Meeting of the Philadelphia Chapter Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation
Strawbridge’s Pickwick Room Philadelphia PA
January 11, 2003 1:00 pm

I. Bob Weir opened the meeting. He introduced and welcomed about a dozen first time guests.

II. Paul Shaver presented Frank Muhly with a medicine chest modeled on Lewis’s which Paul had made from walnut and finished beautifully.

III. Recording secretary Jean Jones was unable to attend. The minutes of the October 12 2002 meeting were informally accepted.

IV. Treasurer Marion Rowen presented the annual financial report.

V. Frank Muhly updated four items:

A. The map/brochures Lewis and Clark in Historic Philadelphia and The Eastern Legacy of Lewis and Clark have been well received.
B. Historic Markers are in process. The one for the Academy of Natural Sciences is ready to go. Three more (for Barton, Patterson, and the Schuylkill Arsenal) have been approved. The plan is to dedicate them in the spring of 2003.
C. Frank has completed the application to the National Park Service for the Walking Map of Philadelphia.
D. The traveling exhibit organized by the Missouri Historical Society will be at the Academy of Natural Sciences from Nov. 6, 2004 - Mar. 20, 2005.

V. Dick Prestholdt and Ed Welch are working on the plans to bring the Corps of Discovery II to Philadelphia. No specific information is available yet.

VI. The kickoff events for the Bicentennial commemoration begin next week at Monticello. Bob Weir read an invitation from Jane Henley to a special party for the LCTHF members.

VII. Anne Mackintosh reported that she and Pi Di Piazza attended the opera York at Penn State in November. (The composer and librettist had attended the Philadelphia Chapter meeting held in Louisville in July to talk about the opera.)

VIII. The formation of the Nominations Committee was announced. Members are Frank Muhly, Katy Hineline, and John Iskrant. Elections will be held at the October 2003 meeting.

IX. Donna Weaver, who spoke at the October meeting, showed the final designs chosen for the Lewis and Clark commemorative dollar, which will be issued in 2004. From the many designs offered, Donna’s were the ones chosen. Congratulations to her!

X. Rose Muhly reported that there has been interest in a Chapter trip to Harpers Ferry for a Bicentennial Commemoration called Supplied for Survival: Meriwether Lewis at Harpers Ferry. Rose has printed information about the weekend events and has arranged for a block of rooms at the Comfort Inn. Travel will be by private car and Rose has agreed to help those who need rides to find them.

XI. Nancy Davis gave an update on Annual Meeting plans. The hotel is almost full, about a third of City Tavern is booked, and registrations are moving along. (The deadline for the early reservation discount is January 31.) She recognized program committee members Tom Davis and Bob Weir, history committee members Charles Reed , Frank Muhly, and Nancy herself, and transportation committee members Jim Shaw, Trudy Reed, and Paul Shaver, who are arranging for the trolley buses. Volunteers are needed for “herders,” tour guides, and bus captains. The history committee is writing scripts for the bus captains to use.

XII. Norma Milner reported for publicity and Anne Mackintosh said that all information about the Annual Meeting is now online. Norma announced that the Botany Club has invited Chapter members to a meeting of special interest. To commemorate the Bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Philadelphia Botanical Club offers a unique public lecture, Saving an American Treasure—The Lewis and Clark Herbarium during the next 200 years by Richard M. McCourt of the Academy of Natural Sciences Botany Department. McCourt is curator of the newly archived plant collection gathered and pressed by the explorers in the American mid-West and West from 1803 through 1806. He will present the challenges of the present project to save the more than 200 specimens as well as its fabled history of travels to England, auctions, and trials on the way to survival. McCourt will speak at 8 p.m., Thursday, January 23 at the Marvin Comisky Conference Center, Blank Rome Comisky & McCauley LLP, One Logan Square (one block east of the Academy). Enter the Logan Square building on the north side of Cherry Street between 18th and 19th Streets. The lecture is free.

XIII. Norma also indicated that special displays would be found soonat the Athenaeum, the Library Company, Pennsylvania Hospital, and the Masonic Temple.

XIV. Ernie Schuyler added that the Academy of Natural Sciences website now has a special section devoted to Lewis and Clark at http://www.acnatsci.org/museum/lewisclark/index.html.

XV. Anne Mackintosh encouraged all Chapter members to renew their memberships soon (a number have done so already) so that the down payments needed for aspects of the Annual Meeting can be paid.

XVI. Gretchen Worden announced that the College of Physicians will have a major exhibit titled Only One Man Died, which will open to the public on Feb. 19.

XVII. Rose Muhy told of a Chapter fundraiser being planned. Helen Hanson made and framed two counted cross stitch pictures, one of Monticello and one of Lewis, Clark, and Sacagewea, and has donated them to the Chapter. They will be offered in a silent auction at the March meeting; if the minimum bid is not met they will be offered at the Annual Meeting.

XVIII. Frank Muhly will speak to the Friends of Independence Park at a meeting on February 25.

XIX. The next Chapter meeting will be at Strawbridges on Saturday, March 8. Ron Avery, former columnist for the Daily News, will speak about the city of Philadelphia.

Bob Weir then spoke about the pieces he had brought which are part of is collection of Lewis and Clark memorabilia. Many were souvenirs of the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland, Oregon. Sheet music, decanters, a child’s pencil box, a cobalt blue plate, and drinking glasses are some of the objects he has collected from places throughout the country. (Part of his collection is on view in the Charlottesville Airport for the activities next week.) Members then had the opportunity to ask questions and examine the objects carefully.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:45.
Respectfully submitted,
Anne Mackintosh (subbing for Jean Jones)

Thanks to Tom Davis for taking these photos.