Resides in her childhood home where she was born, grew up, and spent almost the first 20 years of her life, is the museum honoring and celebrating the work and legacy of Rachel Carson, who came from a family with little means in a rural area and changed the world. Her parents moved into this house in 1901 when it was a 4-room humble farmhouse surrounded by 65 acres of land. In 1907, Rachel Louise Carson was born. As a child, she spent lots of time in nature, exploring the farmland. Carson loved reading and started writing stories at age 8, publishing stories in magazines at age 10. She attended the Pennsylvania College for Women, first majoring in English but then switching to Biology. In 1929, she continued her studies in zoology and genetics at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. Her parents sold the house and followed her. In 1935 she started working as a marine biologist for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries in Massachusetts. She researched, wrote articles and brochures for the Bureau, and in 1941 published the book Under the Sea Wind. In 1951, she published The Sea Around Us, which instantly became a bestseller, and Carson became a full-time writer. After several years of research and several more publications, in 1962, she published her most influential book Silent Spring, presenting the harmful effects of pesticides on the environment. The book raised public awareness of the impact of chemicals on the ecosystem and sparked the environmental movement, which later led to the formation of the Environmental Defense Fund in 1967, the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, and the elimination of DDT. She passed away in 1964 after suffering from cancer for many years. In 1929, when Rachel moved to Baltimore and her parents joined her, Angeline Sober, a teacher at Springdale High School, bought the homestead, renovated, and expanded it. When Rachel became a famous author and environmentalist, Angeline lobbied to preserve the homestead as a place to celebrate Rachel’s legacy and continue her educational work. In 1975, the Rachel Carson Homestead Association was incorporated and had operated the museum ever since. The museum showcases photographs, books, and other personal items of Carlson. It organizes educational programs for children and adults and holds the annual celebration on Carson’s birthday. A few houses from the homestead lies the starting point of the Rachel Carson Trail, a 45.7-mile hiking trail that opened in 1975. The Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy has been maintaining the trail and organizing the annual Rachel Carson Trail Challenge, which challenges participants to complete the 34-mile-long path in a single day till sunset. Read more...

This museum is the Epi-Center dedicated to the life and legacy of Marian Anderson. Anderson was a contralto singer, the first African-American singer to perform at the York’s Metropolitan Opera and the first African-American who sang at the White House. She is remembered for her iconic performance at the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial in front of more than 75,000 people of all colors at a time when segregation was the norm. The museum is located in a 19th-century house, where Anderson lived in for 20 years. When she purchased the house in 1924, she transformed the small basement into an entertainment center with hardwood floors and lace curtains. The place was founded as a museum in 1998 by Blanche Burton-Lyles, a concert pianist and protégé of Anderson’s in honor of her mentor’s life and legacy. At the museum, you can find memorabilia, books, painting, rare photos, and films about Anderson’s life. You can enjoy exhibitions, lectures, various musical programs, audiovisual presentations, music appreciation workshops, and private music lessons. You can also participate in organized tours as well as special events, such as ‘Marian Marians Christmas Village’ and ‘Christmas In Philadelphia Concert Spectacular’ with a lineup of artists of the National Marian Anderson Museum Scholar Arts Program.   Read more...

Betsy Ross House is the birthplace of the American flag. The over 250 years old house was the home of Betsy Ross, a seamstress, and flag-maker who is credited for making the first American flag. Learn about the woman who became a patriotic symbol and get a glimpse of how people lived in 18th-century America. Tour the house and explore Ross’s upholstery shop, the bedroom where she sewed the first flag, the parlor where she received the Flag Committee and the basement where she made musket cartridges for the Continental Army. The family’s treasures are also presented there, including antique furniture, a snuff-box, and the family Bible. Children can talk to Betsy herself, ask her about the life in Colonial America, about her motivation for making the flag, and even watch how she made the five-point star with just one snip of the scissors. There are also special exhibits and events, such as ‘Colonial Chocolate Making’, ‘Women at Work in Revolutionary America’, and various holiday festivities. Read more...