At 10 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 12, Garfield Farm Museum staff member Joseph Coleman will give a Blacksmithing 101 lecture/demonstration on the history of blacksmithing.

There will be a discussion of how we arrived at the Iron Age and how blacksmithing impacted the industrial revolution. To conclude, Coleman will also demonstrate 19th-century blacksmithing skills. Blacksmithing 202 will include a lecture, demonstration and hands-on experience for the guests (no prior experience needed).

Iron has been used by numerous civilizations over the course of thousands of years. It played a pivotal role during the industrial revolution. Iron also had many practical applications on prairie farmsteads like Garfield Farm.

Coleman has been in the history museum field for nine years. He has demonstrated 19th century blacksmithing in Naperville for five years and during his hobby of Civil War reenacting, as well. He took an interest in blacksmithing during Garfield Farm’s 1840s Days on how it could be applied to farm life.

The cost of Blacksmithing 101 is $8, Blacksmithing 202 is $40 (materials included) and refreshments are included.  For reservations, contact the museum at (630) 584-8485 or info@garfieldfarm.org.

Garfield Farm Museum is located five miles west of Geneva, IL, off of ILL Rt. 38 on Garfield Road. The 370-acre site is a historically intact former Illinois prairie 1840s farmstead and teamster inn being restored as an 1840s working farm museum
by volunteers and donors from around the country.

Blacksmithing 101 and 202 Lecture and Demonstration

• When: 10 a.m. (101) and 2 p.m. (202) Oct. 12, 2014
  Who: Garfield Farm Museum
  Where: 3N016 Garfield Road Campton Hills, IL 60175
  Contact: 630 584-8485 or info@garfieldfarm.org

SOURCE: Garfield Farm press release