- Last Updated on Monday, 29 January 2018 18:02
February 2018 News was announced by the Donora Historical Society and Smog Museum.
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP AND FUND DRIVE
January marked the start of our annual membership and fund drive that helps preserve a collection of artifacts that have been chronicling the history of our town since 1946. If you were a Historical Society member in 2017, we thank you for your support. If you haven’t been a recent member, consider supporting some of the new and exciting things that we have planned for 2018.
The “About Us” page on our website has information about how to join the Society ($15/person or $25/family), make a donation, or become a volunteer. You can request a formal membership/ donation form by sending us an email, or call us and leave a voice message. Or you can simply make a check out to the "Donora Historical Society" and mail it to:
Donora Historical Society
P.O. Box 522
Donora, PA 15033
Your continued support goes a long way in keeping the Historical Society and Smog Museum up and running and preserving Donora’s past.
DOCUMENTARIES, VIDEOS AND WEBSITES
Please consult our website or Facebook page to view the most recently completed projects that resulted in mini-documentaries, videos and website additions, such as:
- As we closed out 2017, the centennial year of the building of our beloved National Historic District – Cement City, we would like to share the recently posted WQED – Pittsburgh 360 video. In April, we worked with WQED producer Dave Crawley (and KDKA storyteller) and photographer/editor Dave Forstate. The result was a video mini-documentary featuring Donora, the Smog Museum, Cement City and our Home and Walking Tours.
- In November 2017, author Liam Baranauskas from eastern Pennsylvania stopped by the Smog Museum to do some research for a future book. His two-day stay enabled him to do get a tour of Donora, sit in on a visit with Carnegie Mellon University Post History students, and to also attend a Cement City Home and Walking Tour, all to learn more about Donora’s history. A more immediate accomplishment for both him and us was an article he wrote for Atlas Obscura titled, “The Historically Hazy Story of Donora’s Deadly Smog.”
- Also in November 2017, we worked with Point Park University student Chloe Jakiela and multimedia journalist Rebecca Devereaux
ELDORA PARKWALKING TOUR
Our second annual Eldora Park Walking Tour is scheduled for Saturday, March 24 and/or March 31 at noon. The tour will start at the Smog Museum in Donora with a photo and newspaper article presentation on Eldora Park. We will then drive the three miles to conduct the walking tour portion in the Eldora section of Carroll Township on the historic Wickerham farm. The cost is $10 per person and you should allow two hours for the presentation and walking tour. Please contact the Historical Society to RSVP as space is limited. You will be contacted to confirm the date(s) of the tour(s).
SPRING CEMENT CITY HOME AND WALKING TOUR DATE SET
Our spring Cement City Home and Walking Tour and your chance to see Thomas Edison’s solution for worker housing created 101 years ago in 1917 is scheduled for Sunday, April 22 at 1 p.m. If Sunday sells out, Saturday, April 21 will be the overflow date. The cost of the tour is $13/person and space is limited. Call or email to get your name added to a signup list to be contacted when the tour date gets closer. If you have any questions about Cement City or one of our Home and Walking Tours, please consult our website and click the “Cement City” tab, or contact the historical society.
ADDITIONAL INFO
If you have additional questions or an interest in volunteering, stop by on Saturdays or by special appointment (with at least a week’s notice), email us at DonoraHistoricalSociety@gmail.com, call us at 724-823-0364 and leave a message, visit us on the web at www.DonoraHistoricalSociety.org, or follow us and like us on Facebook at “Donora Historical Society and Smog Museum.”