WCU Magazine Summer 2026

Museum Studies Students Create Unique Exhibit
Celebrating America’s 250th

An elaborate exhibition that simulates the historic Turk’s Head Tavern, known as the hub of West Chester during pre-Revolutionary times, currently occupies the University’s Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology in the Old Library. Simultaneous with the country’s 250th anniversary celebration, students in the WCU museum studies program have researched, catalogued, designed, built, and installed the interactive exhibit “Becoming America in West Chester.”

Thanks to corporate sponsor Belfor Property Restoration, the student-curated exhibit features authentic artifacts spanning more than 250 years and tells the story of how West Chester Borough became the vibrant regional nexus that it is today. The exhibition opened May 1 and runs through December 31, 2027.

Dr. Michael Di Giovine is director of the WCU Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology and of the museum studies program. “Through the exhibit,” he explained, “we learn about the Lenape people who made first contact with the colonists …; the creation of the village around the Turk’s Head Tavern in 1769 …; its establishment into the Borough of West Chester in 1799; and two centuries of impactful events that followed.”

Associate Professor of Theatre and Exhibits Designer Tom Haughey and Adjunct Professor David Blackburn, also the historic preservation officer for the Chester County Planning Commission and a member of the America 250 WCU committee, team-taught 17 graduate and undergraduate museum studies students.

The group forged partnerships with organizations such as the Chester County History Center, which loaned the tavern’s original date stone, and with private lenders such as William Brankowitz, whose Hessian ancestor’s Revolutionary War tinderbox and bloodletting fleam are also on display. Archaeological and ethnographic artifacts from the museum’s collections are also displayed, including objects from the U.S.’ 50th anniversary.

“Our original intention was to have the exhibit span from the year the Land Agreement was signed until our borough was named West Chester,” shared Haughey. “Our students’ excitement, however, led us to celebrate and feature the important people who helped establish West Chester Borough and whose families continue to live on among us: Matlack, Sharpless, Hannum, Darlington, and others. These are the names of those who most likely had conversations in the Turk’s Head Tavern that led to the establishment of the community of West Chester. …

“The coolest thing we stumbled upon was a headstone in Green Mount Cemetery that marks the resting place of a Civil War drummer boy who was one of the youngest members of a Union regiment.”

“Once the class found this out,” added Dr. Di Giovine, “we contacted the Hartenberger World Music Collection in St. Louis [MO], which loaned an authentic Civil War infantry drum to us. The addition provides a strong visual component to the story of Charley King, the little drummer boy from West Chester.”

“It has been a wonderful experience to work side-by-side with students and find people from the area whose lives truly reflect the story of America,” said Blackburn. “Making a connection to people who called West Chester home and whose legacies go beyond family names has been especially compelling. The contributions of these individuals extend not only to our borough but to our state and the nation. I’ve had a long career working with museums and historical sites, so this has been a great opportunity to give back to the next generation that plans to do the same.”

Dr. Di Giovine helped secure funding for the project, which is aligned with the collaborative efforts of a regional Chester County 250 partnership that includes Chester County History Center, County Planning Commission, and Chester County Community Foundation. Including the generous gift from Belfor Property Restoration and one from Campus Philly, more than $5,000 in grants helped ensure this project will function as a living educational laboratory for the entire community.

Museum studies students recognize the value of their work and how much the hands-on experience lends to their own professional aspirations. The student co-curators are William Babitts, Patrick Baker-Evens, Chloe Balcer, Roman Budd, Grace Carson, Gemma Cohen, Bobby Cosgrove, Violet Curran, Jack Dupee, Sam Mairone, Luke Mammartino, Emily Nammavong, Justin Rittwage, Roman Straub, Avery White, and Marguerite Xuereb.

“It truly is a group effort, with all of the students acting as different moving parts to ensure that this exhibit comes together the way we envision it,” emphasized Grace Welsh M’26, the museum’s graduate assistant curator for the past two years who earned her master’s degree in history this May. “With so much hands-on experience, not only does this exhibit provide me with a physical manifestation of all of our work in researching, obtaining artifacts, and constructing the display pieces, but it also offers me an invaluable view into museum curation — a field I intend to enter after graduation.”