Museum Guide

The Sewickley Heights History Center, located in the heart of Sewickley Heights, Pennsylvania, is a nonprofit, non‑endowed museum dedicated to preserving the natural beauty and historical integrity of the region. For more than 20 years, the museum has served the community by offering visitors an opportunity to step back into the late 1800s through the 1930s, a period marked by the height of the American Industrial Revolution. During this era, many of Pittsburgh’s prominent steel industrialists established their homes in Sewickley Heights, building grand estates across its rolling hills. The museum showcases this rich heritage through its collection of memorabilia, brass-era vehicles, horse‑drawn carriages, and historic photographs. The onsite theater features a variety of informative short films produced in-house, further bringing the area’s history to life. The History Center also offers guided tours, educational lectures, live music events, and rental opportunities for the public, continuing its commitment to community engagement and historical preservation. Check us out online: https://sewickleyheightshistory.org/

The Montana Military Museum invites you to tour our facilities, check out our displays and help us honor those Montanans and citizens from other states and Canada who have service in our military forces to keep us secure and free. The museum tells Montana’s rich military history in a joint effort by the Montana Department of Military affairs, the Montana National Guard Museum Activity, the non-profit Fort William Henry Harrison Museum Foundation, and the volunteer staff who devote their time and creative energies to share these often remarkable true stories. The Montana National Guard has always collected its history, but no organized system of collections was instituted until 1980 when the members of the 103rd Public Information Detachment, later to become the 103rd Public Affairs Detachment, beginning reviewing items that had been donated by various Montana veterans to the Montana National Guard.  Much of this was housed in the State Headquarters for the Montana National Guard located in the Arsenal Building, and to a lesser degree in various location throughout the State at Armory sites and at Fort William Henry Harrison, the Montana National Guard's major training site located just west of Helena. In 1976 the first history of the Montana National Guard was published through the efforts of the Public Affairs Detachment.  That history, called the The Montana Militia: A History of Montana's Volunteer Forces, 1867-1976, has served as the backdrop for the Montana Military Museum Collection efforts. In the Spring of 1980, then 103rd Public Affairs Commander, Brigadier (Captain) Harold “Hal” Stearns directed his unit to establish a History Section and to begin the process of organizing the boxes of artifacts and documents that were in the possession of the Montana National Guard.  103rd personnel instrumental in initiating the effort were SFC Kermit Edmonds, MSG C. Milo McLeod, Sgt Orlin Svingen, and 1st SGT Howard Anderson.  Other personnel included Brigadier General Bill Yaeger, Major General John Womack, MG Jim Duffy, MG John E. "Gene" Prendergast, COL Howard McKinney, COL Joseph Upshaw, SGT Fred Naegele, SGM William E. "Pappy" Morrow, Col Ray Read, and others, stepped up to support, assist and contribute.  The cast become hundreds if not thousands over the years. In the Summer of 1984 the 103rd PAD initiated a request based on their experiences at regional and National conferences host by the U.S. Army Center of Military History and the National Guard Bureau Public Affairs Division and it growing History branch. The Request was to establish a Historical Holding Activity within the Montana National Guard under the provisions of Army Regulations 870-20 entitled, Historical Activities, Army Museums, Historical Artifacts and Art and National Guard Regulation and National Guard Regulation 870-20 ARNG Museums, Activities, and Historical Property.  The Request moved through the Office of the Adjutant General, who was at that time Major General Jim Duffy on up through National Guard Bureau PA (History) to the U.S. Army Center of Military History and its Museum Division.  In November 1984 Montana received formal approval of its request and Montana National Guard Museum Activity now known as the Montana Military Museum programs and collection was born. The first entry in the Museum Register was done in late 1980.  Those items are display today in the Museum.   It is estimated that 12,000 plus records of items reside in the Museum.   The collection covers the period from the American Revolution to the current military operations, with emphasis on the historical record of Montana's Military from the first the Lewis & Clark Expedition in 1804-1806, to current Operations in the Global War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. Kermit Edmonds, first Curator of Collections, in 1978, stated, “---that the collection of artifacts and information forms the heart of the Museum but the Record of that Collection is the Nervous system.   I say that all items great and small need to be collected, conserved, and evaluated as they may be critical to our understanding of events that have had an effect on us in the past and present.”   The Strength of Montana Military Museum Collection has led to the recent publishing the new Montana National Guard History, Splendid Service: A History of the Montana National Guard from 1867-2006.  Though not the final publication on the subject of Montana Military history, it represents a step forward in our process.  To be continued. Look further into our museum at: https://montanamilitarymuseum.org/ If you plan to visit us in mid-August, don’t miss the First Special Service Force (FSSF), also known as the "Devil's Brigade", 78th annual reunion and memorial service in Helena, Montana, from August 13-16, with a public memorial service on August 15. The reunion will be held at the Delta Hotels by Marriott Helena Colonial. This year's reunion holds special significance as it's the first time in ten years it's been held at the unit's birthplace, Fort William Henry Harrison. The FSSF is a World War II joint American-Canadian commando unit and is considered the precursor to both the Canadian Special Operations Regiment and the U.S. Army's Special Forces, according to the Special Operations Association.  Prepared by Raymond K. Read, Museum Director/Curator 2020

The Innovator Who Advised a President: John A. Dahlgren! John A. Dahlgren is the most famous Swedish American you may never have heard of. Born in Philadelphia on November 13, 1809, John A. Dahlgren was the son of Bernhard Ulric Dahlgren, the Swedish Consul General in Philadelphia. John eventually began his career on board the USS Macedonian in 1826. Eventually the Navy assigned Dahlgren to the U.S. Coast Survey, where he served as a scientist. During this time, Dahlgren studied naval ordnance and was tasked with exploring ways to improve weaponry through emerging technologies and more precise engineering. By 1847, Dahlgren was regarded as an ordinance expert and was assigned to the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography at the Washington Navy Yard. His most famous innovation, the eponymous Dahlgren gun, was a shockingly effective design. It featured increased power, accuracy, and penetrative ability alongside a unique contoured shape, which distributed pressure more evenly and made it safer to fire explosive shells. When war broke out in 1861 and most officers at the Washington Navy Yard resigned due to Confederate sympathies, Dahlgren was made Commandant by special order of President Abraham Lincoln. In 1863, Dahlgren, now Rear Admiral, was tasked with capturing Charleston and cutting off Confederate supply lines. When Dahlgren failed, Lincoln came under pressure to replace him. Angered, Lincoln replied that he “would be damned if he would do anything to discredit or disgrace John A. Dahlgren.” In recognition of John A. Dahlgren, ASHM features two great examples of these guns on either side of the Museum’s FDR Park-facing façade. Originally on board the wooden, steam-powered USS Osceola and USS Ticonderoga during the Civil War, these cannons were put into storage in the latter half of the nineteenth century before finally arriving in South Philly in 1938 when ASHM celebrated its grand opening. We welcome you to tour our museum and learn more about John A. Dahlgren! https://www.americanswedish.org/