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The Mystery of The Nine Pointed Star
Chris Sherwood, The Elmira Telegram, www.elmiratelegram.comIn September 2014 our boys and I were walking from the Steele Memorial Library to the car I noticed something on the sidewalk I hadn’t seen...
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When Needle, Thread, and Fabric Meet
by Erin Doane, curatorEmbroidery is described as the handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn but it is so much more than that. It is a creative expression and...
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Stop the Presses! (But Not Really)
by Rachel Dworkin, ArchivistIn his book Democracy in America (1835), French writer Alexis De Tocqueville noted that there were more newspapers in America than any other country in the world. The...
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Mysterious Happenings at the Museum
By Kelli Huggins, Education CoordinatorAs the educator here at the museum, I have the fun responsibility of developing new programs. It can be challenging to come up with new ideas so our all of our...
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Celebrating the Automatic Continuous Clothing Closure (a.k.a. the Zipper)
by Erin Doane, curatorThere are so many little conveniences in life that we take for granted. Do you ever give much thought to the zipper? Just imagine how different your life would be without that...
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It's A Gas
by Rachel Dworkin, ArchivistEveryone knows that war is serious business, but so, in its own way, is humor. There are a number of competing theories about humor, its mechanisms, and its functions....
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The Cereal Beverage and “High-Powered Beer” Scandal
By Kelli Huggins, Education CoordinatorWhen 18th Amendment and national Prohibition went into effect in 1920 (local prohibition went into effect in Elmira in 1918), brewers scrambled to find new ways...
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I've Been Everywhere - Parks Edition
by Erin Doane, CuratorMosaic of the Parks and Recreation exhibit logomade from photosof Chemung County Parks. Created using AndreaMosaic This summer I took on the challenge of visiting every...
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Puttin’ on the Ritz
by Rachel Dworkin, archivistMost people have a pretty good idea of what a 1920s-era flapper looked like, but do you know how a fashionable young man of the period would have looked? Using examples...
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George "Cyclone" Williams: Elmira's Sensational Battler
By Kelli Huggins, Education CoordinatorGeorge “Cyclone” Williams was a local African-American boxer during the 1910s and 1920s, who billed himself as "Elmira's Sensational Battler." He earned the...
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The Amusing Instructor
by Erin Doane, curatorBoard games have been around since the earliest days of human civilization. By the late 19th century, families in the United States were seeing an increase in their leisure time...
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Greetings From the War
Greetings From the Warby Rachel Dworkin, archivistRight after college I worked in a greeting card store. We liked to claim that we had cards for every occasion, but we really didn’t. Not only didn’t...
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Serious Thoughts on a Ridiculous Photograph
By Kelli Huggins, Education CoordinatorI think that the photograph above is one of the most remarkable pieces in our collection. Yes, I’m serious. While on the surface this photo is a little crass,...
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People Actually Do That?
by Erin Doane, curatorSomeone once asked me what I did as a curator. I gave the short answer that I create exhibits in a history museum. The person looked at me incredulously and said, “I didn’t know...
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The Forgotten War
by Rachel Dworkin, archivist During our Ghost Walk trivia contest I asked the contestants which war the Hiker Monument in Wisner Park was dedicated to. The answer is the Spanish-American...
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The Fascinating History of Garbage in Chemung County
By Kelli Huggins, Education CoordinatorWhile doing research for our new exhibit “Clean,” to my surprise, I became very invested in learning about the history of garbage and sewage disposal in the...
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Air Raids and Blackouts: Civilian Defense During WWII
by Erin Doane, curatorDuring the Second World War, Americans feared the threat of aerial attacks. While it was technically possible for the German or Japanese militaries to launch strategic bombing...
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Light One Candle
by Rachel Dworkin, archivist Today is the first day of Chanukah. We Jews like to joke that all of our holidays are about survival in the face of religious oppression and food, and Chanukah...
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Elmira’s Most Eligible Bachelors (1888 Edition)
By Kelli Huggins, Education CoordinatorWhen I was doing research for “Seduction” our most recent installment of our History They Didn’t Teach You in School series, I found the most delightful Elmira...
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The Sun Triangle
by Erin Doane, curatorToday marks the winter solstice: the shortest day and longest night of the year. There will only be about 9 hours of daylight today but from this point on, days will be getting...
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