From the Executive Director

Posted by on Aug 13, 2021 in | Comments Off on From the Executive Director Throughout the pandemic, we at PHMC have had the opportunity to share Pennsylvania’s rich history with people well beyond our borders through virtual programming. Over the last year we have seen visitors join us from across the country and around the world. Although we have learned how important virtual engagement is, much of what we do remains grounded in the physical world. We have buildings,...
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Pennsylvania’s Architectural Heritage: Statehouses and Capitols

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania’s Architectural Heritage: Statehouses and Capitols Through the three centuries of Pennsylvania’s history, the build­ings that always have been both the functional and symbolic heart of the Commonwealth have been the seats of government. These statehouses and capitols bespeak much about the governmental structure and social ideals of the respective ages which created them. Indeed, the very change of nomenclature from statehouse to capitol...
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Violet Oakley, Lady Mural Painter

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Violet Oakley, Lady Mural Painter When Violet Oak­ley accepted the commission – and challenge – of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to decorate the State Capitol then under con­struction in Harrisburg, she announced that the subject of her mural series would be “The Romance of the Found­ing of the State.” In 1902, the ardent lady mural painter, then twenty-eight years old and the only one of her kind,...
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Centre County

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Centre County Centre County, as its name implies, geographically is Pennsylvania’s central county. The first known residents to inhabit its lands were the Munsee and Shawnee Indians from the Delaware River. Before 1725 these Indians began to move westward, first to the Susquehanna, later to the Ohio. The Iroquois, who claimed the Susquehanna country, assigned one of their chiefs – a man best known...
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A Capital Idea! A Brief and Bumpy History of Pennsylvania’s Capitols

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on A Capital Idea! A Brief and Bumpy History of Pennsylvania’s Capitols A mere one hundred or so miles separate Philadelphia’s Chestnut and Harrisburg’s Third streets. But the path­ – metaphorically, at least­ – between the Keystone State’s first and final capitol build­ings seems far longer and rockier than geography suggests. From the Commonwealth’s earliest days, when the government met in Philadelphia’s elegant State...
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Muckraking the Governor: Samuel W. Pennypacker Battles Philadelphia’s Press

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Muckraking the Governor: Samuel W. Pennypacker Battles Philadelphia’s Press “… the country press endeavors to ascertain and further the interests of the people around them. In the large cities, what is popularly called ‘Yellow Journalism,’ with its gross headlines, its vulgar and perverted art, it’s relish for salacious events and horrible crimes, and all the other symptoms of newspaper disease, is gaining foothold.” – Governor...
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Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf A Sacred Challenge: Violet Oakley and the Pennsylvania Capitol Murals By Ruthann Hubert-Kemper and Jason L. Wilson, editors Capitol Preservation Committee, 2003 (168 pages, cloth, $59.95) Violet Oakley (1874-1961) was an ideal candidate to accept the challenge of creating the artwork adorning the Governor’s Reception Room in Pennsylvania’s opulent State Capitol in Har­risburg. Born...
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Through the Halls of History with Ruthann Hubbert-Kemper, Keeper of the Capitol

Posted by on Nov 24, 2013 in | Comments Off on Through the Halls of History with Ruthann Hubbert-Kemper, Keeper of the Capitol Ruthann Hubbert-Kemper became involved with the multi-faceted, twenty-five year restora­tion of Pennsylvania’s monumental State Capitol on the proverbial ground floor. She arrived in Harrisburg in February 1980 as an intern, while enrolled in Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove. Because she loved the building, she had asked to be assigned to an office in the State Capitol. She began...
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Jeffrey B. Johnson, A Connoisseur of Color

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Jeffrey B. Johnson, A Connoisseur of Color One of the first things you notice about Jeffrey B. Johnson — in addition to his easy smile and dulcet voice — are his hands. As he passionately speaks about his work, he often gestures and it’s hard not to take note of his thin, elegant fingers. They belong to a master craftsman. Johnson, who lives in Harrisburg, is an exceptionally talented conservator, paint analyst, gilder, designer, artist,...
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