“To shed light on the lights of the past”
The Rushlight Club, founded in 1932 for the study and preservation of LIGHTING, is one
of the oldest organizations dedicated to a single aspect of material culture.
The collecting and researching interests of members range from the earliest primitive
lighting devices through lighting by gas and electricity.
The purpose of the Club as set forth by its founders, and which remains unchanged today,
is to stimulate an interest in the study of early lighting including the use of early
lighting devices and lighting fuels, and the origins and development of each, by means of
written articles, lectures, exhibitions from private collections and if desired, through
the medium of exchange, and its object shall be to collect, preserve and disseminate
information and data obtained through these studies.
The Rushlight Club, Inc. was incorporated in 1989 as an international, educational,
non-profit, tax-exempt organization.
Written articles on research of the history, development and application of lighting,
lighting fuels and accessories are published in the Club’s quarterly historical journal,
The Rushlight.
Information on lighting lectures, conferences, exhibitions from private collections and
regular meetings is published in the Club’s quarterly newsletter, Flickerings
The Rushlight and Flickerings are available by membership in the Rushlight Club.
Annual Club dues are $35 US for U.S. addresses, $40 for Canadian addresses, and $45 for overseas addresses. Rushlight Club membership is on a calendar year basis. The membership year is January 1st to December 31st. Membership renewals are due by December 31st. There is a one-time new member fee of $5 US, and a reinstatement fee of $5 for all renewals that are received after February 1st.
Members receive The Rushlight and Flickerings four times a year, along with a Membership Directory and selected reprints of lighting ephemera. Members' addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses are included in the Membership Directory.
To obtain a printable copy of the membership application form, click
here
Application for membership in the Rushlight Club may also be requested from:
Ms. Rose Homberg, Corresponding Secretary
The Rushlight Club, Inc.
4508 Elsrode Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21214-3107 USA
Phone: 443-433-6071
The annual membership is based on the calendar year. Renewal notices are sent at the end of October. Membership renewals are due by December 31st. Prompt submission of dues before the start of the new year ensures uninterrupted delivery of The Rushlight and Flickerings. Make checks payable to "The Rushlight Club" and mail to:
Rushlight Club, c/o Ms. Pat Howell, 415 Walnut St., Elmhurst, IL 60126-2258
| President: | Mr. Donald Schoenly | donschoenly@aol.com | |
| Vice President: | Mr. Larson Mick | mickrlarson@bellsouth.net | |
| Treasurer: | Ms. Pat Howell | treasurer@rushlight.org | |
| Corresponding Secretary: | Ms. Rose Homberg | correspondingsecretary@rushlight.org | |
| Recording Secretary: | Ms. Donna Schoenly | donschoenly@aol.com |
| Editor of The Rushlight: | Ms. Marianne Nolan | ||
| Editor of Flickerings: | Ms. Julie Leib | ||
| Bylaws Chairperson: | Mr. Keith Letsche | ||
| Finance Chairperson: | Ms. Donna Schoenly | ||
| Identification Chairperson: | Mr. Dan Sohn | rushlight_qa@rushlight.org | |
| Nominations Chairperson: | Mr. Royce Walters | ||
| Prisidents Advisory Committee Chairperson: | Mr. Peter Gregory | ||
| Program Chairperson: | Mr. Larson Mick | mickrlarson@bellsouth.net | |
| Publication Chairperson: | Mr. Dan Mattausch | ||
| Website Manager: | Mr. M.J. Howell | webmaster@rushlight.org |
The following Rushlight Club Publications may be purchased directly from the Club:
The following Rushlight publications are available on the website:
The following publications may be purchased from the Rushlight Club:
Hotel: Holiday Inn Patriot
Address: 3032 Richmond Road
Williamsburg, Virginia
Phone: 757-565-2600 or Toll Free 800-446-6001
Website: Holiday Inn Patriot
A special room rate of $69.00 per night is available for the meeting dates and a couple of days before and after the meeting. Make your reservations now as this is a football weekend in Williamsburg.
Meeting Schedule:
Friday, October 8th: On your own. Buy your passes at the Williamsburg Visitors' Center. Passes are $30.00 for a one day pass, $35.00 for a two day pass and $50.00 for a one year pass. Park at the Visitors' Center and take the free shuttle bus to the historic district. There are numerous buildings and attractions to see: Governor's Palace and gardens, the Colonial Capital (the only public site in the US that flies the British Flag), Geo Wythe house, several other colonial homes (most homes are open on a two day cycle), Raleigh Tavern, grist mill, brick yard, print shop, paper maker's shop, shoe shop, silver smith, blacksmith, apothecary shop, wig maker's shop, "fair" on the mall, colonial court building, Bruton Parish Church, Folk Art Museum, old hospital, William and Mary Campus, gift and craft shops, carriage rides around town, at least one kitchen with hearth cooking at noon, old jail, evening events like colonial theater productions or concerts. In the mornings, there are actors on the streets enacting historic events. Use your passes to come and go and to enter buildings and museums.
