy Village in Beaver County, is presenter for the second installment in the Friends of Fort Necessity’s 2018 lecture series with an “Historic Fashion Show & Discussion’’ at 3:30 p.m. July 14 in the Visitors Center at Fort Necessity National Battlefield, located along Route 40 in Farmington.
What did people in the 18th and 19th centuries wear? Find out when Sarah Buffington, curator, Old Economy Village in Beaver County, presents the second installment in the Friends of Fort Necessitys’ 2018 lecture series with an “Historic Fashion Show & Discussion’’ at 3:30 p.m. July 14 in the Visitors Center at Fort Necessity National Battlefield, located along Route 40 in Farmington.
Submitted photo
What did people in the 18th and 19th centuries wear?
The Friends of Fort Necessity offer a look with an “Historic Fashion Show & Discussion” at 3:30 p.m. July 14 in the Visitors Center at Fort Necessity National Battlefield, located along Route 40 in Farmington.
Sarah Buffington, curator from Old Economy Village in Beaver County, is presenter for this second installment in the Friends’ 2018 lecture series.
A press release explains Buffington holds a degree in apparel design and textiles with an historic emphasis from Michigan State University. Her participation in multiple eras of re-enacting has led her through extensive research into historic clothing.
Buffington has been curator since 2002 at Old Economy Village, a site on the Pennsylvania Trails of History. She previously worked at the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village and the Michigan State University Museum.
Buffington’s presentation will include antiques and high-quality reproductions. She will discuss the evolution of both clothing and underclothing of this period.
“I think there’s a fascination with the clothes they wore – all the layers and how they moved,” said Debbie Miller, of Carmichaels, president of the friends group.
Her daughter, Hilary Miller, of Canonsburg, is a seasonal ranger at both Fort Necessity and Friendship Hill National Historic Site in Springhill Township. Hilary has been portraying an 1840s stagecoach passenger on the National Road from 1 to 4 p.m. most Sundays at Mount Washington Tavern, part of Fort Necessity National Battlefield.
“People do ask about my clothing — they ask if I’m hot. Usually that’s the icebreaker that allows me to delve into the details of what women would be wearing,” said Hilary.
On those Sunday afternoons, Hilary can be found in the tavern, greeting visitors and answering questions about travel on the National Road.
“I also have a carpetbag and people take a look at what stagecoach passengers may have carried with them in the 1840s,” said Hilary. “I make a lot of comparisons between travel now and then. Think about what you might carry on vacation and what they carried back then. I talk about what it was like to be a passenger and what life was like for women.”
The National Road is also emphasized in the Friends’ August 11 lecture, also at 3:30 p.m. at the Fort Necessity Visitors Center.
Christine Buckelew, president of the Fayette County Historical Society, will give a talk titled “Gate III on the National Road; a Tollhouse, a Home, and a Miracle It’s Still Standing.”
A press release explains, “Gate III, popularly known as Searight’s Tollhouse, was built in the 1830s as control of the National Road was passed from the U.S. government to the individual states through which the road ran. Interestingly, the tollhouse was in operation for less than 20 years.”
Searights Tollhouse and Petersburg Tolhouse in Addison are the only two remaining tollhouses along the National Road in Pennsylvania.
The press release noted, “Buckelew’s presentation will explore the story of the life and uses of the tollhouse, revealing how this historic structure managed to survive and contemplating its future.”
The Fayette County Historical Society operates both Searight’s Tollhouse and the Abel Colley Tavern and Museum, located about a mile apart on Route 40 in Menallen Township, west of Uniontown.
Buckelew has been a tour guide at the tollhouse for the past 10 years. Before becoming active in the historical society, she was an aide to U.S. Rep. Frank Mascar, D-Charleroi. Currently serving on the Pennsylvania Historic Museum Commission’s historic marker review panel, Buckelew is a past recipient of the Jefferson Award for volunteerism. She is also involved in the family business, Beeson Hill Antiques.
“2018 marks the 200th anniversary of the opening of the National Road between Cumberland and Wheeling so we do have a lot of programming that emphasizes the National Road — the park service and the Friends,” noted Hilary.
She added the National Park Service at Fort Necessity and Friendship Hill in partnership with the National Road Heritage Corridor and Washington and Jefferson College are planning a symposium on the legacy of the National Road on Oct. 27 at the college, located in Washington.
Fort Necessity’s Facebook page reports, “The keynote presentation will be given by Dr. John Lauritz Larson, author of ‘Internal Improvement: National Public Works and the Promise of Popular Government in the Early United States’ and ‘The Market Revolution in America.’ The symposium will also feature a special presentation by Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, President Thomas Jefferson, and President James Madison, portrayed by Ronald Duquette, Tom Pitz, and Kyle Jenks, respectively.”
The Facebook page adds, “More information, such as the current Call for Proposals for symposium presentations, can be found at https://www.nps.gov/frhi/nrbs.htm. Program and registration information will be made available at a later date.”
Meanwhile, the Friends group is bringing back Rob Velella, who portrays 19th-century author Edgar Allen Poe, known for his tales of horror and the macabre, on Sept. 29, in the Fort Necessity Visitors Center. This will be a ticketed event. Further details will be announced later.
More information on the Friends of Fort Necessity can be found on their Facebook page. More information on Fort Necessity can be found at www.nps.gov/fone or by calling 724-329-5512.