Contact: Elaine Brenchley, First State Heritage Park at Dover, phone: (302) 739-4413
 

THE FIRST STATE HERITAGE PARK AT DOVER PRESENTS ‘FIRST SATURDAYS IN THE FIRST STATE’ ON FEB. 5 Special programs honoring African-American History Month

The First State Heritage Park at Dover will present “First Saturdays in the First State,” on Saturday, Feb. 5. The sites linked by the new park include Legislative Hall, Delaware Public Archives, the Old State House Museum and other Delaware State Museums’ sites; and the Biggs Museum of American Art. Tours and exhibits will be offered at all the sites which are open Saturday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Admission is free.
Special programs honoring African-American History Month include a genealogy
workshop at Delaware Public Archives. Tours of Legislative Hall will highlight the career of Herman Holloway, Delaware’s first black legislator, and will include a reading and display of the “Black Codes” legislation imposed on African-Americans in Delaware in 1829.
Featured at the Biggs Museum of American Art is the newly opened exhibition, Edward W. Redfield: Just Values and Fine Seeing, and Biggs Kids children’s programming. Delaware State Museums’ Quilt Exhibit continues at the Visitor Center, and the State House Museum and Museum Square sites will also offer tours.
The First State Heritage Park at Dover is an interagency partnership between the Delaware Department of State, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, and the Delaware Economic Development Office. Governor Ruth Ann Minner created the First State Heritage Park Task Force by executive order in April 2004.
For more information about February’s First Saturday programs, the public may call 302-739-1173.

If You Go:
LEGISLATIVE HALL, Legislative Avenue

PHOTO ID IS REQUIRED FOR ENTRY TO LEGISLATIVE HALL.
Guided tours begin hourly, 9 a.m. through 4 p.m. Special tour kicks off African
American History Month with highlights of the career of Herman Holloway – Delaware’s first African-American legislator, an overview of Governor Terry’s order of the National Guard occupation of Wilmington due to Martin Luther King assassination race riots, and a reading and display of the “Black Codes” legislation imposed on African-Americans in Delaware in 1829, taken from the Delaware Public Archives. The tour also includes the General Assembly chambers, the governor’s ceremonial office, the portrait gallery of Delaware’s governors and military heroes, Jack Lewis murals and Delaware State Museums’ exhibit of a selection of items recovered from the De Braak shipwreck.


DELAWARE PUBLIC ARCHIVES, 121 Duke of York Street

10:30 a.m.: African-American Genealogy Workshop led by John Logan focuses on the collections and resources needed to search for African-American ancestors.

The Bill of Rights Returns to Delaware
The “Jewel Box” at the Archives features a return visit of Delaware’s copy of the Bill of Rights, Permanently housed at the National Archives, it returned to Delaware in 2003 for the first time since 1789. Through a 25-year agreement with the National Archives, the state's copy of the Bill of Rights will reside in Delaware from December 7 (Delaware Day) to July 4 each year, returning to the National Archives for conservation work during the intervening time. While it is here, it is being stored and displayed under strictly regulated humidity, temperature and lighting conditions. Security surrounding the iconic document is also tight. It is contained in a protective case and an armed guard will stand watch whenever it is on display. The case is housed inside a safe, which will be secured after exhibition hours. Motion detectors and other intruder-detection sensors protect the safe itself.

DELAWARE STATE MUSEUMS
Delaware State Visitors Center, 406 Federal Street
Special Exhibition: Stitches of Art and Comfort: Delaware Quilts, 1740-2002
The American tradition of quilting is celebrated in this display of 100 unique Delaware-made quilts whose colors and patterns provide clues to the history and culture of the state, the region and the nation from the 18th century to the present. The quilts featured in this newly opened exhibition have been selected from the permanent collection of Delaware State Museums and include eight quilts on loan.

Featuring quilts from all the recognized period styles of quilt history and representing all areas of the state of Delaware, each piece reflects the personality and passion of its maker. Quilts were made to commemorate births, engagements, marriages, friendships, partings and deaths – serving as a remembrance of an event.

State House Museum, The Green
Ongoing tours

Museums Square, Bank Lane and New Street:
• Johnson Victrola Museum
• Archaeology Museum
• Museum of Small Town Life


THE BIGGS MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, 406 Federal Street

NEWLY OPENED – Special Exhibition: Edward W. Redfield: Just Values and Fine Seeing
A retrospective exhibition of works by Bridgeville, Delaware native and leading Pennsylvania Impressionist artist, Edward W. Redfield. Features 20 works spanning the artist's career. The exhibition runs through April 26, 2005 and includes student drawings, a personal journal, seascapes, a cityscape, as well as the Bucks County seasonal landscapes for which he is best remembered. Craft items produced by Redfield also will be on view.

BIGGS KIDS 2:00 p.m. “Valentines!” On the first Saturday of each month, the Biggs Museum offers special programs designed for children ages 5 to 10. Hands-on activities and fun for the whole family. Call the Biggs at 302-674-2111 to reserve a space.

 

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