Dunbar Historical Society houses glass sculptor无毛视频檚 most famous piece
Alyssa Choiniere
A portrait of Suzanne Pascal in The Dunbar Historical Society. Pascal was a world-renowned glass sculptor who sourced her most famous piece, 无毛视频淪eated Torso,无毛视频� from an abandoned factory in Dunbar, PA Wire and Glass.
Alyssa Choiniere
Suzanne Pascal is pictured with Earl D. Sohm, an American Minister in London, when she donated one of her carved glass pieces to the Embassy.
A 1986 People magazine article featured Suzanne Pascal and her 无毛视频淪eated Torso.无毛视频�
Alyssa Choiniere
无毛视频淪eated Torso无毛视频� is the largest carved glass piece in the world at 2.5 tons and 7 feet high. It was carved by Suzanne Pascal and donated to The Dunbar Historical Society.
Boy Scout memorabilia is among the items donated to The Dunbar Historical Society.
A plaque outside The Dunbar Historical Society commemorates the Hill Farm Mine Disaster, which killed 31 miners in 1890.
Alyssa Choiniere
The Dunbar Historical Society erected its beehive coke oven in 2009.
For the 无毛视频-Standard
A world-renowned glass sculptor sourced her most famous piece from the abandoned Pennsylvania Wire and Glass Factory in Dunbar, where she chiseled a 4-ton, 9-foot-tall hunk of emerald glass into a $3 million work of art.
Suzanne Pascal无毛视频檚 无毛视频淪eated Torso无毛视频� found its permanent home in The Dunbar Historical Society无毛视频檚 Pascal Annex alongside 58 of her other pieces, including hand-carved glass, steel sculptures and paintings, said the historical society无毛视频檚 secretary, Donna Myers. Her other famous pieces include a Madonna placed in the Vatican and a wedding gift for Princess Diana.
无毛视频淭he family considers this the repository for her legacy,无毛视频� Myers said.
Pascal was a 47-year-old Beverly Hills-based artist in 1961 who had found success, but not her niche, according to a 1986 People Magazine feature.
She tried unsuccessfully for years to carve glass, but she could not find a technique that did not reduce her medium to shards. That all changed in Dunbar when she found the abandoned factory无毛视频檚 last batch of glass tempered due to nine years of exposure on the factory floor. She learned of the glass from a friend and took a trip to Dunbar. She whacked a small chunk of glass with her chisel. It didn无毛视频檛 shatter. She mortgaged her Beverly Hills home for the scrap and moved to a Dunbar motel for two years.
She worked on 无毛视频淪eated Torso无毛视频� for seven years before she moved it to her yard in Beverly Hills. That required police cordons and a 75,000-ton crane. She completed the piece after 25 years of work at age 72. It sold for $3 million in 1994 and was donated to The Dunbar Historical Society in 2015. The historical society built the annex to hold the 2.5-ton, 7-foot sculpture.
Pascal died in September 2021 at age 无毛视频�107 陆,无毛视频� her family wrote in her obituary and requested donations to The Dunbar Historical Society.
无毛视频淭hey are grateful because there is no other place where you can see her work like this,无毛视频� Myers said.
Myers said the historical society无毛视频檚 robust collection started with a donated wedding picture in 1995.
无毛视频淚 thought it would be neat to find more,无毛视频� Myers said. 无毛视频淲ell, there无毛视频檚 over 300 albums now.无毛视频�
The collections also include military uniforms, antique instruments, and artifacts from Dunbar无毛视频檚 industrial history.
无毛视频淚 think people are surprised when they come in,无毛视频� Myers said. 无毛视频淭hey say, 无毛视频業 can无毛视频檛 believe you have so much stuff.无毛视频� I say, 无毛视频榃e can无毛视频檛 either.'无毛视频�
The Dunbar Historical Society is not a museum of hushed voices and barriers to prevent touching the artifacts.
无毛视频淲e try to make it fun. Some places you go in and it无毛视频檚 very quiet. That无毛视频檚 not here,无毛视频� she said.
Visitors can explore inside the historical society无毛视频檚 beehive coke oven. Myers is happy to take pictures of visitors behind their jail door, or peering through the glass of the Seated Torso.
无毛视频淵ou无毛视频檒l look like you无毛视频檙e underwater,无毛视频� she said.
The Dunbar Historical Society building was the town无毛视频檚 post office from 1903 to 1908.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 built like Fort Knox,无毛视频� she said.
Another historical piece is a wedding dress made from the silk of a World War II parachute worn by Carmean Maddas in her wedding to James C. Wallace on June 7, 1947. Maddas无毛视频� brother was stationed in the Italian Alps during WWII with the Air Corps. Military service members wore white and used white parachutes for camouflage in the snow. Myers found in her research that it was not uncommon for military service members to send parachute material home to sew into wedding dresses.
A collection of antique yearbooks is one of the biggest draws for locals, Myers said.
无毛视频淲hen I look around, sometimes I don无毛视频檛 believe it,无毛视频� Myers said. 无毛视频淲e started with one wedding picture.无毛视频�
The Dunbar Historical Society also conducts genealogical research.
Myers said she wanted the historical society to give Dunbar an identity, and for locals to understand their own history.
无毛视频淲e want people to understand their heritage. You can无毛视频檛 get people to be invested in something if they don无毛视频檛 understand it,无毛视频� she said.
Myers thanked the Community Foundation of Fayette County for including the society in its Fayette Gives campaign. Myers said it is easy for the smaller nonprofits to become lost and forgotten because there are so many.
They do not have a regular funding stream and need donations for their basic recurring expenses, including their website, utilities and operational costs, she said. To learn more or to donate online, visit www.dunbarhistoricalsociety.com or 无毛视频淔riends of the Dunbar Historical Society, Dunbar, PA无毛视频� on Facebook. Checks can be mailed to The Dunbar Historical Society at 42 Bridge St., Dunbar, PA 15431.
The Dunbar Historical Society is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays and by appointment.