Besides Williamsburg, there is Jamestown (first settlement reconstructed and a good museum) and Yorktown with visitors’ center (where General Washington accepted the surrender of the British forces) There are several colonial James River Plantations within a short drive (look at the pamphlet section at the Visitors’ Center.) Most have been beautifully maintained or restored, including the Shirley Plantation, Berkeley (home of Harrison family, two US presidents), Stratford Hall (home of the Lee family-two signers of the Declaration of Independence; Robert E. Lee was born there), Wakefield (reconstructed birthplace of Washington), Carter’s Grove (if open) home of President Tyler, and others.
Friday afternoon, Oct. 8th: Board meeting at the hotel.
Friday evening, Oct 8th: Dinner at Maribella’s Italian Restaurant, 207 By-Pass Road, Williamsburg, VA, 757-253-8550. Jeffrey Evans, an auctioneer from Western Virginia, is our speaker. He will provide pictures from recent auctions ( Courter), an auction preview (Ed Meyers), and will discuss recent price trends in lighting.
Saturday morning, Oct 9th: 9am – 12, guided tour of the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum. Numbers in a group are limited, so we will have one group, composed of the first 26 people who pay for this guided tour. If more that 40 reserve the tour, then we will have two groups. Those who pay for the tour but cannot be accommodated will have their money refunded.
Saturday evening, Oct. 9th: Rushlight banquet at the hotel. The meal will be a buffet. We will have tables for sales, silent auction items, and show and tell. Our after-dinner speaker is Beverly Straube, MA, FSA, part of the archeology team who located James Fort, the first permanent English settlement in the New World. She has been Senior Curator for the Jamestown Rediscovery Archeological Project of APVA Preservation Virginia since 1994. She is especially knowledgeable of 16th and 17th century material culture found on Anglo-American sites with particular emphasis on the Virginia Company sites in Virginia.
For additional information please contact:
| Larson Mick | Don Schoenly | ||
| 3101 Anderson Pike | OR | 260 N Montclair Ave | |
| Signal Mountain, TN 37377-1421 | Glen Ellyn, IL 60137-5507 | ||
| Phone: 423-886-4659 | Phone: 630-858-7595 | ||
| e-mail: mickrlrson@bellsouth.net | e-mail: donschoenly@aol.com |
Download Meeting Registration Form (.pdf)
Location: Holiday Inn
5501 National Road East
Richmond, IN 47374
Phone: 765-966-7511
Special Room Rate: $76.95 per night plus tax. (pet fee $20.00 per stay) A hot buffet breakfast and high speed internet are included.
The meeting registration fee is $12.00 per family.
The Saturday lamp show will be from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm for show registrants and will be open to the public from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm with an admission of $3.00 at the door.
Room trading opportunities are a major attraction of this meet and trading usually begins with arrivals earlier in the week.
The Saturday evening program will feature Ernie Hiatt speaking about Coleman History.
Location: Oaks Inn
80 McNaughten Avenue
Wallaceburg, Ontario, Canada N8A 1R9
Phone: 519-627-1433 or Fax: 519-627-6101
Room rate at the hotel is $82.95 (plus tax) per night. Mention HLSC and make your reservations by Sept. 22nd 2010 for this rate.
The Saturday speaker will be Sid Lethbridge, a member of Glasfax, speaking on the topic "Canadian Glass". The HLSC optional dinner will follow the meeting. Room trading on Friday and Saturday nights is encouraged.
The Saturday events include an optional tour of the Wallaceburg Museum from 10am to Noon, lunch, a theme table, a show and tell table and a silent auction.
All attendees are requested to register in advance for the meeting. Registration fees for those who register before October 8th are $30.00 for lunch and the meeting, $35.00 for the meeting and dinner or $65.00 for lunch, meeting and dinner. After October 8th registration fees are $35.00 for lunch and the meeting, $40.00 for the meeting and dinner or $75.00 for lunch, meeting and dinner.
The HLSC is sponsoring the fourth of a series of informal Friday evening seminars for anyone interested in kerosene lighting. The seminar topic will be "An Introduction to Coleman Lamps and Lanterns", presented by Stan Walker and Tom Logan. This free seminar will be held at the Oaks Inn in Wallaceburg, Friday evening, October 22nd at 7:30pm. This seminar is open to the public and HLSC membership is not required. Information about the HLSC or the meetings may be obtained by calling Tom Logan at 877-654-6333 or Stan Walker at 877-867-0666, (Both phone numbers are toll free), or e-mail: lampcollector@gmail.com.
Please visit the HLSC website www.historical-lighting.org for additional information.