Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives


Source: April 1993 Volume 31 Number 2, Pages 83–84


Notes and Comments

Page 83

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Esherick Museum Marks 20th Anniversary

In September 1992 the Wharton Esherick Museum, atop Diamond Rock Hill, celebrated its 20th anniversary. As Rob Leonard, the director of the museum, noted in his annual report, "The farsighted family, friends, and admirers of Wharton Esherick created an organization a year after his death, and the studio was opened to the public the following year. Since that time more than 55,000 people have walked through this remarkable place and marvelled at Esherick's life, works and genius."

During 1992 more than 4000 people toured the studio, including visitors from almost all 50 states of the United States and from 20 foreign countries, with 487 tours, an all-time record, conducted through the museum. Incidentally, one of our club members, Dave Wilson, who conducted 27 of the tours, was recognized in December for his "exceptional service" as a docent.

A special exhibit at the museum this year, scheduled to run through October, will re-create the "Pennsylvania Hill House", a feature of the 1940 New York World's Fair, though not exactly in the same arrangement. It was the first exhibit of Esherick's work to reach a national audience.

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Steeple Erected at St. Monica's Church

Halfway between the groundbreaking ceremonies and the scheduled dedication of the new church building, members of St. Monica parish celebrated the raising of the new church steeple.

Page 84

The 35-foot copper steeple and cross was built in Kentucky, and on March 5th raised to the top of to 40-foot church tower as members of the parish and officials of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia looked on.

The original church, built between 1889 and 1893 on what was then Church Avenue [now Main Avenue] in Berwyn, was destroyed by fire on May 22, 1991. Construction of the new church building and parish center began last September after a $1.5 million fund drive.

Dedication of the new structure is scheduled for September 12th of this year.

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"River of Gold" Exhibit to Visit Eight Cities

The University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology of the University of Pennsylvania has announced that its "River of Gold" exhibit of pre-Columbian treasures, which first opened in 1988, will again be shown at the museum until October 18th, after which it will begin an eight-city tour that will include San Francisco, Utica, Charlotte, Baltimore, Atlanta, Santa Ana, and Tulsa.

The exhibit presents over 100 pieces of pre-Columbian gold work that were excavated in 1940 in an ancient cemetery site in Sitio Conte in Panama by Museum archaeologists under the direction of the late Dr. J. Alden Mason, a resident of Berwyn. For more information on the exhibit, see "A Legacy of John Alden Mason" in the July 1988 issue of the Quarterly [Vol. XXVI, No. 3] and "The Archaeological Expedition to Panama" in the July and October 1940 issues [Vol. Ill, Nos. 3 and 4].

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Area to Have New Area Code

Bell of Pennsylvania has announced that as of January 1994 the area code for Tredyffrin and Easttown will be 610, rather than 215. The change is being made, it was reported, because "the supply of seven-digit telephone numbers in the 215 Area Code is running low" as a result of "heavy customer demand for numbers to use with products and services such as fax machines, cellular telephones, pagers, computers, and IdentaRing".

The new area code will affect some 280 exchanges, including those of all customers living in Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Berks, and Northampton counties as well as some of those living in Montgomery, Berks. Lancaster, Monroe, and Carbon counties.

 
 

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