Commission News
This month we have the our spring Open House and Old York Road Garden Club plant sale, and our seasonal volunteer work days in our public gardens. Also, remember to turn out, in person, for our May presentation on May 12th.
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Spring Open House and Plant Sale
Mark your calendars for April 24th. From 1-4, the Richard Wall House will host an open house event along with our partners, the Old York Road Garden Club, who will host a plant sale.
The Old York Road Garden Club is once again pleased to participate in the Richard Wall House activities. We have maintained the Herb Garden since 1993. This year we will have herbs, flowers and containers for sale during the Open House event to help with the expense of maintaining the garden. We will also be there to answer any questions you might have about the herbs. Please stop by; we will be happy to greet all the visitors to this Wall House event.
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Community Gardening Days
Join the friends of the Wall House and the Old York Road Gardening Club on April 9th (10th is the rain date) at 10:00 AM as we prepare our public gardens for the new year. Bring work gloves and tools and help contribute to the beauty of our community.
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Historical Commission Upcoming Lecture
Hitherto Invincible: How Three Generations of Barkers Helped Build America
When: Thursday, May 12th, at 7:30 PM
Where: Curtis Hall, 1250 Church Road, Wyncote, PA
Join Historical Commission Chair and history author Tom Wieckowski for a discussion of his latest book on three generations of the Barker family of Chelten Hills. Family luminaries include Jacob, largest ship owner in the United States at the beginning of the 19th century and the financier of the War of 1812; Abraham, president of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, co-founder of the Union League, and an ardent Abolitionist; Anna, a central figure in the Transcendentalist movement and wife of the co-founder of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Wharton, US presidential candidate and international banker honored with knighthood by Czar Alexander in 1879 for constructing four warships at the Cramp shipyard in Philadelphia for the Russian navy. Abraham was a founder of Camp William Penn and Wharton served as an officer at the camp during his summer vacation from the University of Pennsylvania in 1863.
Copies of the book will be for sale at the book signing after the presentation.
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A Moment in History: Inclement Weather
Public Spirit, March 17, 1888
Until Wednesday, this borough was completely cut off from the outside world and then communication was only opened in a desultory manner. The town rubbed its eyes on Monday morning when it was discovered that it was covered with a white mantle of ever-increasing thickness, while the wind blew a howling gale. The first train down on the North East succeeded in getting through to the city, after considerable trouble. After that the track was closed. The second train down was caught in the drifts below Hillside Station and at this writing is still there. The passengers and trainmen to the number of twenty seven adjourned to the farmhouse of Joseph Bradfield who hospitably placed his all at their disposal. Night came and they slept as best they could. The second and third and fourth day found some of them still there. In the meantime, Mr. Bradfield slaughtered a bullock in order that they might be fed.
Editor's Note: The Inquirer recently had a brief article in its Sunday edition about a snow storm last month, noting that it fell on the anniversary of the great blizzard of 1888. The renowned historian Horace Mather Lippincott wrote about the blizzard in his remembrance of Chelten HIlls in the Jenkinstown Lyceum of 1938. He wrote:
During the blizzard of ’88, we did not get out of the door-yard for a week. but like every other place in the country then, we were self-contained with horses, a cow, chickens, a root cellar for potatoes, parsnips, turnips, and beets, and a smoke house for dried beef and pork.
His home at the time, referred to in the statement, was the old Thomas Mather estate on the northwest corner of Washington Lane and Church Road where the nursing home is today.
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Upcoming Historical Commission Meeting
The next meeting of the Cheltenham Township Historical Commission will be April 14th at 7:30 PM IN PERSON at the Richard Wall Carriage House (1 Wall Park Drive, in Elkins Park). Historical Commission Meetings are open to the public. Here is the agenda.
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Northeast Philadelphia History Network
Biddle, Jackson, and a Nation in Turmoil: The Infamous Bank War, by Cordelia Frances Biddle
Wednesday, April 6, 7:00 p.m.
The epic 1830s battle between financier Nicholas Biddle and US president Andrew Jackson over the fate of the Philadelphia-based Second Bank of the United States comes to vivid life in author Cordelia Frances Biddle’s compelling biography of political intrigue, "Biddle, Jackson, and a Nation in Turmoil: The Infamous Bank War." An independent historian and author with a passion for history, Cordelia Frances Biddle has written a number of historical fiction and nonfiction books, the latter including Saint Katharine: The Life of Katharine Drexel.
Please join us to hear the story of this fascinating story.
