"Matthews Heritage Museum provides educational and engaging interactive experiences for all ages. The museum strives to nurture a healthy respect for the forward thinking of the early settlers and help guests reflect on the business environment, lifestyles and cultures of those early Matthews townspeople."
“A Century of Helping Hands”
The Matthews Heritage Museum and the Western North Carolina Region of the
American Red Cross are joining together to put on the exhibit “A Century of Helping Hands”
in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the American Red Cross in Mecklenburg County. The
exhibit opens February 4 and will run to June 24, 2017.
Many Red Cross chapters were founded in the US in 1917 as part of the effort to serve soldiers in World War I. The US entered the war several years after the war in Europe started. The number of local chapters jumped from 107 in 1914 to 3,864 in 1918! Woman gathered to roll bandages often serving through their church, and locally the Red Cross served the soldiers at Camp Greene. They were called upon to find housing for visiting girl friends, when hotels were not available or too costly. They also provided several nurses for Camp Greene.
Read more about current Display
The Matthews Heritage Museum is pleased to announce that it will hold a tobacco basket making workshop on Saturday, July 22 from 10 a.m. to 12. Nancy Duffie, a member of the Dream Weavers Guild of Matthews, and basket maker, will lead the class. All materials and instruction will be provided. You will make your own tobacco basket 14” x 14”.
To participate, or to find out more, please contact Nancy Duffie before July 15 at 603-553-8636
or njbd52@yahoo.com. Fee for the class is $25, with the museum receiving a percentage of the fee.
The Matthews Heritage Museum announced its participation in the Blue Star Museums program, a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 2,000 museums across America to offer free admission to our nation’s active duty military personnel including National Guard and Reserve and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2017.
The Matthews Heritage Museum is one of more than 2,000 museums across America and one of 33 in North Carolina to offer free admission to military personnel and their families this summer in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, and the Department of Defense.
The program provides families an opportunity to enjoy the nation’s cultural heritage and learn more about their community, especially after a military move. A list of participating museums is available at arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.
This year’s Blue Star Museums represent not just fine arts museums, but also science museums, history museums, nature centers, and dozens of children’s museums, including the Mint Museum, the Levine Museum of the New South, the Charlotte Museum of History and James K. Polk Historic Site.
Find information about Girl Scout badge on our
"Students" page.
The Matthews Heritage Museum is pleased to announce that it has over 200 books on World War I and World War II as well as other military topics for sale. Through the generosity of Craig Marek, of Matthews, we were offered over 275 books including a complete series of Ballantine Illustrated History of WWII. The series was divided into Weapons (43 books), Battles (31 books), Campaigns (29 books), and War Leaders (31 books)
The books were well-written by a who's who of Military Historians of the late 60s and early 70s. In 1973, the series was retitled The Illustrated History of the Violent Century, and added books on World War I, the war in Southeast Asia, and the Middle East conflict. Two additional sub-series were added (Human Conflict and Politics In Action) to address points of history that occurred outside of the wars. The series totals 156 books.
These and other books on the Third Reich, ships, Civil War, air craft history and other topics are listed at the links below. The books are listed by topic as well as alphabetically, complete with title, author, condition, and cost. The books are for sale at the museum, located at 232 N. Trade Street in Matthews. They will be sold on a first come first serve basis.
The Historic Landmarks Commission has developed a video explaining the significance of the Outen Pottery and its potential for Matthews's future.
View the video featuring Dan Morrill.
Pick up a free copy of Foundations, the Matthews Historical Foundation newsletter, at the museum.
Read the latest issue of Foundations, MHF newsletter.
PDF reader needed to view newsletter. Link to Adobe Reader.
The Matthews Heritage Museum is pleased to announce that Barbara Stegall is the recipient of the Volunteer of the Year Award for 2016-2017. In addition to giving tours, she also helped to create a program for Girl Scouts to earn a badge from the museum. The MHM is appreciative of all the many volunteers serving at the museum! If you would like to volunteer, give us a call or email.
Shown with Matthews Historical Foundation President Paula Lester (L).
Lanelle Owenby and Christina Bryan, Matthews Heritage Museum Docents of the Year, are featured in the annual Matthews Alive Parade 2016.
The Matthews Heritage Museum docent, Jacob Wyns, used archival materials to create a web project about the history of Matthews. Check out this link to learn more about Matthews, North Carolina, A Town in Cultural Transition.
The Matthews Heritage Museum is pleased to announce that it has added a new feature. The Museum has put up a “Little Free Library” in front of the museum. Like other library’s it’s a “take a book, return a book” gathering place where neighbors share their favorite literature and stories. In its most basic form, a Little Free Library is a box full of books where anyone may stop by and pick up a book (or two) and bring back another book to share.
In the beginning—2009–Todd Bol of Hudson, Wisconsin, built a model of a one-room schoolhouse as a tribute to his mother, a former school teacher who loved reading. He filled it with books and put it on a post in his front yard. His neighbors and friends loved it. He built several more and gave them away. Each one had a sign that said FREE BOOKS. The Museum is hoping to feature books based on history, though we will allow any book to be placed there.
Our “Library” was built by Jason Surface, son of one of our volunteers. It is a miniature version of the Massey Clark House, 1880, which is the home of the Matthews Heritage Museum.
The Matthews Heritage Museum is open Thursday – Saturday from 10 – 4:30. Guided tours are available to the visiting public. Schools can schedule a guided tour by calling 704-708-4996. Admission is $4 per person, $2 for young people 11-17, children 10 and under are free. Parking is available on the street and behind the museum.
Matthews Heritage Museum, Matthews North Carolina
If you would like to volunteer a few hours per month at our museum, contact us at 704-708-4996 or email info@matthewsheritagemuseum.org.
To donate items, contact the Matthews Heritage Museum at 704-708-4996 or email info@matthewsheritagemuseum.org.
Matthews Heritage Museum located in downtown Matthews - 232 North Trade Street
