Americana Symposium – Valley Culture: Constructing Identity Along the Great Wagon Road

This inaugural Americana Symposium’s theme explores the evolution of Pennsylvania German folk art as settlers moved west, building on new research and discoveries generated by Historic Trappe’s current exhibition Valley Culture: Constructing Identity Along the Great Wagon Road. From the Perkiomen Valley of southeastern Pennsylvania to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, locally distinctive forms of material culture emerged. This symposium will explore how German settlers transformed artifacts of daily life —including fraktur, painted furniture, boxes, and other artifacts—as they settled within several valleys along their journey on what became known as the Great Wagon Road.

The Americana Symposium is a multi-day experience that explores the study of traditional Americana and folk art through scholarly lectures, object-based workshops, private tours, and social events. The symposium brings together leading scholars in the Americana field alongside collectors, students, antiques dealers, and anyone with an interest in traditional Americana and folk art.