PRINTER'S NO. 2746
No. 336 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY LAUGHLIN, WOJNAROSKI, SHANER, GABIG, SOLOBAY,
CAPPELLI, TRAVAGLIO, FAIRCHILD, D. EVANS, MARKOSEK, HERMAN,
HARHAI, READSHAW, GRUCELA, B. SMITH, SATHER, SCHULER, MELIO,
JAMES, GEORGE, CRUZ, CREIGHTON, JOSEPHS, J. WILLIAMS, TRICH,
L. I. COHEN, CORRIGAN, DALEY, McILHATTAN, YOUNGBLOOD, COY,
WALKO, SAINATO, LESCOVITZ, BELFANTI, HERSHEY, ROBINSON,
DeWEESE, HORSEY, ROBERTS, MAITLAND, PISTELLA, BEBKO-JONES,
KELLER, GEIST, MANDERINO, ROSS, LaGROTTA, PETRONE AND
STEELMAN, OCTOBER 24, 2001
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS,
OCTOBER 24, 2001
A RESOLUTION
1 Memorializing the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee of the
2 United States Postal Service to consider and recommend to the
3 United States Postal Service Board of Governors the issuance
4 of a commemorative stamp honoring Old Economy Village.
5 WHEREAS, "Oekonomie" was founded in the spring of 1824 on the
6 eastern banks of the Ohio River approximately 18 miles north of
7 Pittsburgh, by George Rapp and 600 members of a German Christian
8 communal society known as the Harmony Society; and
9 WHEREAS, The Harmony Society successfully "placed the
10 manufacturer beside the agriculturalist," an accomplishment held
11 in high regard in the early 19th century as a prototype of a
12 national economy that would thrive in both agriculture and
13 industry, independent of foreign influence; and
14 WHEREAS, The Harmonists created, adapted and adopted the new
15 technologies of their day, giving them a competitive edge in the
1 growing early American economy, particularly in textile
2 manufacturing, wool, cotton and silk, and agricultural
3 production, so that by 1825 they had constructed textile
4 factories powered and heated by steam engines, built shops for
5 blacksmiths, tanners, hatters, wagon makers, cabinetmakers and
6 turners, linen weavers, potters and tinsmiths, as well as
7 developed a centralized steam laundry and a centralized dairy
8 for the community; and
9 WHEREAS, Despite the Society's economic success, time and
10 events brought about its decline so that by the end of the 19th
11 century only a few Harmonists remained and in 1905 the Society
12 was dissolved and its vast real estate holdings sold, much of it
13 to the American Bridge Company, which subsequently enlarged the
14 town and renamed it Ambridge; and
15 WHEREAS, Old Economy Village, the present day successor to
16 "Oekonomie" situated on six acres of the original land of the
17 Harmony Society acquired by the Commonwealth in 1916 and
18 consisting of 17 restored historic structures and the garden
19 built between 1824 and 1830, was the religious and economic hub
20 of the Harmony Society and which buildings, grounds, library,
21 archives and 16,000 original artifacts serve as a memorial to
22 the Society's commitment to the religious discipline and
23 economic industry that built their American Utopia; therefore be
24 it
25 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
26 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania memoralize the Citizens' Stamp
27 Advisory Committee of the United States Postal Service Board of
28 Governors to consider and recommend to the United States Postal
29 Service Board of Governors the issuance of a commerative stamp
30 honoring the Old Economy Village historic site as worthy and
20010H0336R2746 - 2 -
1 deserving of the issue of a commerative stamp by the United
2 States Postal Service; and be it further
3 RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to
4 the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee of the United States
5 Postal Service.
I18L82RZ/20010H0336R2746 - 3 -