October 8 – Greek and Egyptian Influence on American Medicine
Naked exercise?  Communal bathing?  This program will both amuse and surprise you.  The ancient world’s revolutionary views on medicine influence the medical values and treatments of early America.  Medical symbols, use of the Hippocratic Oath, hygiene, sanitation, physical fitness, and medicinal plants all have ancient origins.  Through material culture and activities we will explore the role of the ancient world on modern America.

November 12 – Musical Intelligence
We will take a musical journey through time to examine ways that musical intelligence is utilized.  Some activities will be directed to ways in which Native American and African American cultures integrated music into ceremony and play, others will explore military and literary applications in cadence.  Musical developments from classical alliteration to folk and jazz will be dissected.  Musical study guides and kazoo playing of the top 40 songs from the 1800s will allow students to visit the many ways that music is an expression of talent and ingenuity.

December 10 – Holiday Traditions
December uniquely displays our American heritage.  Each wave of immigration, from Scots-Irish and English to German, left its own distinctive mark.  Nowhere is this more evident than in holiday customs.  This presentation will cover the roots of the holiday in Europe and the adaptation and assimilation of various customs by a variety of ethnic and religious groups in Central Pennsylvania.

January 14 – Kinesthetic Intelligence
Can you perform like Babe Ruth and hit a baseball in a specific direction?  Can you dance the quick step like Jim Thorpe? How do cultures view physical prowess in relation to intellectual proficiency?  Movement, coordination, and balance will be explored in a variety of forms.  Our activities will examine control of the body and its athletic output.  Competition at marshmallow basketball, walking on stilts, and participation in coordination games are all part of the fun.

February 11 – History of Clothing
We will dress students in period clothing from 1880-1930 to demonstrate ways in which transformation and upheaval are often expressed through dramatic shifts in style.  Unspoken messages conveying economics, class structure, politics, gender, and technology are subliminally expressed through clothing.  This program uses textiles to  provide contextual understanding of major political and social movements occurring throughout American history.

March 11 – Whiskey Rebellion
Tarring and feathering did not end with the American Revolution, nor was the Civil War  the first time a segment of the United States attempted to form a new country.  One of the earliest groups to threaten succession consisted of 5 counties from Western Pennsylvania. Cumberland County found itself front and center during the first challenge to our new nation.  Discover the role of Robert Whitehill, James Wilson, and Hugh Henry Brackenridge in the first real challenge to the government of the United States.

April 8 – Crime and Punishment in Cumberland County
**This program runs from 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.**
Living in a world that prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, it is strange to imagine a person being whipped or left to stand in a pillory.  During the Colonial Era it was commonplace.  We will look at common crimes and how criminals were punished, place people in a pillory, and end the day with a visit to the Old Jail, where you will see just how dangerous it was to break the law in the 1700’s.