So far this summer I have spent my time volunteering at Pennsbury Manor House in Morrisville PA. It has been a great opportunity to get hands on experience and knowledge of what is going on in the field of public history. As of right now, Pennsbury Manor house is working on a huge project updating the air conditioning system in the Manor house to preserve the artifacts in the h
ouse. In preparation for moving all the artifacts back into the Manor house, I have joined the team in cleaning and preparing the Manor house space. In layman's terms, my week has been full up with dusting, cleaning windows and UV shields and getting rid of spider webs. It takes a lot of work to keep nonprofit state historical sites such as this one in tip top shape for guests.
Speaking of guests, Pennsbury Manor is open to the public! You can call ahead of time and schedule a tour of the site for a Friday, Saturday, or Sundays. If you prefer a more contact free experience our grounds are open to the public to walk about on your own time Tuesday through Thursdays from 10 am to 5 pm. On those self guided tours there are little signs with History on call numbers to call and learn more about the historical site.
Pennsbury Manor house is the reconstruction of Pennsylvania founder William Penn Jr.The site includes; Penn’s Manor house, a kitchen house, a workers cottage, a garden, a small farm with animals, and a few extra buildings not original to the site. On top of being a historical location, Pennsbury Manor has a fascinating history of its own. Running off the fuel of patriotism post World War 1 reconstruction of Penn's Manor began in the 1930s. It was rebuilt by architect R. Brognard Okie during the “Colonial Revival” period. It's called colonial revival because the buildings built were a romanticized idea of what colonial buildings looked like. Looking at these buildings today you can see many historical inaccuracies in the way they are built and their location on the property. These buildings can present a challenge to historians and interpreters of this site in how they choose to tell the history of William Penn here at Pennsbury Manor. Constant research goes on here to refine the history
to the most accurate version to then present to the public. The site itself is better as a historical backdrop than a historically accurate location. The backdrop allows for visitors to emerge themselves in 17th century landscape.
The staff members here at Pennsbury Manor have been working diligently to prevent a holistic history that includes the narratives of the Native Americans who met with Penn and the African Americans that were enslaved here by Penn. They now use the worker’s cottage as a location to hone in on the Native American’s story and their involvement here at Pennsbury Manor. They also use the kitchen house, specifically the laundry room to tell a very unique story about a slave named Jack who worked at the Manor house. Outside of their site Pennsbury Manor has partnered with The African American Museum of Bucks County to put together a virtual Juneteenth event. If you would like to learn more about Juneteenth check out the event for yourself this Saturday with this link https://infoaambc.org/event/juneteenth-virtual-event/ or check out Pennsbury Manor’s page that day for posted information.
Make sure you come check out Pennsbury Manor sometime this summer at 400 Pennsbury Memorial Road Morrisville, PA 19067. Don’t forget to call ahead at 215-946-0400 to schedule a tour if you’d like.
Note: full reopening is scheduled for July 1st with hopes of reopening the Manor house to the public.