FALL HISTORY SERIES 
CUMBERLAND COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
Monday, September 17th, 2012 – Monday, October 29th, 2012 
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. in Todd Hall 
Act 48 approved for teachers.Reservations required.
Costs: $45.00 per member; $60 per nonmember; $10 per session 

The Promises and Perils of Fame

 Jeff Wood has presented the Fall Series at the Society since 2000. He is the owner of the Whistlestop Bookshop, is past-President of the Cumberland County Historical Society and is currently President of the Bosler Memorial Library. Every year the Fall Series has retold the history of the county from different perspectives.  This year’s seven sessions set a theme of the County in the bright light of attention.  Sometimes the colonies, sometimes the nation, and sometimes faraway peoples paid attention to what had happened in our valley.  Sometimes this was good, and sometimes it was not.  The history of our area will be delivered front stage and backstage, and we will also check to see what the critics are saying. The series consists of lectures and audience discussion.  It will be enhanced with power point tours of relevant county sites and objects of interest from local collections and the Historical Society’s archives.  

September 17:  First Things First.  An introduction to the series and county history.  Also, in 1756 Cumberland County heroes were awarded the first commemorative medals in colonial history.  Why?  And what did this mean in the context of colonial and early national history? 

September 24:  “the most unheard of barbarity”.  A Cumberland County murder in 1785 shocked Pennsylvania and the young nation.  It is still legal fodder.  We will look at it from all angles, our own haunting cold case. 

October 1:  The Second War of Independence.  In honor of the bicentennial of the War of 1812, we look at Cumberland County’s significant contributions to a war we both lost and won. 

October 8:  Captivities.  From 1755 on, some of the most famous captivities of Whites by Natives criss-cross Cumberland County history.  We consider the actions, ironies, tragedies, and miracles from here to across the continent.
 
October 15:  Bloody Days.  A Civil War 150^th Special:  the Cumberland Valley was a natural invasion route throughout the war.  We go over the several threats and the area’s response to them. 

October 22:  In the Spotlight.  Cumberland County has been getting a lot of notice from historians and journalists in the past few years.  This week we review the results. 

October 29:  The American Century, An American County.  A harvest of the changes wrought by one hundred years of history, a good place to test your assumptions about our “quiet” valley.