SCHWENKFELDER LIBRARY & HERITAGE CENTER
105 Seminary Street, Pennsburg, PA 18073
Phone 215 679-3103 Fax 215 679-8175
info@schwenkfelder.com
www.schwenkfelder.com

September 5, 2008

Contact: David W. Luz
215-679-3103, phone
215-679-8175, fax

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CIVIL DEFENSE EXHIBIT OPENS

The Board of Directors of the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center, 105 Seminary Street, Pennsburg, PA, announces the opening of a new exhibit of Civil Defense Supplies. The exhibit will be open from September 6 through December 31 in the Library Hall display cases. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Thanks to Joel Cope and Wachovia Bank, the Heritage Center has now become the happy owner of a collection of civil defense supplies that were stored in the basement of the former Farmers National Bank building on route 29 in Pennsburg. Wachovia vacated the building in 2006 for a new facility in East Greenville, and at that time many historical objects came our way. The collection includes boxes of crackers, medical supplies and, of course, toilet paper, which were placed in the building at the beginning of the waning of the Cold War in February 1963. Events that followed, including the assassination of President Kennedy and the Vietnam War, would shift focus away from fears of nuclear attack that were so prevalent in the 1950s.

The Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center was founded in 1884 as an informal collection in a private home to assure the preservation of the Schwenkfelders' cultural identity. Today the Heritage Center, a not-for-profit organization, is still preserving, interpreting, and documenting the history of this German Protestant group, along with the history of the Upper Perkiomen Valley. The Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm; Thursdays 9:00 am to 8:00 pm; Saturdays 10:00 am to 3:00 pm; and Sundays 1:00 to 4:00 pm. The Heritage Center is closed to the public on Mondays. For additional information call 215-679-3103 or visit our website www.schwenkfelder.com

David W. Luz
Executive Director
Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center
105 Seminary Street
Pennsburg, PA 18073
Tel. 215-679-3103
Fax 215-679-8175
email: info@schwenkfelder.com
www.schwenkfelder.com