Adult Programs
The Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center offers a wide variety of Adult programs including group tours, symposia, lectures, and special events related to the history and culture of the Schwenkfelders, PA Germans, and the local area.
Brown Bag Lunch Lectures
Bring your lunch and join Dr. Allen Viehmeyer and guest lecturers the second Wednesday of each month for a closer look into the SLHC collections, local, and Schwenkfelder history. Lectures are repeated the following Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
Upcoming Programs
The Exile Society and the Friends of the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center often host special guest lecturers, groups, and events at the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center.
- The Ice Industry in the Upper Perkiomen Valley
- January 22, 2012, 2:00 p.m.
- Snow date: Sunday, February 5, 2012
- Free, Open to the Public
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NOTE: This program was presented in January, 2011 and we had an overflow audience, so the Friends Board decided to repeat the excellent presentation. The thought of January makes us shiver with visions of snow, sleet, and cold weather. So why not add some ice to the January mix! That is exactly what Friends will be doing at 2:00 pm on Sunday, January 22, 2012 when they present a program about the ice industry that flourished throughout the greater Perkiomen area in the early 1900s. It was a necessary and often perilous operation in the days before refrigeration. Larry Roeder, the editor and publisher of the Town and Country, has written extensively about local history including the ice industry. Larry will be sharing some of his research into this “icy” topic. Remember his great “Valley Past” articles in the newspaper? Jason Flexer, the current owner of the former Sweinhart/Heimbach Ice Company in East Greenville, now the Nolt Ice Company, will contribute to the story of how the ice industry has evolved to the present day. Jason lives in Hosensack, the site of the former large and prosperous ice house.
- The Mayburry Family and the Early Pennsylvania Iron Industry with Dan Graham
- February 26, 2012, 2:00 p.m.
- Free, Open to the Public
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Join us Sunday, February 26 at 2:00 pm in the Heritage Center Meeting Room for an illustrated presentation by noted iron industry researcher Dan Graham. Like the Potts, Rutter, and Bird families, the Mayburry family played a major role in the development of the early Pennsylvania iron industry. Establishing an iron dynasty, four generations of Mayburrys were involved in the family iron works on the Perkiomen Creek, owning huge tracts of land and affecting the local economy.Dan Graham will discuss the Mayburry family and their involvement in this Pennsylvania industry. Dan Graham is an early Pennsylvania iron researcher and a Potts and Rutter family historian. He holds a B.S. from West Virginia University and an MPA from George Washington University. He is retired and lives in Montrose, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania.
- Dowsing Traditions and Stories
- March 25, 2012, 2:30 p.m.
- Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center begins at 2:00 p.m.
- Free, Open to the Public
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"Did you know that dowsing can be used for water divining, home and garden, archeological searches, earth mysteries, health and wellbeing and much, much more?” - American Society of Dowsers website. Join us for a fascinating afternoon with three dowsers: Keith Schaffer of Exeter Township, John Grubb of Bally, and Leroy Bull, President, American Society of Dowsers who will tell us of their dowsing experiences. Candace Perry will moderate this panel discussion.
Dialect Conversation Group
- Pa German Dialect Conversation Group
- Upcoming meetings
- 2012: January 19, February 16, March 15; April 19; May 17
- 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
- Open to the Public
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Join members of the PA German community to listen and talk about various subjects in Deitsch. Themes vary month to month. Conversation group meetings are open to the public. The SLHC provides coffee and tea for all participants. Join the conversation! No R.S.V.P is required. If you're interested in leading a discussion in the dialect, contact us!
Workshops and Classes
- Thursday Night Adult Craft Workshop: Paste Papers
- January 12, 2012, 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
- $10 per person/contact Rebecca Lawrence to register
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Paste papers are decorative painted papers used to cover and line books. Designs are created using colored paste and different implements. Make your own paste paper in our Thursday night craft workshop.
- Intro to Bookbinding with Dave Hoffmann
- January 14, 2012, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
- $25 per person/register by January 7, 2012 contact Rebecca Lawrence to register
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Make your own sewn journal and hardcover quarto size book with bookbinder Dave Hoffmann. All supplies provided including tools, marbled paper, paper, board, and other materials to make two books. No prior experience needed. Contact Rebecca Lawrence, Museum Educator at (215) 679-3103.
- German for Reading Knowledge, Adult German Language Course
- Registration is on a month by month basis from September 2011 through May 2012
- $80.00 a month, Thursday evenings, 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
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Join our Associate Director of Research, Dr. Allen Viehmeyer, for a month by month course to acquire a reading knowledge of German. Courses cost $80.00 per month, Thursday evenings from 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. in our Library. Interested participants should contact Rebecca Lawrence or Allen Viehmeyer, 215–679–3103 or rebecca@schwenkfelder.com to register and receive information on the required text.