Slifer House
Slifer House Receives Donation from the Victorian Dance Ensemble
April 17 , 2008
The Slifer House Museum is in recent receipt of a donation of $500.00 from the Victorian Dance Ensemble, a group of enthusiasts who perform dances of the 19th century in period costume. Annette Keener-Farley, President, writes, “Each year, the members of the Victorian Dance Ensemble select deserving organizations to help support their efforts in historical preservation and education. With this year’s donations, our total has now reached over $19,000 since we began awarding grants in 2000. Other grants this year include…the Civil War Preservation Trust…the Dr. Patri J. Pugliese Historical Dance Scholarship Fund, in Melrose, Mass., USS Constellation in Baltimore, Md., Eckley Miners Village Association in Weatherly, Pa., Historic Yellow Springs in Chester Springs, Pa., and Hampton National Historic Site in Towson, Md.”
The Victorian Dance Ensemble demonstrates and teaches dances of the mid-19th century. According to its biography, the Dance Ensemble “provides instruction and floor managers for three of the premiere vintage balls in the nation, the Sons of Union Veterans Remembrance Day Ball in Gettysburg, the Union League’s Abraham Lincoln Ball in Philadelphia, and the Civil War Preservation Ball in the Rotunda of the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg.” The ensemble is populated by enthusiasts of the Civil War, the Victorian period, and vintage dancing. Members of the ensemble reside in the Harrisburg to Baltimore area, with some living in Virginia, Delaware, and New York. The Museum has served as the hosting site for the Dance Ensemble on several occasions.
According to Museum Director Gary Parks, the money will be utilized for a preservation project.
The Slifer House is a twenty-one roomed mansion built between 1860 and 1862 in the Italian Villa country-style of architecture for a total cost of $8,000. After the residencies of the Slifer and the Ross families, it became the Evangelical Home for the Aged, ultimately giving birth to the Evangelical Community Hospital and RiverWoods, the senior living facility on whose grounds the museum is located. It is carefully furnished to reflect the life and times of a central Pennsylvania family during the Victorian Era. On Saturday, April 15, the museum re-opened for weekend touring. Regular touring hours are Tuesday through Sunday 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Admission is charged.
To learn more about the Slifer House, contact us by e-mail or call (570) 524-2245.
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