A glimpse into the past at Friendship Hill
This summer, Friendship Hill National Historic Site in Springhill Township is offering visitors a glimpse of domestic life in Albert Gallatin’s time. The National Park Service yesterday kicked off the first of its Historic Crafts Saturdays, which are scheduled to take place every other Saturday afternoon through August. They will feature such crafts as needlework, basket making, spinning, doll making and cooking.
“The idea is to develop the volunteer program, training them in historic crafts and life ways to bring another facet of interpretation to this park,” said park ranger Kitty Seifert. “Not everybody is interested in things that made Albert Gallatin famous – business and politics. So we’re looking for ways to interest those folks, and what better way than to look at the lifestyles of Gallatin, his family and local community.”
“A Lady’s Fine Touch” was the name of the first program, which featured fine needlework.
Rain drove volunteers Kris Schiffbauer of Masontown and Kathy Pieszak of Mount Pleasant inside the house, stationing themselves near the parlor. Debbie Witt, also of Mount Pleasant, volunteered at the desk in the visitor’s center as guests, including the Swiss American Society of Pittsburgh, made their way through the estate. Witt would later join the women in performing needlework.
“I’ve been doing this for years,” said Pieszak, who was embroidering a white tablecloth with blue and purple flowers and butterflies.
“I’ve been doing this since I was a child,” said Schiffbauer, who was working on a pattern of counted cross-stitching. “I did embroidery when I was a child and then started counted cross-stitch when I was a teenager.”
But this is also a learning program for the volunteers, who are also encountering crafts that are new to them, such as making bobbin lace and lucet. Schiffbauer took a break from the cross-stitching Saturday to practice lucet, which uses a small, horn-shaped tool to create a four-sided braided cord.
“The size of the yarn makes it bigger or smaller,” said Pieszak.
Schiffbauer showed off the braid and noted, “I could use this for my apron ties.”
Pieszak said, “If it’s real fine, it could be used for trimming on a blouse.”
While many of these crafts may be new to visitors, they have a long history.
“They were doing lucet in the Viking days and in ancient Egypt, they were doing weaving and spinning. So it was not even new in the 1700s. They’d been doing it for years,” Pieszak said.
The schedule for Historic Crafts Saturdays, which take place from 1 to 4 p.m., are as follows:
n July 26: “Baskets and Flint,” with volunteers demonstrating basket making, flint knapping, fire starting with flint and steel, and possibly a musket firing demonstration.
n July 10: “A Little Bit of Everything” with volunteers choosing to demonstrate their favorite crafts.
n July 24: “Spinning and Needlework” with volunteers demonstrating wool processing and spinning and types of needlework that would be used from products from the spinning wheel.
n Aug. 7: “Kids and Clothing” with volunteers demonstrating period clothing construction and types of stitches used, corn husk and cloth doll making for kids, wool carding and spinning for kids.
n Aug. 21: “What’s Cooking?” with volunteers demonstrating soap making, open fire cooking and dyeing of textiles. Other crafts will also be demonstrated.
In addition, Friendship Hill will be part of the walking series offered by Steps for a Healthier Fayette County at 6:30 p.m. on July 14, with participants having the choice of using a one-mile or a two-mile route.
Attended stations will offer activities along the way.
For more information on Gallatin and Friendship Hill, visit www.nps.gov/frhi.
The park service also noted that FestiFall, a celebration of Gallatin’s life and times with historic crafts, food and music, will take place on Sept. 25 and 26.
The volunteers encourage visitors to stop by the crafts tables to ask questions and try their hands at the crafts.
Schiffbauer said, “Don’t be shy. Come over and see what we’re doing.”
The Historic Craft Saturdays show an appreciation for these domestic arts that were vital to this early American lifestyle.
“Although they are crafts for us, they were chores for them,” said Pieszak.
in which visitors can learn more about Gallatin and Friendship Hill.