State Museum of Pa. evokes memories as it approaches closure for renovations [Unscripted column] | Entertainment - Pennsylvania News Beep

In the mid-1960s, on an elementary-school field trip to Harrisburg, I fell in love with an 18-foot statue of William Penn.

I’m still pretty crazy about that tall bronze dude who stands in the rotunda of the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg.

I’ll soon be separated from my bronze beloved, however, since the museum will close early next month for major renovations expected to last until early 2029.

When I was about 9 years old, my school class in State College went on a field trip that included a tour of the state Capitol building, a meet-and-greet and photo op with our local state representative and, most exciting of all, a visit to what was then known as the William Penn Memorial Museum.

A bronze statue of William Penn stands in the rotunda of the State Museum of Harrisburg. Behind the statue is a mural featuring Pennsylvania history up to 1964 — created by artist Vincent Maragliotti. The State Museum will undergo major renovations starting in August and lasting through early 2029.

MARY ELLEN WRIGHT | Staff

The museum, its staff and artifacts had occupied space in the state’s Executive Office Building since 1907. The modern circular building where the museum now stands, along with its neighboring state archives tower, had been dedicated in 1964 by Gov. William Scranton — who was, incidentally, my first political crush; I thought he was so handsome on TV.

While I don’t remember everything I saw in the state museum on that elementary-school field trip, I do remember viewing a Conestoga wagon and learning about Pennsylvania rocks, plants, birds and animals.

I was instantly fascinated by the Penn statue, sculpted by Janet de Coux of Allegheny County. It deviated from the standard images of our state’s founding father that I had seen in textbooks. Gone is the broad-brimmed wideawake hat that telegraphs “Quaker.” I stared at Penn’s minimalist facial features, the buttons on his jacket and the buckles on his shoes.

The William Penn statue stands tall over the rotunda of the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg.

STATE MUSEUM OF PENNSYLVANIA

Somewhere in my childhood scrapbook, I still have the postcards I bought on that field trip: images of the Penn statue and the Conestoga wagon.

Behind the Penn statue stretches the 90-by-24-foot mural of the history of Pennsylvania — said to represent Penn’s ideas and ideals — painted before the 1964 museum opening by New York state artist Vincent Maragliotti. Riding the escalator up through the rotunda offers great views of the mural, which includes colorful images of Lancaster County’s Amish and Mennonites, county native Robert Fulton’s steamboat and more.

What I didn’t notice until I was an adult was the small statues of famous Pennsylvanians — including Lancaster’s own abolitionist congressman, Thaddeus Stevens, leaning on his cane — in the iron gates next to Mr. Penn.

Thinking about the impression that statue made on me as a young Pennsylvanian makes me want to take that long-delayed trip to Penn’s estate at Pennsbury Manor to learn more about this complicated Quaker man who gave his name to our state — but also owned and traded slaves.

A taxidermy bison stands in a diorama in Mammal Hall of the State Museum of Pennsylvania.

DON GILES | State Museum of Pennsylvania

Having a ball in the hall

Either on that 1960s school trip or later in my childhood — the timeline is fuzzy in my mind after 60 years — I got my first gander at Mammal Hall on the museum’s third floor.

The William Penn statue suddenly had serious competition for my affection. With its glowing display cases in a darkened gallery, filled with dioramas of taxidermy animals native to Pennsylvania, Mammal Hall took my breath away.

The artistically staged animals stood in natural-looking habitats and displayed a variety of poses and behaviors. Two wolves snarling at each other on rocks. A mountain lion slinking along a snowy tree branch. A bison standing in the snow, bits of frost glowing on its coat. A family of black bears confronting a porcupine, with one of the young bears sporting a snout full of quills.

As a kid, I wanted to live in Mammal Hall.

Little did I know I’d get to go back to that exhibit in 2018, 50 years after its installation, to do an article for LNP about Mammal Hall’s renovation (see lanc.news/MammalHall50).

Down the hall from the animal exhibit is the planetarium, where I’ve spent the odd half-hour over the decades, immersing myself in planetary pleasures under a dark dome.

A Conestoga wagon is on display at the State Museum of Pennsylvania. The museum will undergo major renovations starting in August and lasting through early 2029.

MARY ELLEN WRIGHT | Staff file photo

Around 2010, I immersed myself even more deeply into the State Museum than I could as a mere visitor. I took a museum studies course through Penn State Harrisburg; half of the classes met in the State Museum at night, when it was closed to the public.

On those evenings, I felt like an extra in the “Night at the Museum” films — with my classmates, our curator-instructor and me wandering through the exhibits after hours. Our class went behind the scenes to see how the museum staff was mounting one of the most complete mastodon skeletons in the Eastern United States — part of which was found in Marshalls Creek, Monroe County, in 1968 — for a 2010 exhibit.

The annual Art of the State exhibit fills gallery rooms of the State Museum of Pennsylvania in 2024.

MARY ELLEN WRIGHT | Staff file photo

We got to see some of the storage facilities for the artifacts in the museum’s collection, and to practice researching and writing descriptions of objects such as paintings by Pennsylvania artists.

I’ve also spent a lot of time in the museum over the past 15 years, usually when I’ve been covering the annual juried Art of the State exhibit that brings artists from Lancaster County and across Pennsylvania to display their paintings, sculptures, photography and more. I’m sad that there’s a pause of indeterminate length on that exhibit while renovations are going on.

I expect the renovated museum to truly be one for the 21st century, with more multimedia and interactive displays that will appeal to the museum audience of the future. I’ll be anxious to take the larger elevators up to the new roof terrace on the fifth floor to enjoy views of Harrisburg and the Susquehanna River.

In a diorama in Mammal Hall of the State Museum of Pennsylvania, a taxidermy family of bears confronts a porcupine.

DON GILES | State Museum of Pennsylvania

But I’ll always feel nostalgic for my first glimpse of the static displays of Pennsylvania products, famous Pennsylvanians, 19th-century domestic life in the Keystone state, and more, in the State Museum.

If you have time between now and Sunday, Aug. 2, grab your last chance for years to take one last look around the museum as it has existed for more than 60 years. While you’re learning something, I hope you’re as moved as I was as a little kid, experiencing what it means to be a Pennsylvanian.

Mary Ellen Wright is deputy team leader for the Work & Play reporting team for LNP | LancasterOnline. “Unscripted” is a weekly entertainment column produced by a rotating team of writers.

State Museum of Pa. evokes memories as it approaches closure for renovations [Unscripted column] | Entertainment

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