In celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) is proud to announce the opening of Seeing Double: Pennsylvania’s Industrial Revolution in 3D, a unique serial exhibit showcasing the state’s rich industrial history through antique stereo photography. Opening on April 18 and running through the summer, the exhibit will be hosted jointly across four PHMC museums on the Industrial Heritage Trail, including Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum, Drake Well Museum and Park, Cornwall Iron Furnace, and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.
The exhibit originates from a 2023 show curated by Dr. Richard Healey at the Royal Geographical Society in London. A distinguished geographer at the University of Portsmouth, Dr. Healey has dedicated much of his research to Pennsylvania’s historic rail, iron, oil, and anthracite coal industries. Over the years, he cultivated a sizable collection of 19th- and 20th-century stereo views—popular, inexpensive photographic novelties that originally offered three-dimensional images through a hand-held stereoscope.
To bring these rare glimpses of the Commonwealth’s industrial past to a modern museum audience, Dr. Healey transformed the antique stereo views into anaglyphs. Exhibit-goers will use red and blue offset glasses—made popular by 3D movies in the 1970s—to step back in time and experience a historical overview of the industries that built Pennsylvania.
Starting April 18, Seeing Double: Pennsylvania’s Industrial Revolution in 3D will open at the following PHMC sites, with each museum showing a component of the exhibit tailored to its individual historical themes:
- Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum (Scranton, PA)
- Drake Well Museum and Park (Titusville, PA)
- Cornwall Iron Furnace (Cornwall, PA)
- Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania (Strasburg, PA)
Grab a pair of anaglyph glasses available at the sites above and join us this year during America’s 250th anniversary at PHMC sites for a truly unique, three-dimensional experience of Pennsylvania’s industrial heritage.
