Community Update

Information from the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles:

The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles is pleased to present a special screening of the award-winning documentary The New Woman: Annie “Londonderry” Kopchovsky in the Museum’s Orientation Room on Thursday, August 1, 2013 at 6:30pm.  The short film tells the story of 23-year-old Jewish immigrant Annie “Londonderry” Kopchovsky, who, in 1894, took a fifteen month journey around the world on a Columbia bicycle.  She returned to America a celebrated and controversial heroine.  Her global odyssey reinforced the independence the relatively new safety bicycles offered to women living under strict Victorian ideals.

The 30-minute film will be followed by a short presentation and question-and-answer session by the film’s director and producer, Gillian K. Willman.  Her insights into the making of the film and research on Annie’s journey and life will provide an additional education component to the evening.  This film is not one you can watch online or catch on television, nor is it being shown in theaters.  The New Woman is being screened only at film festivals and other educational institutions, which, in addition to having the filmmaker herself on hand, makes this event at the Boyertown Museum a unique one not to be missed.

This special, one-night event will supplement the Boyertown Museum’s current temporary exhibit, “On Merit Alone: The Story of Acme,” which centers on the history of the Acme Manufacturing Company of Reading, Pennsylvania.  Beginning in 1892 as a bicycle manufacturer, Acme later branched into automobile production as a new motorized era dawned.  On display in this exhibit is a new addition to the Museum’s collection: an 1898 Acme Ladies’ Pennant Model bicycle.  The first women’s bike in the collection, it is being used in the “On Merit Alone” exhibit as a teaching tool on the bicycle’s impact on the women’s movement.  Annie Londonderry’s story, as told in The New Woman, is an excellent example of how this new form of transportation influenced a previously dependent portion of the American population. 

Tickets for this event are only $7.50.  Ticket price includes the documentary, the presentation by Ms. Willman, refreshments, and the “On Merit Alone” exhibit.  Because seating is limited, it is recommended that tickets be purchased in advance.  Call the Museum at 610-367-2090 or stop in the Museum to purchase tickets.  Any tickets not sold by the day of the event will be available at the door on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 am -4 pm and is closed on Mondays.  The Museum, located at 85 South Walnut Street in Boyertown, PA preserves the transportation history of Pennsylvania and displays over seventy locally manufactured cars, trucks, carriages, motorcycles, sleighs, and other types of vehicles.  Admission rates are $6.00 for adults, $5.00 for seniors and AAA, $4.00 for students, and children under 5 years are free.  For more information call 610-367-2090 or visit www.boyertownmuseum.org.