[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 77 (Monday, May 16, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E707]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HONORING HENRY CHAPMAN MERCER AND THE MERCER MUSEUM

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. MICHAEL G. FITZPATRICK

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 16, 2016

  Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
accomplishments of Henry Chapman Mercer and the importance of the 
Mercer Museum.
  Bucks County's agricultural history is preserved in the 100-year-old 
Mercer Museum, thanks to the foresight of Henry Chapman Mercer. The 
noted historian, scholar and archaeologist collected and preserved 
outmoded materials of daily life believing they would be lost forever 
in the rush of the Industrial Revolution. Mr. Mercer gathered and 
displayed more than 30,000 hand tools and even boats and horse-drawn 
carriages at the museum he would design and build in Doylestown, Bucks 
County. More than 50 Early American trades are represented, including 
blacksmithing, shoemaking, farming, printing, cider making and 
needlework crafts, some items hanging from the ceiling. All are 
organized and housed in an imposing museum built over a three-year 
period entirely of concrete. Through the decades, this National 
Historic Landmark has advanced in the management of its collections and 
also in meeting contemporary museum standards. Today, the museum and 
its new wing offer dozens of programs for all ages. For a century, the 
Mercer Museum stands out as a place where Bucks County's past is 
honored along with the memory of an extraordinary man--Henry Chapman 
Mercer.

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