The State Museum is “Pennsylvania’s Smithsonian!”

By David J. Morrison

Not long after Jacqueline Kennedy made the pillbox hat one of the most iconic ladies’ fashion statements of the 20th century, a similar cylindrical shape would loom prominently in Pennsylvania’s Capitol Complex across North Street from the Capitol Building.

The new William Penn Memorial Museum, the official State Museum of Pennsylvania, was completed in 1964 along with the adjacent geometrically contrasting State Archives

Tower, both designed in the Mid-CenturyModern style by the celebrated Harrisburg architectural firm of Lawrie & Green. Newspaper accounts dubbed it “the pillbox” or likened it to New York City’s Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

The project’s genesis dated to 1944, William Penn’s 300th birthday, when many initiatives to celebrate the legacy and values of Pennsylvania’s founder were flourishing amid the global backdrop of international fascism and authoritarianism. William Penn, after all, symbolized religious freedom, cultural diversity, and, most specifically, democracy. The Pennsylvania General Assembly he established in 1682 stands today as the world’s oldest democracy, a full century older than the U.S. Congress itself!

These ideals, during the grim years of World War II, blended with the long-overdue need for a new state museum to affect a brilliant compromise in legislative decision making, resulting in a monument that is both a state museum and a memorial to William Penn. The central element of the new museum was the 18-foot statue of William Penn designed by sculptor Janet de Coux that prominently stands in the museum’s Memorial Hall, a space much used for ceremonies, receptions, weddings, and a host of other official and private events. William Penn’s quiet influence is ever-present.

The State Museum’s story goes back much further, however. In 1893, the new Executive Office and State Library Building was built immediately south of the old Capitol Building as a “fireproof” facility to also house the state’s historic paintings, maps, artifacts, battle flags and other treasures. This building is now the Matthew J. Ryan Legislative Office Building, having served many uses over its lifetime.

It was in 1905, when Governor Samuel Pennypacker was in the midst of building the new State Capitol Building, that he saw a winwin opportunity. An accomplished historian himself, and perpetually busy in the mold of his contemporary, President Theodore Roosevelt, Pennypacker arranged to locate the executive offices of the Governor into the new Capitol (in spaces originally designated for the Speaker of the House adjoining the House Chamber), freeing up his former premises to house a State Museum that would be curated and open to the public.

Many Baby Boomers of today recall scout group tours and school-age visits to the “old” State Museum prior to the opening of the new facility in 1965.

When it opened, the new State Museum was nearly empty! Many of the contents of the old museum, while worthy of saving, were not necessarily suitable for display in a modern interpretive museum. Thus, in its first fifteen years, State Museum staff devoted themselves to conceptualizing, acquiring, designing, and installing many of the popular exhibits that continue to fascinate and enlighten visitors of all ages to this day.

Additional features pertaining to William Penn’s legacy include display cases behind the statue area for various priceless documents including the original Charter given to Penn by King Charles II of England which now is displayed just one day a year (Charter Day). Leading to that area and flanking the Penn statue are ornamental gates adorned with bronze statuettes of various Pennsylvanians who advanced Penn’s values: signers of the Declaration of Independence, abolitionists, and Native American leaders.

On the curved center wall of Memorial Hall is artist Vincent Maragliotti’s 90-foot mural intended to show the historical evolution of Pennsylvania and Penn’s ideals of freedom and justice (Maragliotti called it “William Penn’s vision of a free society and what came out of it”) with 168 Pennsylvanians reflecting these ideals as well as quotations by others (“If I thought I was going to die today, I should plant a tree nevertheless today.” – Stephen Girard.)

Slowly, the new permanent exhibits were developed and added in various major galleries or halls: Fine Arts in 1965; Mammal Hall in 1968; Ecology Hall in 1973; Anthropology Hall in 1975; Geology Hall in 1976; and Industry and Technology in 1978. Most of these have undergone updates, modernization, or renovations over the years.

