The Johnstown Area Heritage Association hosts a broad range of special events throughout the year. Check back often for updates on our calendar of special events, and other JAHA news.

Special Events & News
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To see all events currently scheduled up to a year in advance, as well as regular weekly programs, visit our Calendar of Events. Download a printable flyer of current events here.
Friday, May 17, 5:30 pm -- Bonus Friday at the Ethnic Social Club -- Join us for a special mid-month event at the Social Club with rising Johnstown band Crew of the Half Moon. If the weather's nice, we'll move outside to the courtyard!
Saturday, May 18, 10:30-4:30 pm -- Interpretive 1889 Flood Bus/Walking Tour -- (begins at the Heritage Discovery Center) Buses load at 10:00 am for 10:30 am departure; tours conclude at about 4:30 pm. JAHA and the National Park Service are collaborating on the tour, which is $15 per ticket. Please call Gwen to RSVP: (814) 539-1889. The group will tour the failed dam, the clubhouse, and Grandview Cemetery, as well as notable flood sites in downtown Johnstown such as the Johnstown Flood Museum. The tour will be hosted by costumed interpreters portraying survivors and heroes of the disaster, while highlighting the many complex stories of the 1889 Flood, including building of the dam, the formation of the South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club, the dam's failure, the destruction, reconstruction of the town, and how the flood is remembered. Lunch will be provided. The tour requires the ability to walk, including steps, and will go on rain or shine, so participants should wear walking shoes and weather-appropriate clothing.
Friday, May 26, 5:00 pm -- (Next to) Last Friday at the Ethnic Social Club(Heritage Discovery Center, 4th floor) -- Join us for a relaxed social time with Johnstown favorites Whiskey River Panhandlers! If the weather's nice, we'll move into the courtyard. Doors at 5:00, with music starting at 5:30; no cover.
Friday, May 31, 7:00-9:00 pm -- 1889 Flood Commemoration (Johnstown Flood Museum & Peoples Natural Gas Park) -- JAHA will open the first floor of the Johnstown Flood Museum (free) and Peoples Natural Gas Park from 7:00-9:00 pm Docents will give informal tours of the park facility, and explain the events of the flood in this area, and the Academy Award-winning documentary The Johnstown Flood will be shown under the Polacek Pavilion at 7:15 and 8:00. Also, the Stone Bridge will be lighted from 8:30-11:30 pm with a special show that evokes the events of the Johnstown Flood. For more on all flood commemoration activities, including those produced by the National Park Service, click here.
Friday, June 14, 5:30 pm -- Free concert by 10,000 Maniacs (Peoples Natural Gas Park-- This exciting concert is presented by JAHA, Lift Johnstown, and the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies! The concert is free but ticketed (you can pick up tickets here at the Heritage Discovery Center) -- for much more about the band and the event, click here.
Current Temporary & Traveling Exhibits Now open through August 31: "Letters to Sala: A Young Woman's Life in Nazi Labor Camps" (Heritage Discovery Center, 2nd floor) -- A 16-year-old Polish girl, Sala Garncarz, was sent to Nazi labor camps during World War II. She preserved more than 300 letters and postcards during her imprisonment. This remarkable traveling exhibit tells her story. Click here for much more!
Now open through September 2013: "Remembrance: 125 Years of Jewish Life in Johnstown" -- (Heritage Discovery Center, 2nd floor) JAHA is delighted to be working with Congregation Beth Sholom on the Johnstown Jewish Heritage Project, a year-long series of exhibits and special events, including this exhibit about the rich history and many contributions of Johnstown's Jewish community.
Looking for the date of an event too far in the future to be listed here yet? Click here to view a calendar that lists all currently-scheduled events up to a year in advance. ***JAHA News***
Thank you Atlantic Broadband! -- JAHA gratefully acknowledges Atlantic Broadband for their support of JAHA programs and events, including the AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival.
Visiting season hours resume -- On April 1, regular visitor season hours of 10:00 am-5:00 pm, seven days a week, will resume! Welcome. First Commonwealth Bank donates to JAHA through EITC -- On Feb. 25, First Commonwealth Bank stopped by the Heritage Discovery Center to present a $2,500 check to JAHA. The donation was made through the Education Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program, a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania program that provides tax credits to eligible businesses that contribute to Educational Improvement Organizations like JAHA. The funding will be used to subsidize field trips to our museums for schoolchildren across the region. JAHA thanks First Commonwealth Bank for their continued support! (In the photo, L to R: Rich Huber and Richard Burkert of JAHA; David Starry and Christine Fisher, First Commonwealth Bank.)
JAHA receives donation of PA Railroad maps of 1889 flood damage -- The Cambria Somerset Authority recently found a set of blueprints documenting 1889 flood damage and donated them to JAHA! The drawings were created by the PA Railroad to document where locomotives were at the time of the flood, and where they were deposited. Read more about the find in this Tribune-Democrat article from Feb. 17, 2013.
JAHA collects items related to steel industry -- JAHA is currently working with Tom Leslie to collect artifacts from the former Bethlehem steel mills in Johnstown. While JAHA's archives and collections related to the steel industry include a great deal of maps, drawings, and photographs, we have fewer objects from the workplace. Mr. Leslie, a former steelworker, has been collecting such items on his own and is now talking to former steelworkers on JAHA's behalf. Donated items will become part of JAHA's archives and collections, and may be used in future exhibits about Johnstown's steel industry. If you have an item you wish to donate, contact Kaytlin Sumner, JAHA curator, at 814-539-1889 x314.
Support JAHA through GoodSearch and GoodShop -- Help raise money to support JAHA's museums, events and programs online, whenever you search for information or shop at hundreds of popular online retailers, like Amazon, Target, Staples and more! Many valuable coupons are available, too -- and JAHA receives a donation of up to 30% of your purchase. No registration is required to participate -- simply go to GoodSearch.com, click "choose your cause" and type "Johnstown Area Heritage Association" to begin.
Visit hundreds of museums with your JAHA Family Plus membership -- JAHA is now part of the National Association of Reciprocal Museums (NARM) -- which means that we introducing a new level of membership, Family Plus, that allows you to visit hundreds of museums for free! When you join JAHA at the Family Plus membership level or higher, you'll receive free admission to art, history, natural history, and other types of museums throughout North America. In Pittsburgh alone you'll get entrance to the Frick Art & Historical Center, the ToonSeum, the Mattress Factory, August Wilson Center and more. For a complete listing of museums that will honor your JAHA Family Plus membership, click here. You can join JAHA at the Family Plus level for $100! For more information or to upgrade, contact Melody Tisinger at 814-539-1889, x315.