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Next Meeting:

An Aerial Retrospective of the Upper Main Line – Roger Thorne and Mike Bertrtam

Special Events:

Commemoration of the Tredyffrin-Easttown “School Segregation Fight” of 1932-34

Recent Meetings:

Harriton House: Lecture and Guided Tour – Bruce Gill

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 next meeting on Sunday, September 19, 2010 at 2:00 pm, the featured presentation will be:

An Aerial Retrospective of the Upper Main Line

by Roger Thorne and Mike Bertrtam
Berwyn, 2009

Berwyn, 1924

In October 2008 the Society held a well-attended meeting entitled A Birds-Eye View of Tredyffrin and Easttown: Photographs from the Dallin Aerial Survey Company, 1924-1941. Presenters Mike Bertram and Roger Thorne, along with members of the audience, were able to relate many stories and little-known facts from our community through the use of these amazing high-resolution images from the late Twenties, obtained by the Society from the Hagley Museum in Delaware.

During the fall of 2009, Society president and photographer Roger Thorne and pilot Dave Nelson completed a series of “Then & Now” photo shoots from Dave’s vintage Piper J-3 Cub, recreating the height and perspective of photographs taken 70 or more years ago, and the results show how time and progress has changed the landscape of the Upper Main Line, in some cases quite dramatically.

This is a “must-attend” meeting for all local history buffs, and lovers of our beautiful upper Main Line.

This presentation will be held at the at the Easttown Library and Information Center in Berwyn, PA starting at 2 pm.

 

Special Events

Events Sponsored by Other Organizations
 

Saturday, May 8, at 1:00 pm
Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church
380 North Fairfield Road, Devon, PA 19333

Commemoration of the Tredyffrin-Easttown “School Segregation Fight” of 1932-34
 

In March 1932, the separate school boards of Tredyffrin and Easttown townships made a joint decision to segregate the township s elementary schools beginning the following September. The African-American families in the community, some of whom had fled the deep South to leave behind that overt discrimination, were almost unanimous in their defiance of the school board s resolution.

A formidable attorney, Raymond Pace Alexander (who later became the first African-American judge in Philadelphia), represented the parents in a two-year battle that was part legal, part political, and totally contentious. Most black elementary school-age children were held out of classes by their parents for almost two years rather than submit to attending segregated schools. As a result, parents were fined or arrested, and the County Court, the Pennsylvania Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Attorney General of Pennsylvania were deeply involved. Not until May of 1934, however, did the school boards reverse their decision, and the “School Fight” to impose school segregation was at last ended.

Historic Mt. Zion AME Church in Devon was the house of worship for many of the local black families, and was used throughout the “School Fight” for gatherings of public support and as a site, along with the church s parsonage, where home schooling was provided to its young children.

On Saturday, Mt. Zion AME Church held a very special commemoration of this little-known two-year ordeal. In attendance were the surviving students, the distinguished daughter of Judge Alexander, those who provided historical perspective, Pennsylvania State Senator Andrew E. Dinniman, and representatives of the Chester County Court, Tredyffrin-Easttown School District, and the NAACP.

The Master of Ceremonies was Vernon Odom of 6ABC News. Featured speakers included Dr. Rae Alexander-Minter, daughter of the Hon. Raymond Pace Alexander and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander, Ph.D., “School Fight” attorneys for the families. Dr. Alexander-Minter is vice president for governmental and public affairs at Metropolitan College of New York. Society president Roger D. Thorne also spoke about his research and article on the “School Fight’, published in the Winter 2005 issue of our History Quarterly and entitled “Segregation On The Upper Main Line: The ‘School Fight’ of 1932-34”. This article is available here as a PDF file , and you are strongly encouraged to read it to refresh your understanding of the events.

The community was invited to attend, and a number of our members and lovers of our local history supported this significant commemoration with their attendance. There was be a light lunch after the program.

The Philadelphia Inquirer published a story about the event on the front page of the Saturday May 8th edition of the newspaper. This article, entitled “Remembering a Chesco school segregation fight” can be viewed online.

 
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Our Most Recent Meeting

At the public meeting on Saturday, June 19, 2010, the featured presentation was:

 

Harriton House: Lecture and Guided Tour

by Bruce Gill
 
Harriton House

This event, co-sponsored with the Radnor Historical Society, includes a guided tour of Harriton House, home of Charles Thomson, first and only secretary of the Continental and Confederation Congresses. The history of the house and estate covers more than 300 years beginning with the settlement of “Meirion” by Welsh Quakers.

Bruce Gill, Curator of Harriton House, will lecture about its history and provide guided tours of the house and grounds. Wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served following the lecture for those waiting to tour and returning from a tour.

This presentation will be held from 4:00 to 6:00 pm at Harriton House located at 500 Harriton Road, Bryn Mawr, PA.

For more information on this program, please click here.

 
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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.

 
Paoli, Pennsylvania, looking Northwest, 1926 (Courtesy of Hagley Museum)
 

State Support for the Society

At the September 2009 meeting, we were pleased to welcome State Senator Andy Dinniman and former State Representative Carole Rubley to recognize them for their valuable assistance in helping the Society to receive two DCED grants that have supported our Digitization Project.

Senator Dinniman presented us with a check for a new DCNR grant that will support several mew projects that are now underway.

Roger Thorne with Andy Dinniman

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.
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Past Meetings
 

Page last updated: 2010-08-23 at 14:15 EDT
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