The Apollo Area Historical Society will begin our 2022 Sunday Evening Series on Sunday, April 3. Stay tuned to our web page so you don’t miss a single program!  We will have other events through the year. Most of the programs will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the WCTU Building/Museum on N. 2nd Street, Apollo.  The programs are free, but donations are always appreciated. For more information, call 724-478-2899 or email apollopahistory@gmail.com. Due to the covid virus, please call ahead to be sure the program is still happening! Thank you.

Saturday, March 19, 2022 “St. Patrick’s Day Flood Walk” Weather permitting, we will take a walk through town, looking at the high water marks and hearing the story of the flood. The tours will begin at 1:00 p.m. We will also have an inside program starting at 2:00 p.m. The tours & program will be at the WCTU Building.

Sunday, April 3, 2022 “The Story of Massa Harbison, Murder, Kidnapping, and Escape” presented by Laurie Beck. Laurie, great great-granddaughter of Massa Harbison, will present a program about Massa and her kidnapping by the Seneca Indians. There will be a  presentation followed by a question/answer period. Refreshments will follow the program. Admission is FREE, but donations are always welcome. 6:30 p.m. WCTU Building.

Sunday, May 1, 2022 “Notable Women Of The Keystone State”.  Heinz History Center program. 6:30 p.m. WCTU Building. The public is invited to attend a presentation from the Heinz History Center. The Power Point presentation will tell the story of Pennsylvania women who have impacted or changed the course of history in the past 200 years. It includes some names you might expect to hear, such as Nellie Bly and Rachel Carson, but also some lesser known stories, such as suffragette Lucy Kennedy Miller and Olympic gold medal basketball player Swin Cash. Explore the contributions these notable Pennsylvania women made to our history. Anne Madarasz, Director of the Curatorial Division, Chief Historian, and Director of the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum will be our speaker for the evening. She has been at the Heinz History Center since 1992. Anne lectures and writes frequently on Pittsburgh glass, regional industry, innovation, and the history of Pittsburgh sports. Refreshments will follow after a question and answer period.

Sunday, June 5, 2022 “Suffrage: The Road To The Vote for American Women” Heinz History Center program. 6:30 p.m. WCTU Building. August 18, 2020 marked the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which made it illegal to deny citizens the right to vote based on sex.
As we commemorate this landmark anniversary, let’s look back at some of the Pennsylvania women who fought hard to make women’s suffrage a reality. The impact of these women, along with countless others in Western Pa. and beyond, can still be felt today. Judy Sutton from the Heinz History Center will explore the lives of these women and the part they played in getting the vote for American women. Judy volunteers her time as a docent, a History Center Affiliates Program volunteer, and as an Ambassador. Ambassadors deliver lectures and programs offsite on various topics related to Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania history.

Sunday, July 10, 2022 “The Underground Railroad” presented by Denise Doyle of the Blairsville Underground RR Museum. 6:30 p.m. at the Drake Log Cabin. The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. The network was assisted by abolitionists and others sympathetic to the cause of the escapees.
Denise Doyle. Director of the Blairsville Area Underground Railroad History Center will be presenting our program. Denise is the Director of Stewardship and University Events at IUP, and has been on the board and volunteer at the BVUGRR since it was formed in 2006. 

Sunday, August 7, 2022 “The Development of the PA Long Rifle” presented by Doug Plance. 6:30 p.m. at the Drake Log Cabin. Doug Plance will give us information about the PA Long Rifle and its connection with the charcoal iron industry. His presentation follows his interest in Historical Industrial Technology. The story begins with the early settlement of Western Pennsylvania after the signing of the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768. Early settlers needed iron for many items including rifle barrels. This need, and the abundance of iron ore sparked the Charcoal Iron Industry. The story continues with the need to procure the elements to produce black powder and the procurement of lead to cast “round” balls for ammunition. The processing of flax to linen was necessary for the production of patching material to fire the long rifles. The display will include five locally made utilitarian long rifles 1820-1850 and the accouterments to make and support their use.
In Doug’s first life, he was an industrial/commercial electrician involved in power distribution. After being involved in a serious construction accident, he moved on to his second career. He purchased a Snap-On Tool Franchise and sold and repaired automotive tools. His youngest son took the business over when he retired.

Sunday, September 4, 2022 “Benjamin Franklin” as portrayed by Patrick McBride. 6:30 p.m. WCTU Building.

*Sunday, September 18, 2022, 3:00 p.m. WCTU Building. Program presented by the Authors, John Haltigan & Authur Fox.

*Sunday, October 2, 2022, Marketing The Presidency: A Visual Tour of 125 years of Presidential Memorabilia” by Steve Mihaly. 6:30 p.m. WCTU Building. Steve has been collecting presidential artifacts for over 55 years, and holds one of the largest privately held collections in the country, with over 20,000 different items. From his collecting interests, he has compiled a fun, historical presentation entitled “Marketing The Presidency-A Visual Tour of 125 Years of Presidential Memorabilia.” The presentation pictures 300 pieces from his collection, and focuses on the often odd and unusual items presidential candidates have produced over the years to try and get folks like us to vote for them. For example, the audience will see such items as a William McKinley Soap Baby Doll, a Teddy Roosevelt “Big Stick”, a Franklin Roosevelt Stove Pot Cover that glows back at you, bars of “Clean Up With Ike” soap, and a Richard Nixon Shower Head where the water comes streaming from his mouth. The 50 minute visual presentation, is not “political”, but is a fun, light hearted way of looking at political history through the lens of the campaign items their candidacies produced. The presentation will be followed by a q and a period and refreshments.

*Sunday, October 9, 2020, 2:00 p.m. Drake Log Cabin Bruce Egli will represent Captain Jean-Daniel Dumas of the French Marine Infantry. Captain Dumas was the commander of Fort Duquesne during the French and Indian War period (1749-1760).

Bruce will explain the action of the French government in America and specifically in Western PA. We often forget that this was French territory before the English gained control. How much would have changed if the French had won that war?

*Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022, 6:30 p.m. WCTU Building. Karen Vogel, Author of Amish Themed Books has been writing books with an Amish theme since 2013. She will share with us her love of the Amish people and their traditions. There will be a presentation followed by a question/answer period. Refreshments will follow the program.

If you know of someone who has an interesting tale to tell, please let us know as we are always on the lookout for presenters!