Rooted in Family History: Archivist Reflects on Four Decades of Genealogical Research

Posted by on Apr 9, 2020 in | Comments Off on Rooted in Family History: Archivist Reflects on Four Decades of Genealogical Research Jonathan Stayer had been working at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society for several weeks in 1985 when he received a call from the Pennsylvania State Archives. The PHMC bureau wanted to hire an archivist with experience in genealogical research and Stayer, who had previously worked for the archives surveying county records, was already immersed in the growing field of genealogy. Stayer...
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Celebrities Discover Who They Are at the Pennsylvania State Archives

Posted by on Oct 30, 2019 in | Comments Off on Celebrities Discover Who They Are at the Pennsylvania State Archives Archivist Aaron McWilliams smiles and shifts his gaze toward the floor when asked about his brush with TV stardom. Every so often, a patron visiting the Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, where he works, will ask him what it was like to appear alongside veteran Hollywood actor Steve Buscemi on a 2011 episode of Who Do You Think You Are? a reality series in which...
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From the Executive Director

Posted by on Mar 13, 2017 in | Comments Off on From the Executive Director As a trained historian who has devoted his life to the preservation and teaching of American history, I am embarrassed to admit how little I knew about my own family’s history—only a few bits and pieces passed down from my parents. I was told that our family settled in the old Northwest Territory before Ohio became a state in 1803 and that some of my ancestors came from Pennsylvania. I...
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Pennsylvania State Archives Genealogy Records on Ancestry.com

Posted by on Jun 6, 2016 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania State Archives Genealogy Records on Ancestry.com James Beidler used to spend hours stationed inside the Pennsylvania State Archives combing through records. Over time, the freelance genealogy researcher from Lebanon, Lebanon County, became a familiar face to archivists who helped the former journalist in his quests for information found only in documents such as birth and death certificates. Today, Beidler still spends much time scanning...
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News

Posted by on Dec 2, 2013 in | Comments Off on News Ancestry.com Pennsylvania In an innovative partnership with Ancestry.com the Pennsylvania State Archives is making family history records available free of charge to Commonwealth residents. Ancestry.com began digitizing selected collections held by the State Archives that are of interest to genealogists four years ago. To date millions of pages have been digitized at no cost to the Pennsylvania...
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Civil War Frying Pan at Drake Well Museum

Posted by on Dec 2, 2013 in | Comments Off on Civil War Frying Pan at Drake Well Museum The Reverend Darius S. Steadman (1831–1907), born in Columbus, Warren County, along U.S. Route 6 in Pennsylvania’s Northern Tier, was licensed to preach in 1857. He served congregations in Clarion County before being commissioned, on October 7, 1861, a captain and chaplain of the 105th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry (PVI) known as the Wild Cat Regiment. The unit was raised in Jefferson, Clarion...
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How to Uncover Black Family History

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on How to Uncover Black Family History Genealogy has replaced astrology as America’s favorite topic at social gatherings. Several factors are responsible in sparking the present upsurge in Black genealogy. The civil rights movement of the 1960’s encouraged a feeling of Black solidarity that had not existed before. Marches, demonstrations, and mass jailings brought together diverse elements of the Black community and made...
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The African-American Clan

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on The African-American Clan Recent publications and media presentations have spurred an unusual interest in genealogical research. This enthusiasm extends from the academic community to large numbers of lay people who are attempting to retrace their roots. As is well known, genealogical research in its simplest form results in the ability to construct a blood-line tree that presents the kinship relationships between people...
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Executive Director’s Message

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Message Access. It’s a word mentioned more often than not in conversations about the goals and purposes of public history. It’s a word that poses significant and challenging questions. How can we expand our programs and services to reach wider audiences? How can we make history more meaningful and engaging for scholars, visitors, and readers? How can we satisfy, efficiently and effec­tively,...
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Shorts

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Shorts The first exhibition in Philadelphia devoted to identifying and honoring African American women tap dancers, “Plenty of Good Women Dancers: African American Women Hoofers from Philadelphia,” features glamorous photographs and dancers’ vivid recollec­tions portraying the golden age of swing and rhythm tap of the 1930s and 1940s. “Plenty of Good Women Dancers”...
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