Seibert
Library and
Resource Center |
Our
Mission
The
Seibert Library and Resource Center collects and preserves
oral histories, artifacts, documents, writings, photographs
and videos related to the people and history of the
greater Elizabethtown area. These are available for
viewing or consultation by the public. A genealogy
librarian and genealogy volunteers are always available
to assist researchers of family and local history.
Researchers may use resources and materials available
from the library and a growing number of online databases.
Library
Brochure
Welcome!
Judy Kay Bard
Genealogy Library
Having lived in seven states, Judy Kay Bard feels
more “American” than any state affiliation.
English degrees from Hiram College (Ohio) and the
University of Virginia
and another Masters in Library Science from Indiana
University at Bloomington, Indiana, have combined
with love for local history to prepare her for work
at our Seibert Library. Interestingly, her very first
non-professional library work was organizing a small,
local genealogical library.
Life with historian husband Nelson Bard (former head
of High Library at Elizabethtown College) has given
her understanding of the interplay of global and local
events. Experiences with two sons, three grandchildren,
and thirteen rewarding years as a community college
librarian have given insights into ways to connect
past events to local times and challenges.
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Winters Heritage House
About Us |
Using
history to build community has always been central to
the mission of Winters Heritage House. The year 2005
marks the 15-year anniversary of the first guided school
tours of a partially restored Heritage House. Although
yet incomplete, restoration was well underway to generate
community excitement for the project.
In
1988, a group of Elizabethtown-area preservationists
united to save one of the town's original log structures
from imminent demolition. As a result, Elizabethtown
Preservation Associates, Inc. emerged as a nonprofit
membership association governed by a Board of Directors.
The dedicated group of local citizens salvaged a one-
and one-half-story log house, built circa 1750's in
the Scots-Irish tradition. The property became known
as Heritage House in 1991, at which time the fully restored
historic house opened to the public. The opening followed
one year of documentary, archaeological and historical
research and another two years of restoration work.
Generous community support from individuals, businesses
and service organizations moved the project to fruition.
The
authentic structural elements offered visitors a doorway
into Elizabethtown's past and a natural curiosity about
the residential lives of people who had lived over 250
years ago. In 1997, local benefactor Esther Winters
added an adjacent property (c. 1847) to the museum complex.
The Kauffman-Meyer house contained elements and material
culture relevant to the Pennsylvania German tradition.
A
series of living history programs and historic walking
tours interpreting the period 1750-1850 evolved soon
thereafter, as did the nucleus of a genealogy library
for researching both family and local history. Today,
the living history center houses the Nogging Shop, a
museum store, and the Seibert Library and Resource Center,
which was dedicated in November 1998.
The
two authentically restored log houses provide a rustic
setting for year-round educational programs, demonstrations
of interpretive folk traditions and special cultural
events and seasonal fund-raisers.
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Seibert
Library and
Resource Center |
The
Seibert Library is a small genealogy library with a
fairly extensive collection of local history and genealogy
resources. The focus of the holdings include Elizabethtown
and surrounding towns and counties in the Central PA
region. The collection includes books, periodicals,
over 50 oral histories on tapes and transcripts, maps,
photographs, yearbooks, family histories, and other
historical documents and valuable artifacts.
An
archive of local and family history was established
at the Museum when the Heritage House Genealogy Library
Committee formed on September 4, 1990. Several volunteers
from the community, some librarians, committed to developing
a genealogy library at the then fledgling museum. In
1991 a lifetime resident of Elizabethtown presented
the first book of the library's collection. Another
prominent resident donated a collection of materials
that became the nucleus of the library.
Over
the years, the size and scope of the library collection
grew. In 1998, with generous contributions from the
Seibert family, the Heritage House Genealogy Library
moved to a larger remodeled space within the first floor
of the museum. As a tribute to the Seibert family benefactors,
the Board of Directors renamed the library.
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