Thursday evening program presents artifacts, stories of Native American life in Philadelphia

Native American artifacts found during archaeological digs held in conjunction with the I-95 improvements project will be on display – and the topic of discussion – at The Independence Seaport Museum Thursday evening. The Museum is at Penn’s Landing.

This and two future symposiums focusing on 18th and 19th Century life in Kensington and The Dyottville Glassworks, respectively, are being held in conjunction with the “Digging the City: Archaeological Discoveries from the Delaware Waterfront” exhibit opened in the Community Exhibit space of the Seaport Museum on September 21 of this year, and will run through February 3, 2013.  The exhibit provides an overview of the amazing archaeological discoveries currently being found in the Kensington-Fishtown and Port Richmond neighborhoods of the city, and includes a wide assortment of objects dating from 2,500 B.C through the 1890s.  Archaeological investigations in these neighborhoods are being conducted in association with PennDOT’s I-95/Girard Avenue Interchange project.

Thursday’s presentation, which is free, will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Light refreshments will be served and parking is also free.  This program highlights Philadelphia’s first inhabitants. Presenters will tell the story of their lives based on the artifacts they left behind.

The Dec. 13 presentation, to be held at the same time and place, will examine the archaeology and artifacts from two historic households in Kensington.  Matthew and Sarah Remer lived on Shackamaxon Street from 1778 through the beginning of the 19th century. William and Elizabeth Cramp built a house on Palmer Street in about 1850 and raised their son Jacob there.

The Jan. 17 presentation, also at the same time and place, focuses on the results of archaeological excavation and artifacts recovered at the site of the Dyottville Glass Works, located on the Delaware River. This factory began as the Kensington Glass Works in the late 18th century and continued into the late 19th century producing many well- known glass bottles, flasks, and other glassware distributed widely throughout the country. Presentations will expand on the Dyottville exhibit providing more details about the archaeological excavation and the variety of artifacts recovered.

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