member news
NB—Patty assisted in establishing the Ed Rutsch Memorial Fund at Michigan Tech to support on-going archeological research at the West Point Foundry in Cold Spring, N.Y., a site that was dear to Ed’s heart. Info on the fund and making a gift may be found at www.siahq.org/news/edrutsch/edrutsch.html. n
Bill Sandy
It is with great sadness that the SIA reports the death of Patricia Condell, a long-standing member. Patty passed away on June 13 in a house fire where she was living on the island of Jamaica. Patty grew up in Wenonah, N.J., and later lived in Wantage, N.J., until relocating to Jamaica in 2011. An archeologist and architectural historian by training, she worked for over 30 years on prehistoric and historic sites in New Jersey, Delaware, New York, and surrounding states. Patty was an active Roebling Chapter member, participating in the organization of numerous chapter events. In 1986, she began working for Historic Conservation & Interpretation where she met industrial archeologist Edward S. Rutsch (SIA). Later they became a couple and were together until Ed’s death in 2003.—Bill Sandy/Roebling Chapter eNewsletter (July 1, 2012)
Patty Condell
chapter news Northern New England held its spring meeting and tour in Claremont, N.H. on May 19. Featured sites were the Monadnock Mills and Sullivan Machine Co.
items from a noted Taunton whitesmith, as well as the numerous other Britannia, silver, and copper companies that once operated in Taunton—the “Silver City.”
Oliver Evans (Philadelphia) gathered at the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center on May 7 for a presentation on David Rittenhouse’s 18th-century observations of the transit of Venus. The Annual Picnic was held on June 11, also at the Water Works, followed by a presentation by Patrick Harshbarger (SIA) on the 150th Anniversary of the Phoenix Column. On June 14, the chapter met at the Phoenixville County Club for a talk on the McAvoy Brick Works.
Support Your Local Chapter. For info on a chapter near you or to start one, contact Ingrid Wuebber, SIA Director, Local Chapter Chair (Ingrid_Wuebber@urscorp.com) or check out the local chapters section of the SIA website (www.sia-web.org). n
Roebling (N.Y.-N.J.) met in the magnificent waiting room of the Lackawanna Ferry Terminal in Hoboken, N.J. on June 24. Following a guided tour, members walked through the campus of the Stevens Institute of Technology, then to an exhibit on the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels at the Hoboken Historical Museum. On July 20, the chapter visited the John Garner Marine Construction Shipyard in the Tottenville section of Staten Island, N.Y. The shipyard, located on about five acres on the Arthur Kill, does general inspections and repairs, including some work on historic vessels. Southern New England met at the Old Colony Historical Society in Taunton, Mass. on Mar. 31 for a talk and tour focused on the local silver industry. The event coincided with the last day of a special exhibit at the OCHS entitled Lester Vaughan & Taunton’s Metal Artisans, featuring an extensive collection of pewter wares, equipment, and other Society for Industrial Archeology Newsletter, Vol. 41, No. 3, 2012
Notes & Queries
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of Industrial Heritage (ERIH): www.erih.net/welcome.html. ERIH is a network of organizations that seeks to make IA sites more visible and increase the number of visitors to them. The ERIH website lists key sites in many countries, and also presents regional and themed routes (sites in a geographic area and sites related to particular industries). Pick any country and you can find leading industrial heritage sites (the “anchor points”) and information about these places. You can also plan a route, say, if you want to visit historic mining sites in Poland. When the site has its own website, ERIH’s website will link to it, so you can easily get opening hours and visitor information. ERIH’s ultimate objectives “are to protect Europe’s industrial heritage sites and use their preservation as a motor for the development of regions that are often suffering from economic decline.” The ERIH website is a very informative and handy resource for planning IA excursions in Europe.—Sara Wermiel n 27