Conestoga Wagon, dated 1825. Gift of the National Park Service.

Museum Collections

 
 

The museum collection of three-dimensional artifacts, textiles, art, and paper items supports the mission of the Heritage Center to preserve and tell the story of the Schwenkfelders and the Upper Perkiomen Region.

The push to preserve old German-language books and manuscripts held by Schwenkfelder families began in the late 19th century, and the three-dimensional objects, fraktur, and art that comprise the museum collection followed soon afterward. In 1908, the first object for the museum collection was given to the Schwenkfelder Historical Library collection by David D. Kriebel. Mr. Kriebel donated a copy of the Christliche Betrachtungen über die evangelischen Texte by Erasmus Weichenhan, an important Schwenkfelder book, which just happened to contain a fraktur bookplate made by Schwenkfelder schoolmaster David Kriebel.

Since that time, the museum collection has grown to include:

  • more than 1000 works of fraktur and folk-art drawings.

  • material culture of daily life, including domestic, trades, and agricultural tools and equipment.

  • textiles, featuring an extensive collection of samplers and other needlework, quilts, coverlets, textiles for home and farm use, and clothing.

  • fine art, including paintings by southeastern Pennsylvania artists such as Walter E. Baum.

  • furniture and home accessories dating from the colonial period to the early 20th century.

Preserving these precious pieces of the past, interpreting them through exhibits, programs, and publications, and research and documentation of the collection is the priority of library/archives and museum collections staff. The cataloging of collections is an ongoing effort of the Curator of Collections and volunteers. The collection’s database can be viewed on this website. The database is updated from time to time to reflect recent additions to the collection and progress with cataloging.

Museum collections researchers or individuals who are interested in seeing specific objects not on exhibit are always welcome, in person, by phone (215-679-3103, ask for Candace), or email candace@schwenkfelder.org.

If you have something that you think would add to the stories we tell, please contact our curator (candace@schwenkfelder.org).