If you're interested in supporting the PBY-5A and showing your love for the airplane, please shop our new online gift shop with our PBY 2459 Merch! Go to:
Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina BuNo 2459 Collection
ahmgiftshop.org
Support the ongoing operation of Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina BuNo. 2459 - the oldest PBY flying and the highest scoring PBY in existence! Restored and operated by the American Heritage Museum, here i...
The American Heritage Museum is proud to report that Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina BuNo 2459 took its first post-restoration flight on July 6, 2026 from New Smyrna Beach, FL after a seven-year restoration back to 1942 configuration by American Aero Services. The PBY is heading to the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh Fly-in and Airshow this weekend and will be on display July 20-26 in Oshkosh, WI. For more information, please see the news article on our website.![]()
#WWII #warbirds #pbycatalina #WorldWarII #eaaairventure
Learn More & Get Tickets at ahmus.me/atdw2026 - Here's a sneak preview of the incredible new Cold War Era tanks that will be featured at America's Tank Demo Weekend on July 25th and 26th! See the new M41 Walker Bulldog, M47 Patton, M60 Main Battle Tank, M60A2 Starship, and M88 Recovery Vehicle along with our WWII tanks, the M4 Sherman, M24 Chaffee, and M36 Jackson! You don't want to miss it!![]()
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Music by Bensound.com![]()
License code: JTYHTQGMC13SAKVX![]()
Artist: : Benjamin Tissot
It is with profound sadness that the American Heritage Museum shares the passing of our friend and colleague, Chris Cassidy, on July 12, 2026.![]()
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Starting as a volunteer back in 2010, helping us with the Race of the Century as a "wrench" and a driver in his spare time, Chris eventually joined us on staff before the American Heritage Museum opened. Since then, Chris served as our automobile caretaker, mechanic, and museum maintenance supervisor. He was a master machinist, an exceptional mechanic, and the person we trusted whenever something needed to be repaired, restored, or simply made to work again. Around the museum, the saying was simple: “If it’s broken, Chris can fix it.” That statement applied to whether it was a museum vehicle or one belonging to our volunteers or staff -- he always helped, no matter what. ![]()
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His knowledge, patience, and craftsmanship were invaluable to the care of our historic automobiles. In preparation for the annual Father's Day event, Chris spent many nights and weekends working on everything in the car barn to get it ready for the big show. Though maintaining such a wide range of vehicles could be stressful, he always cracked jokes with a smirk when the going got tough. ![]()
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Chris’s talents extended far beyond the museum. He was a champion lawn tractor puller, a renowned go-kart builder and racer, and loved his R/C cars and slot cars. If it had wheels and went fast, Chris was there! His lucky number was 13 because, as he liked to say, he always finished first or third—never second.![]()
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For all his accomplishments, Chris was most proud of his family. He was a devoted father and grandfather who treasured the time he spent with his beloved grandson, Jamison. He was also a trusted friend who never hesitated to lend a hand, share his knowledge, or help make someone’s day a little easier.![]()
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Chris’s legacy cannot be measured only by the engines he rebuilt, the races he won, or the historic machines he preserved. It lives in the people he helped, the lessons he shared, and the example he set through hard work, kindness, and quiet generosity.![]()
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Our hearts are broken by his loss, and his absence will be felt throughout the museum for years to come.![]()
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Rest easy, Chris. Your work here is done, but your legacy will keep running strong for generations.
Let's Tour the American M18 Hellcat in 60 Seconds!![]()
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#AmericanHeritageMuseum #visitma #MilitaryHistory #historymuseum #WWII
- This event has passed.
Speaker Series: Botanical History of the Civil War by Judith Sumner
November 10, 2023 @ 2:00 pm, ending 3:30 pm
$10 – $20
Canebrakes to Cotton Fields: Botanical History of the Civil War
As the first comprehensive botanical history of the Civil War, Judith Sumner’s recent book Plants in the Civil War: A Botanical History examines military and civilian uses of plants, from plantation landscapes and agriculture to slave medicine, prosthetic limbs, and military engineering. Plants provided both the cash crops at the heart of the conflict and the raw material used in waging war. This illustrated talk will emphasize the key topics of crops and enslavement, plantation life, Civil War medicine, and southern landscapes and war—all illuminated from a botanical perspective.
Judith Sumner Biography
Judith Sumner is a botanist who specializes in ethnobotany, flowering plants, plant adaptations, and garden history. She has taught extensively both at the college level and at botanical gardens, including the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and Garden in the Woods. Judith graduated from Vassar College and completed graduate studies (M.S., Ph.D.) in botany at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst). She studied at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and at the British Museum (Natural History) and did extensive field work in the Pacific region on the genus Pittosporum.
Judith has published studies in the American Journal of Botany, Pollen et Spores, and Allertonia, as well as monographing two families for Flora Vitiensis Nova. Her other projects and areas of interest have included field studies in the Great Smoky Mountains, work with AID/Santo Domingo on developing petroleum-rich plants, and a commitment to science education. Judith served as a visiting scientist for several summers in the LEAP (Learning About Plants) program She has spent summers working with teachers the Museum Institutes for Teaching Science (MITS) program and conducting workshops on science writing.
Judith has been a guest on the Martha Stewart Living television show, the PBS program “Cultivating Life” with Sean Conway, the Annenberg Channel, and various other PBS and educational programs. Her recent Arnold Arboretum lecture on victory gardens is available for viewing online at the WGBH Forum website. Her column “The Gardener’s Kitchen” (under the pseudonym Laura Craig) appeared in Horticulture magazine for several years. She also contributes online to the blog and Herbarium website of the Herbal Academy of New England. Judith is a frequent invited lecturer for botanical and horticultural organizations and symposia, including the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, the New York Botanical Garden, Mohonk Mountain Reserve, Cornell University, the FDR Library and National Archives, and Kykuit/The Rockefeller Estate.
In 2007 Judith was awarded the Gertrude B. Foster Award for Excellence in Herbal Literature by the Herb Society of America. Her book American Household Botany won the American Horticultural Society Book Award in 2005. She recently authored the first botanical history of World War II, Plants Go to War: A Botanical History of World War II (McFarland, 2019). Her newest book, Plants in the Civil War: A Botanical History, was published in late 2022 by McFarland and has been shortlisted for the Council of Botanical and Horticultural Libraries book award.