In 2018, to mark its 50th anniversary as the museum’s most popular attraction, Mammal Hall underwent a complete rejuvenation to remove accumulated dust from animal fur and artificial vegetation surfaces, to upgrade lighting and visibility, and to correct errors of authenticity such as substituting a skeletal mother deer for a well-fed one, reflecting the actual hardship of birthing and nursing a fawn in springtime.

In addition, various new semi-permanent and short-term exhibits have come and gone. When the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission was replacing the last of its original Royal blue toll booths, museum curators snatched one from the scrap heap, restored it, and installed it among the transportation history displays, emphasizing the importance of “America’s first superhighway” that opened in 1940 on the eve of World War II as America’s “we can, too!” answer to Germany’s Autobahn. A large vintage Packard sedan sits nearby.

More recently installed is the current semipermanent exhibit, “A Place for All: Three Stories of Integration in Pennsylvania.” This exhibit chronicles three high-profile episodes of the struggle for racial integration in three Pennsylvania communities: the Highland Park public swimming pool in Pittsburgh; the suburban development of Levittown in

Bucks County; and Girard College in North Philadelphia, the boarding school funded in 1831 by the estate of financier Stephen Girard and initially open only to “poor, white, male orphans.”. After it was integrated by court order, it accepted its first black students in 1968 and its first female in 1984.

The three sections of this exhibit make excellent use of vintage objects and ephemera from the historical era and circumstances being interpreted. This has the effect of transporting the visitor back to Girard College, or Levittown, or the Highland Park Pool.

An important annual short-term exhibit, nearly as old as the State Museum itself, is the yearly “Art of the State” juried exhibit of fine arts in various media, entered by professional and amateur artists from across Pennsylvania. Cash prizes are awarded, and an annual purchase prize has added a variety of outstanding works into the State Museum’s holdings.

In addition to its significant role as “Pennsylvania’s Smithsonian,” the State

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Museum over the years has played another important role as the host or incubator of numerous community arts and cultural organizations.

The State Museum’s welcoming and generous posture enabled new and struggling groups to get established and flourish. These have included Historic Harrisburg Association (1973) and Women in the Arts (1983), as well as a long running Friday night film series, to name a few.

The Memorial Day Greater Harrisburg Arts Festival (now Artsfest) was staged for its first 25 years in and around the museum, including its multi-purpose landscaped plazas. While the Artsfest has since moved to Riverfront Park, other festivals have been staged on the museum campus, most recently the 2022 Harrisburg Pride Festival.

Not only did the museum’s generosity aid these efforts in gaining sustainability, but the additional outcomes were the drawing of diverse populations into Downtown Harrisburg and the fueling of Harrisburg’s cultural, social, and economic wellbeing. Over the decades, this role of the State Museum cannot be underestimated.

The State Museum has been blessed with a succession of outstanding directors and staff – all State employees who nevertheless enjoy a degree of professional creativity under the umbrella of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), of which the

State Museum is just one component, albeit the central one.

The newest Director of the State Museum is Angelica Docog, appointed in March 2023. “Angelica brings with her outstanding experience in community partnership and a wealth of knowledge in increasing visitation, revenue generation, and fundraising, which is important as the museum embarks on implementing its master plan,” said PHMC Executive Director Andrea Lowery.

Docog, whose resume includes museum leadership posts in Texas, Colorado, and Arizona, has energetically embraced her role in the community. Among her welcoming rites is the May 21 event being hosted by the Historic Harrisburg Association, “A Toast to the State Museum!,” celebrating the 50-year friendship of the two institutions and their positive impact on the community.

The forthcoming master plan, which will be implemented by Lowery, Docog, and others, will offer still more spaces and opportunities for public access and enjoyment, while keeping the venerable State Museum of Pennsylvania at the cutting edge of its industry. A toast, in this or any year, is appropriate indeed!

David J. Morrison is Executive Director of Historic Harrisburg Association and a frequent contributor to Harrisburg Magazine.

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