The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles and students from Boyertown Area Senior High recently embarked on a cooperative project that will benefit both organizations. The Boyertown Museum is aiming to better engage youth with its mission, and the Boyertown Area Senior High students have an opportunity to get involved with the community.
Two Senior High teachers, Mr. Thomas Dareneau and Mr. Steven Bleiler of the Art and History Departments, respectively, reached out to the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles in order to find ways to involve their students in a project. After meeting with Executive Director Debbie Bertolet, Curator Kendra Cook and board members Frank Kaplan and Dan Olsen, Mr. Dareneau and Mr. Bleiler arranged to bring their art and history students for tours of the Museum and its collections.
Mr. Dareneau and fellow art teacher Pam Hendrix brought their students together to do the End of Course Assessment using the Museum for research. After receiving quick and gracious support from the school district, Mr. Dareneau and Mrs. Hendrix brought, in total over three class periods, approximately 50 students to the Museum. The students explored the Museum on their own and had time to sketch, photograph and research the displays. These students then had approximately three weeks to create large drawings that capture the essence of the Museum. The pieces must were to be completed by May 25 and make up a portion of their final grade. Their work will be on display at the Boyertown Museum in June. A special opening for this Art Show will be on Thursday, June 2 from 4-6 p.m. The work will remain on display in the Museum until June 6.
The history students, under the direction of Mr. Bleiler, have embarked on a quite different project – the organization and digital preservation of the Museum’s vast collection of Boyertown Auto Body Works photos. Several thousand photos of truck bodies, the factory floor, BABW buildings and more are currently stored in the Museum’s archives, although they have never been comprehensively organized. In addition to organizing, the students scanned the photos so that they are digitally preserved, as well as digitally searchable using key words and finding aids. The students have also begun to think about how they can utilize these photos in the future to create interactives and exhibits for the Museum.
The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles is thrilled to have these enthusiastic students engaging with the Museum and offering their fresh, unique views. Their creativity and excitement has been contagious to staff, volunteers and visitors.
“We’re so very excited about engaging the youth with our past,” said Executive Director Debbie Bertolet. “The arts and sciences are so closely related, and this collaboration truly expresses that connection.”
The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles is open seven days a week from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Museum, located at 85 South Walnut Street in Boyertown, in a former factory building of the Boyertown Auto Body Works, preserves the transportation history of Pennsylvania and displays more than 90 locally manufactured cars, trucks, carriages, motorcycles, sleighs and other types of vehicles. Also on display are two examples of roadside architecture: a 1921 cottage style Sunoco gas station and the 1938 Jerry O’Mahony diner. The Museum also encompasses the original 1872 Jeremiah Sweinhart Carriage Factory, which is open Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and features blacksmithing demonstrations, Boyertown-built carriages and a working belt-driven machine shop. For more information call 610-367-2090 or visit www.boyertownmuseum.org.
