Heritage center renovatons meant to enhance presentation of coal, coke story
The story’s the same but the way they tell it just became better. The Coal and Coke Heritage Center at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, now is completing a renovation that enhances the way it presents information.
“The renovation gave us a chance to bring the collection together instead of the impromptu way it was displayed before,’ said curator Pamela Seighman.
Dr. Gib Prettyman, associate professor of English and faculty liaison for the heritage center, said, “We should be able to attract a lot more tourists and visitors who will be able to go through a self-guided tour. Also, it looks more professional.’
Seighman thanked Penn State Fayette for the cooperation in making the renovations. Prettyman gave credit to the staff, including Seighman, and oral historian Elaine DeFrank, and Pytlik Design Associates of Pittsburgh, for the new look. He also noted that local residents should find much to attract them to the heritage center.
Prettyman said, “People in this area are likely to see pictures of people they know and information that has a direct connection to their lives.’
The heritage center, located in the lower level of the Penn State Fayette library, tells the story of the Connellsville Coke Region from 1870 to 1970 from the captains of industry to the common workers and their families. The collection includes photographs, newspapers, documents and artifacts, as well as 955 audiotapes, videos and written interviews that make up the oral history component.
Showing the reach of the heritage center, Seighman noted, “Within the last month, locally we received a call from the John Heinz history center in Pittsburgh, which is commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Darr Mine explosion. Nationally, a Hollywood studio requested information for a documentary on the first African-American Heisman trophy winner, Ernie Davis, whose grandfather was a coal miner in the Uniontown area. Davis lived in this area until the age of 12. And, internationally, a museum in Lancastershire, England, e-mailed us for a display on mining.’
The idea for the heritage center stems from the famed Patch/Work Voices Project (composed of oral histories and a book) done by the campus in the 1970s. Through the years, the collection has continued to grow largely through donations from the public. With this renovation, the heritage center’s collection is better organized and presented in three segments: “Coal,” “Coke” and “Community.”
The public will be able to view the changes beginning today with the start of a three-day conference called “Living Together, Working Together: African-American Miners and the Coal Culture of Southwestern Pennsylvania, 1870-1970,’ sponsored by the heritage center and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC). An open house of the heritage center is scheduled to take place immediately following an historical marker dedication at 6:30 p.m. in Swimmer Hall, Williams Building. The heritage center’s regular hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. During the conference, the heritage center also will be open from 1 to 6 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
Funding for the renovations came from a matching grant of $12,000 provided by PHMC that included money for the conference. In addition, the heritage center received a $5,000 grant from the Rivers of Steel state heritage park as well as private donations. Penn State Fayette is contributing the labor while the grants are paying for materials and the new design. The renovations are estimated to cost between $16,000 and $17,000.
Seighman and DeFrank recently gave a tour of the renovations while Andrea and Adam Foor of Pytlik Design Associates were working. The Foors said the idea of the exhibit is “to give a feel for what it was like – the struggle.’
Contacted by phone, Greg Pytlik, who designed the exhibit with his daughter, Andrea, said, “What impressed us and inspired us is the value of what they have there. If it wasn’t for what they’re doing, all this history would be lost in one generation.’
Visitors will immediately grasp the concept of the heritage center as the front now contains life-size photographs in the windows that include a coal miner working in Phillips Mine in the 1920s, a coke yard in Leisenring 1 circa 1910, a young girl in a garden typical of the Connellsville Coke Region about 1910 and people standing in front of a company store number 49 – the exact location uncertain – circa 1912.
Just inside the door is an impressive 16-foot-long panoramic photograph of the people of Lambert during a Fourth of July celebration in 1924. Dr. Evelyn Hovanec, co-director of the heritage center, wrote the words for the panel under the photo that begins “This is an American story…’
“The Coming’ segment begins the exhibition, including artifacts such as a reproduction of a March 1924 ship’s manifest, a trunk and a female mannequin, called Sophie, dressed in early 20th century attire from Slovakia.
“We talk about what was here, who was here and the people who came,’ said Seighman, noting this also includes residents already in the area as well as blacks who immigrated from the South.
Referring to the section called “Coal,’ Seighman noted, “The nine-foot Pittsburgh seam was thought to be the best coking coal in the world.’
The area called “Nature’s Black Diamond’ includes a map of the Connellsville Coke Region as well as an explanation of the four types of mines: drift, the first mines to open as well as the simplest, represented with a photo from Bullskin Township 1890; slope, which slopes downwards at a 45-degree angle (with a photo from York Run 1912); shaft mine, which was the most expensive to develop (with a 1900 photo of Davidson near Connellsville); and surface mine, represented by a 1921 photo of Leckrone.
There also is a model of the Davidson Mine Shaft – a favorite of youths – as well as a picture called the Unknown Miner, photographed during the Depression – a favorite of adults.
“Everyone comes in and says ‘That was my Dad’ or ‘That was my uncle.’ People identify with it,’ said DeFrank.
Other photos show the changes in the coal industry from the early to later years. A display case called “As Dark as a Dungeon’ shows the changes in mine lighting from candles to battery lights. “Safety First’ features an authentic canary cage, used by miners to detect dangerous gas.
“Disasters’ include the 1890 Hill Farm Mine Disaster in Dunbar Township, 1907 Naomi, 1908 Mariana and 1962 Robena, the latter includes a reproduction of a front page from The Morning Herald. A mannequin – known as Stush – explains the significance of what early miners wore and the tools they used.
The “Coke’ section explains the process and changing technology with blueprints and photographs.
The early beehive ovens were replaced in 1916 by a by-product oven that captured the tar, light oil and gases released into the air.
A segment called “The Struggle for Equity and Justice’ includes a powerful photo of 1922 Revere that shows strikers standing in the snow beside the tents they were forced to live in after being thrown out of their company houses.
Another section focuses on women working in the coke yards beside their husbands.
DeFrank said, “They weren’t just wheeling the coke in 1882, they were actually pulling the coke out of the ovens.’
“Community’ is the section that deals with family life and includes a typical 1940s patch house kitchen as well as photographs of company houses, gardens, a company store, baseball, education and religion.
A separate records room now allows people to conduct research away from the flow of the museum visitors. The information includes maps, blueprints, vertical files with articles on different subjects and the oral histories.
Two exhibits also open at the heritage center during this week’s conference, including photography of the Connellsville Coal and Coke Region by Daniel R. Salitrik of Uniontown, and a traveling exhibit featuring the art of Brownsville native Frank L. Melega (1905-97).
For more information, call the heritage center at 724-430-4158 or visit the Web site at www.coalandcokepsu.org.