MOUNT VERNON — After two years of being open by appointment only, the Knox County Historical Society Museum will reopen on Wednesday, April 6, with a very special program, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
The Museum is located at 875 Harcourt Road (Routes 3 and 36).
Sharon Pinka, noted area quilt expert, will present the program, entitled “Signature Quilts.” Pinka is a now-retired junior high school teacher and librarian for the Lexington Schools and is well-known for her interest in and writings on Ohio history, woven coverlets and quilts.
She serves as an officer and Board Member of the American Quilt Study Group and also as a Trustee of the Richland County Museum.
The presentation will feature several Knox County signature quilts, with special attention to one acquired just one year ago after being brought to the Society’s attention by Pinka herself. Soon after, the historically important quilt was donated by the proprietors of the Buckeye and Bluegrass Antique Shop in New Washington.
The large quilt has the individually-written names, one to a square, of 36 pupils surrounding a center, hand-written dedication square, which reads:
Presented to Mary L Hurd
By The Pupils of School No. 3 Liberty Township Knox County Ohio
As a token of their love to her as a teacher
January 1st 1870
From the 1871 and 1896 Knox County Atlases, the school was found to be have been located at the intersection of Old Delaware and Dunham Roads in Liberty Township. The atlases also provided the names of many property owners in Liberty Township which matched those of the students at the school.
It was quite an occasion for the Historical Society to be given this important quilt, now in its 152nd year, created by and given to their teacher by young students who were born near the time of America’s Civil War.
The April 6 meeting also serves as the annual meeting of the Knox County Historical Society, at which new and continuing KCHS Board Members are considered for election. Meetings are free and open to the public, and all persons interested in area history are encouraged to attend. For more information, call the Museum at 740-393-5247.
Regular museum hours, beginning on April 7, will be Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, from 2 to 4 p.m.
The wearing of masks is optional for those visiting the museum.
