Black History Month event highlights Chambersburg man who invented fire ladder

Did you know the inventor of the fire escape ladder was from Franklin County?

Joseph Winters received the patent for a wagon-mounted escape ladder in 1878, a device he came up with after seeing how firefighters had to remove ladders from their trucks before using them to help people escape from the upper floors of buildings, according to myblackhistory.net.

The Franklin County Visitors Bureau will highlight Winters' story during a Learn and Explore event on Feb. 25 at the 11/30 Visitors Center. The event complements an exhibit of well-known African American citizens of Franklin County, held in celebration of Black History Month.

Guests will learn more about Winters and the world in which he lived. In addition to being an inventor, Winters was also an abolitionist and helped organize the meeting between Frederick Douglass and John Brown, when Brown revealed his plan to raid the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry.

The event will include a tour of the Chambersburg Fire Museum, which shows the evolution of fire service in the community starting from the first organized group in 1780. Fire vehicles from various areas are highlighted, including one used to douse flames during the Confederate army's burning of Chambersburg in 1864. Guests will go back in time "to send a fire call and determine the location of the fire," according to the release.

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Participants will be split into two groups for most of the Learn and Explore event. When both come back together in the afternoon, a caravan will form and travel to Mount Vernon/Mount Lebanon Cemetery on Lincoln Way West.

The event will include lunch between 11:30 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.

New to the 11/30 Visitors Center’s African American history exhibit is a display to explain how the celebration commenced, evolving from a week-long recognition to the full month of February. President Gerald Ford officially recognized February as Black History Month during the American Bicentennial celebration “Freedom and the recognition of individual rights are what our Revolution was all about. They were ideals that inspired our fight for Independence: ideals that we have been striving to live up to ever since,” said President Ford. He added, “I urge my fellow citizens to join me in tribute to Black History Month and the message of courage and perseverance it brings to all of us.”

If you go to Learn and Explore

When: 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Feb. 25

Where: 11/30 Visitors Center, 15 S. Main St., Chambersburg

Tickets: $15/person or $25/two people, online at bit.ly/3xodNGN.

For more information, visit ExploreFranklinCountyPA.com or contact the Franklin County Visitors Bureau at 866-646-8060.