Location: 70 A Clinton Street Speaker: Michael L. Dixon, M.S., M.A. Born as the result of a bitter territorial dispute over royal land grants, the Mason-Dixon Line was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 to settle the boundaries for Pennsylvania and Maryland. After 1820, when the Missouri Compromise created political conditions which made the line important to the history of slavery, it became associated with the division between the free and slave states. Today the line is still seen by many as a symbolic dividing line for regional attitudes and customs. This program explores the story of the line, which runs through our land and our history, along with the perceptions that have developed about the boundary. |
Location: 70 A Clinton Street Speaker: Lee Jennings, Chief of Cultural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation The evolutionary development of harbor defense in the Delaware will be discussed. In the beginning, soldiers were paid an extra fee to catch cannon balls from British ships so that they could be fired back. In the end, 2300 pound shells were thrown over the horizon at targets that the gunners could not see with pin point accuracy. Why spend so much to defend this harbor? Why was it important to the entire nation through almost 200 years of history? |
Location: 70 A Clinton Street Speaker: Willis Phelps Provides a spiritual, first person look into the lives of Pvt. James Elbert and Pvt. William H. Crawford, both men born in Delaware City, and who fought in the Civil War. It is intended to create an emotional link to these "colored" men, who had to "Fight for the Right to Fight!" Period uniforms, artifacts and pictures are meant to enhance the interactive lecture, and bring the audience through the gate(s)of time. In the context of fences?, Consider this quote from Booker T. Washington: "In All Things Purely Social We Can Be As Separate As The Fingers, Yet One As the hand in All Things Essential To Mutual Progress". Most fences have either gates or some type of opening, which either allows access into, around or over to the other side. |