Programs and Events

September 2023

Thursday, September 21, 2023

Geography, Geology, and Genius: Coal and Canals in Pennsylvania

Eastern Pennsylvania became the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution in the mid-19th
century because of a unique combination of geography, geology and human genius. It began with the
discovery of the world’s largest deposit of anthracite coal in the mountains of northeast Pennsylvania in
the late 18th century, and the construction of the canals that provided efficient, cost-effective delivery of
it to Philadelphia and other coastal cities during the 1820s and 1830s. In 1840, the first successful
smelting of iron with anthracite took place along the Lehigh Navigation in a furnace owned by the Lehigh
Coal & Navigation Company. Within twenty years, eastern Pennsylvania was the largest producer of iron
in the US, and this triggered the rapid development of railroads and foundries in Pennsylvania and
beyond. This period of dramatic and rapid innovations in transportation and industry was conceived and
carried out by men, American and foreign-born, endowed with creative genius and indomitable
persistence. Their stories are told in this lecture through historic images and photographs, maps, and
their own words.

• TIME: 7 p.m. ET
• COST: FREE
• LOCATION: Zoom Event
• The recording will be available to GSP members until Nov. 20, 2023.

Martha Capwell Fox is the Historian for the National Canal Museum and the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor. She is the author of the industrial history of the D&L Corridor, Geography, Geology, and Genius:  How Coal and Canals Ignited the American Industrial Revolution. Previously, Martha presented three papers at Canal History and Technology Symposia: on the silk industry in the D&L Corridor, a biographical sketch of 19^th century entrepreneur Jose de Navarro, and an industrial history of Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, the site of the first commercially successful anthracite iron furnace. She was a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Speaker from 2004 to 2006.  

A graduate of American University with a dual degree in international relations and U.S. history, Martha worked in magazine publishing at National Geographic, and as a researcher and editor at Rodale, Inc.  She has published three books on the histories of Catasauqua, Whitehall and Coplay, and co-authored one on the cement industry in the Lehigh Valley, as well as three young adult histories of swimming, auto racing, and the Vatican.  

---

October 2023

Friday, October 13, 2023

GSP Member Tour: G.A.R. Civil War Museum and Archive

• In-person museum tour and archive research
• TIME: 10 a.m. Researchers may stay until 4 p.m.
• COST: Free and exclusive for GSP members
• LOCATION: Grand Army of the Republic Civil War Museum 8110 Frankfort Ave. Philadelphia
• GSP members received an invitation in email. This tour is currently sold out. If you would like to be on the waitlist, please email info@genpa.org.

---

Saturday, October 14, 2023

Special Interest Group: Genealogists Helping Genealogists

• In-person round table discussion group
• TIME: 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• COST: GSP members- free; Non-members- $5
• LOCATION: GSP 2100 Byberry Rd., Suite 111, Philadelphia
• Space is limited. Email info@genpa.org to reserve.

---

Thursday, October 19, 2023

Using Quaker Records Online and In-Person: Discovering Our Resources

Have you ever thought you might have Quaker ancestors? Have you ever been told you have Quaker ancestors? Have you tried finding your Quaker relatives, but gotten stumped by Quaker jargon? Come hear a discussion of Quaker archives, particularly in the Philadelphia area, to learn about how to use these resources. Mary will also discuss the over 8 million Quaker documents in Ancestry.com and how best to use those resources.

• TIME: 7 p.m. ET
• COST: Free
• LOCATION: Zoom event
• The recording will be available to GSP members until Dec. 18, 2023.

Mary Crauderueff is the Curator of Quaker Collections in the Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections. She is an alum of Friends’ Central School (’03), Earlham College (’07) and the University of Maryland, College Park (’09), where she earned her Masters in Library Science, with a specialization in Archives, Records, and Information Management. Since 2009, she has worked for a variety of archives and organizations in the Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Boston areas. She returned to the Philadelphia area in June 2015 to begin this position. She serves on the board of the Scattergood Foundation, and is a past president of the Friends Historical Association (2019-2021). In 2020, Mary was the first Visiting Quaker Archivist for the Africa Quaker Archives in Kaimosi, Kenya. She was awarded a Clarence and Lilly Pickett Endowment for Quaker Leadership grant for an oral history project entitled Quaker Works: Journeys of Quakers Leading Friends Organizations in 2015.

Upcoming GSP webinars

* Registration and more information coming soon *

• November 16, 2023 – “Lenape Ancestors in Pennsylvania” with Shelley DePaul

Webinar Recordings

Geography, Geology, and Genius: Coal and Canals in Pennsylvania

Zoom event with Martha Capwell Fox

Thursday, September 21, 2023 – 7 p.m. ET

Members only. Please login to view the recorded presentation. Webinar is available until Nov. 20, 2023

---

---

 

---

---