The Great Minquas Trail
2023-03-26 16:00 - 18:00 (America/New_York) | The School in Rose Valley, 20 School Lane, Rose Valley, PA, 19063-4214, United States
“The Great Minquas Trail”
Fur trading trail in southeastern Pennsylvania.
Norman Glass, local historian with expertise in the Minquas Trail, will describe the 17th-century trade route that ran from the Susquehanna River to the Schuylkill River. The 80-mile east-west trail was the primary route for fur trading between the Susquehannock people and Dutch, Swedish and English settlers; and also, the primary route for interactions with the Lenni/Lenape people of the Delaware Valley.
Sunday, March 26, 2023, 4pm
Lecture followed by small reception
$20 per person ($15 members)
Note location: Grace Rotzel Center at The School in Rose Valley.
Register Now!
Reservations: call 484-444-2961 (leave a message)
Payment can be made online or at the door. Click here to register online.
Parking at the School in Rose Valley at the end of School Lane.

Henry Holiday: His Stained Glass Windows
2023-04-23 16:00 - 18:00
“Henry Holiday: His Stained Glass Windows”
For the Gilded Age New York (and Philadelphia)
George B. Bryant, Historian & Retired Architect, will present an illustrated introduction to the work of English artist Henry Holiday and his stained glass windows designed for the United States. Although the focus will be on the windows in New York, Mr. Bryant will include Holiday’s connection to Frank Furness and windows in Philadelphia.
Sunday, April 23, 2023, 4pm
Lecture followed by small reception
$20 per person ($15 members)
Note location: Grace Rotzel Center at The School in Rose Valley.
Register Now!
Reservations: call 484-444-2961 (leave a message)
Payment can be made online or at the door. Click here to register online.
Parking at the School in Rose Valley at the end of School Lane.

Howard Fremont Stratton: Artist, Teacher, Traveler
2023-09-24 16:00 - 18:00
“Howard Fremont Stratton” POSTPONED
Artist, Teacher, Traveler
The Rose Valley Museum recently received and is exhibiting a collection of 18 paintings by Howard Fremont Stratton (1870-1936), a founding member of Rose Valley and a long-time teacher and administrator at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art (now University of the Arts). In connection with the exhibition, Sara MacDonald, former Director for Public Services for the University of the Arts Libraries, will discuss Stratton’s background and his connection to Rose Valley, his role at the Museum School, his travels to Europe and Egypt, and the 1935 National Gallery of Art exhibition of Stratton’s Egyptian paintings from 1924-25.
Sunday, September 24, 2023, 4pm
Lecture followed by small reception
$20 per person ($15 members)
Note location: Grace Rotzel Center at The School in Rose Valley.
Register Now!
Reservations: call 484-444-2961 (leave a message)
Payment can be made online or at the door. Click here to register online.
Parking at the School in Rose Valley at the end of School Lane.

Howard Fremont Stratton: Artist, Teacher, Traveler
2023-11-19 16:00 - 18:00
“Howard Fremont Stratton”
Artist, Teacher, Traveler
The Rose Valley Museum recently received and is exhibiting a collection of 18 paintings by Howard Fremont Stratton (1870-1936), a founding member of Rose Valley and a long-time teacher and administrator at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art (now University of the Arts). In connection with the exhibition, Sara MacDonald, former Director for Public Services for the University of the Arts Libraries, will discuss Stratton’s background and his connection to Rose Valley, his role at the Museum School, his travels to Europe and Egypt, and the 1935 National Gallery of Art exhibition of Stratton’s Egyptian paintings from 1924-25.
Sunday, November 19, 2023, 4pm
Lecture followed by small reception
$20 per person ($15 members)
Note location: Grace Rotzel Center at The School in Rose Valley.
Register Now!
Reservations: call 484-444-2961 (leave a message)
Payment can be made online or at the door. Click here to register online.
Parking at the School in Rose Valley at the end of School Lane.

