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October 2008 |
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 Delaware Day float |
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Members of HCA's Exhibits Team, working with a group of volunteers recruited from the entire HCA staff, have recently constructed a Department of State-sponsored float that will be used to promote Delaware Day, a celebration of the date when Delaware became the first state to ratify the United States Constitution on December 7, 1787. The float is scheduled to participate in the following parades: Delaware State University Homecoming Parade (Dover, 10/18/08); Milford Community Parade (10/22/08); Sea Witch Parade (Rehoboth Beach, 10/25/08); Newark Halloween Parade (10/26/08); and the Return Day Parade (Georgetown, 11/6/08).
Delaware Day 2008 will be celebrated on Saturday, December 6, 2008 at a variety of locations in downtown Dover including the Delaware Public Archives, Delaware Visitor Center and Galleries, The Old State House, and the Dover Green. Activities will include an awards ceremony for the Department of State's seventh annual Delaware Day Fourth Grade Competition which challenges students to create displays that help illustrate and explain the U.S. Constitution and the role played by Delawareans in the writing and ratification of the nation's founding document. Other activities will include horse-drawn carriages, music, and a wide variety of historic re-enactors including an appearance by the Fourth Continental Light Dragoons, a group that re-creates the activities of one of the actual regiments that saw service in the Continental Army under George Washington from 1777 to 1782. |
 New Castle Court House Museum  The Old State House |
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On September 12, 2008, HCA's Manager of Historic Sites Beverly Laing and New Castle Court House Site Supervisor Cindy Snyder represented the Division at the Leadership in History Awards ceremony that took place as part of the American Association for State and Local History's (AASLH) annual meeting in Rochester, New York. During the ceremony, HCA was presented with the 2008 Award of Merit for the "Saving Our Delaware Capitols" project which spotlighted HCA's and the State of Delaware's recent multi-million-dollar restorations of The Old State House in Dover and the New Castle Court House. Both structures have served as Delaware's capitol at different times during the state's 200+-year history.
The AASLH Leadership in History Awards program, now in its 63rd year, is the nation's most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history. Awards for 2008 represent 57 organizations and individuals from across the United States. The American Association for State and Local History is a not-for-profit professional organization of individuals and institutions working to preserve and promote history. From its headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, AASLH provides leadership, service, and support for its members who preserve and interpret state and local history in order to make the past more meaningful in American society. |
 The Hale-Byrnes House |
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The Delaware Society for the Preservation of Antiquities, HCA's tenant at the Hale Byrnes House in Stanton, has agreed to fund much needed improvements to several of the house's windows at a cost of $10,040. The structure was built in 1750 and was used in 1777 as a meeting place for Gen. George Washington and his staff, including Gen. Lafayette, between the Battle of Cooch's Bridge in Delaware and the Battle of Brandywine in Pennsylvania. |
 Johnson Victrola Museum staff members in preparation for the "Harvest Time at Museum Square" program that will take place on October 4, 2008. |
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Visitors to Dover, Delaware's Museum Square will have an opportunity to enjoy traditional autumn activities amid cornucopias, cornhusks, pumpkins, and more during the "Harvest Time at Museum Square" program that will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, October 4, 2008.
Autumn revelers of all ages can participate in the 3rd Annual Great Pumpkin Hunt by picking up an official pumpkin-hunter passport and correctly counting all the pumpkins at Museum Square's three sites— the Johnson Victrola Museum, the Museum of Small Town Life, and the Delaware Archaeology Museum. Pumpkins hunters will be rewarded for their efforts with a sweet prize at the Johnson Victrola Museum. Additional harvest-related activities will include apple-print making at the Museum of Small Town Life (11 a.m.-3 p.m.), corn husk doll-making at the Delaware Archaeology Museum (ages 8 and up, 1-3 p.m.), and a stuff-the-scarecrow bash at the Johnson Victrola Museum (Noon-1 p.m.). Museum Square, located at 316 S. Governors Ave., between North St. and Bank Lane, in Dover, Delaware, is open from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday and most state holidays; and 1:30-4:30 p.m. Sundays. Admission is free. Donations are accepted and appreciated. For additional information, call the Delaware Visitor Center at (302) 739-4266. |
| The Delaware State Review Board for Historic Preservation will meet on Wednesday, October 15, 2008, beginning at 9:30 a.m. in a newly renovated second floor suite of the former Artisan's Bank Building at 219 West Ninth Street in Wilmington, Delaware. At the meeting the following business will take place:
THE BOARD WILL CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING NOMINATIONS TO THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES: In accordance with the Delaware Freedom of Information Act, this meeting is open to the public and copies of the minutes will be made available upon request in accordance with law. Written comments should be submitted prior to the meeting date. Oral comments and questions will be invited during the meeting. For additional information, please contact Stephen Marz, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer, Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, 21 The Green, Dover, DE 19901 or telephone 302-736-7400. Timothy A. Slavin, Individuals needing reasonable accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act may call 302-736-7400 by Monday, October 6, 2008. |
 Volunteers cataloging a quilt at an earlier Quilt Documentation Day. |
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The Delaware Quilt Documentation Project will hold its third session of 2008 on Saturday, October 18, 8:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m., at the Brick Hotel, a property of the Historic Houses of Odessa located at 2nd and Main Streets in Odessa, Delaware. The project is designed to record the rich tradition of quilt-making in the state of Delaware and to help preserve its legacy for future generations.
Owners of quilts made before 1945 are encouraged to bring their quilts to this informative documentation process which involves photographing each quilt, recording its physical characteristics, and gathering historical information about the quilt and/or the quilt-maker. There is no cost to quilt-owners for this process and admission is free of charge. The Delaware Quilt Documentation Project is a collaborative effort between the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs (HCA) and the University of Delaware. Information gathered in the project will be submitted to The Quilt Index, a national data base maintained by the Alliance for American Quilts. The project is supported, in part, by grants from the National Quilting Association, the Helping Hands Quilt Guild of Dover, and gifts from private individuals. An additional Quilt Documentation Day will take place on Saturday, November 8, 2008, 8:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m., at Joseph C. O'Neal and Sons auction house, 11112 Laurel Road, Laurel, DE 19956. For further information, contact project-coordinator Ann Baker Horsey of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs at (302) 739-6402. |
 Gillus the Water Monster |
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On the Saturday before Halloween, visitors to Lewes, Delaware will have a frightening opportunity to learn about the fantastic and gruesome creatures of the deep during the second annual Monsters of the Sea Day that will take place on October 25, 2008, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m., at the Zwaanendael Museum, 102 Kings Highway, Lewes.
Program activities will include opportunities to learn about the Zwaanendael Merman and other legendary sea monsters, local sea myths, and maritime superstitions; the telling of a Native American sea-monster folk tale at 11a.m., 1 p.m., and 3:30 p.m.; a visit by Gillus the Water Monster from 1:30-3 p.m.; and sea creature mask-making and crafts. Admission to the Zwaanendael Museum is free and open to the public. For additional information, call the museum at 302-645-1148. |