Talks and Presentations

Fort Halifax, in what’s now northern Dauphin County, was a garrisoned supply depot during the 7 Years War. Its precise location was lost to history until a series of archaeological […]

David Biser who is the official John Harris Jr. for the Historical Society of Dauphin County and the city of Harrisburg PA will speak on speak on our important neighbor. […]

It’s that time of year again. Come join Attorney Alvin Blitz, as he reviews the current year-end tax and estate planning strategies for 2024. Don’t miss out on this informative […]

The J. Sherwood McGinnis, Jr. War, Peace, and Justice Project and the Carlisle Bridge Builders present author Jeffrey E. Finegan, Sr. and first-person historical interpreters George Washington and his enslaved valet, William Lee, for a story that needs to be told — one of loyalty, friendship, and slavery during war and peace. Also at Bosler […]

90 years ago this November, bodies found near Pine Grove Furnace led to a national search for their identity and the reasons behind their deaths. Historian and author of “The Babes in the Woods Story,” David Smith, will give a talk with new findings on this topic. RSVP Here:

Archives & Library Director, Cara Curtis, will explore the complex history of Carlisle’s oldest historic Black cemetery at the corner of Pitt and Penn Streets.

Virtual program. Judith Ridner published her early history of Carlisle "A Town In-Between" in 2010. In this talk, Ridner reviews some of her findings and considers newer research that I and other scholars have uncovered that offers new perspectives on Carlisle’s and Cumberland’s early history.  Register for the Program Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NMLpSHyeSU6z5cH0HEN65w

Between the rides of the Blue Mountains and the crystalline waters of the Yellow Breeches Creek, one-room schoolhouse of yesteryear dot the landscape of Cumberland County. By the latter half of the 19th century, there were more than 160 one-room schools operating throughout the region. Join us for a talk exploring the schools that educated […]

The son of a Philadelphia shipping merchant and the namesake for the capital of New Jersey, William Trent carved his own legacy as a gentleman, throughout the latter half of the eighteenth century. A seasoned veteran officer of three different conflicts, he was praised for his “frame of speech to the Indians, in their style”. […]

Join us at lecture space in Todd Hall to discover Sources of Untapped Information for Historians and Family Researchers in Cumberland County Court House Records. Merri Lou Schaumann, author and local historian, will shed light on the kinds of county court records that are seldom used, unknown to most genealogists and historians, yet packed with […]

From the earliest human inhabitants to the present day, Cumberland County has been an agricultural breadbasket. Many great innovations were developed or tested in the Cumberland Valley. We will discuss […]

Jim Richards discusses the unwilling witnesses to the events of late June 1863 through November of that year and what they experienced when war was at their doorsteps. We will […]