This photograph from the Schuylkill River clean-up collection shows a cleaning barge that was used to clear out the culm, or mining waste, from the river in 1947-1951.
Montgomery County Community College and the Historical Society of Montgomery County will be hosting a special event to introduce local school faculty for grades 1-12 to the rich collections of local primary resources that are available for them to use.
“Primary Sources in Your Backyard” will be held on Friday, Oct. 15, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at MCCC’s Health Sciences Center Atrium at the Blue Bell Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike. Educators are invited to come and view the primary resources as well as proposed lesson plans and potential discussion points that support state teaching standards. Researchers, students and others interested in local history are welcome, too.
The Historical Society has many primary sources in its collections relating to the American Revolution, Abolition Movement, Civil War and development of the nation’s industry, as well as many other topics. Their collection includes letters, diaries, historic newspapers and photographs.
Among MCCC’s Brendlinger Library Archives & Special Collections are two outstanding collections. One is the Schuylkill River clean-up collection that contains the records of the first-ever government-initiated environmental cleanup. The second is the Betzwood collection that documents the work of silent film pioneer, Siegmund Lubin, whose former studio is located in Valley Forge, along the Schuylkill River Trail close to Valley Forge National Park.
For more information about the event or the primary resources, contact MCCC Librarian/Assistant Professor Lawrence Greene at lgreene@mc3.edu.