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Next Meeting:

The Battle of the Clouds – Tom McGuire

Recent Meetings:

Past, Present and Future of the Jenkins Arboretum – Harold E. Sweetman, Ph.D.

A Birds-Eye View of Tredyffrin and Easttown: Photographs from the Dallin Aerial Survey Company, 1924 - 1941 – Roger Thorne and Mike Bertram

Past Meetings

Our Next Meeting

At our first meeting of the fall term, on Sunday, September 19, 2009 at 2:00 pm, the featured presentation will be:

The Battle of the Clouds

by Professor Tom McGuire

Mr. McGuire is a well-known teacher, local historian, author, and expert on the Revolutionary War battles that occurred in the the Delaware Valley during the summer and fall of 1777. His topic for this presentation will be “The Battle of the Clouds” – an fascinating and little-known story about a major battle that was called off by an "Act of God." Come and find out what happened next, and its impact on the Valley Campaign.

Mr. McGuire has written a two-volume set entitled The Philadelphia Campaign comprising Volume One: Brandywine and the Fall of Philadelphia and Volume Two: Germantown and the Roads to Valley Forge, as well as his earlier book Battle of Paoli. Each of these books will be available for sale at the meeting, and the author will be glad to sign them for the purchaser. (The books are also available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other book sellers).

This presentation will be held on Sunday September 19, 2009 at 2:00 pm at the Easttown Library and Information Center in Berwyn, PA.

Visitors are cordially invited to public Society meetings and events, and there is no admission fee.

Upcoming Meetings

Our Most Recent Meeting

At the public meeting on June 14, 2009, the featured presentation was:

Attendees learned about the Past, Present and Future of the Jenkins Arboretum. The talk by Executive Director Harold Sweetman covered:

• The history of the Arboretum
• The background of the Jenkins and Brownings who have contributed land
• Why they chose an arboretum
• What makes this arboretum special for our area
• How the Jenkins Arboretum won an award for the historic preservation of one of the properties on the site
• And how the new Educational Center will expand educational programs for the community in the years ahead

The meeting was be held in the new Education Center at The Jenkins Arboretum, 631 Berwyn Baptist Road, Devon, PA.

For more information click here.

A Very Popular Recent Meeting

At the public meeting on October 19, 2008 and again on November 16, 2008, the featured presentation was:

A Birds-Eye View of Tredyffrin and Easttown: Photographs from the Dallin Aerial Survey Company, 1924 - 1941

by Roger Thorne and Mike Bertram

We had a great turnout for this this special presentation of superb aerial photographs recently acquired by the Society from the Hagley Museum. Roger and Mike explored in great detail a selection of photos of Paoli, the village of Cedar Hollow, the Great Valley, and Valley Forge State Park.

For more information on this program, please click here.

2006 Kirkner Essay Contest Awards

At the October 2006 meeting, prizes and commemorative plaques were awarded to the four winners of the The 2006 Mildred Kirkner Memorial Essay Contest. For more information, click here.

• June 2009 Past, Present and Future of the Jenkins Arboretum by Dr. Harold E. Sweetman
• April 2009 The Many Roles of Wives in the 18th Century by Dr. Clarissa F. Dillon
• March 2009 The Forgotten Statesman: Philander Knox and the Politics of the early 1900s by Mike Bertram
• February 2009 Colonial Church Architecture by Seth Hinshaw
• November 2008 A Centennial History of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish by Celia Paolantonio and Christine Gaeto
• October 2008 A Birds-Eye View of Tredyffrin and Easttown: Photographs from the Dallin Aerial Survey Company, 1924 - 1941 by Roger Thorne and Mike Bertram
• September 2008 Twenty Years of Active Politics on the Upper Main Line: Experiences, Observations and Trends by Earl Baker
• June 2008 Love Letters from Valley Forge by Dr. Nancy Loane
• May 2008 Jenkins Arboretum: The Blossoming of a Dream and Digging into the Future by Dr. Harold E. Sweetman
• April 2008 From Birth to Breeching: Childhood in Colonial Pennsylvania by Dr. Clarissa Dillon
• March 2008 The Harlan Family: From Chester County to the Settlement of California by Bruce Mowday
• February 2008 Washington's Great Challenge: Arming the Continental Army in 1777 by Scott Houting
• November 2007 The Old Roads of Tredyffrin by Michael Bertram
• October 2007 Tredyffrin Township ...The First Three Hundred Years by Deborah Arnold
• September 2007 We Scrapples by Craig TenBroeck
• May 2007 The Way We Were: Oral Histories from Our Community
• April 2007 A Selection of Images from Northern Chester County by Vincent Martino Jr.
• March 2007 King of Prussia – Then and Now by J. Michael Morrison
• February 2007 The Ghosts of Duffy's Cut by Dr. William Watson and John H. Ahtes
• January 2007 The Ryan Connection by Roger Thorne
• November 2006 The Blue Ball Inn of Tredyffrin Township by Caroline Hager
• October 2006 Sand, Railways, & Movies by Michael Bertram
• September 2006 Downingtown to Bridgeport by Mr. James Brazel
• June 2006 A Walk Through Historic Port Kennedy Led by J. B. Post
• May 2006 Present But Not Accounted For by Dr. Nancy Loane