WCU Museum Studies Students Create One-of-a-Kind Exhibit Celebrating America’s 250th
Turk’s Head Tavern is Reconstructed to Simulate Historic Town During Revolutionary Times
As America readies for its 250th birthday, students in the Museum Studies Program
at West Chester University are also busily preparing… The WCU students are building,
installing, and putting the finishing touches on an elaborate exhibition that simulates
the historic Turk’s Head Tavern, known as the hub of West Chester borough during Revolutionary
times. The interactive exhibit, entitled “Becoming America in West Chester,” is one-of-a-kind
in the making at the University’s Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology. Thanks to its corporate sponsor, Belfor Property Restoration, the student-curated
exhibit features authentic artifacts spanning more than 250 years and tells the impactful
story of how West Chester Borough became the vibrant regional nexus that it is today. Becoming America in West Chester opens to the public on May 1 at 6 p.m. at the Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology,
located on WCU’s campus in the Old Library building, 775 South Church Street, West
Chester. The Museum is open to the community free of charge.
“Through the exhibit, we learn about the Lenape people who made first contact with the colonists, but were removed in the first half of the 1700s; the creation of the village around the Turk’s Head Tavern in 1769 along the road from Philadelphia to Lancaster; its establishment into the Borough of West Chester in 1799; and two centuries of impactful events that followed. All of these occurrences mirrored, in many ways, the development of modern America 250 years ago,” says Dr. Michael A. Di Giovine, director of the University’s Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology and director of the Museum Studies Program.
The exhibition has been in the making for many months. Associate Professor of Theater and Exhibits Designer Tom Haughey and Adjunct Professor David Blackburn, also the historic preservation officer for the Chester County Planning Commission and a member of the America 250 WCU Committee, have been team-teaching 17 graduate and undergraduate Museum Studies students. Together, the mighty faculty-student group have researched, catalogued, designed, and built the entire exhibition. The hard work has obviously paid off.
The group has forged partnerships with organizations such as the Chester County History Center, which has loaned the Tavern’s original date stone, and with private lenders such as William Brankowitz, whose Hessian great-great-great-great-great-grandfather’s Revolutionary War tinderbox and bloodletting fleam are also on display. Archaeological and ethnographic artifacts from the museum’s collections are also exhibited, including objects from the U.S.’ 50th bicentennial.
“This has been such an impactful experience and we have taken such an amazing journey,” shared Haughey. “Our original intention was to have the exhibit span from the year the Land Agreement was signed until our borough was named West Chester. Our students’ excitement, however, led us to celebrate and feature the important people who helped establish West Chester Borough and whose families continue to live on among us — Matlack, Sharpless, Hannum, Darlington, and many others. These are the names of those who most likely had conversations in the Turks Head Tavern that led to the establishment of the community of West Chester.
Traveling down this path, the coolest thing we stumbled upon was a headstone in Green Mount Cemetary that marks the resting place of a drummer boy who was one of the youngest members of the Union regiment from the Civil War. Remarkable!”
Di Giovine adds, “Once the class found this out, we contacted the Hartenberger World Music Collection in St. Louis Missouri, which loaned an authentic Civil War infantryman’s drum to us. The addition provides a strong visual component to the story of Charley King, the little drummer boy from West Chester.”
“It has been a wonderful experience to work side-by-side with students and find people from the West Chester area whose lives truly reflect the story of America,” said Blackburn. “Making a connection to people who called West Chester home and whose legacies go beyond family names has been especially compelling; the contributions of these many individuals extend not only to our borough but to our state and the nation. I’ve had a long career working with museums and historical sites, so this has been a great opportunity to give back to the next generation that plans to do the same.”
As Haughey and Blackburn have been co-teaching the museum studies class, Di Giovine has been working behind the scenes to secure funding for the mammoth project, which is aligned with the collaborative efforts of a regional Chester County 250 partnership that includes Chester County History Center, County Planning Commission, and Chester County Community Foundation. Including the generous gift from Belfor Property Restoration, a total of more than $5,000 in grants has been secured for a project that will function as a living educational laboratory for the entire community.
Museum Studies students recognize the value of their work, as well as how much the hands-on experience lends to their own professional aspirations.
“Being able to assist with creating, curating, and installing this exhibit has been an amazing experience,” shared Grace Welsh, a graduate student who will receive a master’s degree in history this May and who has been the museum’s graduate assistant curator for the past two years.
“It truly is a group effort, with all of the students acting as different moving parts to ensure that this exhibit comes together the way we envision it,” she emphasized. “The students have really put 110% into this exhibit, working through the general chaos of creating and displaying an exhibit, to provide the class with the needed foundations for the final design.
“With so much hands-on experience, not only does this exhibit provide me with a physical manifestation of all of our work in researching, obtaining artifacts, and constructing the display pieces, but it also offers me an invaluable view into museum curation — a field I intend to enter after graduation. I am so proud of the entire team.”
The exhibition is open Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Private appointments and special student-curator led tours can also be organized by calling (610) 436-2247 or emailing museum@wcupa.edu. A virtual component will be inaugurated on the exhibition’s page, www.wcupa.edu/BecomingAmerica, by July 4. More information about the Museum and its exhibitions can be found at West Chester University’s Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology.
Exhibit Credits
Curators: David Blackburn, Heritage Preservation Coordinator, Chester County Planning Commission; Thomas Haughey, Associate Professor of Theater and Exhibits Designer, Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology
Graduate Assistant Curator: Grace Welsh, MA Candidate in History
Student Co-Curators: William Babitts, Patrick Baker-Evens, Chloe Balcer, Roman Budd, Grace Carson, Gemma Cohen, Bobby Cosgrove, Violet Curran, Jack Dupee, Sam Mairone, Luke Mammartino, Emily Nammavong, Justin Rittwage, Roman Straub, Avery White, Marguerite Xuereb
Exhibit Design: Thomas Haughey, Associate Professor of Theater; Exhibits Designer, Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology
Tavern Reconstruction and Art: Maria Monachino, Scenery Workshop Coordinator
Graphic Design: Stephanie Thompson, Publications Assistant, WCU Graphics and Printing
Virtual Exhibition: Hannah Glatt, and Tom Pantazes, WCU Teaching and Learning Center
Consultants: Susan Bachor, Delaware Tribe of Indians; Michael A. Di Giovine, Director, Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology; Barbara Silber, Adjunct Professor of Archaeology
Special thanks: William Brankowitz, Chester County History Center, Chester County Planning Commission, Hartenberger World Music Collection, Historic St. George’s Museum and Archives; Historic Yellow Springs Museum; Iron Hill Museum and Science Center; Pennsylvania Historical Society
Funding provided by grants from: Campus Philly; Chester County Community Foundation
Exhibition sponsored by: Belfor Property Restoration