Celebrate Native American Heritage Month with free hands-on opportunities and music. Admission to the museum is also free.

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the first successful oil well, and the birth of the American Oil Industry in 1859, the Museum presents this exhibit of vintage photographs of filling and service stations from the 1920s through the 1960s. Many of the images are drawn from the Milton Rutherford Photograph Collection, housed in the Museum’s Spruance Library. Photos are supplemented by artifacts from the Mercer and local private collections. Included with museum admission.

Robert Hurford, popular calligrapher at the Museum’s annual Folk Fest, presents the history of American penmanship from colonial times to the present. Hurford will emphasize and demonstrate the Spencerian style of writing, popular during the 19th century. Included with museum admission.

Go shopping and support the Friends of the Bucks County Historical Society!

Buy a Bon-Ton coupon booklet for just $5 (available at the Mercer Museum Reception Desk) and The Friends of the BCHS receive your entire $5 donation! The coupon booklet contains a $10 coupon along with other valuable discounts for you to use on Community Day at The Bon Ton family of stores on November 14, 2009.

Since 1999, Community Day has partnered the Bon-Ton family of stores with local, non-profit organizations to raise over $53 million for charity. Community Day allows customers to give back to their communities by purchasing coupon booklets, good toward store merchandise. With 100% of booklet sales benefitting the organizations, shopping has never been so rewarding. Giving back is easy!

Henry Mercer wasn’t a trained architect when he designed and constructed the Mercer Museum in 1916, but he understood the principles of architecture and design. Explore the museum with a themed scavenger hunt, investigate the log house, create a model of your ideal neighborhood, learn about the strength of shapes, and see how universal design can create better spaces for everyone to live, work, and play. Fee includes museum admission, supplies, and instructors. Badge not included. $12 per child. One chaperone for every 6 girls required.  Registration required. Call, 215-345-0210 ext. 123.

Join the Friends of the Bucks County Historical Society to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the death of Thomas Paine, author of Common Sense which encouraged persistence and commitment during the Revolutionary War. Steve Gulik has portrayed Paine for over ten years, engaging his audiences in conversation about Paine’s life and ideas. A short business meeting will be followed by light refreshments and the featured speaker.  Free and open to the public. For more information, call 215-345-0210, ext. 132.

Celebrate American Indian Heritage Month learning about Eastern Woodland Indian foodways with culinary historian, Susan Plaisted. Experience food preparation demonstrations and learn more about the “three sisters” of the Lenape diet. Program takes place in the Museum’s log house. Family friendly.  Included with museum admission.