by June Portnoy
The doors of the historic African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church of Yardley were wide open in early January as Gather Place Museum welcomed the community for its Gallery 250 Open House, an event designed as both a celebration and a preview of the large variety of programs the museum is offering as part of America’s 250th anniversary. Over two days, visitors stepped inside the 1877 landmark on South Canal Street to meet living-history interpreters, explore new exhibits, and learn how this small but powerful museum is positioning Yardley at the center of Pennsylvania’s semiquincentennial story.
The open house served as a “sneak preview,” according to Gather Place Executive Director Shirley Lee Corsey, of what the museum is bringing to the local, county, and state-level America250 commemorations. “Today is Gather Place Gallery 250,” Corsey said during the event. “We are a hub for America250. Our whole philosophy is celebrating America’s 250th anniversary in pursuit of liberty and justice for all, and telling a more inclusive story of our nation’s history, one that remembers the ladies, people of color, and the everyday citizens who shaped this country.”
That inclusive approach has earned Gather Place statewide recognition. Its initiative, “Celebrating 250 Years of American Resilience in Pursuit of Liberty, Justice, and Equality,” has been designated an America250PA Officially Recognized Program and is supported by an America250PA Semiquincentennial Grant and a Bucks County Tourism Grant. The designation places Gather Place among a select group of organizations whose programming reflects Pennsylvania’s vision for a meaningful and representative commemoration of the nation’s founding.
During the open house, history literally walked through the room. Reenactors portraying figures such as Lucretia Mott, Hannah Penn, a young Martha Washington, and Mrs. Stevenson, the wife of one of the African American founders of the AME Church, mingled with guests, answering questions and offering glimpses of full programs scheduled throughout the year. Corsey herself portrayed Mrs. Stevenson, connecting visitors directly to the church’s origins as a spiritual and social anchor for African Americans in Yardley in the late 19th century.
“AME Church of Yardley was founded in 1877 by African Americans, with support from Quakers,” Corsey explained. “Preserving this architectural landmark and the stories connected to it is our mission. This building is our headquarters, but it’s also a living museum where local history, African American history, women’s history, and national history intersect.”
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Corsey, a third-generation Yardley resident, lives across the street from the church and remembers when it was still active decades ago. After the congregation dwindled and the building fell into disrepair, she felt compelled to act. “I saw it falling apart, and I had to do something about it,” she said. That determination led to the creation of Gather Place as a nonprofit organization, the restoration of the church with the help of grants and community support, and eventually the development of robust educational programming that now reaches audiences across Bucks County and beyond.
Those programs are firmly rooted in Yardley’s story. Through its popular “Welcome to Yardleyville” walk-through and lecture, Gather Place traces the borough’s evolution from its Quaker beginnings under William Yardley to its growth along the canal, railroad, and river. Visitors learn about Irish immigrant laborers who built the railroad, the historic Eastburn Row homes next door to the church, and the role of the Delaware Canal and River in commerce, and in the Underground Railroad. Corsey also highlights the story of Mary Derry, believed to be the oldest known African American woman in Yardley, whose descendants still live in the borough eight generations later.
“What makes Gather Place special is how we connect local history to national history,” Corsey said. “Lucretia Mott spoke in Yardleyville and nearby Quaker meeting houses. Harriet Tubman represents the many freedom seekers who traveled through Bucks County along these waterways. These stories didn’t happen somewhere else; they happened here, in places people walk past every day.”
That local impact was not lost on community leaders in attendance. David Appelbaum, recently elected president of Yardley Borough Council, stopped by the open house and praised the museum’s transformation of the long-vacant church. He noted that Gather Place has become “a beautiful, living museum for the community that adds to Yardley’s identity as a destination grounded in history, culture, and education.”
The open house also underscored Gather Place’s growing role within broader America250 efforts. Corsey serves on the Bucks 250PA Commission and participates at the state level as a nonprofit affiliate of America250PA. “For an organization like Gather Place, from little Yardley Borough, to represent Yardley in such a meaningful way is something I’m very proud of,” she said. “This recognition tells us that the stories we’re telling matter.”
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Those stories are told through a mix of first-person reenactments, lectures, and interactive discussions designed for schools, libraries, civic groups, faith-based organizations, and the general public. Programs range from portrayals of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Rosa Parks to lectures on Hannah Penn, who governed Pennsylvania while William Penn was ill in England, and the evolution of America’s First Ladies from Martha Washington to Michelle Obama. A consistent theme runs through them all: “Remember the ladies,” and remember those whose voices were too often overlooked.
“Gather Place Museum is open and ready,” Corsey said. “We bring history to life, and we do it by telling the full American story.”
As America’s 250th anniversary approaches, that mission positions Gather Place not just as a museum, but as a cultural home for reflection, dialogue, and discovery, one firmly rooted in Yardley’s past and actively shaping how its history is understood today.
Upcoming programs at Gather Place include a January 31 “Welcome to Yardleyville” lecture, and a series of February and March events for Black History Month and Women’s History Month, featuring programs on Frederick Douglass, the Underground Railroad in Bucks County, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Lucretia Mott, Hannah Penn, and “America’s First Ladies: From Martha to Michelle,” all taking place at the museum and highlighting Yardley’s connection to the nation’s ongoing pursuit of liberty, justice, and equality.
For more information about upcoming events, visit gatherplacemuseum.org/1st-quarter-programs.
