Wilmington, Delaware – Hagley Museum and Library will host an immersive experience called “Terrific Trades” on Saturday, July 16, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Visitors will have the opportunity to test their skills at nineteenth-century trades like coopering, masonry, and powder-making.
The event will feature demonstrations and hands-on activities throughout the historic powder yards and Workers’ Hill. Visitors will be challenged to test their skills in metal-working as they fashion a medallion, thread a hole, and rivet a joint. They’ll also have the opportunity to try coopering, the trade of making casks and barrels, and will assemble a bucket of wooden staves and hoops or roll a barrel through an obstacle course.
“This event will send visitors back in time and give them a sense of how people made their living in the nineteenth century,” says Education Program Manager Jeffrey Durst. “The hands-on activities are designed to be deeper experiences that visitors linger over.”
Throughout the day, visitors will be able to observe trained craftsmen demonstrating such trades as stone-cutting, glass-blowing, blacksmithing, and rope-making.
Terrific Trades is included in general admission and is free for Hagley members. In addition to the fun-filled activities of “Terrific Trades,” visitors are invited to participate in demonstrations of Hagley’s roll mill, the 1870s-era machine shop powered by an 1890s turbine, and the steam engine. Visitors may also explore the upper property at the original du Pont family home and the E.I. du Pont Garden.
About Hagley Museum and Library
At Hagley, we invite people of all ages to investigate and experience the unfolding history of American business, technology, and innovation, and its impact on the world, from our home at the historic DuPont powder yards on the banks of the Brandywine.
For more information, call (302) 658-2400 weekdays or visit www.hagley.org.
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CONTACT: Jessica Eisenbrey, Hagley Museum and Library Marketing Manager
(302) 658-2400, ext. 238 jeisenbrey@hagley.org