All NEPHN meetings are free and open to all. No pre-registration is required.
A link for this NEPHN zoom presentation will be created closer to the date and time of the meeting as a security measure in an effort to reduce potential interruption. Contact nephillyhistory@gmail.com for the link.
SAVE THE DATE: Northeast Philadelphia History Fair
Saturday, April 30, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm: Friends of Northeast Philadelphian History present the Northeast Philadelphia History Fair at Cannstatter Volkfest Verein, 9130 Academy Rd, Phila 19114.
- Free Admission, All Are Welcome
- Historic Displays, Presentations on Local History
- Books, Prints, Photographs, and Other Historical Items Available
Facebook ~ 215-370-4626 ~ nephillyhistory@gmail.com
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Old York Road Historical Society
The Sinking of the Titanic
Speaker: Robert Hamilton
Wednesday, April 13, 7:30 p.m.
Robert Hamilton will review the tragic tale of the Titanic from the origin of its drawings by the builder to its demise at the bottom of the Atlantic in April of 1912 in his presentation, The Sinking of the Titanic. It is a story of a disaster with multiple causes and numerous explanations. The presentation will also examine the core elements of the different reasons for the collision with an iceberg on a cold, clear night in the Atlantic Ocean. Hamilton is a Professor Emeritus of Strategic Management at Temple University and the grandson of a Titanic survivor.
Lectures are FREE and open to the public.
Abington Friends Meeting, The John Barnes Room
520 Meetinghouse Road, Jenkintown
Masks ARE required to attend and there will be NO refreshments following the lectures.
The lecture series is sponsored by a grant from the Jenkintown Lyceum and all programs are offered free of charge. For more information please call the Old York Road Historical Society at 215–886–8590.
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The General Meade Society of Philadelphia
History Colloquium
General George G. Meade and the Battle of Gettysburg and Campaign
When: Sunday, April 3rd, at 1:00-2:30 PM
Where: Zoom
A Discussion & Commentary – Moderator: Dr. Andy Waskie, President of the General Meade Society of Philadelphia and featuring renowned and distinguished Historians and Authors:
Prof. Jennifer Murray, Oklahoma State University
In addition to delivering hundreds of Civil War battlefield tours, she has led World War I and World War II study abroad trips to Europe. Murray’s most recent publication is On A Great Battlefield: The Making, Management, and Memory of Gettysburg National Military Park, 1933-2013, published by the University of Tennessee Press in 2014.
Kent Masterson Brown, Esq.
After receiving his juris doctor degree in 1974 from Washington and Lee University School of Law, he has practiced constitutional and administrative law for forty-seven years in Lexington, Kentucky, and for twenty-six years, as counsel to Webster, Chamberlain & Bean in Washington, DC.
To register for the Zoom program and receive the link to the Zoom program, please send a request to Herb Kaufman at shkaufman1865@gmail.com
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A Publication of the Cheltenham Township Historical Commission
The spring 2022 publication of The Wall Paper is now available - click here. Back issues of The Wall Paper are available on the Cheltenham Township website. The edition features:
- Vintage Fireplace Found
- Chairman's Chatter
- Homewood: A Late Gilded Age Tale
- How Was Custis Woods Named?
- Upcoming Events
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April 24th. From 1-4, the Richard Wall House will host an open house event along with our partners, the Old York Road Garden Club, who will host a plant sale.
The Richard Wall House is open on the fourth Sunday of every month and upon request. To arrange for a tour, either private or for a group, either call the Township at 215-887-1000, ext. 227 during business hours, or send an email to wallhouse@cheltenham-township.org.
Learn more about the Wall House on the Cheltenham Township website.
Friends of the Wall House
Be a Friend of the Wall House and help preserve the rich history of Cheltenham Township. The suggested donation levels are:
- Benefactor: $100
- Sponsor: $50
- Patron: $20
Jack Washington Memorial Fund
In honor of the late Jack Washington, longtime Historical Commission member and chair, the Historical Commission created the Jack Washington Gallery in the Richard Wall House. This gallery serves as a starting point for the local history of Cheltenham Township. We are accepting donations to help pay for the new exhibits.
Send Donations
Mail a piece of paper with your name, address, email address, and "Friend of the Wall House" or "Jack Washington Fund" written on it, along with your check made payable to "Cheltenham Township Historical Commission" to:
Cheltenham Township Historical Commission
c/o Cheltenham Township
8230 Old York Road
Elkins Park, PA 19027-1589
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