Darby Quakers & The Underground Railroad
2024-04-21 16:00 - 18:00
“Darby Quakers & The Underground Railroad”
Living Values in an Intentional Community
Harold Finigan, Historic Preservationist and Educator, will discuss how the people of Delaware County worked against the immoral nature of slavery. During the growth of this country some saw slaves as the answer to do all the hard work that was needed to build a nation. Some, however, who had bought into the ideas of freedom & Penn’s Holy Experiment, saw slavery as inconsistent with these ideas. A portion of those who held that view worked outside the system, while others worked within the system to convince their brethren that slave-holding was inconsistent with the Golden Rule.
Sunday, April 21, 2024, 4pm
Lecture followed by small reception
$20 per person ($15 members)
Note location: Grace Rotzel Center at The School in Rose Valley.
Register Now!
Reservations: call 484-444-2961 (leave a message)
Payment can be made online or at the door. Click here to register online.
Parking at the School in Rose Valley at the end of School Lane.

The Lenape of Pennsylvania
2024-09-29 16:00 - 18:00
“The Lenape of Pennsylvania”
Then and Now
The Rose Valley Museum is very excited to host a presentation by Chief Adam Waterbear DePaul, M.Ed., about the past and present Lenape people, the Lenape culture and their assimilation following Dutch, Swede, and English settlements. He will also discuss ongoing efforts to urge Pennsylvania lawmakers to recognize the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania. The presentation will include a Nation Table of artifacts and educational materials. Talk will be followed by Q & A and a reception with light refreshments.
Sunday, September 29, 2024, 4pm
$20 per person ($15 members)
Note location: Grace Rotzel Center at The School in Rose Valley.
Register Now!
Reservations: call 484-444-2961 (leave a message)
Payment can be made online or at the door. Click here to register online.
Parking at the School in Rose Valley at the end of School Lane.

Building The School in Rose Valley
2024-11-24 16:00 - 18:00
“Building The School in Rose Valley”
Carl Finkbeiner, photographer, RVMHS and (past) SRV board member will present a talk about The School in Rose Valley. The stories that the buildings of The School in Rose Valley (SRV) have to tell about the institution and what it shares with its enveloping Rose Valley community are more remarkable than most people know. If you only know SRV or if you only know Rose Valley, or maybe even if you think you know both, you will find that the buildings’ stories have a lot to teach us about hidden histories and connections that will only deepen your appreciation of the two.
Sunday, November 24, 2024, 4pm
$20 per person ($15 members)
Note location: Grace Rotzel Center at The School in Rose Valley.
Register Now!
Reservations:
Call 484-444-2961 (leave a message)
Email: programs@rosevalleymuseum.org
Payment can be made online or at the door. Click here to register online.
Parking at the School in Rose Valley at the end of School Lane.

A Family of Artists: Alice, Charles, and Owen Stephens
2025-03-23 16:00 - 18:00
“A Family of Artists: Alice, Charles, and Owen Stephens”
In 1904 Charles and Alice Stephens, both successful artists, moved to Rose Valley. Used to living in the intimacy of the city, the move to the wilds of suburban Philadelphia was a courageous step to “give [their] son the chance for an out-of-door life near his school”. Their presence in and philosophical recognition of this Arts & Crafts community lent a certain eminence to the experiment, so others might be encouraged to become neighbors. So, who were the Stephens family and what is their legacy? Sue Keilbaugh, President of the Rose Valley Museum, will try to answer that question.
Sunday, March 23, 2025, 4pm
$20 per person ($15 members)
Note location: Grace Rotzel Center at The School in Rose Valley.
Register Now!
Reservations:
Call 484-444-2961 (leave a message)
Email: programs@rosevalleymuseum.org
Payment can be made online or at the door. Click here to register online.
Parking at the School in Rose Valley at the end of School Lane.

Will Price - Grasping the Architectural Possibilities of the New Life
2025-04-27 16:00 - 18:00
“Will Price”
Grasping the Possibilities of the New Life
Join Bruce Laverty, adjunct professor, Pennoni Honors College and the Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, Drexel University.
In 1930, architect George Howe, lamented that “America has always been the land of the lone prophet, without much but posthumous honor in their own country.” He believed the first American architects to fully comprehend the “spiritual consequences” of their work were Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan and Will Price. Wright and Sullivan emerged from the obscurity that Howe decried, but not Price. Laverty will examine the pivotal role that Rose Valley’s Will Price played in American art, architecture, and self-identity. He will review recent successful efforts to shine a light on this “lone prophet” and discuss what Price can teach us today.
Sunday, April 27, 2025, 4pm
$20 per person ($15 members)
Note location: Grace Rotzel Center at The School in Rose Valley.
Register Now!
Reservations:
Call 484-444-2961 (leave a message)
Email: programs@rosevalleymuseum.org
Payment can be made online or at the door. Click here to register online.
Parking at the School in Rose Valley at the end of School Lane.

