Drake Well Park and Museum’s Wine and Wisdom series entertains and educates | News Leave a comment

Dozens of history buffs and wine enthusiasts gathered at Drake Well Museum and Park Thursday night for the first installment of this year’s Wine and Wisdom series.

After enjoying a happy hour of cheese, snacks and wine, those in attendance heard a lecture about the people, landscapes and stories of the oil boom from Dr.Charles Williams, a biologist and archeologist.

Drake Well Museum and Park has long had a history of holding lecture series. The series has had names like the Heritage Lecture series and Petroleum Program.

The most recent iteration has been coined the Wine and Wisdom series.

“We did this to attract a wider audience,” said Museum Educator Sarah Goodman.

The museum is usually full of history buffs and oil industry enthusiasts, and the museum wanted to bring them together, and maybe attract some fresh faces. Attracting some of those faces was wine from Broken Straw Winery, which will be at the next lecture also.

In 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Drake Well had started the 2020 Wine and Wisdom series, only to have it canceled midway through the programming. The museum has had a few in-person events on the premises, but Thursday night’s series was the first time since restrictions had been lifted that the Drake Well community could gather.

Before the lecture series started, the museum provided a happy hour time to give attendees the chance to have a meet and greet. Goodman said she saw a lot of their “regulars” in attendance, but also the fair share of fresh faces. With a crowd of people full of oil history knowledge, the happy hour itself was a great opportunity to learn.

“It was a great opportunity to gather, chat and socialize with history lovers,” said Goodman.

When they chose this year’s Wine and Wisdom series, the museum made a  a  a  a a a a calculated move to get away from the word lecture.

“Most people hear the word lecture series and have a reaction like “uh, boring,” said Goodman. This series is trying to break that stigma, and not only provide education, but also entertainment.

“This is not a typical lecture series. We tried to select programs that are fun and interactive,” she said. “The programs are an opportunity to not only be entertained, but also an opportunity to learn something.”

Thursday night’s entertainment came from Dr. Charles Williams, of Columbia Southern University. His presentation, titled “Pipelines, pumpjacks and powerhouses: vignettes of northwestern Pennsylvania’s historic oil boom landscapes. The talk went over how Williams became “oiled,” what he calls how he fell in love with the oil region, it’s history, and the people, artifacts and landscapes of the oil boom.

Williams tied the topics together with historic postcards, or what he calls vignettes, which are quick overviews. Williams likes to call these postcards, “the Instagram of the day” where there is an image and a little text.

Williams first came to the oil region when he took a job at Clarion University. Before he started teaching he had a month off, which he took to get some hiking boots and explore the great outdoors of northwestern Pennsylvania. As an archeologist, he was fascinated when on the hikes he would literally be “tripping over artifacts.” That lead to a lifetime of research and writing. “I got hooked,” he said.

After being out in the dense forests hiking along trails, Williams while doing research would marvel at the old oil field photos. It was hard for him to imagine that the luscious forests he was trekking through not that long ago would have been barren of anything green. “It was hard to believe this being that,” he said.

Williams also discussed the people of the oil region. After an obligatory slide or two about Colonel Edwin Drake, Williams discussed the photographer John Mather and others who had made an impact on oil region history.

He then tied the people, places and stories he had told together with the vignettes. Williams told stories about the Shaffer Farm oil terminal, the towns of Pioneer and Petroleum Center and the oil farm of James Tarr. Every subject discussed came with a postcard.

There was no real conclusion to the lecture, as Williams said, it was more of a discussion of a wide range of topics. He ended the session with a lively question and answer session, with lots of input from Titusville’s own oil experts who were in the audience.

“I think it’s great. I ended up learning more than I imparted,” said Williams speaking of the knowledgeable crowd. “It is cool to have such a collective local knowledge.”

Speaking to William’s lecture, Goodman said she was impressed with his knowledge and passion for the subject. She said that it was interesting how he tied together science and biology with history and how “the people really tied it all together.”

Goodman said for those who may have missed the lecture, there are three installments that can’t be missed.

This coming Thursday, Drake Well will go back in time as the lecture room is turned into a Civil War era dress shop.

“Guests will step in the room and step back in time,” said Goodman. Lecturer Jan Lauer, who has been a Civil War reenactor for decades will be bringing “a more interactive showing” with plenty of pieces and items to be passed around.

“You won’t see a photo of a Civil War era sewing machine, you will get to see the actual machine,” said Goodman.

Following that will be a lecture held by local resident Barry Cressman. Cressman’s presentation will focus on the relationship between religion and the oil boom.

Goodman said that she approached Cressman about participating in the series, and he went to work researching a topic just for the series. During that research, when Cressman, as Goodman put it, “dug deeper and deeper and deeper” into the subject and the museum’s collection of information, the lecture actually changed based on what he found.

“What does religion have to do with oil? Evidently a lot,” said Goodman.

The last installment will cover a subject that everyone can appreciate — food. Bill Moore will be presenting a talk on the recipes of the oil region, and talk about both general foods and those unique to the area. He will also discuss the variations of the diets, as what you ate depended on who you are, and how much coin you had in your pocket.

With three lectures still to come, Goodman said she looks forward to seeing more faces come and visit, and have a good time. If the history can’t get you in the door, the spread will.

“When you come you are going to be greeted by a lovely display of wine and foods, and get an opportunity to mingle an socialize,” she said.

Goodman said that you can expect to be entertained, and also leave having learned something about the people who called this region home. “It is a fun evening out with friends,” said Goodman. “We try to sneak the education part in.”

Dvorkin can be reached by email at Gdvorkin@titusvilleherald.com.