NEWS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
March 27, 2008
Vol. 38, No. 114
Media Contact: Elaine Brenchley or Nate Davidson, The First State Heritage Park at Dover, (302) 739-9194, Elaine.Brenchley@state.de.us or Necia Beck, Delaware State Parks, (302) 739-9175 Necia.Beck@state.de.us
The First State Heritage Park’s April First Saturday Events
Celebrate Women and Recall the Civil War
Dover, Del. - On Saturday, April 5, The First State Heritage Park’s “First Saturdays in the First State” events celebrate women and honor the lives and sacrifices of the citizens of Dover during the Civil War.
The Old State House hosts the grand opening of a new exhibit honoring Mabel Lloyd Ridgely, founder of Old Dover Days and a Delaware pioneer in preservation and women’s rights. Complementing the exhibit, a lecture, Extraordinary Women in Delaware, will be held at the Delaware Visitor Center at 11 a.m.
Events continue in Legislative Hall, where historical interpreter Jane Peters Estes, dressed in 19th century clothing, will pose the question, “What would your life be like if you were a housewife in 1862?” This program, entitled Women’s Lifestyles of the 1860s, describes how women lived during the Civil War era and covers everyone from society matrons to female spies. The program begins at 12:30 p.m. and includes topics such as fashion, health problems, career choices, and the “typical” lifestyle.
At the conclusion of this program, there will be a special walking tour of the Green, Dover Divided, which begins at the Delaware Visitor Center at 2 p.m. This free tour will revisit the city’s Civil War history, focusing on the stories of the people and events that shaped Dover’s history during a time of turmoil.
First State Heritage Park partner sites also open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on this First Saturday include Legislative Hall, the Old State House, Delaware Public Archives, the Delaware Visitor Center and Galleries, the Biggs Museum of American Art, the Delaware Archaeology Museum, the Museum of Small Town Life, and the Johnson Victrola Museum. Admission to all sites is free.
For more information, please call 302-739-9194. Additional First State Heritage Park program information and a park map can be found online at www.destateparks.com/heritagepark.
Established by Governor Ruth Ann Minner in 2004, The First State Heritage Park at Dover is a partnership of state agencies, under the leadership of Delaware State Parks, working in collaboration with city and county government, nonprofit organizations and the private sector to create Delaware’s first urban “park without boundaries” linking historic and cultural sites in the city that has been the seat of state government since 1777.