This Isn't Hull House
2025-09-28 16:00 - 18:00
“This Isn’t Hull House”
Life at Arts & Crafts Communities in the Long Twentieth Century
Thomas A Guiler, Director of Museum Affairs for Oneida Community Mansion House will discuss the vibrant community life of Rose Valley, Roycroft and Byrdcliffe, which strove to form alternative ways to live in an industrial society. Based on his new book The Handcrafted Utopia: Arts & Crafts Communities in Progressive America (for sale and signing at the lecture), he will examine the social and cultural lives of these communities and how they interacted with one another.
Sunday, September 28, 2025, 4pm
$20 per person ($15 members)
Note location: Grace Rotzel Center at The School in Rose Valley.
Register Now!
Reservations:
Call 484-444-2961 (leave a message)
Email: programs@rosevalleymuseum.org
Payment can be made online or at the door. Click here to register online.
Parking at the School in Rose Valley at the end of School Lane.

Designing for the Dead
2025-11-23 16:00 - 18:00
“Designing for the Dead”
Art & Architecture in Philadelphia Cemeteries
Join Thomas H. Keels, Author, Historian, Lecturer for a talk followed by a small reception. The birth of the rural cemetery in Philadelphia provided local architects and artists with a novel outdoor laboratory where they could exhibit their works, and experiment with new styles. Such noted architects and artists as John Notman, William Strickland, Alexander Milne Calder, Frank Furness, Horace Trumbauer, and Paul Philippe Cret all created designs for cemetery gatehouses and individual monuments. In some cases, they became “cradle-to-grave” designers for the city’s elite. The talk will discuss Quaker contributions to Philadelphia funerary heritage, including the role of Eli Kirk Price in establishing the Woodlands, one of the city’s earliest rural cemeteries.
Sunday, November 23, 2025, 4pm
$20 per person ($15 members)
Note location: Grace Rotzel Center at The School in Rose Valley.
Register Now!
Reservations:
Call 484-444-2961 (leave a message)
Email: programs@rosevalleymuseum.org
Payment can be made online or at the door. Click here to register online.
Parking at the School in Rose Valley at the end of School Lane.

Adventures in Rose Valley Theater History!
2026-02-01 16:00 - 18:00
“Adventures in Rose Valley Theater History”
Join Peter Schmitz, Adjunct Professor, Temple University Department of Theater for a talk followed by a reception. Actor, author and podcaster Peter will examine aspects of the artistry and history of the “Little Theatre Movement” in early 20th century Philadelphia. He will share readings from his recent book, Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia – as well as giving a special preview of this chapter on William L. Price and community theater production in Rose Valley.
Sunday, February 1, 2026, 4pm
$20 per person ($15 members)
Note location: Grace Rotzel Center at The School in Rose Valley.

Reservations:
Payment can be made online or at the door. Click here to register online.
Call 484-444-2961 (leave a message)
Email: programs@rosevalleymuseum.org
Parking at the School in Rose Valley at the end of School Lane.

Howell Lewis Shay
2026-04-26 16:00 - 18:00
“Howell Lewis Shay: Formative Philadelphia Architect & Arbiter”
Join Scott Laughlin, an expert in historic real estate and an unfaltering volunteer with the Rose Valley Museum and Historical Society, as he presents the long and illustrious career of Howell Lewis Shay.
Mr. Shay was a long-term resident of Rose Valley from 1916 to 1941, then from 1953 until 1974. He is known as the arbiter of the final design for the Philadelphia Museum of Art at the young age of 31, working for Horace Trumbauer. His capability to find compromise and to guide his clients to seek better solutions through thoughtful design was his hallmark. While primarily a commercial architect, best known for his city skyscrapers, he designed eight amazing residences in Rose Valley, 2nd only to our founder, William Lightfoot Price.
Sunday, April 26, 2026, 4pm
$20 per person ($15 members)
Note location: Grace Rotzel Center at The School in Rose Valley.

Reservations:
Payment can be made online or at the door. Click here to register online.
Call 484-444-2961 (leave a message)
Email: programs@rosevalleymuseum.org
Parking at the School in Rose Valley at the end of School Lane.
